Geneva, May 27.
In an effort. to "suppress the worldwide trafic in drugs the narjeotic conference of the League of Nations convened here to-day.
Delegates from 51 nations are in attendance at the conclave, the pre~ siding officer of which is' Senator Louis de Brouckere of Belgium, May 27.
To-day's session of the Intornational Conference for the Limitation of the manufacture of narcotic drugs concluded the opening foralities and paved the way for further efforts to deal what. it is hoped will prove tobe a "death blow" to the "international dope ring" and the drug trafic generally, The conference which convened to-day will have as the basis of its discussion the draft, project of an {international convention prepared by the League's Opium Advisory con" mittee.
This has three essential requirements: first that every country the world shall make known legitimate needs five months in advance; secondly, that the total quantity of drugs manufactured Shall. be limited to these estimated needs; thirdly, that it shall be decided in advance how much of that total shall be produced in each manufacturing country, 'The principal, fight in the confer~ ence will be' between the nonmanufacturing countries, who are the victims of the producing coun tries and the latter, At the present time the principal manufacturing countries "in the world ave Holland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Turkey.
An effort to get these latter together as to the quota of production, that should be assigned to each was made last October at a conference libeld at London, This failed, largely through the demands of Turkey to be allowed to manufacture a quantity of narcotic Jdrags that would have been equal to about one-third of the entire world's needs.
In the event of the present confer~ fence succeeds in getting the halt dozen manufacturing, countries. together, first on the principle to limit their production to actual medical fand scientific needs, and secondly fas to the quota which each one shall be allowed to produce, it is expected there will be no difficulty in getting, the non-producing countries to accept the other provisions of the participating in the conference, i Over a score of countries ave cluding Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany," Grace: aly," Mexico," Monaco, ' Hollan imi, Spain, Switzerland, fed States, Uruguay and May 29.
The League of Nations conte fence on the manufacture of to-day heard. general dec! from several countries, Schultz, an Austrian urged the forbidding of manufac: ture of heroin. He declared—this drug was the most dangerous socially and frm the medical point of view the least necessary. submitted a reoiution which pro vides for the reduction of manufacture of heroin to zero and the destruction of all seized heroin.
That economic complexities are involved in drug manufacture imitation was shown by" Jugo-Slavian delegates objecting to the Graft convention's quota system he-cause it would probably unduly Jure the interests of Jugo-Slavia 8 a producer of raw opium, Switzetland, a manufacturing country, favoured the quota method.
Belgian delegates announced that Belgium would become a manufac: turing country, establishing a drug. factory to supply her domestic May 30, Today's session of the Opium Conference gave evidence of the [great divergence of opinion existing: fee tween the delegates as (0: the measures to be taken for the control lof the drug traffic, some takin the viewpoint that each country. should manufacture the quantity needed for ite own medical and scientific lose, the delegations of Belgium, Poland and Turkey thus announcing that factories are already being built in their countries for that purpose, The German delegate, Herr von Rheinbaten, informed the confer lence that in the course of the past few years the manufacture of habit-forming drags decreased in Ger-[many ty 50 per centi—Teans-Oceay
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.