pised the Canton System because of its strict policies and heavy restrictions. The Canton Trade system required that all merchants receive specific contracts for all of their transactions one year prior to when the transaction would take place. Under this system, any economic trading was to be done at Whampoa, and was only allowed to occur during three months of the year. The British were also insulted by rules which stated that Brits were not allowed to bring warships or women in to port, fly their nations flags, or see any of the official documents regarding the Chinese market. Also, Merchants were charged ridiculously heavy fees which included taxes, gratuity, docking, and measurement fees. All merchant ships were also required to hire a linguist, Chinese dockworkers, and a Pilate to guide their ship into port. Not only were the British not permitted to speak to any government official regarding these matters, they also were not allowed to venture more than a few hundred yards from the ship.
             In spite of all of these heavy restrictions, opium addiction began to spread quickly throughout the population. As the number of addicts increased so did the number of dealers. The approximate number of crates of opium being smuggled into China in 1767 was 1 000 crates per year. That number would increase to roughly 40 000 crates per year in 1837. Opium dens began to emerge in China during 1830's. Opium dens were establishments where people could not only purchase the opium, but could also use the narcotic there as well. The addiction of the populace to the drug became so strong that the Chinese, in some cases, would spend all of their money on opium rather than on food for their families, causing starvation. This addiction caused China to lose any and all of its trade surplus, as well, it created a quick loss of the nations silver supply. This reduction o
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