that province.

Opium could be grown in the greatest perfection in several places
of the Philippines, where the white poppy abounds in the utmost
luxuriance; but Government do not choose to permit its growth and
manufacture, except in the immediate vicinity of Manilla, although I
believe there is a permission to do so there, where, however, there
is no soil suitable for the growth of the plant. There are many
places, also, which would subject the planters of it to the nearly
unlimited control of the police, whose interference alone would be
so vexatious and unpleasant as to deter any one from attempting its
growth, even did the stringent regulations laid down with reference
to it not do so; such as exactly counting the number of plants, and
being forced to deposit all the drug in the custom-house for export,
for the permission to do which twenty-five per cent. would have to be
paid to the Government. These regulations are a virtual prohibition
to engage in its cultivation, as no prudent man is at all likely to
embark his capital in such an enterprise while they exist.

In consequence of the heavy duty imposed upon opium, to discourage its
importation, the greater portion of the drug consumed in the country
is smuggled into it by the masters of the Spanish trading-vessels
from China or Singapore.

Government farm out the privilege of supplying the market with opium
to the highest bidder, who seldom, however, imports many chests for
its consumption; but what he does sell is usually at a very large
advance on the prices paid for it in another market.

How much better were it for the Government to attempt to regulate the
trade of this article instead of doing all in their power to suppress
it, in which they can never be successful, so long as Chinamen and
their descendants remain with the tastes that now belong to them. Can
there be any prohibition against the introduction of opium more strong
than that of the Chinese Government? and are there any more useless,
or any laws more openly evaded? It is impossible to extirpate the
taste, but it would be easy to regulate and in some degree control it;
and these are the proper and legitimate aims of a Government.

Under proper management and increased facilities for the planter to
rear opium, the Philippines, merely from their situation, would rule
the China market for the drug, which would employ multitudes of people
in its growth and manufacture, and be a source of immense