ABSTRACT
In these days there is more than one thing that is harmful to mankind; there are evils that affect individuals; also those by which whole families are made to suffer; further, there are destructions by floods, and ravages by wild beasts. But such calamities are usually confined to one locality, and one time; and moreover man, knowing the dangers of such, will seek escape and deliverance from them, and will also use means and methods to secure immunity from such afflictions. If such is the case in China, can it be possible that it is not the same in other countries? But from ancient times to the present day there has never been such a stream of evil and misery as has come down upon China in her receiving the curse of opium. Opium was originally intended as a medicinal remedy, and has always been used as such by physicians of every nation; but in China this use of it has been changed, so that persons once beginning, continue the use of it, and thus is developed a craving for the drug to such an extent that it becomes as necessary as food; and the use has become so common that it is freely used throughout the empire and its victims number tens of thousands. The slaves of the habit have their faces shrunken and dark. They become old, infirm and incapacitated before their time, and all finances are exhausted. This condition is pitiable, but it is not the worst—for those who hold office on their part become greedy and grasping, those who are soldiers become nerveless, and the number of depraved population is increased daily, while the wealth of the country steadily decreases. Such a state of affairs is greatly to be deplored, but the saddest of all is the fact that for most trivial causes, such as family quarrels and the like, since opium is so easily secured, suicides by its use are of the most common occurrence; so that, in such a vast country as China, these suicides must number tens of thousands annually. Thus we may calculate that from the time that opium was first introduced into China until now, a period of over a hundred years, the number of deaths directly caused by it must count up into the millions. This miserable condition is not only bitterly regretted by myself, the writer, but throughout the Empire all good men bemoan such a deplorable state of affairs. At this time the American missionaries, Drs. DuBose and Park, being influenced by Divine Truth, are seeking to propagate the doctrine of salvation through Christ to all men, and their arguments concerning the evils of opium are in exact accord with the mind of the writer, and we together are seeking plans by which these sorrows may be alleviated. I am a Chinese, and am fully aware of the stringent and severe laws that have been erected by the government for the prevention of the opium trade in China; but since they appear to have been in vain, I, an insignificant individual scarcely venture to make any additional attempt. Drs. DuBose and Park, having determined to invite expressions of opinion from all the foreign physicians residing and practicing medicine in China, have sent out circulars for the purpose of obtaining their observations and experience on the subject of the advantages and disadvantages of opium using. At this time there have been received about a hundred replies in all of which it is distinctly stated that there is no advantage but only injury from the habit. Such a concensus of opinion certainly should be considered sufficient reason for the prohibition of it.
