London, Apr. 10.
Sir John Jordan, in a letter to "The Times" on the subject of Chinese drug traffic, says that ho cannot endorse the statement that Chinese interest: in the suppression campaign from 1907 to 1917 was due to a desire to stop foreign importation. He is convinced that the movement aimed throughout at suppression of native cultivation no less than stoppage of foreign importation. Nevertheless, prohibition and State regulation of opium are both ineffective under present condition' in China. The only effective remedy lies in the elimination of militarism, which is re sponsible for the revival of cultivation. Chinese Chambers of Commerce have already started a movement for the removal of this incubus, which is pressing heavily on the whole economic life of the country, and have solicited the ce-operation of their foreign friends in the attainment of thei programme.
British and American public opinion, Sir John Jordan declares, count for much in China. The fact that interest is being aroused in Britain should prove a powerful stimulus to the representatives of the commercial classes there initiated the movement.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.