Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-30
CONFER ON OPIUM
Representatives of Many
Countries Meet at Hague.
WOULD REGULATE TRAFFIC
i.
American Delegation to Take Lead.
ing Part in Discussions-Loss
Would Be Great.
Special Cablegram to The Star.

Special Cablegram to The Star.
THE HAGUE, Holland. November 30
Representatives from practically every
civilized country are here today prepar-
ing for the opening tomorrow of the in
ternational conference on opium that
was called by David Loyd-George,
chancellor Of the British exchequer, >and
Philander c. Knox, Secretary Of State
Of the United States. Among the coun-
tries whose delegates will participate in
the conference are France, Germany,
Italy. Japan, the Netherlands. Persia,
Portugal, Russia and Siam.
The American delegation is composed
Of Bishop Charles Brent of the Philip
pines (chairman). DR.. Hamilton Wright
of Maine and Henry ]. Finger of Cali
fornia, delegates, and Frederick L.
Huidekoper. District of Columbia, and
Wallace ]. Young of Illinois, secretaries.
The avowed object of the conference
IS the devising of ways and means Tor
the regulation of the traffic in opium.
ference, the leading nations Of the world
will cooperate to place not only the
opium traffic. but that in cocaine and
morphine. under the control of Internal
tional law.
To Assemble in Knights Hall.
Il, The meeting is the outcome of the
preliminary conference held at Shang-
hal, China, in 1909. The delegates will
assemble in the historic Knights hGA
the Binnenhof-where the peace confer
ence Of 1907 was held, and in which
Queen Wilhelmina formally opens the
sessions of the states-generai. The great
building is deliberately decorated in honor
of the world-important meeting.
m n al Snn
from their governments to enter into
agreements relative to the drug traf-
ic. 1t is understood that the Ameri-
can delegates have some important
proposition to advance in connection
with the framing OF the proposed reg
sulations, but they would not disclose
the nature of these proposals today.
The American delegates are said to
strongly support Great Britain in the
effort to have restrictions applied to
traffic in morphine and cocaine, al
though the original project contem-
plated merely the control of The opium
trade The effort to include the other
habit-forming drugs is later devel-
opment, but one with which the Amer
lean representatives are said to be In
hearty accord.
Sought Means of Relief.
Since the earliest days of Christian
missionary work in the orient, the
workers have felt the handicap and
menace of the opium evil. and have
cast about for a means of relief. Lat
terly. the ruin wrought by the habit
forming drugs has spread extensively
to other countries. and the peril in
the situation has been brought home
to Americans by an enormous increase
in the consumption of such drugs in
the United States, according to the
statement of one of the American
delegates today. He declared that
there is now an annual consumption Of
cocaine in the United States alone of
upward OF 100000 ounces. being forty
times the quantity justified by legiti-
mate medical requirements.
The fact that England took the ini-
tiative in helping the United States
bring about the conference is signifi-
cant. British interests would sustain
q loss, in England and the colonies,
aggregating more than 500. 900. 900 a
year in event of the opium traffic be-
ing suppressed France and Siam also
would sustain a heavy financial loss.