Part 2

The same reliable authority, the Statesman's Year-Book for 1918, has this to say on the subject. On page 130 we read: "Opium: In British territory the cultivation of the poppy for the production of opium is practically confined to the United Provinces, and the manufacture of opium from this region is a State monopoly. The bulk of the exported opium is at present either sent to the United Kingdom, or supplied direct to the Governments of consuming countries in the Far East; a certain quantity is also sold by auction in Calcutta at monthly sales. Opium is also grown in many of the Native States of Rajputana and Central India, which have agreed to conform to the British system." The following tables, taken from most reliable authority, give some idea of the exports to the "consuming countries of the Far East." Note that Japan began buying opium in 1911-12. We shall have something to say about the Japanese smuggling later. Also note that it was in 1907 that Great Britain and China entered into agreement, the outcome to be the suppression of the opium trade in China. But see the increasing imports into the treaty ports; up till almost the very last moment British opium being poured into China. In the second table, observe the increasing importation into England, (United Kingdom), synchronous with the increased exports to Japan, which will be discussed later.

STATISTICAL ABSTRACT RELATING TO BRITISH INDIA 1903-4 TO 1912-13 EXPORTS OF OPIUM

+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | 1903-4 | 1904-5 | 1905-6 | 1906-7 | 1907-8 | L | L | L | L | L ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ | 1908-9 | 1909-10 | 1910-11 | 1911-12 | 1912-13 | L | L | L | L | L ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ China | 1,610,296 | 1,504,604 | 1,130,372 | 1,031,065 | 1,215,147 Treaty | | | | | Ports | 2,703,871 | 1,234,432 | 2,203,670 | 3,614,887 | 3,242,902 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Hongkong | 3,576,431 | 4,036,436 | 3,775,826 | 3,771,409 | 3,145,403 | | | | | | 2,230,755 | 3,377,222 | 3,963,264 | 3,019,858 | 2,400,084 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Straits | 1,365,743 | 1,262,834 | 1,163,529 | 1,150,506 | 1,169,018 Settlements | | | | | | 1,032,220 | 1,234,763 | 1,692,053 | 1,099,801 | 704,870 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Java | 63,402 | 78,383 | 70,960 | 78,117 | 113,343 | | | | | | 88,410 | 138,035 | 386,825 | 362,120 | 383,408 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Siam | 93,323 | 58,000 | 47,062 | 30,150 | 4,383 | | | | | | 17,533 | 0 | 10,217 | 190,657 | 263,177 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Macao | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 236,420 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Japan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76,817 | 129,545 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ French | 212,247 | 76,333 | 50,345 | 52,673 | 84,742 Indo-China | | | | | | 118,933 | 207,287 | 207,722 | 325,500 | 99,018 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Other | 58,668 | 65,705 | 76,418 | 82,361 | 49,616 Countries | | | | | | 41,107 | 17,366 | 45,565 | 36,420 | 15,659 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Total | 6,980,110 | 7,082,295 | 6,314,512 | 6,205,281 | 5,781,652 | | | | | | 6,232,829 | 6,209,105 | 8,509,316 | 8,726,060 | 7,481,088 ------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+ Page 196 Table 170 Congressional Library HA 1713-A3-Ref.

FROM STATISTICAL ABSTRACT RELATING TO BRITISH INDIA, 1905-6 TO 1911-15. PAGE 181. TABLE 164. EXPORTS OF OPIUM TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES.

1910-11 1911-12 1912-13 1913-14 1914-15

French Indo-China L 129,502 291,425 Java 472,199 282,252 Siam 164,030 204,328 China-Hongkong 1,084,093 110,712 Straits Settlements 226,500 80,572 United Kingdom 927 2,907 1,180 18,433 58,148 Treaty Ports, China 27,833 0 Macao 18,295 0 Japan 119,913 100,659 Other countries 19,223 47,543 ---------- ---------- Total L2,280,031 1,175,639

III

JAPAN AS AN OPIUM DISTRIBUTOR

In an article which appeared in the _New York Times_, under date of February 14, 1919, we read: "A charge that the Japanese Government secretly fosters the morphia traffic in China and other countries in the Far East is made by a correspondent in the _North China Herald_ in its issue of December 21st last. The correspondent asserts that the traffic has the financial support of the Bank of Japan, and that the Japanese postal service in China aids, although 'Japan is a signatory to the agreement which forbids the import into China of morphia or of any appliances used in its manufacture or application.'

"Morphia no longer can be purchased in Europe, the correspondent writes. The seat of industry has been transferred to Japan, and morphia is now manufactured by the Japanese themselves. Literally, tens of millions of yen are transferred annually from China to Japan for the payment of Japanese morphia....

"In South China, morphia is sold by Chinese peddlers, each of whom carries a passport certifying that he is a native of Formosa, and therefore entitled to Japanese protection. Japanese drug stores throughout China carry large stocks of morphia. Japanese medicine vendors look to morphia for their largest profits. Wherever Japanese are predominant, there the trade flourishes. Through Dairen, morphia circulates throughout Manchuria and the province adjoining; through Tsingtao, morphia is distributed over Shantung province, Anhui, and Kiangsu, while from Formosa morphia is carried with opium and other contraband by motor-driven fishing boats to some point on the mainland, from which it is distributed throughout the province of Fukien and the north of Kuangtung. Everywhere it is sold by Japanese under extra-territorial protection."

The article is rather long, and proves beyond doubt the existence of a well-organized and tremendous smuggling business, by means of which China is being deluged with morphia. In the body of the article we find this paragraph:

"While the morphia traffic is large, there is every reason to believe that the opium traffic upon which Japan is embarking with enthusiasm, is likely to prove even more lucrative. _In the Calcutta opium sales, Japan has become one of the considerable purchasers of Indian opium.... Sold by the Government of India, this opium is exported under permits applied for by the Japanese Government_, is shipped to Kobe, and from Kobe is transshipped to Tsingtao. Large profits are made in this trade, in which are interested some of the leading firms of Japan."

This article appears to be largely anti-Japanese. In fact, more anti-Japanese than anti-opium. Anti-Japanese sentiment in America is played upon by showing up the Japanese as smugglers of opium. The part the British Government plays in this traffic is not emphasized. "In the Calcutta opium sales, Japan has become one of the considerable purchasers of Indian opium ... sold by the Government of India." We are asked to condemn the Japanese, who purchase their stocks of opium as individuals, and who distribute it in the capacity of smugglers. We are not asked to censure the British Government which produces, manufactures and sells this opium as a State monopoly. We are asked to denounce the Japanese and their nefarious smuggling and shameful traffic, but the source of supply, which depends upon these smugglers as customers at the monthly auctions, is above reproach. A delicate ethical distinction.

However, there is no doubt that the Japanese are ardent smugglers. In an article in the March, 1919, number of "Asia" by Putnam Weale, we find the following bit:[1] "At all ports where Japanese commissioners of Maritime Customs (in China) hold office, it is undeniable that centres of contraband trade have been established, opium and its derivatives being so openly smuggled that the annual net import of Japanese morphia (although this trade is forbidden by International Convention) is now said to be something like 20 tons a year--sufficient to poison a whole nation."

[1] "A Fair Chance for Asia," by Putnam Weale, page 227.

Mr. Weale is an Englishman, therefore more anti-Japanese than anti-opium. We do not recall any of his writings in which he protests against the opium trade as conducted by his Government, nor the part his Government plays in fostering and encouraging it.

However, there are other Englishmen who see the situation in a more impartial light, and who are equally critical of both Great Britain and Japan. In his book, "Trade Politics and Christianity in Africa and the East," by A. J. Macdonald, M.A., formerly of Trinity College, Cambridge, we find the facts presented with more balance. Thus, on page 229: "... In the north of China another evil is springing up. The eradication of the opium habit is being followed by the development of the morphia traffic...." The morphia habit in northern China, especially Manchuria, is already widespread. The Chinese Government is alert to the evil, but their efforts to repress it are hampered by the action of traders, mainly Japanese, who elude the restrictions imposed by the Chinese and Japanese Governments.... China is being drenched with morphia. It is incredible that anything approaching the amount could possibly be devoted to legitimate purposes. It is said that in certain areas coolies are to be seen 'covered all over with needle punctures.' An injection of the drug can be obtained for three or four cents. In Newchang 2,000 victims of the morphia habit died in the winter of 1914-15. Morphia carries off its victims far more rapidly than opium.... Morphia is not yet manufactured in any appreciable quantities in the East, and certainly even Japan cannot yet manufacture the hypodermic injectors by means of which the drug is received. The bulk of the manufacture takes place in England, Germany and Austria.... In this traffic, two firms in Edinburgh and one in London are engaged. The trade is carried on through Japanese agents. The Board of Trade returns show that the export of morphia from Great Britain to the East has risen enormously during the last few years--

1911 5-1/2 tons 1912 7-1/2 " 1913 11-1/4 " 1914 14 "

"... The freedom which allows three British firms to supply China with morphia for illicit purposes is a condemnation of English Christianity."

This book of Mr. Macdonald's was published in 1916. Mr. Weale's article was published in 1919, in which he speaks of an importation of about twenty tons of morphia. Apparently the three British firms which manufacture morphia, two in Edinburgh and one in London are still going strong. Japan, however, appears to be growing impatient with all this opprobrium cast upon her as the distributor of drugs, especially since much of the outcry against this comes from America. Our own country seems to be assisting in this traffic in a most extensive manner. The Japan Society Bulletin No. 60 calls attention to this:

NEW TURN IN MORPHIA TRAFFIC

The morphia traffic in China has taken a new turn, according to the _Japan Advertiser_. It quotes Putnam Weale to the effect that whilst in recent years the main distributors have been Japanese, the main manufacturers have been British. The morphia has been exported in large quantities from Edinburgh to Japan, but as the result of licensing the exports of this drug from Great Britain, the shipments to Japan dropped from 600,229 ounces in 1917 to one-fourth that amount in 1918. _The Japan Chronicle_, speaking from "absolutely authentic information," states that 113,000 ounces of morphia arrived in Kobe from the United States in the first five months of 1919. These figures are not given as the total shipments received in Kobe, but merely as the quantity of which _The Chronicle_ has actual knowledge. It states further that this morphia is being transhipped in Kobe harbor to vessels bound for China. Dr. Paul S. Reinsch, who has resigned his post as Minister to China, has stated that he will use every resource in his power to stop the shipment from America of morphia intended for distribution in China, in defiance of the international convention which prohibits the sale of the drug in that country.

* * * * *

If sufficient publicity is cast upon the distributors, Japanese, English and American, public sentiment may in time take cognizance of the source of all this mischief, namely, the producer.

IV

SINGAPORE

In January, 1917, we found ourselves at Singapore, a British dependency, situated at the end of the Malay Peninsula, and one of the greatest seaports of the Orient. We were stopping at the Hotel de l'Europe, a large and first class hotel. The first morning at breakfast, the waiter stood beside us, waiting for our order. He was a handsome young Malay, dressed in white linen clothes, and wearing a green jade bracelet on one wrist. We gave him our order and he did not move off. He continued to stand quietly beside our chairs, as in a trance. We repeated the order--one tea, one coffee, two papayas. He continued to stand still beside us, stupidly. Finally he went away. We waited for a long time and nothing happened. At last, after a long wait, he returned and set before us a teapot filled with hot water. Nothing else. We repeated again--tea, coffee, papayas. We said it two or three times. Then he went away and came back with some tea. We repeated again, coffee and fruit. Eventually he brought us some coffee. Finally, after many endeavors, we got the fruit. It all took a long time. We then began to realize that something was the matter with him. He could understand English well enough to know what orders we were giving him, but he seemed to forget as soon as he left our sight. We then realized that he was probably drugged. It was the same thing every day. In the morning he was stupid and dull, and could not remember what we told him. By evening his brain was clearer, and at dinner he could remember well enough. The effects of whatever he had been taking had apparently worn off during the day.

We learned that the opium trade was freely indulged in, at Singapore, fostered by the Government. Singapore is a large city of about 300,000 inhabitants, a great number of which are Chinese. It has wide, beautiful streets, fine government buildings, magnificent quays and docks--a splendid European city at the outposts of the Orient. We found that a large part of its revenue is derived from the opium traffic--from the sale of opium, and from license fees derived from shops where opium may be purchased, or from divans where it may be smoked. The customers are mainly Chinese.

I wanted to visit these Government-licensed opium shops and opium dens. A friend lent me two servants, as guides. We three got into rickshaws and went down to the Chinese quarter, where there are several hundred of these places, all doing a flourishing business. It was early in the afternoon, but even then, trade was brisk. The divans were rooms with wide wooden benches running round the sides, on which benches, in pairs, sharing a lamp between them, lay the smokers. They purchased their opium on entering, and then lay down to smoke it. The packages are little, triangular packets, each containing enough for about six smokes. Each packet bears a label, red letters on a white ground, "Monopoly Opium."

In one den there was an old man--but you can't tell whether a drug addict is old or not, he looked as they all do, gray and emaciated--but as he caught my eye, he laid down the needle on which he was about to cook his pill, and glanced away. I stood before him, waiting for him to continue the process, but he did not move.

"Why doesn't he go on?" I asked my guide. "He is ashamed to have you see him," came the reply.

"But why should he be ashamed?" I asked, "The British Government is not ashamed to sell to him, to encourage him to drug himself, to ruin himself. Why should he be ashamed?"

"Nevertheless, he is," replied the guide. "You see what he looks like--what he has become. He is not quite so far gone as the others--he is a more recent victim. He still feels that he has become degraded. Most of them do not feel that way--after a while."

So we went on and on, down the long street. There was a dreadful monotony about it all. House after house of feeble, emaciated, ill wrecks, all smoking Monopoly Opium, all contributing, by their shame and degradation, to the revenues of the mighty British Empire.

That evening after dinner, I sat on the wide verandah of the hotel, looking over a copy of the "Straits Times." One paragraph, a dispatch from London, caught my eye. "Chinese in Liverpool. Reuter's Telegram. London, January 17, 1917. Thirty-one Chinese were arrested during police raids last night on opium dens in Liverpool. Much opium was seized. The police in one place were attacked by a big retriever and by a number of Chinese, who threw boots and other articles from the house-top."

Coming fresh from a tour of the opium-dens of Singapore, I must say that item caused some mental confusion. It must also be confusing to the Chinese. It must be very perplexing to a Chinese sailor, who arrives in Liverpool on a ship from Singapore, to find such a variation in customs. To come from a part of the British Empire where opium smoking is freely encouraged, to Great Britain itself where such practices are not tolerated. He must ask himself, why it is that the white race is so sedulously protected from such vices, while the subject races are so eagerly encouraged. It may occur to him that the white race is valuable and must be preserved, and that subject races are not worth protecting. This double standard of international justice he must find disturbing. It would seem, at first glance, as if subject races were fair game--if there is money in it. Subject races, dependents, who have no vote, no share in the government and who are powerless to protect themselves--fair game for exploitation. Is this double-dealing what we mean when we speak of "our responsibility to backward nations," or of "the sacred trust of civilization" or still again when we refer to "the White Man's burden"?

Pondering over these things as I sat on the hotel verandah, I finally reached the conclusion that to print such a dispatch as that in the "Straits Times" was, to say the least, most tactless.

V

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS OPIUM COMMISSION

From time to time, certain people in England apparently have qualms as to Great Britain's opium traffic, and from time to time questions are raised as to whether or not such traffic is morally defensible. In February, 1909, apparently in answer to such scruples and questionings on the part of a few, a very interesting report was published, "Proceedings of the Commission appointed to Enquire into Matters Relating to the Use of Opium in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty." This document may be found in the New York Public Library and is well worth careful perusal.

This Commission consisted of about a dozen men, some English, some natives of the Straits Settlements. They apparently made an intensive and exhaustive study of the subject, carefully examining it from every angle. Countless witnesses appeared before them, giving testimony as to the effects of opium upon the individual. This testimony is interesting, in that it is of a contradictory nature, some witnesses saying that moderate opium indulgence is nothing worse than indulgence in alcoholic beverages, and like alcohol, only pernicious if taken to excess. Other witnesses seemed to think that it was most harmful. The Commission made careful reports as to the manner of licensing houses for smoking, the system of licensing opium farms, etc., and other technical details connected with this extensive Government traffic. Finally, the question of revenue was considered, and while the harmfulness of opium smoking was a matter of divided opinion, when it came to revenue there was no division of opinion at all. As a means of raising revenue, the traffic was certainly justifiable. It was proven that about fifty per cent of the revenues of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States came from the opium trade, and, as was naively pointed out, to hazard the prosperity of the Colony by lopping off half its revenues, was an unthinkable proceeding.

The figures given are as follows.

1898 Revenue derived from Opium 45.9 per cent 1899 44.8 1900 43.3 1901 53.2 1902 48.3 1903 47.1 1904 59.1 1905 46. 1906 53.3

There was one dissenting voice as to the conclusions reached by this Opium Commission, that of a Bishop who presented a minority report. But what are moral scruples against cold facts--that there's money in the opium trade?

This Commission made its report in 1909. But the opium business is apparently still flourishing in the Straits Settlements. Thus we read in the official Blue Book for 1917, "Colony of the Straits Settlements" that of the total revenue for the year, $19,672,104, that $9,182,000 came from opium.

What per cent is that?

VI

OPIUM IN SIAM