n has ever set itself such a
gigantic task, with such a gigantic handicap. China, a country of
immense distances, with scant means of communication; with no common
language, a land where only the scholars can read and write, suddenly
decided to free herself from this vice. The Emperor issued an edict
saying that in ten years' time all opium traffic must cease, and an
arrangement was made with Great Britain whereby this might be
accomplished. To the honor of America be it said that we assisted China
in this resolution. We agreed to see her through.

A bargain was then made between China and Great Britain, in 1907, China
agreeing to diminish poppy cultivation year by year for a period of ten
years, and Great Britain agreeing to a proportional decrease in the
imports of Indian opium. A three years' test was first agreed to, a
trial of China's sincerity and ability, for Great Britain feared that
this was but a ruse to cut off Indian opium, while leaving China's
opium alone in the field. At the end of three years, however, China had
proved her ability to cope with the situation. Thus, for a period of
ten years, both countries have lived up to their bargain, the amount of
native and foreign opium declining steadily in a decreasing scale.
April 1, 1917, saw the end of the accomplishment.

China's part was most difficult. In the remote, interior provinces,
poppies were grown surreptitiously, connived at by corrupt officials
who made money from the crops. However, drastic laws were enacted and
severe penalties imposed upon those who broke them. If poppy
cultivation could not be stopped, England would not hold to her end of
the bargain. Not only was there a nation of addicts to deal with, but
these could obtain copious supplies of opium from the foreign
concessions, over which the Chinese had no control. We shall show, in
another article, to what extent this was carried on. Yet somehow, in
some manner, the impossible happened. Year by year, little by little,
one province after another was freed from poppy cultivation, until in
1917, China was practically free from the native-grown drug, and
foreign importation had practically ended.

In this manner, first by large smuggling, then by two opium wars, was
China drugged with opium. And in this manner, and to this extent, has
she succeeded in freeing herself from the curse. But in one way, she is
not free. She has no control over the extra-territorial holdings of
European powers, f