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Winifred Coombe Tennant at the League of Nations THREAD 3
International Humanitarian or National Representative? Coombe Tennant, the Opium Trafficking commission and the Hong Kong dilemma.
In 1922, Coombe Tennant became the first woman to represent Britain at the League. 1/11
International Humanitarian or National Representative? Coombe Tennant, the Opium Trafficking commission and the Hong Kong dilemma.
In 1922, Coombe Tennant became the first woman to represent Britain at the League. 1/11
Like most women delegates, prevailing gendered assumptions saw her allocated responsibility to speak on humanitarian issues, to which it was assumed she had a ‘natural affinity’. In this capacity she found herself part of attempts to combat the international traffic of opium.
At first, the subject appeared dull to Coombe Tennant, who complained of the ‘dreadful long speeches’ that dominated the commission’s business. It was a familiar approach to business: ‘huge cigars all around me’ and three-hour debates in smoke filled conference rooms.
It soon became clear, however, that she could not be a passive participant in this debate. Early on, Arthur Steel-Maitland, delegate for New Zealand, expressed his intention to condemn British exports of opium ‘in excessive of legitimate need’ to Hong Kong in an amendment.
The heat was rising. Upon hearing from Coombe Tennant of the proposal, the delegations from Britain and India were ‘froissé’, and quickly convened a meeting of all British Empire delegates in attempt to avoid public wrangles. But agreement could not be reached.
Despite British pledges to cease all opium shipments to China in 1907, exporting from India to Hong Kong remained a lucrative trade in 1922. By overflowing Hong Kong with opium, critics implied, Britain was using it as a backdoor to access China’s drug markets.
On the face of it, Coombe Tennant was in an untenable position. Her task was to help draft tough international legislation which would stamp out the international traffic in opium, while simultaneously defending Britain’s right to export it ‘in excess of legitimate need’.
Yet, when the offending amendment – an ‘attack’ on Britain – was formally proposed, Coombe Tennant’s loyalties were in no doubt. In a speech in the Assembly she countered Steel-Maitland, and eagerly reported to Balfour afterwards that she had ‘pulverised him’ with her response.
‘It is a curious position, a man who had held office… answered by a woman’, she recalled in her diary, ‘I think he positively hates me’. Despite embodying this ‘Hong Kong dilemma’ – condemning and justifying from one breath to another – she took pride in her work and rebuttal.
Coombe Tennant contributed to many humanitarian successes as a delegate, yet her position on opium exports to Hong Kong remained long after she departed from Geneva. For League delegates, it seems, national ties superseded humanitarian idealism in this era of internationalism.
The refusal of successive British delegations to address the issue strained the legitimacy of the commission and provoked frustration from delegates from other nations. It was an attitude which stunted international efforts on the subject for years to come. END
