OPIUM

341

junk  traffic  with  Hongkong  and  Macao,  operated  further
to  the  benefit  of  the  Imperial  exchequer  by  the  restraint
thereby  imposed  on  smuggling.
The  only  restriction  imposed  by  China  on  the  opium
trade  and  accepted  by  a  foreign  power,  is  contained  in  the
Supplemental  Treaty  of  1880  between  the  United  States
and  China,  of  which  Article  II.  is  as  follows  :—
“The  Governments  of  China  and  of  the  United
States  mutually  agree  and  undertake  that  Chinese  subjects ­
  shall  not  be  permitted  to  import  opium  into  any
of  the  ports  of  the  United  States  ;  and  citizens  of  the
United  States  shall  not  be  permitted  to  import  opium
into  any  of  the  open  ports  of  China,  to  transport  it
from  one  open  port  to  any  other  open  port,  or  to  buy
and  sell  opium  in  any  of  the  open  ports  of  China.  This
absolute  prohibition,  which  extends  to  vessels  owned
by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  either  Power,  to  foreign
vessels  employed  by  them,  or  to  vessels  owned  by
the  citizens  or  subjects  of  either  Power,  and  employed
by  other  persons  for  the  transportation  of  opium,
shall  be  enforced  by  appropriate  legislation  on  the
part  of  China  and  the  United  States  ;  and  the  benefits
of  the  favored  nation  clause  in  existing  Treaties
shall  not  be  claimed  by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of
either  Power  as  against  the  provisions  of  this
Article.”
The  only  commentary  on  this  agreement  is  found  in
the  fact  that  when,  in  1884-5,  temporarily  and  for  reasons
over  which  the  American  Government  had  little  or  no
control,  the  American  flag  reappeared  on  the  coast  and
engaged  in  the  carrying  trade,  no  attempt  was  made  to
enforce  the  restriction.
The  course  of  the  trade  in  foreign  opium  since  the
legalisation  is  shown  in  the  following  table.  In  1863
lientsin  and  Chef00  had  been  opened  in  the  north,  and
Hankow,  Kiukiang  and  Chinkiang  on  the  Yangtze.  In
1879  the  recorded  import,  82,927  piculs,  reached  its  maximum. ­
  The  opening  of  the  Kowloon  and  Lappa  Customs