Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-06-20
OPIUM IN iNEiA.

Ranges of the Drug In the CITY c'
Lucknow.
There Is a fierce dispute going on 1pst
now rs to the relative merits or de-
merits Of opium, says the New York
Times. Many emipent men in the scien.
tific world openly declare that opium
Is blessing. The government experts
in the country where 1t grows go so far
as to say that opium Is blessing In.
stead Of curse to the natives. How.
ever. the vast majority Of mankind
will long be of the undivided opinion
that opium Is the most all-crushing
curse that nffilcts man. The enthusi.
asts, or, rather, extremists. Of the In.
ternatlonal anti-opium society picture
the condition Of India under the ban Of
opium In the most dreadful manner
possible. According to one Of these
men. all Of the COO. OOO, 900 Of human be.
ings In Asia are exposed to the evils Of
the opium trade as legalised by the
British Government. In order to derive
q revenue from 1t the Indian Govern.
ment issues licenses for the sale and
consumption Of this poisonous drug In
vile places In all large cities. like Cal.
cuttn. Bombay. Madras. Lucknow, and
Mnulmain. and In all towns and VII
lagos Of India and Burmah. These
licenses are not issued for the purpose
OF limiting the sale Of something that
can not be prohibited, but they nre
Issued with the requirement that the
holder Of the license must sell stipu-
lated quantity or pay forfeit! The
more sold the more revenue the Eng.
lish crown will receive. As the opium
Is bought from the government agents,
Of course II Ii known how much the
holder Of the license sells. A member
OF Parliament who was most bitterly
opposed to this traffic h. been travel.
ing through India gathering facts and
seeing for himself whit the condition
Of the natives IL under an unrestricted
use Of opium.
One OF the opium dens Of Lucknow Ii
graphically described. There Is no
secrecy about selling or purchasing
the drug: It Is handled a. would be
sugar. -four. or the other necessities OF
life. Entering with the customers, you
will find yourself in n spacious but very
dirty court yard. around which are
ranged fifteen or twenty small rooms.
This IL the csta blshment Of the gov.
crnment collector-the opium farmer.
The stencil Is slckening. and the swarm
of flies intolerable. Enter one Of the
small rooms. 1t has no windows and
IL very dark, but In the center Ii n small
charcoal fire. the glow Of which lights
mp the faces Of nine or ten human be.
ings--men and women-lying on tho
tioOr like pigs In stS. A young girl
fans the fire. lights the opium pipe, and
holds It to the mouth Of the last conner
till his head falls heavily on the body
OF the inert man or woman who hap.
pens to lie near him. In no groggery.
In no lunatlc or idiot asylum. will one
see such utter helpless depravity as up
pears In the cOuntenances Of those In
the preliminary stngcs OF opium drunk.
enness. Hero one may see some hand.
some young married woman. 10 or 20
years Of age. sprn wiling over the sense
less bodies Of men. Here Ia much
younger girl sitting among group Of
newly arrived customers singing lewd
songs rs they hand around the pipes.
At night these dcns are all crowded to
excess, and It Is estimated that there
are some II. 1000 people In Lucknow NIB
ject slaves of this hldeOus vice.
There are those. however, who have
radically different opinions on the
opium question. Tho use Of the drug
In America or Europe under vastly diff
ferent climatic conditions has nothing
IN common with the use Of It In It's M.
tive land. The Bishop Of Calcutta. on
being asked for an opinion on this sub.
ject. said among other things that
"while admitting that there are evils
arising from the use of opium. we are
Of the opinion that they are not SUI.
Aciently great to Justify W In restrict
Ing the liberty which all men should be
permitted to exercise In such matters.
Medical testimony seems to show that
opium used In moderation 10 In this
country harmless. and. under certain
conditions Of life. distinctly beneficial
One distinguished native. q high Of.
dcial of the Indian museum. was rather
sarcastic when asked his opinion on
this subject. He said that the opium
habit was much preferable to the alco.
holIsm OF America and Europe, and rec.
commended the introduction Of the drug
m q substitute for alcohol.