Evening star., 1924-11-17
OPIUM CONFERENCE
OPENS UNDER CLOUD

Continued from First Page.J
nese resentment over the statement
made Saturday by Sir Malcolm De
Levingne. British delegate, tnat
Great Britain could not habitually
recognize import certificates because
Of scandals over them involved hlgh
officials in one Far Eastern country
whom he preferred not to name.
The British position was that, oe-
spite regularly issued import pa
pers, OPIUM. as well as other harcotic
drugs. often were diverted on the
way to the country of purchase ana
forwarded to other destinations,
where they were used for Illicit pur-
poses and Illicit gain, thus bringing
a stain on the name of Great Britain,
which permitted the export.
John Campbell, representing lndla,
took a similar stand, which caused
the Japanese delegate to remark sar-
casticaIly that India seemed clearly
under the dominion of England. The
Japanese introduced q resolution pro-
viding that the Importation, eXporta-
ton and transshipment of opium
should be authorized when accompa-
MED by certificate issued by compe-
tent authorities. 1t declared that the
authorities of all ports should strict
~ abstain from any unfair discrim-
ination on the ground of nationality
of vessel or the origin of the goods.
Charge Interference.
The japanese contended that when
they tried to transship opium
at Honkkong the British authorities
interfered and prevented re-eNporta-
ton They held this was an attack
on Japanese good faith, which could
not be tolerated.
Sir Malcolm De Levigne insisted on
Great Britain's right to Investigate
all opium expectations, even if they
were accompanied by official certifi-
Gates.
Publicly admitting that 1t was Jap
anese officials who were implicated
in the opium scandals, Mr.. Sugimura,
the chief Japanese delegate. yester-
day, amid tense silence, read state
nient in which he declared that ma
tionS often are blind to their own
faults, but quick to see the defects in
others. He added that no interna-
tional accord was possible when mu-
tual confidence was lacking; hence,
he regretted that Japan could sign
no accord arranged in Geneva.
The import certificates system, MIR.
Sugimura pointed out, had been in
stituted under the direction of the
League of Nations and Japan would
insist to the bitter end on its being
lived up to.
This is the first time in the his
tory of the League of Nations" Mr..
Sugimura declared In stentorian
tones, that any nation has cast in
our teeth the repre- hensible incident
involving Japanese officials, who
were adequately punished. We are
Il nation of the Samurai, and to us
honor is more than all. You are
fashioning here system based on
suspicion instead of on love and con-
fidence.
Japanese pessimistic.
From the very beginning we
japanese have been pessimistic
about the results, and now We prefer
to declare before the whole world
why We are unable to reach an
agreement and to leave to public
opinion the task of forcing an eQui-
table agreement later"
In making his allusion to Great
Britain, Mr.. Sugimura concluded
dramatically:
when all nations are able to see
themselves in the looking-glass we
may attain real international CO.
operation"
A long silence ensued, with all the
delegates flushed of face and wear
ing worried looks. One of the nu-
merous Japanese delegates did not serve
to allay the panicky atmosphere when he
strode to the press benches and dis
tributed a statement.
The statement set forth that Japan
had come to Geneva earnestly de-
sirous of signing an accord to stop
opium smoking, but that she was con-
vinced the principle of gradual and
effective. suppression provided for in
The Hague convention had not been
followed satisfactorily. Furthermore,
the system of import certificates con-
stituted by the League of Nations
had not been recognized by several
countries. thereby imperiling Japan's
fundamental policy, which, 1t was
declared, was that of having abolish
ed all unjust discrimination between
nations.