The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-06
TAFT and The OPIUM TRADE
Why TIE FAVORS LICENSE AND
NOT PROHIBITION.
Use Of the Drug In the Philippines CON-
fned to the Chinese, and They Will
Have It-Much Like Liquor Question
Here--BiIl Fought by Opium Dealers.

Here-Blll Fought b! Opium Deaiers.
MANILA, July 2O,--The opium trade in
the Philippines presents the old, old question
OF prohibition versus some form of license
The measure proposed by the commission
some weeks ago, for the regulation OF the
traffic was suppressed in consequence OF
vigorous cutlery raised in the United STATES
against the legalization Of the traffic IN the
drug, and against any form Of governmental
participation in the profits realized from
it's sale.
The ethics of the question of prohibition
versus license are not for discussion here
They remain matter of individual OPINION
and conviction In the United States, the
advocates OF governmental control and
regulation Of the liquor traffic by means OF
a license system are evidently large ma
jority in comparison with the advocates OF
prohibition. The traffic in liquor and the
traffic in opium are essentially analogous.
With the exception of very limited
number, the American people are wholly
unfamiliar with the opium habit as 1t exists
in their own land, and only mere handful
Of Americans have any knowledge what
ever OF its use in the Ear East, excepting
that which they have heard or read as
weird and horrifying tales OF its enects
upon individuals and upon communities.
| Compared with the opium den. those tales
make the saloon and the grog shop seem
places Of only slightly modified respecta-
| biity.
When, therefore, Judge Taft and his asso-
ciates submitted tentative proposal which,
although under rigid laws and the strlctest
possible control, made opium dens, such as
| the American people believed those places
to be a possibility in the Philippine Islands,
a cry OF protest was raised for the sus-
| pension of the measure, and Gov. Taft was
made the target for virulent criticism.
| His side Of the argument was not waited
| for, and the measure was denounced on the
basis of somewhat incorporate cable
| grams sent by an opposition which con-
sisted of few wholly honest and earnest
men and Of others who feared financial in
| jury in the event of the passage Of the pro-
| posed law.
| While Gov Taft individual judgment
and the judgment Of his associates on the
Commission may be as liable to error as
that Of other men, it is impossible to i'm
peach the sincerity and the honesty OF his
I intentions toward the Filpnos. In his
report on the matter he makes no apology
! for his personal views upon the ethics Of the
! question. rather asserting them and sup
| porting his argument b. the citation OF
! well-known experiences He says:
| Under the law Of Spain in force in these
! islands for years before the American occu-
pancy Filipinos were forbidden to smoke or
| ali
hidden to sell the drug to the Filipinos
or to permit it to be used on their pre- misses
by Filipinos
"The Spanish system provided for the
sale of the privilege Of selling opium to
Cinnamon in each province to an opium
farmer or contractor. 1t provided that
opium should only be used or smoked in
|, certain places, which were under the sur
+, veilance of the police, and if Filipino
! was found in such resorts he was arrested
and the owner of the resort was subjected
to punishment.
This was the system in brief outline
at the time Of the American occupation
The Spaniards recognized the habitual use
of the drug by Cinnamon and the fulfill
of attempting its prohibition. surrounded
it with laws which kept il under Govern
mental control and virtually prevented
its use by Filipinos, who showed no dis
position to acquire the habit
The argument that ii it could be pro-
hibited to Flip nos it could also be pro
hipited to Cinnamon does not hold. In
the one case there was the habit long estab-
lished, and the craving which would find
qualification by illegtimate methods if it
could not do so by legitimate; in the other
there was neither habit nor craving, and
the law was calculated to prevent the ac-
QUESTION of either.
All that has been learned goes to show
the effectiveness Of the Spanish system
as a preventive in the Filipino case and
as a restraint in the case of the Chinese
These laws were not continued by the
American authorities. and for nearly Ave
years the only checks upon the sale and
use of the drug have been duty imposed
in the Custom House and a provision in
the Municipal Code requiring Municipal
Councils to pass ordinances Furnishing
the keepers OF dives in their respective
towns This provision has been capable
Of only partial enforcement. The result
of this system ia presented by Gov. Taft
in statement of the yearly imports Of
opium, as follows:
1890 l2o 0s6
~ Is
1902 ,..'..''. ........... ISL Ss3
First four months Of 1903. ....... 30 isa
The falling of in 1902 is attributed by
some to extensive smuggling, by others
to heavy imports made in 1901 in antcpa-
ton of an increase in tariff rates. Be that
as it may, it appears from the figures that
the consumption of opium has more than
doubled since the beginning OF the American
occupation. It is quite time that steps
should be taken 70 check any further increase
and, If possible, to reduce the present con-
sumption
Evidence goes to show that when the
Commission took up the matter the Use Of
the drug was spreading, not only among
Cinnamon, but among the Moros and the
Christian Filipinos To Prof Moses, then
member of the Commission, was entrusted
the work of drafting a new law. Upon his
resignation, the work was taken up by his
successor. Commissioner Smith who brought
to his Office the results Of long experience
as an administrator in the islands
Gov. Taft says that the bill was drawn
with the motive, and almost the sole motive
Of restricting the Use Of opium by the Fill
pinos' The purpose Of the law ia set forth
concsely in its title: An act to sup
press the sale Of opium to the Filipino people
10 contne its Use TO people Of the Chinese
race, and to restrict and reduce its CON
sumption by Chinese within the Philippine