ppy plant should never again be cultivated within
her borders, nor would the traffic in opium be tolerated,
and in the notes from the British and American governments
the pledge given at The Hague is brought directly to the
attention of those in authority at Peking. The two Western
governments named would hardly have taken such concurrent
action without a significant meaning, and a meaning which
Peking will not be permitted to treat with indifference
and impunity. It is certainly not the policy of either
British or American governments to interfere in the
domestic affairs of China, but both of those governments
do intend that no business shall be carried on as
demoralizing and offensive to the moral sense of the world
as the business of debauching and drugging with opium.
London and Washington really do not appear to be fully
enlightened as to conditions at Peking and the motives and
inspirations influencing officials in that Capital, and a
reformation there is as much needed as in Russia. It may
be written that at no time in Chinese history, during the
past two hundred years, has the name of China been so
disparaged and her reputation besmirched. Representatives
of the Allied nations and America are in Russia charged
with the duty of aiding in bringing about the unity of the
Russian people that they may establish a stable
government, and representatives of a similar character for
a like purpose are as much needed in China. Russia will
soon have a stable government, the choice of her people,
but China promises to go on unsettled so long as Peking
governs as at present.

From the "New York Times," November 25, 1918:

CHINA TO DESTROY OPIUM

1,200 CHESTS TO BE BURNED IN DEFERENCE TO ALLIED
REPRESENTATIONS

Copyright, 1918, by The New York Times Company. Special
Cable to "The New York Times."

PEKING, Nov. 23.--The Government has decided to destroy
the remaining stocks of opium in Shanghai in deference to
Anglo-American representations. Three hundred chests have
been sold, and 1,200 will be burned in presence of the
allied representatives, the Government making a virtue
of necessity.

America to the rescue! It must have been a close squeak for poor old
China.

APPENDIX II

From the "New York Medical Record," October 12, 1918:

THE ORIGIN OF