whose evidence on this point will readily be considered conclusive. He
affirms that he informed the Chinese Commissioner "that he had received
instructions from Lord Elgin[27] not to insist on the insertion of the
drug in the tariff, should the Chinese Government wish to omit it." But
the Commissioner _declined to omit it_. An increase of duty was then
proposed, but this was objected to by the Chinese themselves as affording
a temptation to smugglers.

It is clear, then, that no force came into play at all, except it were the
force of circumstances, and opium--like all other articles except
munitions of war and salt, which remained contraband--was admitted under a
fixed tariff. This in the case of opium was fixed at thirty taels per
picul (133-1/3 lbs.), and it was further agreed that opium should only be
sold at the port; that the likin or transit dues should be regulated as
the Chinese Government thought fit. The terms of this tariff were to be
revisable after the lapse of ten years.

Leaving for a moment the question of the foreign import as thus settled,
let us turn to the Chinese policy towards their own native growth. The
exact date of the introduction of the culture of the poppy into China is
unknown; but there can be little doubt that the cultivation has existed
for a considerable period. Edicts and proclamations against the
cultivation, some of them published last century, are sufficient evidence
of this. Mr. Watters, Consul at Ichang on the upper Yangtze, speaks of
opium-smoking as having existed _for centuries_ in Western China, where,
as we know, Indian opium never finds its way. The policy of the Government
with regard to this native growth has all along been of a piece with that
pursued towards the foreign import. While prohibited by the Government it
has been connived at and sanctioned by the local authorities. The reason
of this conflict between the local and imperial authorities is clearly
pointed out in the recent Parliamentary paper on opium, where a statement
of the Consul at Chefoo is quoted to the effect that "the authorities at
Pekin have always been hostile to the cultivation of native opium, on the
ground of its interfering with the revenue derived from the import of the
foreign drug. On the other hand, the local authorities steadily connive at
the growth, both from indolence and from the fact that they find it very
lucrative themselves, the growers being able and willing to pay largely
for th