Liberal party, which has within it a strong reform element. From the Tory
party nothing could be expected; it has always worshipped the Things that
Are, and it has always defended the opium traffic. If either party is to
work this change, it must be that one which now holds the reins of power.
And yet, after generations of fighting against the government opium
industry on the part of all the reform organizations in England, after
Parliament has twice been driven to vote a resolution condemning the
traffic, after generations of statesmen, from Palmerston through Gladstone
to John Morley, have held out assurances of a change, after the Chinese
government, tired of waiting on England, has begun the struggle, this is
the final concession on England's part:
The British government has agreed to decrease the exportation of Indian
opium about eight per cent. per year during a trial period of three years,
in order to see whether the cultivation of the poppy and the number of
opium-smokers is lessened. Should such be the case, exportation to China
will be further decreased gradually.
The reader will observe here some very pretty diplomatic juggling. There
is here none of the spirit which animated the United States last year in
proposing voluntarily to give up a considerable part of its indemnity
money. The British government is yielding to a tremendous popular clamour
at home; but nothing more. Could a government offer less by way of
carrying out the conviction of a national parliament to the effect that
"the methods by which our Indian opium revenues are derived are morally
indefensible"? The English people are urging their government, the Chinese
are diplomatically putting on pressure, the United States is organizing an
international opium commission on the ground that the nations which
consume Indian and Chinese opium have, willy-nilly, a finger in the pie.
And by way of response to this pressure the British government agrees to
lessen very slightly its export for a few years, or until the pressure is
removed and the trade can slip back to normal!
There are not even assurances that the agreement will be carried out.
While this very agitation has been going on, since these chapters began to
appear in _Success Magazine_, the annual export of Bengal opium has
increased (1906-1908) from 96,688 chests to 101,588 chests. And it is well
to remember that after Mr. Gladstone, as prime minister, had given
assurances of a "great reduction" in the traffic, the officials of India
admitted that they had not heard of any such reduction.
A few months ago, the Government issued a "White Paper" containing the
correspondence with China on the opium question, so that there is no
dependence on hearsay in this arraignment of the British attitude. Let us
glance at an excerpt or two from these official British letters. This, for
example:
"The Chinese proposal, on the other hand, which involves extinction of the
import in nine years, would commit India irrevocably, and in advance of
experience, to the complete suppression of an important trade, and goes
beyond the underlying condition of the scheme, that restriction of import
from abroad, and reduction of production in China, shall be brought _pari
passu_ into play."
Not content with this rather sordid expression, His Majesty's Government
goes on to point out that, under existing treaties, China cannot refuse to
admit Indian opium; that China cannot even increase the import duty on
Indian opium without the permission of Great Britain; that before Great
Britain will consider the question of permanently reducing her production
China must prove that the number of her smokers has diminished; that the
opium traffic is to be continued at least for another ten years; and then
indulges in this superb deliverance:
The proposed limitation of the export to 60,000 chests from 1908 is
thought to be a very substantial reduction on this figure, and the view of
the Government of India is that such a standard ought to satisfy the
Chinese Government for the present.
Even by their own estimate, after taking out the proposed total decrease
of 15,300 chests in the Chinese trade, the Indian Government will, during
the next three years, unload more than 170,000 chests of opium on a race
which it has brought to degradation, which is to-day struggling to
overcome demoralization, and which is appealing to England and to the
whole civilized world for aid in the unequal contest.
We must try to be fair to the gentlemen-officials who see the situation
only in this curious half-light. "It is a practical question," they say.
"The law of trade is the balance-sheet. It is not our fault as individuals
that opium, the commodity, was launched out into the channels of trade;
but since it is now in those channels, the law of trade must rule, the
balance-sheet must balance. Opium means $20,000,000 a year to the Indian
Government--we cannot give it up."
The real question would seem to be whether they can afford to continue
receiving this revenue. Opium does not appear to be a very valuable
commodity in India itself. Just as in China, it degrades the people. The
profits in production, for everybody but the government, are so small that
the strong hand of the law has often, nowadays, to be exerted in order to
keep the _ryots_ (farmers) at the task of raising the poppy. There are
many thoughtful observers of conditions in India who believe it would be
highly "practical" to devote the rich soil of the Ganges Valley to crops
which have a sound economic value to the world.
But more than this, the opium programme saps India as it saps China. The
position of the Englishman in India to-day is by no means so secure that
he can afford to indulge in bad government. The spirit of democracy and
socialism has already spread through Europe and has entered Asia. In
Japan, trade-unions are striking for higher wages. In China and India, are
already heard the mutterings of revolution. The British government may yet
have to settle up, in India as well as in China, for its opium policy. And
when the day for settling up comes, it may perhaps be found that a higher
balance-sheet than that which rules the government opium industry may
force Great Britain to pay--and pay dear.
Yes, the world has some right to make demands of England in this matter.
China can make no real progress in its struggle until the Indian
production and exportation are flatly abolished.
The situation has distinctly not grown better since the magazine
publication of the first of these chapters, a year ago. If the reader
would like to have an idea of where Great Britain stands to-day on the
opium business, he can do no better than to read the following excerpts
from a speech made last spring by the Hon. Theodore C. Taylor, M. P., on
his return from a journey round the world, undertaken for the purpose of
personally investigating the opium problem.
First, this:
"We shall not begin to have the slightest right to ask that China should
give proof of her genuineness about reform until we show more proof of our
own genuineness about reform, and until we suppress the opium traffic
where we can. China has taken this difficult reform in hand. She has done
much, but not everything. In Shanghai, Hongkong, and the Straits, we have
done nothing at all. I want to say this morning, as pricking the bubble of
our own Pharisaism, that from the point of view of reform, the blackest
opium spots in China are the spots under British rule."
And then, in conclusion, this:
"I am convinced, and deeply convinced, as every observant and thoughtful
man is that knows anything of China, that China is a great coming power. I
was talking to a fellow member of the House of Commons who lately went to
China, and went into barracks and camps with the Chinese, and who made it
his business to study Chinese military affairs, which generally excite so
much laughter outside China. He spent a good deal of time with the Chinese
soldier. He said to me, as many other people have said to me, 'The
Chinaman is splendid raw material as a soldier, and, if his officers would
properly lead the Chinaman, he would follow and make the finest soldier in
the world, bar none.' It will take China a long, long time to organize
herself; it will take her a long time to organize her army and navy; it
will take a long time to get rid of the system of bribery in China, which
is one of the hindrances to putting down the opium traffic; but, depend
upon it, the time is coming, not perhaps very soon, but by and by--and
nations have long memories--when those who are alive to see the
development of China will be very glad that, when China was weak and we
were strong, we, of our own motion, without being made to, helped China to
get away from this terrible curse."
Appendix--A Letter from the Field
THE OPIUM CLIMAX IN SHANGHAI
_Editor "Success Magazine":_
It is fitting that in the columns of _Success_, a magazine which has so
recently investigated and so thoroughly and ably reported upon the opium
curse in China, there should appear the account of a unique ceremony held
in the International Settlement of Shanghai, illustrating in a striking
manner the general feeling of the Chinese towards the anti-opium movement
and setting an example that will make its influence felt in the most
remote provinces of the empire. In response to liberal advertising there
assembled in the spacious grounds of Chang Su Ho's Gardens, on the
afternoon of Sunday, May 3, 1908, some two or three thousand of Shanghai's
leading Chinese business men, together with a goodly sprinkling of
Europeans and Americans, to witness the destruction of the opium-pipes,
lamps, etc., taken from the Nan Sun Zin Opium Palace. In America, such a
scene as this would have appeared little less than a farce, but here the
obvious earnestness of the Chinese, the great value of the property to be
destroyed and the deep meaning of this sacrifice, should have been
sufficient to put the blush of shame upon the cheeks of the Shanghai
voters and councilmen, who, representing the most enlightened nations of
the earth, have compromised with the opium evil and permitted
three-fourths of this nefarious business to linger in the "Model
Settlement" when it has been so summarily dealt with by the native
authorities throughout the land.
Within a roped-in, circular enclosure, marked by two large, yellow
Dragon-Flags, were stacked the furnishings of the Opium Palace, consisting
of opium boxes, pipes, lamps, tables, trays, etc., and as the spectators
arrived the work of destruction was going rapidly on. Two native
blacksmiths were busily engaged in splitting on an anvil the metal
fittings from the pipes, and a brawny coolie, armed with a sledgehammer,
was driving flat the artistic opium lamps as they were taken from the
tables and placed on the ground before him. Meanwhile the pipes, mellowed
and blackened by long use and many of them showing rare workmanship, were
dipped into a large tin of kerosine and stacked in two piles on stone
bases, to form the funeral pyre, while the center of each stack was filled
in with kindling from the opium trays, similarly soaked with oil. On one
of the tables within the enclosure were two small trays, each containing a
complete smoking outfit and a written sheet of paper announcing that these
were the offerings of Mr. Lien Yue Ming, manager of the East Asiatic
Dispensary, and Miss Kua Kuei Yen, a singing girl, respectively. Both
these quondam smokers sent in their apparatus to be burned, with a pledge
that henceforth they would abstain from the use of the drug.
During the preparations for the burning, Mr. Sun Ching Foong, a prominent
business man, delivered a powerful exhortation on the opium evil to the
enthusiastic multitude and introduced the leading speaker of the
afternoon, Mr. Wong Ching Foo, representing the Committee of the
Commercial Bazaar. Mr. Wong spoke in the Mandarin language and stated that
all of China was looking to Shanghai for a lead in the matter of
suppressing opium and that it was with great pleasure the committee had
noticed the earnest desire of the foreign Municipal Council (and he was
_not_ intending to be _sarcastic_!) to assist the Chinese in their
endeavour to do away entirely with this traffic. It was a very commendable
effort, and he was sure the foreigners there would agree that no effort on
their part could be too strong to do away with this curse, which was not
only undermining the best intellects of China, but by the example of
parents was affecting seriously the rising generation. To-day a gentleman,
who had been a smoker for twenty-nine years and had realized the great
harm it had done him, was present, and had brought with him his opium
utensils to be destroyed with those from the opium saloons of French-town.
The Nan Sun Zin Opium Palace, from which the pipes and other opium
utensils had been brought for destruction, was the largest in Shanghai
and, he had heard, the largest in China, patronized by the most notable
people. The example of Shanghai was felt in Nanking, Peking, and all over
China, for the young men who visited here took with them the report of the
pleasures they saw practiced in this settlement and thus gave the natives
different ideas. These young men often came here to see the wonderful
work accomplished by foreigners, and it was not right that they should
take this curse back with them. It had been originally intended to burn
also the chairs and tables from the palace, but as this would make too
large and dangerous a fire it had been decided to sell these and use the
proceeds for the furtherance of the anti-opium movement.
Among the pipes were some for which $500 had been offered, but the
Committee of the Commercial Bazaar had purchased the whole outfit to
destroy, and they hoped to be able to buy up a good many more of the
palaces and thus utterly destroy all traces of the opium-smoking practice.
Mr. Wong remarked that China had recently been under a cloud and in
Shanghai there had been protracted rains, but to-day it was fine and it
was evident that heaven was looking down upon them and blessing their
efforts. With heaven's blessing they would be able to overcome the curse
and be even quicker than the Municipal Council in completely wiping out
this abominable custom.
As the speeches were concluded, the Chinese Volunteer Band struck up a
lively air and amid the deafening din of crackers and bombs a torch was
applied to the oil-soaked stacks of pipes which at once burned up
fiercely. Extra oil was thrown upon the flames and the glass lamp-covers,
bowls, etc., were heaped upon the flames, thus completing a ceremony full
of earnestness and meaning.
It has come as a matter of great surprise to many sceptical foreigners
that the Chinese should be making such strenuous efforts to do away with
the opium-smoking curse. Not a few have thrown cold water upon the
scheme, sneered at the Chinese in this endeavour, and doubted both their
desire and ability to suppress the sale of opium. The Commercial Bazaar
Committee, consisting of well-known Chinese business men, is not only
seconding the Municipal Council in its gradual withdrawal of licenses in
the foreign settlements but has also accomplished the closing of many
opium dens through its own efforts by bringing pressure to bear upon the
owners of the dens. Already, many private individuals have given up their
beloved pipes and some dens have voluntarily closed. It has also been
agreed by the Chinese concerned that all of the shops run by women are to
cease the sale of opium. This activity on the part of the Chinese
themselves is a striking rebuke to those who cast suspicion upon the
honesty of purpose of both the Chinese government and people, refusing to
immediately abolish the opium licenses in the foreign settlements of
Shanghai, despite the appeals from the American, British, and Japanese
governments, the petitions of the leading Chinese of the place and the
general popularity of the anti-opium movement. Yielding to great pressure
from all sides, the Shanghai Municipal Council _did_ consent to introduce
a resolution upon this question before the Ratepayers Meeting to be held
March 20th, but the concession made was small indeed compared with what
was generally desired or what might be anticipated from the leading lights
of "civilized and highly moral" nations. The resolution was as follows:--
"_Resolution VI._ That the number of licensed opium houses be reduced by
one-quarter from July 1, 1908, or from such other early date and in such
manner as may appear advisable to the Council for 1908-1909."
While there was in this a definite reduction of one-fourth of the
opium-joints in the settlement, there was nothing definite as to any
future policy, though the implication was that the houses would be all
closed within a period of two years. In his speech introducing this
resolution before the ratepayers, the British chairman of the council
said, among other things, "I feel sure that every one of us has the
greatest sympathy with the Chinese nation in its effort to dissipate the
opium habit, but we are not unfamiliar with Chinese official procedure,
and how far short actual administrative results fall when compared with
the official pronouncements that precede them. It is impossible not to be
sceptical as to the intentions of the Chinese government with regard to
this matter, although on this occasion we quite recognize that many
officials are sincere in their desire to eradicate the opium evil, and I
am sure there is every intention on the part of this community to assist
them. Yet we know of no programme that they have drawn up to make this
great reform possible, if indeed they have a programme.... The absence of
these, so to speak, first business essentials, on the part of the Chinese
government, was among the reasons which led us to the view that the
settlement was called upon to do little more than continue its work of
supervision over opium licenses, and wait for the cessation of supplies of
the drug to render that supervision unnecessary.... The advice we have
received from the British Government is, in brief, that we should do more
than keep pace with the native authorities, we should be in advance of
them and where possible encourage them to follow us."
In the following quotations from a letter written by Dr. DuBose, of
Soochow, President of the Anti-Opium League, to the municipal council, the
attitude of the reformers is clearly shown.
"The prohibition of opium-smoking is the greatest reformation the world
has ever seen, and its benefits are already patent. Let the ratepayers
effectually second the efforts being made by the Chinese government to
abolish the use of opium throughout the empire.
"It has proved a peaceful reformation. In the cities and towns about
one-half million dens, at the expiration of six months, were closed
promptly without resistance or complaint. The government will grant all
the necessary privileges of inspection to the municipal police in the
prevention of illicit smoking.
"The consumption of opium in the cities has fallen off thirty per cent.;
in the towns fifty per cent.; while in the rural districts in the eastern
and middle provinces it is reduced to a minimum. It is well for Shanghai
to be allied with Soochow, Hangchow, and Nanking, and not to permit itself
to be a refuge for bad men.
"The Chinese merchants in the International Settlement have sent in
earnest appeals to the Council on this question. As friends of China,
might not the ratepayers give their appeals a courteous consideration?
"The question of opium at the Annual Meeting commands world-wide attention
and Saturday's papers throughout Christendom will bear record of and
comment upon the action.
"To close the dens is right. Shanghai cannot afford to be the black spot
on Kiangsu's map. _Opium delendum est._
"In behalf of the Anti-Opium League,
"HAMPDEN C. DUBOSE, _President_."
The appeals from Great Britain, America, China, and Japan, like the
petitions of merchants, missionaries, and officials, were without effect.
The "vested interests" carried the day, and a resolution, ordering the
closing of the dens on or before the end of December, 1909, was lost by a
vote of 128 to 189, the council, as usual, influencing and controlling the
votes and carrying the original motion--the only concession it would grant
to this gigantic movement.
Another surprise came to the cynical foreigner, when, on April 18th, the
whole of the opium licensees participated in a public drawing in the town
hall, to decide by lottery which establishments should be shut down on the
1st of July, numbering one-fourth of the total number, this method being
adopted by the council to avoid any suspicion of partiality in the
selection. The keepers of the dens cheerfully acquiesced in the proposal,
the sporting chance no doubt appealing to the gambling spirit for which
they are noted, and in the town hall this remarkable drawing was held
without any sign of disfavour or rowdyism. The keepers of the Shanghai
opium shops are no doubt thoroughly convinced that the feeling of the
native community is entirely against the retention of these places and
are ready to bow to the inevitable. None of the trouble or rioting feared
by the Council, materialized, and it is certain that the entire list of
licenses might have been immediately revoked without disturbance of any
kind--and without protest. Three hundred and fifty-nine licenses thus
cease with the end of June, and it is doubtful, with the present spirit
manifest in the Chinese, that such another drawing will be necessary at
all. The funeral pyre of opium-pipes, we trust, marks the end, or the
immediate beginning of the end, of Shanghai's reproach, and it is
distinctly to the credit of the 500,000 Chinese living within the
jurisdiction of this foreign community, that they themselves are taking
the lead in wiping out this stain on the "Model Settlement"--doing what
the foreigner _dared not_ and the "vested interest" _would not_ do.
CHARLES F. GAMMON.
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