The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-05-13
ASIA'S OPIUM TRADE.
The Horrible Traffic for Which EngIans
Is Responsible.


Is Responsible.
1t is not Hudson Taylor of the Chinese
Inland mission alone that is authority
for the statement that more than 10C-
000,0 600 of China are, directly or indi-
rectly, sufferers from the use of opium"
The writer of the article on opium in
the last edition of the "Encyclope-
dia Britannica states the number of
those who use it to be 100, 900, 900 or
10000, 900, as the population may be
300, 600, 900 or 400, 900, 600.
! And now the British government in
India, to increase its revenue, has au-
thorized the licensing of shops through
| out India and Burmah for the free sale
of opium. These licenses are issued in
a very unusual form. Those who take
the license come under obligation to
sell stipulated amount or to pay for
felt! Thus the government almost com-
pels the holders of the license to stimu-
late its subjects to consume deadly
poison! The door is thrown wide open
| for all the inhabitants of India to take
that which destroys'at once the body
and the soul
The unrestricted sale of opium is per-
mitted in Java, with its 10000, 600 of
population. 1t is also permitted in the
| French possessions in southeastern
| Asia, with population of 5000, 900 or
| 100000. The vice is also carried by
the Chinese immigrants INTO Siam and
all the islands of the Eastern Archpel-
ago If the populations of the various
| countries in Asia in which the free sale
of opium is permitted are added to-
| gether the aggregate number is more
than 100000, 900. In Europe and Amer
lea the sale is restricted to medicinal
use, by the direction of physicians, and
the walls and boxes containing it, when
thus given out by druggists, are care
| fully labeled: Poison
| SO the laws of China once prohibited
| the sale and use of opium, the violation
of which was punished by death SO
| earnest were the Chinese to prevent its
| introduction into the country that the
| government became involved in cost
| ly war with England about it, at the
| close of which treaty was made in
| which England recognized Chinas
right to prohibit the introduction OF
| opium, but left it with China to seize
| the vessels that Struggled it in and con-
| fiscate the vessel and cargo. But as
| the smugglers were Englishmen and
| ships English ships the Chinese were
afraid to execute the law, and so opium
was brought in English bottoms from
India to China from 1912 to 1860.
After thus fighting the traffic for
sixty years the Chinese government,
finding it could not stop the smuggling
of opium into the country by British
| vessels, finally gave up the contest and
| submitted tolegalize the horrible traffic
| which it could not destroy. And, once
| admitting it into the country, it could
not enforce the laws against its sale
| and use, and shops were opened in
every city and town and village in the
| empire. The next step was, as they
could not keep out the opium from
India, to begin the cultivation of the
| poppy in China itself. Now, the opium
made from the native grown poppy is
said to be three times as much in guam
tity as that imported from India.
In the districts where it is thus grown
the price of the native opium is very
cheap and its consumption has spread
among men, women and children, SO
that some resident missionaries in these
districts say that so and 20 out of every
100 of the people are more or less opium
eaters When l went to China in 1914
it was supposed that 1000, 900 used it.
Before | left China ! estimated that the
1000, 900 had grown to 10000. 900, while
IIplSAp Hov1a,. ~. H., r
those who use it directly or indirectly
at 100. 900, 000
Now let us sum up the enormous en-
tent of this curse. The population of
India and Burmah according to the CEN
sus taken last year is 2S5. 600, 900; {. at
of China is $50, 900, 000--some make it
400, 000,0 900. The island of Java counts
its 20, 600, 900, to which the French pos
sessions in southeastern Asia add at
least 10000, 0C0 more The Eastern
Archipelago has, say, 5000. 000 making
altogether a total of go 600, 600 The
curse of Asia has been saddled upon
that continent by Christian Europe.
For this terrible blight cast upon the
greatest of the four quarters Of the
globe the British government is chiefly
responsible. a hundred years ago the
East India Company commenced to mo-
nopolize the production of opium for
sale in China, and the government at
home gave to the company the protec-
ton of the British flag. Since 1858 the
British government has had a monopo-
ly of the production and sale of opium.
Great Britain is thus directly responsible
for the prevalence of the opium plague
among the go, 600, 600 people in Asia
n. Y. Evangelist.
BITS AND BREVITIES.