or in each treaty port are the foreign concessions
already mentioned--German, Austrian, British, French, Russian. And in
these concessions, opium may be procured. Simply by crossing an
imaginary line, in such cities as Shanghai and Hongkong, can the
Chinese buy as much opium as they choose. China will never be rid of
this menace till she is rid of these extraterritorial holdings. Opium
shops, licensed by foreign governments, are always ready to supply her
people with the forbidden drug.

We say that the China market is closed. So it is, in one way. But the
British Opium Monopoly is not ended. The year 1917 saw a tremendous
blow dealt to the British opium dealers, but other markets will be
found. There are other countries than China whose inhabitants can be
taught this vice. The object of this discussion is to consider these
other countries, and to see to what extent the world is menaced by this
possibility.

XVI

CONCLUSION

There are many people who advocate the use of opium, and who defend the
policy of the Opium Monopoly. They argue that it is not harmful--if
taken in moderation. They even assert that it is no more objectionable
than alcohol or tobacco. Leaving out of account, therefore, the
consensus of opinion of the medical profession as to the evils of
habit-forming drugs, and accepting the theory that opium is harmless,
we should then like to ask why the use of opium is so carefully
restricted to the peoples of subject states, who have no voice in their
own affairs? Why should the benefits of opium be confined to Oriental
races, and why should not the white race be given the same
opportunities for indulgence? Is there any reason for this
discrimination? As a source of revenue, it certainly has advantages.
Yet curiously enough, those European countries which derive much profit
through the sale of opium to their subject races, seem to have an
aversion to introducing it to their people at home. And there is a
further coincidence in the fact that none of the self-governing
colonies of European countries--Australia, New Zealand and
Canada--permit this traffic. It appears to be only the subject peoples,
whose well-being has become the White Man's Burden, who receive the
blessings of this peculiar form of altruism. Is it because the white
race is worth preserving, worth protecting, and because subject nations
are fair game for exploitation of any kind?

Another argument advanced by advocates of Governmen