subject of Excise (page 218): "Revenue: During the ten years ending
with 1916-17 the net receipts from Excise duties increased ... at the
rate of 47 per cent. The receipts from opium (consumed in India, not
exported) being at the rate of 44 per cent. The net receipts from
liquors and from drugs other than opium ... the increase at the rate of
48 per cent. This large increase is due not merely to the expansion of
consumption, but also to the imposition of progressively higher rates
of duty and the increasingly extensive control of the excise
administration. The revenue from drugs, (excluding opium) has risen in
ten years ... the increase being at the rate of 67 per cent."
A national psychology that can review these figures with complacency,
satisfaction and pride is not akin to American psychology. A nation
that can subjugate 300,000,000 helpless people, and then turn them into
drug addicts--for the sake of revenue--is a nation which commits a
cold-blooded atrocity unparalleled by any atrocities committed in the
rage and heat of war. The Blue Book shows no horror at these figures.
Complacent approval greets the increase of 44 per cent of opium
consumption, and the increase of 67 per cent in the use of other
habit-forming drugs. Approval, and a shrewd appreciation of the
possibilities for more revenue from "progressively higher rates of
duty," knowing well that drug addicts will sell soul and body in order
to procure their daily supply.
XI
TURKEY AND PERSIA
Next to India, the greatest two opium-producing countries in the world
are Turkey and Persia. The Statesman's Year Book for 1918 has this to
say about it. On page 1334: "The principal exports from Turkey into the
United Kingdom ... in two years were:
_1915_ _1916_
Barley L156,766 L49,413
Raisins 127,014 34,003
Dried fruit 375,519 540,633
Wool 36,719 143,216
Tobacco 149,100 3,711
Opium 262,293 48,090"
These are the only articles mentioned in this list of chief exports.
There are others, doubtless, but the Statesman's Year Book is a
condensed and compact little volume, dealing only with the principal
things exported. In 1915 we therefore notice that the opium export was
second on the list, being exceeded by but one other, dried fruit. In
1916, the third year of the war, the opium export is decidedly less, as
are all the other articles exported, except dried fruit and wool--which
were articles probably more vital to the United Kingdom at that time
even than opium.
PERSIA
The same authority, the Statesman's Year Book for 1918, gives a table
on page 1162, showing the value of the chief exports from Persia. The
values are given in thousands of kran, sixty kran equaling one pound
sterling.
_1914-15_ _1915-16_
Opium 41,446 kran 41,732 kran
Since the war, both Turkey and Persia are more or less under control of
the British Empire, which gives Great Britain virtual control of the
world's output of opium. With this monopoly of the opium-producing
countries, and with a million or so square miles added to her immense
colonial Empire, one wonders what use Great Britain will make of the
mandatory powers she has assumed over the lives and welfare of all
these subject peoples! Will she find these helpless millions ready for
her opium trade? Will she establish opium shops, and opium divans, and
reap half the costs of upkeep of these newly acquired states by means
of this shameful traffic?
XII
MAURETIUS
Another British colony is Mauretius, acquired by conquest in 1810, and
formally ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. This
island is in the Indian Ocean, 500 miles east of Madagascar, with an
area of about 720 square miles. The population is about 377,000, of
which number 258,000 are Indian, and 3,000 Chinese. Opium appears to be
sold in the colony, since the Blue Book mentions that licenses are
required for opium sellers. As far as we can discover, by perusal of
these Government Reports, the sale of opium is not conducted by the
Government itself, as in India, the Straits Settlements, Hongkong,
etc., but is carried on by private dealers who obtain licenses before
they can open opium shops. A part of the revenue, however, is derived
from opium; thus, according to the Blue Book for the Colony of
Mauretius for 1915, page V 73, we read that the imports of opium for
the year amounted to 1,353 kilos, with a duty collected of 54,126
rupees. The Blue Book for 1916 shows a gratifying increase. Thus, the
import of crude opium from India amounted to 5,690 kilos, with a duty
collected of 227,628 rupees. (See page V 64.)
_1915_ _1916_
Imports of opium 1,353 kilos 5,690 kilos
Duty on opium 54,126 rupees 7,628 rupees
Total duty on all imports 3,765,677 rupees 4,143,085 rupees
Statistics for British India, Eighth Issue, gives these figures:
OPIUM EXPORTED TO MAURETIUS
1912-13 10 chests
1913-14 19 "
1914-15 23 "
1915-16 65 "
1916-17 120 "
This is a poor little colony, but has its possibilities. The
consumption of opium appears to be increasing steadily in a most
satisfactory manner. Congratulations all round.
XIII
BRITISH NORTH BORNEO
British North Borneo occupies the northern part of the island of
Borneo. Area, about 31,000 square miles, with a coast line of over 900
miles. Population (1911 census), 208,000, consisting mainly of
Mohammedan settlers on the coast and aboriginal tribes inland. The
Europeans numbered 355; Chinese 26,000; Malays, 1,612; East Indians
about 5,000 and Filipinos 5,700. The number of natives cannot be more
than approximately estimated, but is placed at about 170,000. The
territory is under the jurisdiction of the British North Borneo
Company, being held under grants from the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu
(Royal Charter in 1881).
Like many other British colonies, opium is depended upon for part of
the revenue. The Statesman's Year Book for 1916 observes on page 107:
"Sources of revenue: Opium, birds' nests, court fees, stamp duty,
licenses, import and export duties, royalties, land sales, etc. No
public debt."
In this frank manner, our attention is called to opium, which appears
first on the list of sources of revenue.
Going over the files of the Government reports, we will begin with
the "Supplement to the Official Gazette for British North Borneo.
Administration Report for the Year 1910." Published June 1, 1911.
On page 3 we read: "Customs and Trade: The import and export trade
of the state shows a healthy expansion.... It is interesting to note
that imports show an increase at every station. Out of the 47 headings
of Tariff, there are only 7 which show decreases.... The largest
increases appear under cloth, $147,106; opium, $132,692, and iron
ware, $118,620.... The general all round increases ... are of course
due to the demand for supplies of all kinds in connection with the
opening of rubber estates."
The Supplement to the Official Gazette, Report for 1912 (published in
December, 1913) is also a report of general prosperity. Page 4: "Trade:
The volume of trade for the year 1912 was $11,139,122, giving an
increase over 1911 of 18 per cent.... Imports: As in 1911, all stations
show an increase of imports. Out of 47 headings, 33 show increases, 12
show decreases, and 2 remain stationary. Increases: There was an
increase under rice, flour and grain ... the increase under other
headings include sundries, opium, machinery, etc."
The next Government Report is not so happy. Opium imports show no
"healthy expansion." Thus, the Supplement to the Official Gazette,
Report for 1913 (published 1 February, 1915) says on page 4: "Other
decreases in imports were opium, $109,180. The decrease in opium was
due to the abolition of the Opium Farm, which also held the Labuan
Farm, and opium was therefore no longer imported from Labuan for use in
the West Coast and the Interior."
Still more bad news as to opium, in the report for 1914, (published 1
February, 1916). All imports drop. Page 4 records "Decrease in
imports.... Railway and telegraph material, rice, flour, grain and
opium." In this year the opium imports only amount to $58,464. This
general falling off in all imports may have been due to the war. But
the opium situation was apparently growing serious. On page 17 of this
same report we read that "Thirty-two ordinances were passed by the
Council and became laws during the year. Among them the Opium and
Chandu."
The brevity and meagerness of these official reports often leave one
puzzled as to their meaning. The Supplement to the Official Gazette for
1915 (published October, 1916), shows still more discouraging news as
to opium. Imports that year amounted to only $31,299. But, in spite of
this discouragement, hope still remains. The same report shows optimism
under the head of Excise. "Excise: $627,225, against $467,078, an
increase in the net revenue of $160,147, due to Government taking over
the sole control of the sale of chandu (smoking opium) and the
collection of other Excise duties, formerly farmed."
This explains the Ordinance passed by the Council the preceding year,
regarding Opium and Chandu. Since the Government has taken over "sole
control of the sale of chandu" and will collect the excise duties
systematically and thoroughly, we may still hope for some future report
which will show once more a "healthy expansion" in the opium revenue.
XIV
BRITISH GUIANA
Situated in South America. Area, 89,480 square miles. Population at
census of 1911, excluding aborigines in the unfrequented parts of the
colony, 296,000. The Statesman's Year Book, which gives us these brief
facts, has very little to say about this British colony in our Western
Hemisphere, and gives no dates or information as to how and when it was
acquired. The Government reports are also meager and unsatisfactory,
and there is no wealth of detail as to exports and imports. The
country, however, is rich in gold, mining having commenced in 1886.
Diamonds have also been discovered.
The chief sources of revenue, however, are customs, excise and
licenses. With the word "excise" we have come to have unpleasant
associations. From "The Statistical Abstract for British Self-Governing
Dominions, Colonies, Possessions and Protectorates" we find a table
showing the imports of opium into the various countries under British
rule. The opium imports into British Guiana are as follows:
1910 1,251 pounds sterling
1911 1,270
1912 2,474
1913 4,452
1914 5,455
1915 4,481
These figures would seem to indicate that even on the Western
Hemisphere the taste for opium may be cultivated. It need not
necessarily be confined to the Oriental peoples. The population of much
of South America is a mixed lot, the result of mixed breeding between
Spanish settlers, Indians, native tribes of all sorts. All this jumble,
including the aborigines referred to, might, with a little teaching
become profitable customers of the Opium Monopoly. Time and a little
effort, given this fertile field, ought to produce a "healthy
expansion" in the opium trade.
And that this insidious habit is indeed taking hold, in at least one
more country in South America, one may infer from the following
paragraph which appeared in the New York Times, 4 October, 1919:
DRUG EVIL IN ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Opens Fight on Use of Narcotics
The city government of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has begun a
determined fight to wipe out the drug evil by the enactment of
stringent laws governing the sale of narcotics. This step was taken
after an investigation by the authorities had disclosed that not
only was the narcotic habit strong among the poor, but that it was
spreading throughout virtually every class in the city.
Until the passage of the laws druggists were permitted to sell
cocaine, morphine and opium to any purchaser. The new laws forbid
the sale of these drugs except in filling prescriptions prepared by
registered physicians. The city also has established dispensaries
for the treatment of drug addicts.
XV
HISTORY OF THE OPIUM TRADE IN CHINA
In a vague way, we are familiar with the "opium evil" in China, and
some of us have hazy ideas as to how it came about. The China Year Book
for 1916 has this to say on the subject: "The poppy has been known in
China for 12 centuries, and its medicinal use for 9 centuries.... It
was not until the middle of the 17th century that the practice of
mixing opium with tobacco for smoking purposes was introduced into
China. This habit was indulged in by the Dutch in Java, and by them
taken to Formosa, whence it spread to Amoy and the mainland generally.
There is no record to show when opium was first smoked by itself, but
it is thought to have originated about the end of the 18th century.
Foreign opium was first introduced by the Portuguese from Goa at the
beginning of the 18th century. In 1729, when the foreign import was 200
chests, the Emperor Yung Ching issued the first anti-opium edict,
enacting severe penalties on the sale of opium and the opening of
opium-smoking divans. The importation, however, continued to increase,
and by 1790 it amounted to over 4,000 chests annually. In 1796 opium
smoking was again prohibited, and in 1800 the importation of foreign
opium was again declared illegal. Opium was now contraband, but the
fact had no effect on the quantity introduced into the country, which
rose to 5,000 chests in 1820; 16,000 chests in 1830; 20,000 chests in
1838, and 70,000 chests in 1858."
The China Year Book makes no mention of the traders who carried these
chests of opium into China. The opium came from India, however, and the
increase in importation corresponds with the British occupation of
India, and the golden days of the East India Company. "Opium was now
contraband, but that fact had no effect on the quantity introduced into
the country,"--smuggled in wholesale by the enterprising British
traders.
China was powerless to protect herself from this menace, either by
protests or prohibition. And as more and more of the drug was smuggled
in, and more and more of the people became victims of the habit, the
Chinese finally had a tea-party, very much like our Boston Tea Party,
but less successful in outcome. In 1839, in spite of the fact that
opium smoking is an easy habit to acquire and had been extensively
encouraged, the British traders found themselves with 20,000 chests of
unsold opium on their store-ships, just below Canton. The Chinese had
repeatedly appealed to the British Government to stop these imports,
but the British Government had turned a persistently deaf ear.
Therefore the Emperor determined to deal with the matter on his own
account. He sent a powerful official named Lin to attend to it, and Lin
had a sort of Boston Tea Party, as we have said, and destroyed some
twenty thousand chests of opium in a very drastic way. Mr. H. Wells
Williams describes it thus: "The opium was destroyed in the most
thorough manner, by mixing it in parcels of 200 chests, in trenches,
with lime and salt water, and then drawing off the contents into an
adjacent creek at low tide."
After this atrocity, followed the first Opium War, when British ships
sailed up the river, seized port after port, and bombarded and took
Canton. Her ships sailed up the Yangtsze, and captured the tribute
junks going up the Grand Canal with revenue to Peking, thus stopping a
great part of China's income. Peace was concluded in 1843, and Great
Britain came out well. She recompensed herself by taking the island of
Hongkong; an indemnity of 21 million dollars, and Canton, Amoy,
Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai were opened up as "treaty ports"--for the
importation of opium and the "open-door" in general.
Mr. Wells, in his "Middle Kingdom" describes the origin of this first
war with England: "This war was extraordinary in its origin as growing
chiefly out of a commercial misunderstanding; remarkable in its course
as being waged between strength and weakness, conscious superiority and
ignorant pride; melancholy in its end as forcing the weaker to pay for
opium within its borders against all its laws, thus paralyzing the
little moral power its feeble government could exert to protect its
subjects.... It was a turning point in the national life of the Chinese
race, but the compulsory payment of six million dollars for the opium
destroyed has left a stigma upon the English name."
He also says, "The conflict was now fairly begun; its issue between the
parties so unequally matched--one having almost nothing but the right
on its side, the other assisted by every material and physical
advantage--could easily be foreseen" and again, after speaking of it
as being unjust and immoral, he concludes "Great Britain, the first
Christian power, really waged this war against the pagan monarch who
had only endeavored to put down a vice harmful to his people. The war
was looked upon in this light by the Chinese; it will always be so
looked upon by the candid historian, and known as the Opium War."
Within fifteen years after this first war, there was another one, and
again Great Britain came off victorious. China had to pay another
indemnity, three million dollars, and five more treaty ports were
opened up. By the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin, the sale of opium in
China was legalized in 1858.
From a small pamphlet, "Opium: England's Coercive Policy and Its
Disastrous Results in China and India" by the Rev. John Liggins, we
find the following: "As a specimen of how both wars were carried on, we
quote the following from an English writer on the bombardment of
Canton: 'Field pieces loaded with grape were planted at the end of
long, narrow streets crowded with innocent men, women and children, to
mow them down like grass till the gutters flowed with their blood.'" In
one scene of carnage, the _Times_ correspondent recorded that half an
army of 10,000 men were in ten minutes destroyed by the sword, or
forced into the broad river. "The Morning Herald" asserted that "a more
horrible or revolting crime than this bombardment of Canton has never
been committed in the worst ages of barbaric darkness."
Naturally, therefore, after the termination of these two wars, China
gave up the struggle. She had fought valiantly to protect her people
from opium, but the resources of a Christian nation were too much for
her. Seeing therefore that the opium trade was to be forced upon her,
and that her people were doomed to degradation, she decided to plant
poppies herself. There should be competition at least, and the money
should not all be drained out of the country. Thus it came about that
after 1858 extensive tracts of land were given over to poppy
production. Whole provinces or parts of provinces, ceased to grow grain
and other necessities, and diverted their rich river bottoms to the
raising of opium. Chinese opium, however, never supplanted Indian
opium, being inferior to that raised in the rich valley of the Ganges.
The country merely had double quantities of the drug, used straight or
blended, to suit the purse or taste of the consumer.
Then, in 1906, the incredible happened. After over a hundred years of
steady demoralization, with half her population opium addicts, or worse
still, making enormous profits out of the trade, China determined to
give up opium. In all history, no nation has ever set itself such a
gigantic task, with such a gigantic handicap. China, a country of
immense distances, with scant means of communication; with no common
language, a land where only the scholars can read and write, suddenly
decided to free herself from this vice. The Emperor issued an edict
saying that in ten years' time all opium traffic must cease, and an
arrangement was made with Great Britain whereby this might be
accomplished. To the honor of America be it said that we assisted China
in this resolution. We agreed to see her through.
A bargain was then made between China and Great Britain, in 1907, China
agreeing to diminish poppy cultivation year by year for a period of ten
years, and Great Britain agreeing to a proportional decrease in the
imports of Indian opium. A three years' test was first agreed to, a
trial of China's sincerity and ability, for Great Britain feared that
this was but a ruse to cut off Indian opium, while leaving China's
opium alone in the field. At the end of three years, however, China had
proved her ability to cope with the situation. Thus, for a period of
ten years, both countries have lived up to their bargain, the amount of
native and foreign opium declining steadily in a decreasing scale.
April 1, 1917, saw the end of the accomplishment.
China's part was most difficult. In the remote, interior provinces,
poppies were grown surreptitiously, connived at by corrupt officials
who made money from the crops. However, drastic laws were enacted and
severe penalties imposed upon those who broke them. If poppy
cultivation could not be stopped, England would not hold to her end of
the bargain. Not only was there a nation of addicts to deal with, but
these could obtain copious supplies of opium from the foreign
concessions, over which the Chinese had no control. We shall show, in
another article, to what extent this was carried on. Yet somehow, in
some manner, the impossible happened. Year by year, little by little,
one province after another was freed from poppy cultivation, until in
1917, China was practically free from the native-grown drug, and
foreign importation had practically ended.
In this manner, first by large smuggling, then by two opium wars, was
China drugged with opium. And in this manner, and to this extent, has
she succeeded in freeing herself from the curse. But in one way, she is
not free. She has no control over the extra-territorial holdings of
European powers, for in each treaty port are the foreign concessions
already mentioned--German, Austrian, British, French, Russian. And in
these concessions, opium may be procured. Simply by crossing an
imaginary line, in such cities as Shanghai and Hongkong, can the
Chinese buy as much opium as they choose. China will never be rid of
this menace till she is rid of these extraterritorial holdings. Opium
shops, licensed by foreign governments, are always ready to supply her
people with the forbidden drug.
We say that the China market is closed. So it is, in one way. But the
British Opium Monopoly is not ended. The year 1917 saw a tremendous
blow dealt to the British opium dealers, but other markets will be
found. There are other countries than China whose inhabitants can be
taught this vice. The object of this discussion is to consider these
other countries, and to see to what extent the world is menaced by this
possibility.
XVI
CONCLUSION
There are many people who advocate the use of opium, and who defend the
policy of the Opium Monopoly. They argue that it is not harmful--if
taken in moderation. They even assert that it is no more objectionable
than alcohol or tobacco. Leaving out of account, therefore, the
consensus of opinion of the medical profession as to the evils of
habit-forming drugs, and accepting the theory that opium is harmless,
we should then like to ask why the use of opium is so carefully
restricted to the peoples of subject states, who have no voice in their
own affairs? Why should the benefits of opium be confined to Oriental
races, and why should not the white race be given the same
opportunities for indulgence? Is there any reason for this
discrimination? As a source of revenue, it certainly has advantages.
Yet curiously enough, those European countries which derive much profit
through the sale of opium to their subject races, seem to have an
aversion to introducing it to their people at home. And there is a
further coincidence in the fact that none of the self-governing
colonies of European countries--Australia, New Zealand and
Canada--permit this traffic. It appears to be only the subject peoples,
whose well-being has become the White Man's Burden, who receive the
blessings of this peculiar form of altruism. Is it because the white
race is worth preserving, worth protecting, and because subject nations
are fair game for exploitation of any kind?