340  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
however,  required  no  long  persuasion  ;  they  were  fully
awake  to  the  evils  of  what  had  become  unrestricted  trade
in  the  drug,  and  their  Government  needed  the  revenue  which
had  for  so  long  a  time  gone  into  the  pockets  of  its  servants.
After  approval  by  the  French  and  American  envoys,  the
tariff  was  agreed  to,  including  opium.  At  the  same  time
it  was  recognised  that  opium  was  eminently  an  article  of
import  which  must  be  left  to  the  unfettered  discretion  of
the  Chinese  Government  to  deal  with  ;  and  the  fifth  of  the
Rules  of  Trade  appended  to  the  tariff  reads  as  follows
“  The  restrictions  affecting  trade  in  Opium,  Cash,
Grain,  Pulse,  Sulphur,  Brimstone,  Saltpetre,  and
Spelter,  are  relaxed,  under  the  following  conditions  :
“  i.  Opium  will  henceforth  pay  thirty  taels  per  picul
Import  Duty.  The  importer  will  sell  it  only  at  the
port.  It  will  be  carried  into  the  interior  by  Chinese
only,  and  only  as  Chinese  property  ;  the  Foreigu
trader  will  not  be  allowed  to  accompany  it.  The
provisions  of  Article  IX.  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  by
which  British  subjects  are  authorised  to  proceed  into
the  interior  with  Passports  to  trade,  will  not  extend
to  it,  nor  will  those  of  Article  XXVIII.  of  the  same
Treaty,  by  which  the  Transit  Dues  are  regulated-The
  Transit  Dues  on  it  will  be  arranged  as  the  Chinese
Government  see  fit  ;  nor  in  future  revisions  of  th e
Tariff  is  the  same  rule  of  revision  to  be  applied  t°
Opium  as  to  other  goods.”
The  next  step  in  the  history  of  opium  is  found  in  th e
Chefoo  Convention  of  1876,  by  which  the  British  Governme^
accepted  in  principle  a  proposal  that  inland  taxation  (likiw
on  the  drug  should  be  collected  simultaneously  with  th®
import  duty,  i.e.  by  the  Imperial  and  not  by  the  provine#
authorities.  This  was  made  effective  by  an  Addition#
Article  signed  on  July  18,  1885,  by  which  the  amount  0
likin  was  settled  at  Tls.8o  per  picul,  making,  with  t^ e
import  duty,  a  total  of  Tls.no  per  picul  which  the  Chine 5 *;
Government  is  entitled  to  collect  ;  and  the  establishing
in  1887  of  the  Kowloon  and  Lappa  Customs,  to  control  tt#