The truth about opium smoking : with illustrations of the manufacture of opium, etc

Contents

PAGES

Introduction, ....... 5-1 G

Proceedings at Conference on Opium-Smoking, . • 17-30

Appendix

Answers to Excuses eoii the Opium Trade.

Excuse 1. Opium-smoking not very injurious, .

Testimony of the Chinese — British Officials — Medical Men.

Excuse 2. The Chinese not sincere in their desire to suppress opium-smoking, . . . .

Testimony of Sir Rutherford Alcock— Li Hung-chang — the Chinese — Growth of opium in China no proof of insincerity — Testimony of Sir Rutherford Alcock and others.

Excuse 3. The British Government has not forced China to admit opium, .....

Testimony of Sir Rutherford Alcock — Commissioner Kwei-liang — Sir Thomas Wade — Lord Elgin— Rev. H. Grattan Guinness — Sir Edward Fry — Rev. James Johnston.

Excuse 4. If opium ivas forced upon China, we are not responsible for what others did long ago,

Sir Edward Fry —Rev. A. S. Thelwall, M.A.

Excuse 5. If we do not send opium to China, others will,

Excuse 6. That opium-smoking in China is not worse than intoxicating drink in England,

The Opium Monopoly, ..*...

A proposal ; very candid, if not very wise — A larger revenue with less labour — An erroneous issue.

The Opium Trade and British Commerce, .

Injurious to British Commerce, by David M'Laren, Esq. — Cotton Goods and the Opium Trade — Rev. Goodeve Mabbs — London Bankers on the Opium Trade — Mr. S. Manders — Dr. Dudgeon.

The Opium Trade as now carried on a National Sin, which must bring Retribution, ....

Dr. Norman Macleod — Sir Arthur Cotton— The late M'Leod Wylie, Esq. — Cardinal Manning.

Protest of the late R. Montgomery Martin, Esq.,

Letter from Sir Arthur Cotton, . . . .

Important Testimonies, . . . . .

Archbishop of Canterbury — Archbishop of York— Bishop of Madras —Earl of Shaftesbury — The late Dr. Punshon — Mr. Henry Richard, M.P.

Parliamentary Action, . . . . .

Sir J. W. Pease’s Notice of Motion — Letters from the Archbishop of York — The Bishop of Durham — The Bishop of Liverpool — The Bishop of Exeter.

Signs of Progress in Public Enlightenment,

The chief Excuse. India cannot do without the opium revenue,

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

An Opium-Smoker, . . 30

Li Hung-chang, . •. .64

Chinese Officials, . . 67

The Poppy, ^ . . .79

Chinese Merchants, . . 91

Crude Opium exuding from the Green Poppy-Head, . Ill

The Examining Hall, .

The Mixing Room,

The Balling Room,

The Drying Room,

The Stacking Room, .

Opium Fleet descending the Ganges, . . . .

PAGE

PAGE

PREFATORY LETTERS.

o

FROM HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK.

Whitby, September 23, 1882.

Dear Sir,

I have looked over your pamphlet, and I hope to keep it by me for reference.

There is a great want of such information as this pamphlet contains. I thank you for sending it to me. Since the utterances of Sir Rutherford Alcock and Sir George Birdwood, the question of the hurtfulness of opium has received very confused answers.

Your pamphlet will enable us to judge for ourselves.

Yours truly,

W. EBOR.

B. Broomhall, Esq.

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN

CONFERENCE.

Liverpool, September 25, 1882.

My dear Sir,

I have read your pamphlet with great interest, and heartily recommend it to all with whom my opinion will have any weight.

The Opium Question is steadily coming to the front, and if the Church would have the approval of her King, she must bring her political power to bear upon that, and everything else, that hinders the spread of His kingdom. Praying that your labours may soon be crowned with complete success,

I am, my dear Mr. Broomhall,

Yours truly,

CHARLES GARRETT.

B. Broomhall, Esq.

FROM THE

CHAIRMAN OF THE CONGREGATIONAL

UNION.

Lunderston House, Whalley Range, Manchester, September 23, 1882.

My dear Sir,

I have made myself familiar with your pamphlet, and have risen from the perusal with the feeling that you have provided a perfect armoury for any one who wishes to take part in the great warfare to which you have devoted your energies. The facts it contains are more than sufficient to answer the objections which called forth the pamphlet, and, in addition, they are a very important contribution to the general argument. I cannot imagine an opponent reading the arguments which you have collected and marshalled so skilfully and remaining unconvinced ; while no one, like myself, who was convinced already, can peruse them without feeling his opposition greatly intensified. I hope the pamphlet may have a wide and prayerful consideration.

B. Broomhall, Esq.

Yours very truly,

J. A. MACFADYEN.

FROM THE MODERATOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Temple Lodge, Manchester, September 29, 1882.

I am convinced that the pamphlet, ‘ The Truth about Opium- Smoking/ proves conclusively that, in compelling the Government of China to admit a drug that is so injurious to the physical and moral wellbeing of the Chinese people, England is guilty of a serious national injustice. Righteousness therefore demands that England shall redress this wrong, and leave China free to deal with the opium question as she judges best. The pamphlet is well fitted to rouse the national conscience on the subject, and so I desire for it a large circulation.

WILLIAM M‘CAW.

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BAPTIST UNION.

Birmingham, Oct. 9, 1882.

Dear Sir,

I heartily thank you for ‘The Truth about Opium-Smoking.’ It is full of the saddest facts, and of the most convincing arguments. It appeals as much to the intellect as to the conscience of the English people. It is the imperative duty of the Churches of England to make their voices heard against this great evil ; and your pamphlet has furnished materials which ought to move every Christian to immediate action. When we are combating the national evil of intemperance at home, we cannot be parties to inflicting this great evil upon China.

I am, dear Sir,

Yours faithfully,

J. JENKYN BROWN.

Mr. Broomhall.

FROM JAMES E. MATHIESON, Esq,

Treasurer and Director, Conference Hall, Mildmay Parle; Hon. Secretary of the Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church of England.

*

Conference Hall, Mildmay Park, N, September 21, 1882.

Dear Mr. Broomhall,

I sincerely wish a large circulation for your valuable pamphlet, ‘The Truth about Opium-Smoking.’ I do not see how England can hope for any marked restoration of her material prosperity so long as the Indo-Chinese opium traffic is maintained by our statesmen ; but our statesmen will not attempt to deal with the question until Christian public opinion compels them to do so. We all know how the testimony of our missionaries is weakened by this great iniquity. Every consideration, Christian or patriotic, should induce our people to bestir themselves quickly about this burning question.

Ever truly yours,

JAMES E. MATHIESON.

FROM THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, KG.

St. Giles’s House, Cranborne, Salisbury, October 26, 1882.

Dear Me. Broomiiall,

Your pamphlet entitled ‘ Truth about Opium- Smoking ’ is the very thing that was wanted. It contains all the arguments for and against the system, and is by far the best manual I have yet seen, for those who desire to read, and carry about with them, all that can be said on both sides, politically, morally, commercially, and religiously. The preponderance of evidence as to the abomination of the traffic is overwhelming. But different minds will be affected by different arguments. One, I think, must be admitted by every one in his heart, whatever he may outwardly plead : he must admit the outrage, the injustice, the iniquity of forcing the drug on the people of China. As for the sincerity of the Chinese Government, which is called in question, real or unreal, it cannot affect our line of duty. I fully believe in their sincerity myself, and I cannot see that any one Power, on the mere supposition that it is otherwise, has a right to force on another the adoption of a trade which it vigorously, and persistently, declares to be destructive of the physical and moral welfare of its people.

Truly yours,

SHAFTESBUKY.