The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-02-16
sHAKINa THE Opium HABrr
Wherein China Has shown j
Good Example to America

WOO example 70 America
Other Signs of Awakening il
the Celestial Empire.
Clarence Poe s Letter From Chin;
to Progressive Farmer.
10 shake off the opium habit
when once it has gripped a man
IS no easy task-oficiaIs RICH
herein Picking, for example, dieo
as q result of stopping too sud.
denly after the edict came out an.
nonncing that no opium victim
could remain in public service
but a member of the Emperor
council told me this afternoon that
20 per cent of the public officials
who Were formerly opium smokers
have given up the habit, or have
been dismissed from office. Five
Per cent may smoke III secret, but
with the certainty of dismissal as
the penalty of discovery, it may
be assumed that even these few
are breaking themselves from the
habit.
Not only have drastic measures
been taken with regard to the
sale and use of opium, but the ear
nestness of the people has been
strikingly illustrated in the great
financial sacrifices made by farm
ers and landowners in sections
where the opium poppy was for
merly grown. The culture of the
poppy IN some sections was far
more profitable than that of any
other crop; moreover, it was the
money crop" of the people, Just
as cotton is in the South. In fact,
to stop growing the opium pop
Ply has meant in some cases a de-
crease of IS per cent. in the prof
1t and value of the land. Farms
m~ortgaged on the basis of old
land values, therefore, had to be
sold; peasants who had been home
owners became homeless. And vet
China has thought no price too
great to pay in the effort to free
herself from this form Of intern
'perance. Well may her leading
men proudly declare, as one did
to- me today: "While America
dares not undertake the task of.
stopping the whiskey curse among
less than a hundred million peo-
pie, We are stopping the opium
curse among four hundred mil
lions" 1t should also be observed
that there is little drunkenness
over here. At a dinner party Fri
day evening my hostess thought
1t worth while to mentior as a
matter of general interest to her
guest ESQ rare is the occurrence)
that she had seen a drunken Chi
naman that day. I have not e
one.
China is waking up, and | am
glad she is. She is going into in
dustrial competition with all the
world, and l am glad that she is.
l believe that every strong and
worthy nation is enriched by the
proper development of every
other nation. But in this coming
struggle the people whom vice or
dissipation has rendered weak,
sooner or later, must go down be-
fore the men who, gaining the
mastery over every vicious habit,
keep their bodies strong and their
minds clear. In thunder tones in
deed does China's victory over
opium speak to America. If wei
are to maintain our high place
among the nations of the earth, if
We are to keep our leadership In
wealth and industry, we can do i'll
only by freeing ourselves, as hero
as the yellow man of the
Orient is doing in this respect,
every enervating influence
that now weakens the physical
stamina, blunts the moral sense,
or befogs the brain.
The new China is devoting it
self to a number of other reforms,
to which the people of the South
and America generally may well
give attenti3r. The curse Of graft
among her prf lie officials
{ squeeze it is called over here)
one of the most deep-rooted
cancers with which she had to
contend. Officers have been paid
small salaries and have been al
owed to make up for the meager-
ness of their stipends by exacting
Ill sorts of fees and tips. Before
he coming Parliament is very
I'D, however, it will doubtless I'M
lertake to do away with the fee
md squeeze system, stop graft
no and mt al fhn moro imnor