Hainan in the Old Days
Several decades have passed since the British Consulate on Haitian Island was closed down. A friend of mine, who served as Consul there, was once required by the Foreign Office to report annually on the effect of legislation promulgated by the Chinese Government with the object of suppressing traffic in, and the consumption of, opium. The Chinese legislators were then at the height of their powers. They had learnt in Europe and America how to draw up laws suitable to the requirements of a modern and progressive State and, being perfectionists, they were riot deterred from doing the job as well as they could by the certainty that few of the laws would be kept. The anti-opium law made only one concession; old men who had become incurable addicts were, for fear that they might other- wise become deranged or expire, to be allowed to purchase, under licence, a small ration of opium for their own use. The law had been in force for some years when my friend began the relevant paragraph of his report with the words The official figures indicate that the longevity of the incurable addicts is only less remarkable than their steadily increasing powers of consumption.'
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