Present Conditions in China 



667 



of the country can appreciate the mag- 

 nitude of the problem. It is said that 

 nearly every family has felt the clutch of 

 this monster vice, and it is known to have 

 impoverished whole communities. It is, 

 however, denied that the drug is largely 

 used by the official class. A prominent 

 mandarin of Peking, speaking from inti- 

 mate knowledge of the matter, has stated 

 that a very small percentage of high offi- 

 cials in Peking smoke opium, and that of 

 all the viceroys and governors only one 

 is addicted to the habit. 



This fact gives greater hope for the 

 enforcement of the edict which was issued 

 on September 20 last, decreeing that 

 steps be taken for the gradual suppres- 

 sion of the cultivation of the poppy and 

 of the use of opium, and that both shall 

 be completely abolished at the expira- 

 tion of ten years. The edict declares 

 that those addicted to the habit have 

 wasted their time, neglected their trades, 

 ruined their constitutions, and squan- 

 dered their property ; that for this reason 

 China has become poorer and poorer 

 every year; and it exhorts the people to 

 stop the pernicious habit, pluck out the 

 deep-seated cancer, and strive for an era 

 of physical health. 



Unfortunately it will be impossible to 

 make the abolition of this devastating 

 vice effective without the consent and co- 

 operation of Great Britain. The result 

 of what is known as the "Opium war" of 

 1840 secured the privilege to the British 

 East India Company and their successor, 

 the present government of India, to im- 

 port opium into China. Frequent ef- 

 forts have been made by China to have 

 this privilege abolished, but it is a great 

 source of profit to India, and the British 

 government has steadily refused its con- 

 sent. It is claimed that, as the poppy is 

 much more largely produced in China 

 than in India, so long as that is permitted 

 in China it is a legitimate trade for India. 



But there is a better prospect now than 

 ever before to reach some agreement be- 

 tween the two countries. Mr John Mor- 

 ley, the secretary of state for India, a 

 statesman of liberal and humane views, 



has announced in Parliament that the 

 British government will go to the length 

 of a financial sacrifice to assist China in 

 any serious attempt to restrict the use of 

 opium. Dr Morrison telegraphs the Lon- 

 don Times that "every missionary in 

 China, of whatever nationality, and the 

 overwhelming mass of disinterested pub- 

 lic opinion, both official and unofficial 

 [British] will rejoice when the British 

 connection with the traffic wholly ceases." 

 The bishop of Hongkong is active in en- 

 listing the cooperation of the British au- 

 thorities. He asserts that twice the 

 House of Commons has affirmed that 

 this connection with the Indo-Chinese 

 trade was wholly indefensible, and that 

 the trade fncreased incalculably the mis- 

 ery of millions of their fellow-men and 

 tended to the deterioration of a noble 

 race. 



It is a source of great gratification to 

 state that the government of the United 

 States is not only free from any connec- 

 tion with the trade, but that American 

 citizens have from our earliest diplomatic 

 connection with China been forbidden to 

 engage in it. Both by treaty and diplo- 

 matic action, our influence has been 

 thrown against it. 



It is a stupendous undertaking on the 

 part of the authorities to suppress this 

 vice, which has taken such a strong hold 

 upon the people. It may be compared to 

 the ceaseless warfare that is being carried 

 on in this country against intemperance. 

 Among the first measures of the govern- 

 ment is the prohibition of the use of 

 opium in the new army and in the public 

 schools and colleges, and instruction as 

 to its evil effects. A late press telegram 

 from Peking states that several officers 

 of the old Manchu Banner Corps have 

 been cashiered for smoking opium, that 

 the officials in all the yamens, or govern- 

 ment offices, at Peking have been ordered 

 to break themselves of the habit within 

 six months, and that an effort will be 

 made to apply a similar rule to officials 

 under sixty years of age throughout the 

 Empire, on pain of dismissal from the 

 service. 



