Weekly national intelligencer., 1854-11-04

tinued to spread among The people rapidly The trafa
was carried at Whampoa and Macao by paying brbes
Ia the underngs Of the high officers In consequence OF
the previous being Intellectual in 1909 the Hong
merchants required give security for every yes
sci that to Whampoa that she brought no opium be-
fore she was permitted open her hatches and 1t was
made known that if opium found board any yes-
sci she should be away without being permitted to
discharge her cargo and the security should be
punished. In 1920 the number of chests smugged In
had increased TO 147 Owing to this great increase
and to some fragrant instances Of smuggling having come
TO the notice Of the Governor Of Canton the senior Hong
merchant dsgraced for remssness and unfaithful
ness in 1921; and yet more stringent measures were
adopted to put stop this inquitous traffic The Gov
ernor at the same time, addressed urgent remon-
STRANGE the foreign merchants the wickedness of
their in tramplng the laws Of China thus
Oyer the smuggers OF contraband and pernicious pol
son the of the royal law earth and the wrath
of the Internal god in hades suspended In conse-
ouence of these stringent Of the officers
Of Government the trade driven away from Whampoa
and Macao and armed vessels in which the conraband
article stored lay under the island Of Lntin, near
the mouth of the Canton river.
"The traffic managed thus The foreign mer-
chants resided in Macao Canton. They received the
money in payment Of the drug at their counting houses
and gave orders the commanders Of the storehps
Linn The Chinese purchasers sent very fast boats,
which propelled by forty fifty stout rowers and
we'll armed to the ship receive the opium and Snug
gle it into Canton or wherever 1t was wanted These
deliveries were generally MADE at ngn 10 aVod the oD-
servation Of the officers.
But soon one point was too confined for their opera
tions and armed vessels anchored at other eligible
points along the coast and some coursed up and down
the coast to carry the poison to the deludcd people In
of this the quantity of smugged opium was
greatly increased and necessarily the quantity which
was consumed.
In 1881 the Emperor promulgated edict in which
he declared that the injury done by the influx of opium
h Of those @ who nhse it is nearly equal
preceding In 1881 further laws a sE TgsatsE than the
opium and one hundred blows with the bamboo and
three years Punishment to be inflicted upon those
who refused point out the seller Of opium and
and the other high officers required take
bond of those in their Offices that they never used
opium In 1882 the Governor Of Canton province issued
stringent proclamation against the importation Of the
opum dirt decaringit "a spreading poison, inexhaust-
ble and in its injurious effects extreme. Often has it
been severely interdcted it appears record. At
strict orders have been received from his Majesty
to investigate consult and exterminae by cutting off
the source Of the evil An order is hereby issued to the
Hong merchants, that they may forthwith obey accord
ngly They commanded to expostuate with earnest
ness and persuade the barbarans Of the several nations
telling them that hereafter when coming to Canton to
trade, they must not any account bring opium
cealed in the ships holds not appoint vessels to be opium
depots at Lntn in the outside ocean, hoping thereby
to sell it by stealth If they dare Intentionally dis
the moment that it is discovered positively shall the
barbarian ships have their matches sealed their selling
and buying put stop to, and expulsion inflicted
driving them away to their own country; and forever
shall they be dsallowed to come and trade
In 1854 there another similar edict from the I'm
peral Cabinet at Pekin Notwithstanding all these re-
strictive measures the smuggling continued and the
quantity thus introduced increased yearly, till in 1886
the number of chests about 35 000 In 1895 there
commenced of the remarkable consultations
which record in the history Of any nation The
Chinese Government had been trying to suppress de-
sructve vice among its own people and to put stop to
ypyr, ,,ta,. ako,xJ
foreigners But its eorts had been nugatory The
ed smuggling continued the fascinating vice was still
spreading and 000 sterling of silver were export
ed IN payment of this vile drug As Of these evils
appeared beyond remedy it by of the advisers
Of the Emperor thought best to seek remedy Others of
these evils by egalizng the traffic in opium The most
distinguished statesman who recommended this policy
was Heu Nasi. This of policy approved Of
by most Of the foreign residents in China Many of the
Chinese at Canton thought it would be adopted by the
Emperor the more as this had been con-
Cured in by the Governor and Su Governor of Canton
20 whom as well the other Governors the memorial Of
Heu Naits had been referred by the Emperor for their
In expectation of the trade being legal
zed measures were taken by foreigners to secure mn
increased production Of the deleterous drug Rrt the
runous nature Of thsne of policy ably exposed bv
very State documents drawr up three
several persons, viz. by Cabinet Minister. Cboo
rsun another by Hwang Tseotsze President of the Sa
,rifcia Court; and third by sub censor named Hen
Au The question Of the legazation Of the traffic in
'pam with these memorials sgains it, was again SUBJ
tted 10 oil the hgh officers Of the Empire for their
deraon and advice After full and mature delibera-
ion extending over period Of than years dura-
lon the nearly unanimous decision of the advisers the
emperor was that the nefarous traffic should not be e-
salized The ground which this decision was based
vas on account of the injuries it inflicted upon the peo-
'le Honor, all honor to the people, who when the OPP
,osite course was recommended by such plausible con-
'deratons, came to such righteous decision At the
same time it was resolved to have recourse to vet more
stringent measures to suppress the seductive but runous
nee and to put stop to the smuggling Of the poison.
Heu Nait who had recommended the legazation of the
raic In opum dsgraced, and the severity of the
punshments for smuggling-by Chinese-retailng, and
smoking it was increased The and residences Of
The foreign merchants in Canton who were concerned in
The traffic having been reported to the Emperor an edct
was issued commanding their immediate departure from
China.
10 still further excite the attention Of foreigners to
the strngency Of the taken by Government
put down the traffic in opium and suppress its
ton, early in 1888 Chinese, who had been engaged in
smuggling, was executed at Macao in presence of many
and Chinese witnesses Later in the year
another ransgressor of the laws against opium was exc
cuted the foreign residences in Canton and again.
early in 1885, another Chinese was executed in the i'm
mediate vicinity Of the foreign residences in Canton 1t
was reported that the upper lip Of many smokers in HUI
peh province was cut off to incapactate them from in
halng the fascinating poison These measures checked
the consumption to degree that surprised many foreign
residents who had witnessed the manner in which pre-
vous edicts had been carried into effect But it having
been reported to the Emperor that the obnoxious foreign
merchants still continued to reside at Canton and to car
on the nearous traffic and that the storeshp still Law
quietly at anchor at Lntip the Emperors patience was
at length exhausted by this contumacous disregard of
his edicts and continued trampng on the laws of the
Empire and in the latter part Of 1893 he resolved 10
In To L. IL