The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1913-07-01
NATIONS MAKE WAR
ON NOXIOUS DRUGS
Representatives of Nearly Every
Country OF World Will Gather
at The Hague Today.

washington, June 30.-With the
purpose of taking the last step
necessary to crush out the interna-
tional traffic in smoking opium, CO.
cafne and other noxious and habit
forming drugs, representatives of
nearly all the nations of the world
will gather at The Hague Tuesday
to continue the international con
ference which adjourned in that can
ital January %, 1912.
The purpose of the present gath
ering is TO ascertain whether a suffi-
cient number of powers will join in
ratitying the international conven-
ton looking to the suppression of
the opium traffic, drafted by that
conference, to insure it's successful
operation.
Opium has long been a cause of
serious international conflict.
China and Great Britain having gone
to war on the subject in 1910, when
the opium war" finally resulted in
the cession of Hongkong to Great
Britain. The recent movement for
the suppression of the trade in habit
FORMING drugs is American in origin.
Beginning in 1906 systematic eff
tort to secure this result by inter
national action, the state department
succeeded N the creation of the in
ternational commission, which met
In Shanghai in 1909, and paved the
way for the more official gathering
or delegates at The Hague in De-
cember, 1911. This conference.
after two months hard work, agreed
upon the form of a general conven-
tion which, broadly speaking. was
calculated to put an end to inter
national dealing in harmful drugs.
THE TWELVE POWERS.
There were twelve powers party
to this agreement, America, China
france, Germany, Great Britain,
Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Port
ugal, Russia, Siam and Persia.
1t was pointed out that 1t would
De useless for these countries, the
largest producers and users to
agree TO radical measures for the in
ternational control OF habit drugs.
so long as it was open to the citizens
or the states not represented at the
conference to continue or take up
the productions and trafics. There
1ore, the conference adjourned Jan
uary 23, 1912, with the understand
ing that the thirty-four governments
or Europe and America, which had
not participated should be invited
to join in the ratification of the con-
vention. If this could not be ac-
complished by December 81. 1912
another conference was to follow at
me Hague to provide for the rati-
fication Of the convention. This
date was subsequently postponed
until July 1, 1918.
TWO HOLDING OUT.
In the meantime the government
or Netherlands and the United
states government have been earn
estly addressing themselves to the
task OF securing the adherence OF
the outside powers with such suc-
cess that but two, Turkey and Peru.
are now holding out. The Turkish
opium is of the highest grade and
used altogether for medicinal mr.
poses, 1t Is practically certain that
Turkey will adhere 10 the conyen-
ton when 1t can be shown that this
industry would not be injured nv
the treaty. Peru has been reluctant
to join, because of the serious lose
that would result from the destruc-
tion OF her profitable trade In
cocoa, from which cocaine is ex-
tracted.
No doubt is entertained at the
state department of the ultimate an
proval or the convention, though II
is admitted that some effort NAV be
tried to amend II in certain respects
The next step then will be for the
various governments to deposit at
The Hague formal ramifications