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THE OPIUM TRAFFIC.
To the EDITOR o`the PALL MALL GAZETTE
SIR,-To-night Sir Joseph Fease will bring forward his motion again: t the art pium traffic in the House of Commons. England's action in con- nection with opium has for more than a century increased the misery and degradation of mankind. It is too late to speak of China; the mischief is done. The history of England's immoral and cowardly opium wars with China, whereby we forced upon a then unwilling) people, for our own gain, a noxious drug, contains the sequel to Burke's impeachment against Warren Hastings in 1786 that he had debased the Chinese for revenue purposes. We have now created the craving, established the vice, and China at the present time grows ten times as / h opium as india supplies. Shortly China will prohibit the importation of Indian opium, the Indian revenue will fail, and no Government will be able to force the English democracy into another opium war. Meanwhile in India we are deliberately pressing the sale of opium amongst our own subjects. There are now 10,417 licensed opium shops in India, each one of which is a centre of increasing misery and vice. We have promoted to the utmost of our power the cultivation of opium in the independent States, with the result that the opium habit is increasing with terrible rapidity, no less than 22,000 chests of Malwa opium being consumed in these States last year. Before our occupation of Burmalı the punishment for using opium was death; the people were hard-working and bealthy. We introduced opium, first giving it away, till the craving was wall established, then selling it at an enormous profit; and now Sir Charles Aitchison says, "The question has become not one of better or worse morality, but of the salvation of a whole people from a vice which we have intro- duced and from a rain which it is in our power to prevent." This terrible record of misery has been produced by this Christian nation wholly and solely for purposes of gain. Sir Cecil Beadon, the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, in examination before the Committee on Indian Finance, was ques-
tioned before the late Mr. Fawcett as follows --
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**I understand you to say that opium is grown in India, simply for the purpose of revenue; no moral considerations at all influence the Government ?" And his answer was: "The Government only regard opium as a means of obtaining revenue. And when questioned further whether it had not been the wish of the Government not to encourage the con- sumption of opium among their own subjects, his answer was : "I think their object bas been to get as much revenus out of opium as they possibly can."
This is the bare, literal truth, and it is for the House of Commons to night to decide whether this national disgrace shall continue. I have conversed with many thinking natives in India, and am convinced that the opium traffic is a solid barrier against the spread of the Christian religion. The Gospel differ- entiates itself from Hindu philosophy and the ethical standard of Islam by its clear revelation of the accessibility of Divine Fatherhood and the essential brotherhood of man. EveryState-owned opium den, with its Government-stamped poison, is a standing contradiction to the fundamental doctrines of our faith, and missionaries are powerless to reform and raise the people, or induce them to accept the Christian religion, so long as we continue to gather our revenue from the debauchery of the people whom we profess to endeavour to convert. We pray you, Sir, to raise your voice, to sound the alarm, to stir the can- sciences of the voters and vote makers of England, to come to the help of the Lord against the mighty."Faithfully years,
BASIL WILBERFORCE.
Deanery, Saudkamalan.
Dear Fiddes
I send these back. Sir John Goret
Going
on a journey to Teneriffe & will
is
nothe back on the 10%; so that the morian
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thase of the debate will fall to Sir
James Fergusson Si Richard Temple
W March
com fw.
1891
Yours very triles
Richmond Ritenie
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