Dee Those who take any interest in' the question of opium, but have been unable to make much of the daily cabled reports from Geneva, will welcome the clear exposition by our London correspondent to-day of how the: conference came to meet and what it sought to do. From the standpoint of humanity as a whole, the objects in view are indisseverable, namely, suppress sion of the cultivation of nar-ceties and the suppression of their use, except, of course medi-cinelly. Obviously if the latter aim could he achieved the former would follow naturally: if nobody smoked opium or took drugs, it would not be worth anyone's while to cultivate them. In practice, such a desirable way of attaining reform can hardly be contrived and it becomes necessary to abolish drug-taking and smoking by cutting off the wherewithal. Theoretically easy the production of opium in China had practically ceased in 1917; and that, although opium was now being cultivated, the chief cause of smoking was the opium that was smuggled into China from abroad. Unfortunately for himself Dr. Sze encountered a delegate, Sir Malcolm Del vingne, who seems to have devoted considerably more study' to the question in issue than is usually found in the West when Chinese topics are discussed. Sir Malcolm complained that the Chinese delegates had making exactly—the sam speeches for three years; he minded the conference that China produced the bulk of the world's opium and yet in 1022 she forwarded a report to the League asserting that, cultivation had ceased; and he asked Dr. Sze what on earth extraterritorial rights had to do with restriction of poppy cultivation, which was the question before the conference. Thus pinned down by his formidable antagonist, Dr. Sze made a new statement, a few days later, admitting that opium was being enough, this method, as the conference has shown, is full of|S™0W%, largely because the traps.
America, as not un-/Myitarists wanted money. "TU naturally ina country. which sation, however, was has no opium problem and has just wiped out all alcohol (on paper) by a stroke of the pen, demands a time limit, after which all nations shall bind themselves to grow no more opium. But the methods of the Eighteenth Amendment are no analogy for opium reform. if the American Government cides that a Californian wine. grower shall make no more wine, the winegrower being in the minority must submit and allow. the majority the pride of appearing virtuous at no expense to itself. But it is impossible to treat the Indian or Burmese farmer in that way. He demands compensation especially when he sees that his Persian, Turkish and Chinese colleagues sre left undisturbed.
Again there is the difficulty of international or national control, over which the conference broke down badly though not' surprisingly—an illustration, by the way, of the very small practical value of the League of Nations when it comes to a question of common submission to its dictates. On the very second day Dr. Alfred Sze, the Chinese delegate, "declared that he strongly objected to interference with the internal affairs of China." The freedom which he claimed may naturally be asserted by others, and with far renter justification. The con-
The allusion to extraterritorial rights is interesting, because it really explains the secret aim which the Chinese - delegates have been following in every international opium conference. Dr. Sze had said "that China was suffering from the acts of me dividuals over whom she had no control owing to the obliga-jon imposed on her to concede extraterritorial rights to nationals of certain Powers." Hence, we are to suppose, if only she could get at the wicked foreigner, there would be no opium in China; and hence, also, Sir Malcolm Delevingne's' last-quoted, pointed question. Now in this connexion there is a very illuminating passage in Mr, Biand's book "China, Japan and Korea" from the chapter "Peking in 1920":—
Ignoring the fact that opium is grown in many parts of with the obvious conn officials, and that the trade lo conducted "at many centres under oficial auspices, a section of Young China's mandarins has." recently drawn the usual red herring across the opium trail and endeavoured make the corrupt traffic' serve the purposes of its campaign for the abolition of extraterritoriality. former days, when its frst object wae to got rid of the competition of the Indian opiunt trade, Young China and the foreign Anti-Opium Societies used to declare that China could and. would abolish. opium completely, when, one, the Indian
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.