The Times contained on Tuesday a long letter from its
Peking correspondent explaining the difficulties in the way of a satisfactory agreement between the Indian Government and China upon the opium trade. By the present arrange- ment the trade would only have expired by the end of 1917 and both Governments are anxious to reduce the delay. A telegram in Wednesday's Times announces that a satisfactory agreement is on the point of being completed. The Indian Government is to consent that, as soon as China has com- pletely suppressed the growth of the poppy, the import of Indian opium shall cease ; secondly, the duty is to be triply increased; and, thirdly, the enormous stock of 20,000 chests which has accumulated in bond at the treaty ports may be sold without time limit, but in that case the total imports from India during the year are to be reduced by a correspond- ing amount. This agreement will mean the extinction of the opium trade within, at most, two years, or even less.
