New Britain herald., 1925-02-07
CHINA RETIRES
 FROM CONFERENCE
Ve1d at Failure to Settle
 Opium Question
'y The Associated Press.

By The Associated Press.
 ' Geneva, Feb. 7.-The Chinese del. egation today, following the exam, pie set by the Americans yesterday, withdrew from the international opium conference.
 The chief Chinese delegate, S. Al fred Sze, did not appear for todays plenary session and sent his secre, Itary with a letter to President Zahle Isaying he believed no good purpose Fwould be served by his continuance in the conference and that Ie there. Tore felt obliged to cease participa. tion.
 M. Zahle at the opening of tn, session read letter he had sent to Representative stephen c. Porter in which he assured the head of the American delegation that the repre- sentattves Of all the other countries regretted his departure but hoped to find solutions of the problems con: fronting the conference.
 The Chinese communication ex- plained that the delegation was with drawn because of the conferences failure to reach satisfactory agree ment for the suppression of opium smoking in the>far east.
 MT. Sze recalled he had always held that no proposal was acceptable to China unless it gave definite as- surance that the legalIzed traffic in opium for smoking would be ended within reasonable time.
 Ut is apparent now from the prosopals made by the delegations of Great Britain, France, the Neither lands and Portugal and insisted upon them that the governments they represent are not at this time pre- pared to agree to adopt measures which, will meet the debt of the Chinese government" his communj- cation continued.
 China sincerely hopes that the policies of these governments will nave so altered that they can sec their way to the common adoption Of measures that will lead to the early total suppression of that le. gallzed traffic which now is bringing such misery and moral degradation 10 hundreds of thousands of the citi- zens of China living within their re- spective territories"
 Withdrawals Discussed After the announcement of thc Chinese withdrawal, J. J. Loudon, of Holland, arose and commented on the Withdrawal of the Chinese and American delegations, particularly the latter saying the American ac- tlon was largely the result of misun- derstanding. At the outset of tbe opium negotiations two years ago, he recalled he had avowed that the reaching of an accord had been made virtually impossible by the rigid Instructions which bound the American delegation.
 Mir. Loudon insisted that interna- tional conference implied mutual concessions and good will. and was destined to failure if one party has as an Imperative mandate, the order to impose it's will on the other mar. ties under the menace of rupture instead of instructions to take son,n account of an eventual divergence Inf views and of arguments which others might advance"
 MT. Loudon said that if the dis cnssion at the conference had been difficult and idle it was because MT Porter had never taken the trouble to explain his viewpoint or even to reply to the arguments of his on. ponents. The Netherlands delegate criticized MT. Porter on the ground that on the question of the con, sumption of narcotic drugs he had exacted the cooperation of the nro. dncing countries, while on the other hand, on the question of opim smoking he not only neglected to in. sist upon this cooperation but went so far as to argue that to stop opium production, the consuming countries should take the initiative.