459

the direct interest of every licensee to undersell his

fellows with a view to

securing as large a portion as possible of the custom of the

consumers,

No

The farmer is not the competitor but the

licensee has the smuggler: every licensee would have to face, in addition to this competitor, the competition of every other licensee, and the result would be that, whatever regulations

might be made to the contrary, the actual selling price would be quickly reduced to a minimum, and local consumption enormously increased.

8.

Thus I have shown that one result of abolishing the farm would be, for different reasons according as either of the available alternatives might be adopted,

9.

a vast increase in the local consumption of opium.

The remaining consideration adverte...

Share This Page