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Government is keeping well ahead of the Chinese Government in the stops taken to stamp out the opium habit, although British trade is only 1/8th to 1/10th of the whole of the Opium coneumed in -
China.
The production in China of native opium being 8 to 10 times Be large se the total import of the foreign drug, the cultiva- tion of China opium ie the thing to watch, not so much the foreign trade, and the only way to stop opium emcking in China is by getting the provincial Authorities to curtail the production of the native drug, otherwiɛs, while our trace will dwinile, Chinese opium will flourish, and derive the benefit of the falling off of British trade, and this is surely what the Chinese pro- vincial officials dégire, and in this regard we would call atten- tion to Sir Edward Grey's despatch to Sir M. Durand dated October 17th 1906 where he says
"If, on the other hand, China was simply to prevent the in- "portation of foreign opium in order that individual Chinese "might grow more opium themselves and realize a higher price "for it in Chins, then it would be useless for us to make "aacrifices.
*Us* there, means, Great Britain, or in other words, the Govern- ment of India and Great Britain's merchants dealing in raw opium.
Te would wish that it should be pointed out to the British Govermusent that it lɛ a known fact that Chins n t only consumes ten times as much more opium than ie imported into China but she also exports Chins grown opium to Hongkong, Saigon, Singapore, Bangkok and other places.
Mr. Leach, Councillor at the British Logation, in his seco nd Report on the Opium question states :-
"Since the end of November 1907 when the previous General "Report on the Anti-Opium movement was written, the two most "no ticeable featurée have been the continued interest and