The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-09-07
The Opium Traffic.


Only few weeks have passed since
the Chinese Government issued one of
the most stringent edicts regarding the
cultivation of the poppy which has
ever appeared in that country. As to
the sincerity of the Government in this
matter we, of course, have no means of
knowing, but of its ability to enforce
the edict there is no reason to doubt.
In any event, our attention is attracted
to subject the area of which is a very
wide one. The constant immigration
of Chinese, together with the extent of
the use of this noxious drug in the
United States, as shown in series of
articles recently published in this paper,
renders the opium question one of great
Importance to this country. If we look
to the source which supplies us with
the seductive drug, we fiad that this
pernicious traffic is due primarily not
so much to China as it is to England.
The British Government succeeded in
India to the Mogul Empire and all its
prerogatives and powers, among them
monopoly of opium. No opium in
British India is grown except for the
purposes of the Government, and main
and sub-agencies regulate its produc-
ton. 1t is removed from the land to
factories under the Government, and
sold to China merchants. In 1929 and
1880 less than 5000 chests of opium
were sent to China from Bengal. In
1868 and 1864 the trade reached its
maximum, GA 900 chests being exported
The average since then has been 81, 1000
chests per annum. In 1873 there were
$50, 900 acres in British India, and
about the same number of acres in
native India, devoted to the growth of
the poppy, or over million acres in
all. Seventeen per cent. of the total
income of India in 1872 and 1873 came
from the sale of opium, while in 1876
one-sixth of England's entire revenue
from India, or about $42, 100000, came
from this source alone. In 1910
the practice of smuggling opium
into China had attained development
which is fearful to contemplate. 1t
was prohibited by the Celestial authori-
ties, and they insisted on Selling all
the contraband goods, which were
found almost exclusively in the hands
of English merchants. The British
denied the Chinese this right the war
of 1912 followed, and by the Treaty of
Nankin, China had to pay about $780,
100000 extorted by England After
this treaty a second convention was
concluded, which recognized the right
of the Chinese to seize Struggled goods;
but the system continued, however,
connived at, so it has been claimed, by
the British authorities. Time passed
and in 1869 it was openly asserted that
England insisted on the opium trade
because she was determined to ruin and
corrupt the Empire. China" said
the officials to the British authorities,
supplies your country with goodly
tea and silk, and you in return deluge
China with destructive opium"
The English Government has gone to
enormous expense for the sake of main
tanning this opium monopoly for the
benefit of its Indian revenue. China
has long endeavored to check the
traffic, but British interests" are in
volved. and the Chinese Government
is not permitted to suppress its impor-
tation or check for the future evils
which the English have promoted in
the past. Lately, however, this SUBJ
ject has attracted the attention of
large and influential party in England,
and strong effort is being made to
induce the present Government to
ratify the Chefoo convention, which
since 1869 has been left unrecognized.
This convention, or rather that clause
of it which is of most Importance, is
that an arrangement different from that
of ontino nthnr no
toned by the British Government. If
this is done, British merchants, where
opium is brought into Chinese port,
will be obliged to have it taken cog
nizancc of by the Customs, and de-
posted in bond until such time as there
is sale for it. The importer
will then pay the tariff duty upon it,
and the purchasers the local tax. The
party in England to which we refer is
known as the Anti-Opium Society. Its
members object to the use of opium
except as a medicine, and, therefore,
to the production of opium except for
medicine. They object particularly to
the trade being carried on by the In
dian Government, and over and above
all they are opposed to the course pur-
sued by Great Britain in China in con-
nection with this drug. They protest
against the injustice of preventing
China from getting the revenue she
wishes, and contend that that country
ought to be left perfectly free to admit,
to exclude or to tax opium, at her own
discretion. They put the question thus:
Either opium is frightfully injurious to
China or it is not. If it is, why should
England compel China to admit itP and
if it is not, why may not China as law
fully raise revenue therefrom as the
EnglishP
The Chinese ENJOYS to England have
also interested themselves in this mat
ter to an extraordinary degree, and not