The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-01-17 00:00:00

--
t-thowjettre
Oared Ur,
at

;—mPar'
whsch

~..1 Tailing. . _ selposiia elm
, was somewhise .eilisrest kali these ,
Peo7ltild 4 UM i it Mie '
agar= ilearee stash .deepes rim e-
WNW thee* spec erelireed mik
the tossatrewstistage eases= home hilegiasl
• party geodes, for irk
rod parrs la the titre were agreed as to the
usages results el the opium traffic, hut thew
did net see their way out of it It was
air *wilder to be • cpseselos epos which irks
the Anti-Uoioni SWART,
.t.b. Goverameak, De" sue
-.re maidgar see tar way out of, aad it was
therefore, or oa whir it wa. important the realism=
road be pissed before the people. This wee the
objeot Mr. Herm had in view, and he hoped be
word give these some reliable &ails from which they
rad decide as to whether the traffic was right or
ram sad if wrong whet were the prisolph= upon
mid= they should seek to =woody it.
Mr. Holier fir apologised for living to give what
he rimed • rook to PM Wird and persosel self '
eumpieracy. Hs was about to speak of • moMpelm,'
hal humiliation', aad he, trusted he Arid be able be
amid 07:ss =palatine the picture darker Asa
it sherd but simply lay before them the Oda
aavarnished . He -find of all alluded to China is
=to the traffic. Tbe pairs! =tore* el
sad the Creme was estemnaly limited, and as
• rule ended with the notion that the worn prep=
Meek het tied the men wore *iris. It was very
dank to make an stream realise that they were
Maw very much with their own der sod blood, and
that DWay were brad to to hare eery moats the same
Medd latter and feeling for them that they had for,
the= owe native atuntrycnen. Now, what did the..
iell. prerkis do la Caine? Every year no less
idt:4.600 iseple uesion az a
, kill 4 and four
Ptectical
at by bedressos is the habit. ruiPtas
great city of NingOoo with • population of 400,000
there were ISO hille than 2,700 opMm deas, or or fr
OW, lid of the population. Amd it is not eel, io
one part or boor one tree that the habit prevails, to
the exclusion of the rest; for from the poor presets
who would form, his daily bread, in order to get hie.
opium pipe, doh up to the highest official circles did,
the evil exist, and even the late emperor died from the
elect,el opium at the early age of 30. ItThrted
quite as much amongst those engaged is bed
oia:lab. preform:ail pursuits as it did am the X!
degraded of the people. It WM bard . s the
fearful effects it bad upon • man addle . to
sad. In the epigrammatic strewed of • • , "ft
is not so much the sae who eats the opium, as the
opium era the man.' He deo quoted the opinion of
Sir Mors Weds, for many years Her Majesty's chid
representative in China, that opium-smoking is many
times worse an evil than gin end whiskey drinking,
which re deplored so much et home. He weeded to
be able to give the °Orlon of Sir Thome', roars the
Tiem,s last week took the trouble to give four columns
of " facts " in regard to the opium question, and, after
admitting almost every fact that he wentod to lay
before them it preluded thus—" after all it is not el
mach interest to r, because the opium traffic of Chia
is no wire than our own spirit traffic at home." But
he said them, as an &glob audience, was that at all
• satislaction, tied could they fall beck upon it as a
oomfurtable redaction? The rises writes its leaders at
midnight, and if it only looked around at that
time, oven in the locality of its own office, it could
bring forward the low morale 'edition of society,
aa a standard to which other nations might strive WI
reach. The whole attitude of the Tres was remolds'
enough to any or who looked bra leader la the geed
Journal. ByBaeyBuplth ors said in regard to a former
editor of the Tt. "us here life as • printer
devil, and ended lie as • devil'. printer ;" and Is
statements of the Ira is regard to the e.
they were forcibly remiaded-of the .
unination of the reser of the editor ia 7
time. There seemed to be • distinct determinados as
It, part to turn its face steadfastly against anythiao
which attempted to base itself upon a moral principle,
What did the Chinese themselves think about it, and
their opinion was more to the point. The press=
Haapenar m 'id some time ago, 'lt is tree I man=
presort the introduction of the porn, but aortae via
induce me to derive NITWItta from the view and misery
of my people." They looked upon it as the source all
Meeting and disturbed relations between the two
countries. The dati-Jpittm Society In Cetus mat
over • morn palli= message to Ragland. • "le is • ,I
pity," said they, "England ism far sway; you cannot'
see the ireful miry or bear the wail of reproach from
wives and children. Your New Testament says
' Whatsoever ye would that mem should do unto you,
do ye also unto them' Is it possible the instroodom
of your Saviour has never yet reached your honourable
country?' He amid only echo the wit= that Preassil
were • little Deem to see the misery sad bear the
war of way from lamas made mired' by the
doe. The lecturer then brief!y detailed the history el
the Waldo—from its latredection by the Portratie ht
the 17th century, to the year 1781, when Warfel;
Hastings firm chartered • British ship to that hi
opium to China. From the year 1796 up to 1860 the
opium traffic was nothing but a 01ti.,'Wm ad
smuggling, In the very teeth of tEe wishes of the
Meese Government. " From 1768 to 1833 the Impute.
roes from 200 to 30,03 chests. Is 18141 the p
action of Comeniseloar Liag oared the first opium*
war; and for the oenhaissionerks " impeders" In
doing his duty, China was oompelledle open eix pork
far opium sad other dogfish mar-cradle, and to pip
E 6,000,000 as an ladernlty. Prom that time there
was no let or hintinace to the smuggling. Tea years
due the close ef the first war, the circumstances arose
which gave rise to the second Chine", es-, and from
that time opium has become a I :galls •,i article et
traffic. Why did England think it her , oily to midst.-
take two wars in order to keep up the tr Jac ! Tbad
I. the question which is asked with very considerable
fore, not only in Europe, but in America. It is •
simple matter of money, of gain, of revenue They
summed up the defer when they said England raised
the opium in India for only something like • revenue
of edgld millions a year. So intimate was the connec-
tion of the Government with the tribe, that the
Government were actually the growers of the opium,
and the growth was strictly limited to the state of the
finances. He gave some very startling facts in refer-
roe to the opium traffic in Itritish Burnish. Before
England bed anything to do with that country. it wee
a capital offence to smoke opium, but after otir Govern•
meat had possession of it, it found it poorer,. T... bring
In certain Smarm laws for spirits and tooter. li.
order to create • taste for the opium. the Government
Eire It away to the young men of toe emirs, then
imposed a email price, and as the taste for it crew,
gradually raised the price, until they lied, in the
words of • native, a generation of strong men
succeeded by a rising generation of opium smokers.
But in British Burmsh there wee the first hope
of a changing policy, for the government had
made or step towards restricting the ode in that
oomory. About this time last veer they reduced the
number of oplum shops from 68 to O. He admitted
the great difficulty of dealing with she question. In
India the natives were Wed to the very salt they
ate, and, as Lord Hetiegton had Raid, this was the
only revenue drawn without complaints from the
people. But the lecturer contended it was not a safe
revenue. Since the opium traffic grow, our traffic hi
woollen and other more specific productions of English
manufacture had materially decreased, and in a
fixed ratio as the opium increased. F.,r the sake of tit
millions, an immense amount of money was Irt, in
this way, and not only that, but vast hare of land
which could be laid out to =ale, were devoted to the
growth of the poppy. If the people of Engler only
had the courage to speak plainly to the Government,
sad say, unless they would rid them of thie evil they
would Dave nothing to do with them, he believed they
would rapidly find a substitute for opium. He did
not believe the English people would be dominated by
mare commercial triples, and he believed the
growth of =le quest was a guarantee of its grow
plishusmd. There was • meaning feeling is 'indeed
thatafter all,it was not wise to be unjwit and not pew
dent, financially, to foster an iniquitous traffic on
which to rest the revenues of ac ountry. In conclusion,
he 'eked their careful and serious consideration of the
question.
The lecturer delivered his arguments with great
tam and estmalliame and he was frequently applonded.
At the ohm the emetameir invited any, person, who
might wish to do so, to question Mr. Horton on the
subject.
Mr. Rainy Srmors opened the discussion. He
asked If other countries imported opium iota Chine,
as well se England; because if the other coaster'
creed to do so, it would make • material difference in
retard to the smoking of millie there.
Mr. HORTON replied until two years aWO DO other
country imported opium isto China, mid the whole
*aide was in our hands; but two years ago the Porto.
TUDN) began to grow it in large quintitien ; and
although it was quite possible it might Increase
materially. the Chinese could soon rid themselves of
that if they could wet rid of the English treat With
the exception of Portuguese no other country trs'ed
with China.

In reply to a further nue dims from Mr. H. Sylmar*
Mr. HORTON *Mid in recent treaties nude with Spain,
America and Kw I. condition' were ends that no
trade should be done in opium and, in his wind? thia
wee one of the strongest evidence@of the sincerity of
Chinese in their wishes to destroy the traffic-
Dr. Gooses acquired where the acttuil statletica
were derived from rdatise to th• evil olest4 of the
traffic. Opletia seeoklaa wee s very expensive -
and Mini the poorest ceentry in the world:
was ot epheire meld leopteltiestelekaiesetal '