The Cordova daily times., 1922-05-13
PROTESTS SMUGGLING BY
 JAPANESE

l SHANGHAI, May 13. Declarign the opium curse in a very wide area the opiuf curse in very wide area 1 of China, the Chinese press is de- nouncing Japanese dealers in the il- licit sale of smuggled opium and mor- | phia. The. Journal of Commerce, a lead ing Chinese publication, prints the fol- lowing expose of the methods which i the Japanese smugglers are using tol | increase the sale of the drugs in! China: "Opium being a poisonous drug, it's suppression has been deemed moral obligation by all civilized peoples All our foreign friends have taken an active interest in the cause of opium suppression in this country. The worst that foreign nation can do to- ward this campaign is to withhold it's support.
 But unfortunately in the case of our Eastern neighbor, Japan, we find that sales in opium for the consump- | tion of Chinese are indulged in on a scale so extensive as to perpetuate the opium curse in very wide area of I Chinese soil.
 NOT OF REGENT ORIGIN
 The history of the illicit traffic in smuggled opium and morphia on the part of interruptions Japanese is not one of recent origin But it is. for the first time that confession of this crime has come from the lips of a Japanese. We have before us a thor 1 ough statement made by the Secretary of the Department of Civil Administra- | tion of Dairen. From this statement it is possible not only to learn the na- ture of the abominable traffic, but of 1 the sinister methods employed by the smugglers to fill their pocket with i filthy lucre. If the charges had come from Chinese source the Japanese would at once proceed to WhiteWash their offenses. In the present case Whitewashing would not be so easy. With the Japanese trade in opium and morphia in view, we fail to under stand the meaning of the claim of Jap anese diplomats to the effect that Japan has at heart the moral welfare of the nations.
 "Perhaps it will be wondered how ! the Japanese come to have all the needed facilities for indulging in the illicit traffic of smuggled opium and morphia on so big a scale. There are three factors at work which are re- sponsible for this deplorable state of things. In the first place the Japan ese smugglers take full advantage of the right of immunity from Chinese law under he shield of extra-territo- riaIitv. In the second place, these heartless smugglers are able to out wit the watchfulness of customs in spectors by having the obnoxious | drugs sent to them as parcels, under 1 the inspection-proof mantle of the Japanese mailbag. In the third place, Dairen being Japanese, leased terri tory serves as a good and safe mar ket place for disposing of the illicit opium which finds in Tsingtau of to- day a second market with equal fla cilities.
 COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE
 "At the Washington Conference a definite date had been appointed for the withdrawal of the foreign post office in China. The question of the abolition of xtra-territoriality, will | largely hinge on the report of the 1n- l ternational commission that will visit China for the purpose of inves- l tigating the judicial conditions of this country. Since any one nation may as sert it's right in agreeing wholly or partially with reservations to the find ings of this commission, Japan will be sure to come forward with the ar gument that the time is yet premature for the abolition of extra-territoriality in China. In the case of Japanese leased territories we find that Japan has been clinging like a bulldog in Dairen and Port Arthur, although the restoration of Tsingtau under certain stipulated conditions had been agreed upon. This survey of Japan's attitude regarding the important issues with which the illicit traffic in opium and kindred drugs are intimately associat- ed, leads to the one obvious conclusion,