Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-21
CRUSADE ON OPIUM
What Has Been Done Over
World to Suppress Traffic.
AGREEMENTS BEING KEPT
India and China Curtail Production
and Export.
WANT ANOTHER CONVENTION
Secretary Knox Has Acceptances
From Many Acknowledgements
Favorable Response From
Great Britain.
ANOTHER CONVENTION
BY WILLIAM r.. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM F. CURTIS
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The Secretary of State has sent to Con
gress the report Of the International opium
commission. which met at Shanghai in
February. 1909. at the invitation of the
United States, with a suggestion that we
join in further conference, to meet al
early date, at The Hague, to arrange
for carrying into practical effect It's rec
concentrations.
He also asks for an appropriation of
So. 900 to carry on the work. and submits
drafts of three bills intended to stamp
out the use of opium and similar drugs
in this country.
DIR. Hamilton Wright of Minnesota, an
authority on tropical diseases and orien-
tails affairs, prepared the report.
What Has Been Accomplished.
Il asked him:
y. =, ia-c been the consequences of
the opu u COMMISSIONS
THAT que, can be answered in two
ways" replied DIR. Wright, from the
point Of view OF what was actually ac-
complished in tne commission. or what
indirectly came out of 1t. But it would
be better, perhaps, to look at the whole
question broadly.
Our government proposed the commits
sion in September, 1906 AS Great
Britain, the most interested power.
promptly accepted the proposals of this
government there was an assurance OF
success.
THE other powers-Austria-H Hungary,
China, France, Germany. Holland, italy,
Japan, Portugal. Persia Siam and Rus
sia-accepted this governments invitation
quite as readily as Great Britain. From
September. 1906. onward to the meeting
Of the commission at Shanghai in Feb
ruary of last year an effort was made
by the various governments to appear in
the commission with hands as clean as
possible.
.'rhe most notable move was made
by Great Britain, in that she engaged
with China to reduce the total produc-
ton and export Of opium from India
to all countries by one-tenth per an
China.
"Under this agreement 1t was deter
mined that India produced and exported
81 900 chests to all countries each year
for about five years. and that the aver
age importation OF China during. the
same years was $1,000 chests. There
fore, since the agreement went into. eff
feet, Great Britain has reduced her eN-
portation to all countries at the rate of
800 chests a year.
1.-The agreement went into effect the
1st of January, 1905 BY the LIST of jan
uary, 1913, it is expected that the total
Importation of India opium into China
will be done away with, leaving an an
nual production of 10000 chests to India.
1T is the declared intention of the
British government to raise the stand
ard Of her 5000 chests so that they
will form a contribution of the world
supply Of medicinal opium. The opium
now produced contains only small per-
centage Of morphia. and, therefore, Is
quite useless In modern medical prac-
THE Chinese. on their part, have
agreed tc reduce their internal produce
ton of opium by one-tenth per annum
until it is entirely wiped out. The in
ternal production OF China. the time
600 piculs, picul being 1873 1-s pounds.
as compared to the Indian chest of about
when this agreement was entered
into there was considerable skepticism
as to China's ability to fulfill her part
of the agreement. But it was amply
demonstrated in the International COM
mission last year that sufficient moral
aversion had been created among the
Chinese people against the habit of opium
smoking, so that the imperial govern
ment is finding it no great task to sup
press the cultivation of the poppy, and,
therefore, the production of the drug.
I'm a late report of Mr.. Max Muller of
that the cultivation Of the poppy has
been exterrninated in several great prov
inces. The Chinese have more than kept
their part of the agreement. It is con-
sidered altogether likely that the Chinese
Will have accomplished their part OF the
agreement in seven rather than ten years
Opium Question in Ceylon.
Another notable action on the part of
Great Britain, pending the meeting of
the commission. was the appointment of
a commission to study the opium ques-
ton in Ceylon. which reported against
the use Of opium. The Ceylon opium
farm has been ordered to be closed out.
"A similar commission was appointed
to study the question in the Straits Set
Elements and Federated Malay States.
This commissions report paiiiated the
I1se of onium hut the Rritish government