revenue, increased cost
cost of
collection; the demoralization of the people and the police;
and at no distant date the enforced extinction of the opium revenue.
18.
For the reasons
which I have had the
honour of stating I cannot too strongly impress Your Lordship the extreme importance of maintaining the opium farm in Hongkong. I have purposely refrained
from
470
from discussing the feasibility of suppressing the use
of opium in the Colony, for ~
even
if the Government had the moral right to attempt to do this, the most superficial
acquaintance with the local circumstances would suffice to demonstrate the futility of such an endeavour. Suppression
could not be
any
effected by
measure short of criminalising the whole of the Chinese population, and
constantly