THE OPIUM TRAFFIC. 213 



and bruises. It is believed that the assailants were his own country- 

 men, professional rivalry running very high. In the State of New 

 York a law has been passed which forbids any more Chinese to land, 

 and if a Chinaman goes out of the State he cannot return unless he 

 has previously obtained a permit. In New York City no Chinaman 

 may conduct a laundry within three blocks of another. Even Chang 

 had great difficulty in getting leave to land. 



There is a passage, again, with regard to the na- 

 tional habit of opium smoking, which, in spite of restric- 

 tions, appears as rife among the Chinese in America as 

 it is elsewhere. 



What wonderful rubbish the missionary world tolerates and 

 talks. O ! the virtuous indignation at the iniquity of England in 

 forcing opium on guileless China ! But, the same childlike and 

 bland Chinee is smuggling his beloved opium into America, he 

 having grown it in China. When a ship arrives at the quay, Ah 

 Sin, a sailor on board, heaves a rope to Lee Fung ashore. Lee Fung 

 makes the rope fast. After dusk he cuts the loop at the end of the 

 rope, tucks it under his garments, makes a fresh loop, and goes 

 home. Th'e loop was nothing but an india-rubber tube full of 

 opium. 



Wing Lee df^es a great business in milk, butter, and new laid 

 eggs. The eggs have all been emptied, and filled with opium. Foo 

 Chang carries ice, a block being slung at each end of a stick which 

 goes over the shoulder. The stick is hollow and contains opium. 

 They will have it, and I do not believe that the Mongolian race is 

 injiu-ed by it. On the contrary, when used temperately, as it is by 

 nine hundred and ninety-nine in every thousand, it is beneficial. 

 But we only hear of the one who abuses, and not of the nine hundred 

 and ninety-nine who use it. I believe that the Caucasian and 

 Hamitic races are not intended to find a solace in opium, which clears 

 the brain of the Malay or Chinaman, but muddles that of the 

 European. Of course excess would be injurious in any race. 



N.B. How can England, or France, or America, force a trade 

 upon China, or any other country 1 Even Sir R. Alcock has come 

 over to this opinion. 



