Authority of League of Nations Commission Now in Shanghai Does Not Include China: Interview with Chief Envoy an_ interview given to a representative - of the "North-China Daily News," Mr.
Omar Ekstrand, Swedish Mi ister to Buenos Aires and Chairman of the League of Nations Opium Commission, emphasized that the Commission was merely passing through Shanghai en route to Dairen where its investigations will be continued. The Commission will not make any inquiry into the opium question in China as its authority from the League of Nations does not include China but does include territories governed by Great Britain, America, Holland, Japan, Siam, France, and Portugal.
The Commission is composed of, His Excellency and the following request of China in regard to the constitution of the Commission was agreed to, then obviously the Commission would to inelade re-Presentatives of Il other nations, hose territory was proposed to be of course, such 1. An impartial desired by the Powers and for that reason the Proposal of China's delegates could not be acceded to:
In regard to' China's other proposal. It was desired by the other nations that only opium, in this stance, should be the subject for ion, Indeed, another Board, called the Central Board, already had been formed to deal Discovery by an_ Observant Customs Officer A clever and most unusual hide ling: place for opium on board a river vessel has been discovered by a Customs searcher whose eye was jeaught by a piece of machinery, which he reasoned, seemed to unnecessary. On closer examination, it proved to mask a "hide" and another of these was found in a similar position on the other side of the ship. The total capacity of, the two is three-quarters of a ton. 4 The searcher was walking down the shaft tunnel, which also carries pipes which connect with the bilges. JAt one spot there was a connection: th another and wider piece of riping a few inches long, which was lserewed to the floor and supposedly, connected to the bilges. He searched and saw no useful purpose for this.
there were other connections in, the normal positions, He informed his superiors, and they obtained the plans of the ship from the office, gentleman: M. Max Leo Gerard, with the question of other drugs and was accordingly desired by and, nothing fas said about thd until the vessel returned front Director of the Belgian State Office for the Redemption of the Public Debt, and Dr, Jan Havlase, member of the -Czech Academy and former Czecho-Slovakian Minister to Rio de Janeiro. The secretary to the Commission is Mr, Bertil A. Renborg. Mr. Renborg will be remembered as a former Acting-Consul General for Norway in Shanghai and a member of the Consular Body in 1925. The offiial title of the Commission is League of Nations Commission of Inquiry into Opium Smoking in the Far East" and the members arrived in Shanghai on Thursday] evening in the str. Chosa Maru from Formosa, Leaving Geneva on September 4 Inst year, the Commission commenced its investigation in Burm: Then the following territory ws ited: Bhamo, Lashio, Penai Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jays Bangka, Sumatra, Bangkok, Siam, Saigon, Indo-China (from one end to the other), Kwanckowwan, Hongkong, Macao, Philippine Islands, and' Formosa. Passing through 'Shanghai, the Commission will visit Dairen, Mukden (Japanese terri tory), and Japan. The Commission will then return' to Geneva vid Canada, conducting the inquiry, the members have investigated all posible sources in order to get an impartial and comprehensive idea of the situation. Evidence has been taken from Governors, Ministers of] Finance, many other official bankers, merchants, shipowners, teachers, missionaries, and opium smokers of all classes including, coolies.
His Excellency laid stress on the fact that in all cases the Commission had received—wholehearted support from all and that the greatest courtesy and hospitality had been extended in all countries! visited. The investigation is expected to be completed next month and the Com expected to] arrive in Geneva during early May when the report will be comrienced. Continuing, the Minister said, that the report, of course, belongs to the League of Nations, and_ he could not, therefore, say anything]
ding' the opinions arrived at during the tour of investigations. The conference should have taken place in 1929 in accordance with a decision arrived at by the League of Nations in 1924, but that course was not practicable and the conference will, as present arrangements stand, take place in the latter part of this year or in the! early part of 1931, A reference to the reports proceedings at the former confer-fences in the League of Nations: on the question of opium smoking in the Far East reveals the fact that China's delegates were present and did not, at the conclusion of the deliberations, invite the Commission to investigate the evil in China, Two points were raised by China. Firstly. That China be allowed to nominate a Chinese to serve on the: Commission and, secondly, that the investigation to' be carried out by the Commission should include morphia, morphine, and other drugs.
The Powers could not agree to these proposals for the following reasons, In the first place, if the the other nations that this Board, exclusively formed for the purpose, should deal with drugs other than opium, The two proposals of China having been negatived, no invitation was extended to the opium Commis-nto make investigations in China, In this connection it is interesting to refer to a report on poppy xrowing which was received from a correspondent of the "North-China Daily News" in Anhui and which appeared in last Thursday's issue, The position, even to those who studied the opium menace in amazing. Our North central Anhui has for many years grown large crops of opium and found it an exceptionally well paying industry. The crop is planted in the autumn in the richest soil and well-fertilized, then it is harvested in the early spring. The writer has seen places in Anhui where not one blade of any other crop could be seen except the popular poppy from which the opium is made.
The extensive cultivation of the opium crop is one reason for the scarcity of food stuffs this year. The best rice land is used for opium, and hence the scarcity and hi prices of rice, in spite of th large amount of money that goes into opium little of it gets into the hands of the farmers because of the immense tax the farmer has to pay. The farmers inform me that they hi to pay as high as what would amount to several hundred dollars per English acre. This money gets to the hands of the local govern-ut..." To call this taxing of the opium crop " suppress: sion" is pure bunk or in plain terms it is deception and lying on the part of those who for one reason or another do not wish the truth to be made known, In reality this tax results in giving government recognition to the opium producers so that the opium grower has not the slightest reason for fearing suppression. A few years ago the farmer would plant his opium and te rows.... the: writer has often seen them pulling up the wheat before it had matured 9 a8 to give the opium the full use of the land and thus giving up the immediate harvest of a good wheat crop in favour of opium.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.