§ MR. JOHN CAMPBELL (Armagh, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the opinion expressed by this House in 1891 that the opium trade of the Government of India with the Chinese is morally indefensible, and considering the present demand of His Majesty's Government for Chinese reform, the Government have any intention of abandoning this traffic.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingI am not aware that this House in 1891 passed any definite decision upon the subject to which the hon. Member's question refers; but I am aware that in 1895 a Royal Commission, after an exhaustive investigation, reported generally in favour of the system under which the growth and export of opium is now regulated in India. His Majesty's Government have no present intention of altering that system.