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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
vation may be entirely stopped within the next couple of years." Now on October 4th last an Imperial Rescript was issued with regard to a memorial presented to the Throne by the Ministry of Finance, giving the returns of foreign imports of opium and of the native production, together with the eales thereof. These returns showed that the native production in 1905 was 142,698 piculs, in 1906 it was 148,100; and in 1907 119,943. The sales in 1905 are shown as having amounted to within 1000 piculs of the production; in 1907 they fell short of the production by nearly 13,000 picals, and in 1907, the sales were over 22,000 picule abort of the produc- tion. These
interesting figures, but are they more reliable than Chinese statistics usually are? And what justifica- tion is there for believing that the suppres- sion of the traffic will proceed at the same rate ? In this same memorial it is shown that there was Я progressive increase in sales of foreign opium in those three years. In 1905 they are returned as 51,920 piculs; in 1906, 54,117 picule, and in 1907, 54,580. Accord ing to these returns the native-grown opium is shown to be only about twice as much as the foreign opium imported into China In the letter published in yester- day's Daily Press over the signatures of the Opium Merchants of Hongkong it was said that the production in China of native opium is from eight to ten times as large as the total import of the foreign drug. Which statement is correct? One of the first duties of the Commission will be to ascertain the relative amounts of foreign and native opium consumed in the Empire, and in view of the notorious unreliability of Chinese statistics we fear that this initial difficulty will prove a very great one indeed. The Chairman rightly insisted that in all the deliberations of the Commission and in all the Committee work they must bear in mind that they were to confine themselves
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REFORM OR REVOLUTION ?
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[February 15, 1909.
seen the enormous amount of mischief that one man, with whom Mr. CHURCHILL has many political sympathies, can do in our Indian Empire. Mr. KBIR HARDIE is only a plain working member of Parliament, and he went out to India for only a few weeks, yet the simple suspicion that he possessed the sympathies of not a few members of the present "administration was sufficient to set the whole of India ablaze from end to end. It is a simple sum of rule of three if so important (in his own opinion) an individual as Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL should be sent out to represent in his own person the King-Emperor, how long the Empire can last.
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(Daily Press, February 10th.) It seems high time that concerted action should be taken at Home with regard to the future intentions of a Government bent, not on reform, but on actual revolution. The situation is, in fact, rapidly becoming a duplicate of that existing in the first half of the seventeenth century, when, owing to the insane pretensions of the imitators of the Münster Anabaptists of the preceding century, a sect arose which, holding the unwarrantableness of all civil government, and the emancipation of the faithful from subjection to laws or taxes, in no long period upset the fabric of government, and In such a case it is easily calculated that reduced the entire country for a space to a new Mutiny would be the least evil to be absolute anarchy. That movement in Eng-faced; but with this difference, that we land has been the belated offspring of should bave to face it but an indifferent religious sectarianism in Germany during Government of doctrinaires, and a mere the previous century, which descending skeleton of an amateur army. Now it is lower in the social rank eventually broke surely time that the country at large should out in undisguised socialism, as the present leave off fiddling, and come to look at If we were to movement in Eugland has been in its turn affairs as they really are. the outcome of the theories held by French revolutionists of the last century, all hold- ing in common an intense hatred to establishment, whether the establishment be religious, as the Church, or sectarian, as the established order of government. The theory is much the same as that of the reputed Irishman, who ou landing in the United States contrived to sum up the doctrine of the sect in the one short sentence: Have you a government ?" "Certainly was the reply. Then I'm against it." Such in effect are the doctrines openly acknowledged by many of the members of the present administration, who as they happen to be the loudest spoken, are from | a mere craven fear of dissociating the 'Party," sullenly acquiesced in by the better disposed elements, regardless of the eventual consequences to the country. Men like a GREY, a MORLEY, or a FOWLER, who have studied history, well know that the promulgation of such doctrines in high quarters has ever been the forerunner of the dissolution of the State that permitted it, yet their consciences have allowed them to act as the coadjutors of men openly profess- ing them. The consequence has been, as ever happens in revolutionary times, that the real power has gravitated towards the most extreme and the men who are foremost in preaching the doctrine of sul version have assumed charge and driven their weaker kneed colleagues into open acts of sedition and folly. The real command of the Cabinet has long ceased to rest with its nominal bead, and Mr. ASQUITH with all the lawyer's adaptibility to argue on either si le has been compelled, with however bad grace, to adapt himself to the views of such dangerous coadjutors as Mesess. LLOYD GEORGE, WINSTON CHURCHILL, and AUGUSTINE BIRREL. Of late, rumour has it, Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL has had a conception that the person most fitted to assume the Governor Generalship of India after the expiry of the term of office of Lord MINTO is the Right Honorable WINSTON CHURCHILL. In such a case, of course, all argument with his colleagues as to his supreme unfitness would be out of place. It is not likely that either Lord MORLEY, or Mr. ASQUITH would agree; but that is a matter of no moment whatever when weighed in the balance of Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL'S own opinion. If Mr. (HURCHILL considers that he himself is the proper man for the post, the Right Honourable WINSTON CHURCHILL may be considered for all practical purposes as already appointed, that is, of course, if taels. The report does not state what it is made Mr. AsQurra.be at the time nominal Prime Minister. Now the country has already
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facts that would enable them, be trusted, to reach unanimous resolutions, and, perhaps, recommendations of practical, broad and wise character in cou- nexion with these resolutions. Bishop BRENT threw out the suggestion that it would be extremely wise if the assembly were to rule out of their deliberations "what might be termed useless historical questions Leneath which a great deal a controversy lies hidden and which would only tend to fog the issue." That sounds excellent enough, but we question the wisdom of disregarding a his- tory which sheds so much light on the problem which the Commissioners have assembled to discuss. It is hardly. possible indeed to disregard it, but we can be quite sure that, whatever historical knowledge of the question the Commissioners possess will be applied to the clearing of the issue and not to the fogging of it. The deliberations of the Commission to be conducted in camera, but a Pub. lication Committee will be responsible for the issue of summaries of the proceed- ings. Doubtless the appointment of the Commission has strengthened the purpose of the Chinese Government, but a sym- posium of reports from a large number of districts in China which the N. C. Daily News has recently published give the impression that TUAN FANG, the Chinese Commissioner, was most unduly optimistic when be predicted the suppression of the cultivation of the poppy in China "in the course of a couple of years."
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lose principal province, history teaches us that the Empire could no longer hold together; this is no fancy nor un- supported theory. When ALEXANDER_THE GREAT died unexpectedly at Babylon leav ing no one with sufficient intellectual grasp to take up the reins, India soon fell from the feeble hands of his successors, fighting for the reflection in the water let fall the entire substance of Empire. Not three years bad passed when we find PITHON the powerful satrap of Persia al- ready in open revolt. The rest of the long story of ALEXANDER's successors is nothing but a tale of family dissensions, and a general relapse to barbarism of the entire of Western Asia. Does any one doubt, could any one doubt, that the story would be repeated in the event of India falling under the authority of Mr. CHURCHILL? In such a case it would follow as a matter of sheer necessity that the greater provinces should fall away from an empire which could afford them no protection, and whose alliance might actually become embarrassing.. Strangely enough the descendants of the
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CHURCHILL have done their country service in any civil line, even Lord RANDOLPH's promising career ending in collapse. The great soldier who could boast that he had never been defeated in the field, in his relations with his successive Sovereigns brought no- thing on himself but disgrace; deserting each and every as his own momentary interest or fancy dictated, and becoming alternate Whig or Tory, if not contriving to be both at once. Referring to the great Duke it has been said of him that while the talents of the statesmen of the day wery chiefly displayed in efforts to convince bota king in esse and king in posse of their sincere attachment to each, the especial sin of MARLBOROUGH lay in the fact that he had been favoured above his compeers by each in turn, and that he betrayed both alike indifferently. No family has been so con- sistent as that of CHURCHILL throughont the two centuries in its habits of insincerity; and it is at least curious to note how the similar trait of consistent inconsistency has dogged its footsteps ever since. Aitogether it seems that the time for dallying has past, and that bas arrived for taking into serious consideration the present condition of the country, as well as the unconcealed efforts of the more energetic members of the present Cabinet to involve the country in revolution; which would mean the final break up of the Empire. As according to the old proverb-Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat, the country at large has
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