4
447
i
such as
Chinese labour, I
large employers of
I have n
now
the honour to report that I am firmly of opinion that the abolition of the opium farming system would from every point of view be the gravest possible mistake.
3.
It would serve no
me
to
useful purpose for me to attempt to argue the general question of the morality of the traffic in opium, or to discuss the smaller but important question how far it is either right or expedient to interfere with the liberty of the subject with a view to restricting the consumption of opium by the Chinese residents in Hong Kong within the narrowest possible limits. The devotion of not a little of my time and attention to a study of the general question has resulted in the conclusion that the balance