CHINA'S OPIUM TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 303, 19 December 1912, Page 5

CHINA'S OPIUM TRADE.

RESTRICTING S"O"P"P*LIES. A BRITISH WARNING. PEKIN", December 18. The accumulation at Shanghai of opium stocks valued at £12,000,000, in consequence of China's systematic obstruction of the foreign opium trade, has created a serious situation. It is believed tehat China desires to repudiate tbe Anglo-Chinese treaty. Sir John Jordan (British Ambassador at Pekin) has therefore warned China that unless observance of tihe treaty is assured he will be compelled to draw t-he attention of the British Government to the subject. The opium agreement between the Chinese and British Governments provides:— 1. China shall annually diminish the production of opium proportionately with the Indian export until its extinction in 1017. 2. Recognising China's successful prohibition of the use of opium. Great Britain agrees that the Indian importation into China shall cease earlier if the native production ceases. 3. Indian opium shall not be conveyed into those provinces which furnish proofs of local suppression providing that Shanghai and Canton are "the last ports to be closed. 4. China -undertaking to levy a uniform tax on Chinese opium. Great Britain agrees to a consolidated import tax of 350 taels per eLest. 5. China shall forthwith remove the provincial restrictions upon the wholesale sale of Indian opium, and shall not permit further taxation at the port of entry, otherwise Great Britain may suspend or terminate the agreement. 6. The Indian exports shall not exceed 30,600 dhests in 1,911, and shall be reduced by 5,100 chests annually. T-hese cheets shall be numbered and sealed. A LIEUTENANTS MURDER. (Received 10-50 ajn.) LONDON, December 18. Lieutenant Eckford's party was emerging from a jungle in SoutherPersia when it was fired on by natives from the hills. The party pursued their assailants, who numbered 150, and shots were exchanged, Lieutenant Eckford being shot through the heart. IMMIGRANT FLOW. _* LONDON, December 18. Mr. Percy Hunter, immigation agent for New South Wales, predicts a considerable diminution in Australian immigration in 1913. There are already, he states, signs of a material reduction. Canada is making renewed efforts to secure immigrants by paying a bonus of £2 for farm hands. Domestics are now more difficult to get in consequence of increased wages being paid in England, due to past emigration. Mr. Hunter returns to Sydney in January. CABLE REDUCTIONS. LONDON, December IS. Mr. Herbert Samuelj Postmaster-Gen-eral, in reply to a question in the House of Commons, said tbe Government would not answer Australia's request for a subsidiary conference on cable rates until the Atlantic eiable rates had been red_(Kd. He added that further reductions were contemplated on January 1.