incredible
that in this age, with the consensus of public opinion sternly opposed
to the sale and distribution of habit-forming drugs, and with
legislation to curb and restrict such practices incorporated in the
laws of all ethical and civilized governments, that here, on the other
side of the world, we should come upon opium traffic conducted as a
government monopoly. Not only that, but conducted by one of the
greatest and most highly civilized nations of the world, a nation which
we have always looked up to as being in the very forefront of advanced,
progressive and humane ideals. So shocked were we by what this young
Hindu told us, that we flatly refused to believe him. We listened to
what he had to say on the subject, but thinking that however earnest he
might be, however sincere in his sense of outrage at such a policy,
that he must of necessity be mistaken. We decided not to take his word
for it, but to look into the matter for ourselves.

We did look into the matter. During a stay in the Far East of nearly a
year, in which time we visited Japan, China, Hongkong, French
Indo-China, Siam and Singapore, we looked into the matter in every
country we visited. Wherever possible we obtained government reports,
and searched them carefully for those passages giving statistics
concerning the opium trade--the amount of opium consumed, the number of
shops where it was sold, and the number of divans where it was smoked.
We found these shops established under government auspices, the dealers
obtaining their supplies of opium from the government, and then
obtaining licenses from the government to retail it. In many countries,
we visited these shops and divans in person, and bought opium in them
freely, just as one goes to a shop to buy cigarettes. We found a
thorough and complete establishment of the opium traffic, run by the
government, as a monopoly. Revenue was derived through the sale of
opium, through excise taxes upon opium, and through license fees paid
by the keepers of opium shops and divans. A complete, systematic
arrangement, by which the foreign government profited at the expense of
the subject peoples under its rule. In European countries and in
America, we find the governments making every effort to repress the
sale of habit-forming drugs. Here, in the Far East, a contrary attitude
prevails. The government makes every effort to encourage and extend it.

Two notable exceptions presented themselves. One was Japan.