The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-24
AS WE SEE n
sy Z. J. o'FLAHEATY.

In the early days of the world
when the rival propagandists fo
Germany and England undertook to
sing the praises of their respective
Imperialism, one of the favorite ar
guments used by the supporters of
John Bull, was that England carried
civilization to hitherto uncivilized
parts of the world. Now, what kind
Of civilization was this, that went
forth in the bibles of British mis-
sionaries, followed by the whiskey Of
her traders and the bullets of her ar
med forces?
THE leading world powers recently
held an opium conference. OF
course it was farce. Like the peace
conferences held by the robber ma
tions, it was merely mask to de-
ceive some sincere liberals who be-
lieve they can scrape off some Of the
filth from the capitalist system and
make it less severe on the nostrils.
That opium conference came to an
end without a single constructive
measure being adopted. And for the
very reason that those who attended it
were in the business of making pro-
fit from the production and sale Of
the deadly drug.
CHINA is one of the greatest suf-
~ ferers from the opium evil. Ac-
cording to a French scientist, five per
cent of the Chinese people smoke or
chew opium, and social diseases have
followed so fast in the train of the
opium habit that the Chinese race
faces the prospect Of humiliation UNI
less the cause of the plague is re-
moved. And here is where the hypo-
critical British capitalists come in.
England forced the opium curse on
China at the point Of the sword. 1t
was not known in that country until
the year 1900. The British East
India Company" poisoned China and
the Orient with the drug and made
fabulous profits on it's sale. A Chinese
emperor seized millions of dollars
worth Of opium and threw it in the
harbor.
ENGLAND. Christian England, de-
l. Jared war on ''heathen" China, an
nexed Hongkong for good measure
and exacted a heavy cash indemnity
besides. The British propagandists
who polluted the atmosphere with
praise for the pirate empire did well
not to fish up these disagreeable facts,
when it was necessary to in1ame the
minds of the masses against her com
mercial rivals. And Britain is not
the only sinner against China and
against the exploited peoples of the
Orient But she is the worst sinner,
not because she is any more willing
to poison whole nation for profit and
for diplomatic reasons, but because
she has been at the game longer than
the rest.
IRELAND threatens to leave the
| League of Nations if that organiza-
ton supports the British contention
that the Irish Free State had no right
to register the Anglo-Irish treaty with
the league. Those bourgeois Irish ma
tionalists who thought they would be
allowed to strut around like "indepen-
dent fellows" by the hard-boiled Brit
ish Empire will soon have good rea-
sons to change their minds. They had
better watch England swiping what
ever concessions she gave Egypt in
her hour of stress, now that things
look little brighter
VATHEN Comrade Rakovsky came to
wv Paris after France recognized
the Soviet government, the first thing
he did was to look around for secret
archives, where he might possibly run
across some interesting documents
that would tell story Of the czar's
regime. Regretfully he announced
that he could not find anything. But
it appears that Comrade Krassin, the
ambassador was luckier The latter
got his fingers on the copy Of secret
agreement entered into between
France and Russia in the year 1916,
'roviding for the partition Of Turkey
to 'keputual advantage of Russia and
France.
IF our res lers allow their memories
TO 20 b, X to the year 1916, they
will remem.r that England and Italy
were the all n.of France and Russia
against the ahal powers. Yet here
were the GtelV powers putting one
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