THE OPIUM DANGER TODAY [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—There is need, from time to time, to take stock of the opium menace in relation to world conditions, because the evil tends to break out, like some epidemic, in new quarters.
At present, the two centres of illicit traffic are (i) Manchukuo, and (ii) the Northern provinces of China. It is an ominous fact, which tells its own tale, that where Japanese military control has been in evidence, the opium vice has become recrudescent. By far the greater proportion of the raw opium of the entire world is being produced in these two areas. Japan's own complete suppression of the drug among her own people stands out in contrast with this laxity in Man- chukuo and North China. Those who love the Japanese should do what they can to bring home what is happening under their military rule.
It is true that China herself has not been able to conquer the habit in provinces directly under her own control. But she is making a desperate effort ; and a "Six Year Plan," to end the evil by 1940, has rnet with some success. Two factors render this difficult. The former is the vast growth of raw opium in Manchukuo and North China, that I have mentioned. The second is the opium consumption, which is allowed to Chinese settlers in the East Indies. Millions of Chinese go backwards and forwards from Malaya and Indonesia carrying the opium habit with them.
The British Parliament might do much by suppressing the vice in our own East Indian colonies. By sacrificing the export opium-revenue in British India, Great Britain gave a noble lead. This should be followed up by a gradual sup- pression of the vile habit in all British territory in the Far
Previous page
