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.