Chapter IV

ENGLAND’S RESPONSIBILITY IN REGARD TO THE CHINESE OPIUM-SMOKER.

Summary of facts bearing upon the relation of Great Britain to the Chinese opium-trade:--

1.--When China, as a nation, knew nothing of the vice of
opium-smoking, British merchants introduced the drug, enriching the
treasury of the East India Company to the demoralisation of the
Chinese nation.

2.--When the Chinese Government vigorously remonstrated and
strenuously opposed, England carried the legalisation of the trade at
the point of the sword.

3.--When the Chinese, discomfited in the field, appealed to the
generosity and humanity of the British Government for the suppression
of the trade, the British Government continued and upheld the policy
they had inaugurated by force of arms.

4.--When the subject is brought before the Houses of Parliament,
the trade is acknowledged to be unjustifiable, yet, because of
the revenue it brings to the Indian empire, and the difficulties
surrounding Indian finance, it is upheld by the Government and
supported by the Opposition.

HAZELL, WATSON, AND VINEY,
PRINTERS,
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.