465
fell off to such a serious
· extent that we had to revert
to the system of farming.
The receipts
to no more
in 1884 amounted
than $113,826 as
against $340,800, the amount
annually brought
in
by
the present farm. The same result would follow if we
were
again
to revert to the
issue of licenses. As soon as
the revenue had fallen off
on the abolition of the farm; and the substitution for it
of
a bonded warehouse
system,
or a
system of
licenses, the smallness of the
revenue at stake would
naturally be
urged by those who desire the abolition of the
opium revenue as a reason
for giving up
the
revenue
altogether. What would present serious difficulties when the revenue amounted to 3/2 or 4 lakhs, which is a moderate estimate of the value of the
farm, would become
comparative...