ABSTRACT
FOR many years opium has been not only a drug, but a political issue, and a somewhat ambiguous part which Japan played in the business in the early days of Taisho has to be recounted. Much has been said regarding the trade in opium between India and China, the best apology for which was that both in bulk and in quality the Indian opium imported into China compared with the home-grown product much as the champagne imported into England compared with the beer brewed there. It was recognised, however, that the opium, whether Indian or Chinese, was more harmful than beer or champagne, but the British Government, which derived large revenues from the sale of opium, was disinclined to suppress the trade for the benefit of the Chinese growers. The awakening in China which led to the revolution of 1911 had warranted the hope that China would make a real effort to suppress the cultivation of the poppy, and the Government of India undertook to extinguish its opium export to China by regular stages spread over a decade. The successful achievement of the revolution, culminating in the abdication of the Manchus on February 12, 1912, gave an added strength to the movement, and the abolition of poppy cultivation in China was so successful that for some time the Government of India gained by its bargain, owing to the rapid rise in price.
