4.
5.
6.
7.
58
advanced age could not be cured. The prevailing theory
has led to the formation of various schemes of registration
and the suggestion of lengthy time limits for the abolition
of Government Opium Monopolies.
7 Arguments for the maintenance of Monopolies hitherto, have been based almost entirely on two grounds
(e) Finance and
(6) Humanity,
i
and stress has been laid on the latter, it being argued
that the suffering of the addict deprived of Opium must
be tenderly considered. This argument will cease to be
effective if the theory mentioned above comes into general
acceptance.
The Hong Kong Government has stated that finance shall
not stand in the way of abolition, and arguments based
on the calls of humanity are likely to be proved invalid
in the near future. There therefore remains no argument
for the maintenance of the Opium Monopoly beyond the time
required to find some means of replacing the abandoned
umre of revenue.
The meaning of the telegram is not quite clear, but it is presumed that the purchase of Persian Opium
to replace the decreasing supplies sent by India will
also be vetoed. In any case the sale of a blend of Indian
and a large proportion of Persian Opium would be
unsuccessful at the present price of 14.50 per tael,
the blend being only a little superior to that on the contraband market costing only a quarter the price.
Supplies from India are decreasing at the rate of some
20 chests a year which means that after six years the from India ill be so small that it will not be worth- supplies while from a commercial point of view to maintain
any longer the Monopoly with its numerous staff.
> It would be quite feasible to abolish the Monopð þy
completely in 5 or 6 years, a period which would allow ample time to find new sources of revenue. Admittedly
the