The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-08-12

peCUaDle peOple, tOO, uSo ohShi oll
through life, without becoming en-
slaved by them, without making
beasts of themselves, and without
any visible injurious results. The
same cannot be said of opium. No
one, believe, can use it any length
of time, even in the most moderate
quantities, without becoming its
slave and the victim of its pernici.
BUSINESS. 1 have personally known
many opium smokers and eaters
among white people, and each one
has cursed the day that he was in
duced to try the drug, and de-
clared his utter inability to refrain
from its use when possible to pro-
cure it. Neither have met an in
telligent man, not an opium user,
with any knowledge of the subject,
unwilling to admit that it is an evil.
But have found, and do fiud, right
here in Honolulu, an honest differ
ence of opinion as to whether it is
an evil that should be prohibited by
law or controlled by license. All the
arguments and reasonings 1 have
hitherto heard or seen in favor of
licensing seem to me extremely weak
and superficial. l have endeavored
to follow the AdUertiser's line of
advocacy with an unbiased mind,
but really have found nothing but q
repetition of old stcreotyped arou-
ments that l believed exploded over
twenty years ago. In its last utter
ance, which, by the way, is CON-
mendable for its calmness and
moderation, is the following =
Anything this Kingdom may say
or do, by its Legislature, will not
stop the production of opium and
its handling as an article of mer-
chandise." True, but I see no
reason why this Kingdom should not
be able to stop ''its handling as an
article of merchandise within its
own borders, any more than 1 can
perceive that the prohibitory law on
the statute book is necessarily
"practically imperative" Indeed
l am of opinion that with an efficient
police force, invested with full
authority and protected as they
ought to be in the discharge of their
duty, the prohibitory law on the
statute book could be made thor
oughly operative. That it Cen
courages and incites to smuggling'
is admitted. So does putting duty
on any article of importation en-
courage and incite to the same
thing. A 100000 license is another
form of import duty, and those not
holding that license will be encour-
aged and melted to smuggle.
Formerly, when the drug was
licensed here, large amount of
smuggling was done and large sums
of money amassed thereby, if the
testimony of the smugglers be ell
titled to credence. When the Aduea'-
tiser, in reference to the licensing
days of the past, asserts that the
"Treasury was benefited by the
opium trade, and there was nothing
in it for outsiders, it shows ignorance
of what it talks about. The Treas
ury and those holding the licenses
were not the only parties who made
money out of the trade. A China
man who was a license holder once
told me that his profits were con-
siderably less than they otherwise
would have been on account of so
many of his countrymen, without
paying for license, importing and
selling the drug. A Chinaman whom
1 knew somewhat intimately and for
whom I had prepared business docu-
ments, on leaving the country, came
TO me for advice respecting the best
method of carrying with him $15,-
600. l expressed surprise that he
should have accumulated so much
money in an insignificant little dry
goods business in less than three
years. John replied that as l was
his good friend and he was sure
would do him no harm he did not
mind telling me that he made it by
opinm smuggling, and that many of
his countrymen had done even better
than he. Now, this was in the
licensing days, when the Advertiser
says "there was nothing in it for
outsiders" 1t puzzles me how any
one can hold that a revenue "may
be legitimately secured by the Gov
ernment" licensing traffic which is
certainly and invariably degrading,
demoralizing, and destructive to the
people. Better be without a reve-
nue. than a revenue secured in this
way. Better be without "bridges
on Kauai and. Hawaii, and roads on
Oahu and the other islands," if they
cannot be had without licensing a
traffic calculated to work immeasur-
able mischief to the people whose
preservation is the first duty of the