File No. 774/135.
Ambassador Tower to the Secretary of State.
Berlin,November 5, 1907.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Bacon’s dispatch No. 727, of the 14th of October, 1907 (File No. 774), in regard to the correspondence which the Government of the United States has had with its diplomatic representatives at London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, The Hague, and Peking relating to an investigation of the opium question in the Far East.
In compliance with the instructions contained in that dispatch I have addressed this day a note to His Excellency Herr von Schon, imperial German secretary of state for foreign affairs, in which I have inclosed to him copies of the replies from the Governments of Great Britain, dated March 14, 1907; of France, dated July 3, 1907; [Page 170] of Japan, dated March 27, 1907; of the Netherlands, dated March 27 and May 11, 1907, respectively; and of China, dated July 23, 1907, which have been received by the Government of the United States to its initial inquiry made in regard to the proposal of the United States to conduct a joint and impartial investigation of the scientific and material conditions of the opium trade and the opium habit in the Far East.
Upon transmitting these inclosures to His Excellency Herr von Schön I have conveyed to him the expression of the sincere gratification of the United States Government at the acceptance in principle by Germany of the joint opium commission and our appreciation of the friendly interest in the contemplated effort to suppress the opium evil in the Far East. I have also inquired whether or not the German Government finds it convenient to suggest a place and time of meeting of the proposed commission, it being thought that the several governments may prefer to await the selection of a place and date of meeting before proceeding to name commissioners.
I have, etc.,