NATIONAL HONOR AGAIN

Another misunderstanding between East and West had cropped out during the first Opium Conference at Geneva, now suspended for five days. Japan has opposed, as a matter of national honor, the British proposals restricting the discretion of officials in issuing certificates of legitimacy to exporters of opuim. The Japanese proposal, it seems, would permit customs officers to observe the letter of the proposed international convention, while violating its spirit.

It will appear to many critics that the plea of national honor is a mere bluff to hide the real objection Japan's reluctance to cripple effectively this highly profitable trade. It is well known that Japan gains most from the unrestricted trade in Chinese opium, and that Japanese merchants now handle most of this dope trade, having replaced the British as the foremost traffikers. This disingenuous attitude of quibbling over means of enforcement will not blind the world to the fact that Japan, while anxious to pretend cooperation with western nations in a humanitarian program, is at bottom unwilling to forfeit the commercial advantage which she draws from the continuance of the opium evil.