Page 52 note 2. S.S. Leg. Co. Proceedings, September 27, 1907.

Page 53 note 3. See for example, Excise Bill 1867; Ordinance IX if 1894: An ordinance to consolidate and amend the law for collecting a revenue of Excise on opium and the preparations thereof; Ordinance XI of 1894: An ordinance to con. solidate and amend the law for collecting a revenue of excise upon spirituous liquors, fermented liquors and bhang.

Page 53 note 4. Quoted from memorandum by Joseph G. Alexander, Hon. Secretary for Suppression of the Opium Trade Society. Enclosed in Despatch No. 272 of September 19, 1907 from Secretary of State to Sir J. Anderson.

Page 54 note 5. In 1870 selling price of chandu was $1.66 per tahil; in 1879 it was $1.80; in 1882 it was $2.20 In 1904 it was $3.00.

Page 54 note 6. Leg Co. Proceedings. December 11, 1890. Debate on Excise Amendment Bill.

Page 54 note 7. Governor Weld to London, February 12, 1883.

In stamping out the 1883 smuggling conspiracy, government brought into operation Section 12 of the Excise Ordinance 1870, which prohibited the export of opium, except under permit, to anv place in the Netherland Indies, or in Malaya. A $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to the conviction of the ringleaders 225 suspects were arrested. (GD.22. February 26, 1883. No. 73: Despatch from Sir F. Weld to Secretary of State.)

Four ringleaders were banished. They were:-

Tan Eng Cheng

Tan Ah Choo

Tan Hok Seng

Tan Moh Yong.

Page 55 note 8. As a result of a resolution passed in the House of Commons in 1893, the Royal Commission On Opium was appointed to study the opium problem in India.

Page 56 note 9. Wright & Rcid: pp.211 - 213.

Between 1867 and 1889, the Straits Settlements had contributed around £50,000 per annum towards her military defences. But in 1890, at the completion of an extensive system of fortifying coaling stations in the East, the Straits was told to contribute double; £100.000. After much agitation from the Straits, this contribution was fixed at 20% of the gross revenue of the Colony. Since the Straits revenue was increasing between 1890—1904, this 20% always amounted to more than £100,000.

Page 56 note 1. Between 1867 and 1889, the Straits Settlements had contributed around £50,000 per annum towards her military defences. But in 1890, at the completion of an extensive system of fortifying coaling stations in the East, the Straits was told to contribute double; £100.000. After much agitation from the Straits, this contribution was fixed at 20% of the gross revenue of the Colony. Since the Straits revenue was increasing between 1890—1904, this 20% always amounted to more than £100,000.

Page 57 note 2. Dr, Wu Lien-teh was born in 1879 in Penang. He received his medical training in England, where he was later engaged in bacteriological research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In 1903 he returned to Malaya and spent one year at the Kuala Lumpur Institute of Research, but his activities aroused the opposition of a government sensitive of its opium revenue, and he moved to China. He returned to Singapore after the war.

Page 57 note 3. Mi. J. G. Alexander was the Hon. Secretary of the Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade. He spent a fortnight in the Straits Settlements (October 2t>—November 8) on his way to China, as a minister of the Society of Friends. (ST. October 28, 1906, p.5: “Anti-Opium Campaign”.) He first visited the Straits in 1894. (M.M. October 1906, Vol.XV, No.l, p.7.)

Page 58 note 4. Dr. Chen Su-Ian is one of the most enthusiastic anti-opiumists. He was the director of the Anti-Opium Clinic, and president of the Singapore Anti-Opium Society in the 1930's. In 1935, he published two booklets on “The Opium Problem in British Malaya” and “Opium and Tuberculosis”.

Page 59 note 5. Dr. R. M. Connolly was an Irishman who came to the Straits Settlements to join the Government Medical Services but later resigned in order to enter private practice and to edit the “Times of Malaya”. Dr. Connolly was also interested in tin-mining. In 1906 he started the Perak Anti-Opium Society and became its first president. (A. Wright and H. A. Cartwright: p.160.)

Page 59 note 6. Mr. R. Laidlaw, Liberal member of Parliament was an anti opiumist. In 1907 he made a world tour in order to learn at first-hand the details concerning the opium trade. In December he visited the Straits, where he addressed several anti-opium audiences. Mr. Laidlaw was later appointed as one of the British delegates to the 1909 Shanghai Opium Conference. (S.B. November 19, 1908, p.3).

Page 60 note 7. Dr. Lien-teh, Wu: Plague Fighter (Cambridge) 1959. p.242 Google Scholar.

Page 61 note 8. COD. 153. No. 129. Despatch from CO. to Sir John Anderson, April 25r 1907.

Page 62 note 9. H.P.D. May 30, 1906. Vol. 158, p.514: Debate on the Indo-Chinese opium trade.

Page 62 note 10. New Zealand and Australia had prohibited the import of opium except for medical purposes. Formosa had restricted the sale of opium through Government depots, and to registered smokers only. Philippines had adopted the Formosa system with the provision that all smokers must give up the habit within three years, or else leave the country. China had adopted the Philippine system, but fixed their time limit at ten years. The Dutch had since 1895 abolished the farming system gradually in Java. (Memorandum of Mr. J. G. Alexander on “The Opium Trade”. Enclosed in COD. 154. September 19, 1907. No. 272. Despatch from CO. to Sir John Anderson.)

Page 63 note 11. Straits Times, July 20, 1907, p.6. Report on the appointment of the Commission.

Page 63 note 12. Opium Commission Report. Vol. III. Appendix VI. p.82.

Extract from the Union Times, a Chinese newspaper, regarding the appointment of the Commission, and issued as a circular in Singapore by the Anti- Opium Society.

Page 67 note 1. O.C.R. Vol. 1. p.44. V.331.

Page 67 note 2. O.C.R. Vol. I. p.15. V.100: The China Mutual Life Insurance Company used the practical standard of two chees per day as the maximum consumption of persons who, without organic disease, were accepted as 1st class risks.

Page 67 note 3. O.C.R. Vol.11, pp.160, 164, 211.

Chua Giang Thye, an opium farmer, estimated that about 12,000-14,000 tahils of chandu was smuggled per year. Khaw Joo Choe estimated that this was 50,000 tahils per year.

Page 68 note 4. Doctors Lim Boon Keng, S”. C. Yin, H. L. Luering, Wc Lien-teh, and M. J. Wright.

Page 68 note 5. O.C.R. Vol.11, q.4033, 4029, 5901, 5950, 10769, 12977. Evidences given by Khaw Joo Choe, Gan Ngoh Bee, Cheah Teck Thye and Tan Teck Soon.

Page 69 note 6. Opium dross is the residue of opium smolcing. This residue is collected and mixed with some chandu, and re-sold at a lower price. Dross is swallowed, and is more harmful than opium.

Page 69 note 7. O.C.R. Vol.11, p.692. v.13627, Evidence given by Mr. W. E. Birch.

Page 70 note 8. O.C.R. Vol.1, pp.29-30. v.211-213.

Page 71 note 9. O.C.R. Vol.1, p.30. v.214, 215, 221: Public opium smoking shops were to be confined to the main streets of the Chinese quarter of the larger towns. The shops had to meet the sanitary conditions, and the amount of air-space per smoker, specified by the Government, and the opening hours were limited to, 7.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.

Page 71 note 10. Dr. Ken, Wong Lin. The Malayan Tin Industry to 1914 . (An unpublished Ph.D. thesis, London, 1959). pp. 718, 720-1, 724Google Scholar.

Page 72 note 11. O.C.R. Vol.1, p.43. v.319

Page 72 note 12. O.C.R. Vol.1, p.43. v.321.