Taking three important cities from various parts of the country, we find that the number of opium-smokers does in each case exceed the estimate given by Dr. Dudgeon. I.--Suchow, the capital of the province of Kiang Su. The Rev. C. H. Du Bose, a resident missionary, writes:--“As a minimum estimate, seven-tenths of the adult males smoke opium. To this fact all of the natives you ask will attest.” 2.--Ningpo, a city of 400,000 inhabitants in the province of Chekiang. “It contains 2,700 opium-shops, or a shop for every 148 inhabitants, or every thirty men.” (_v. Mander’s “Our Opium Trade with China,” p. 8._) 3.--Tai Yuen, the capital of the province of Shansi. A resident missionary writes:-- “It is estimated that six or seven out of every ten men you meet are addicted to the habit of opium-smoking, and a larger proportion of women than I have seen in any other city. There are about 400 retail opium-shops, and seventy or eighty wholesale dealers.” It is probable that these cities exceed the average number of opium-smokers throughout the city population in China; indeed, had not the number been extraordinary, the estimate would probably not have been made, but if the number be reduced by one-half, we have still 30 per cent. of the city population throughout China--in other words, some tens of millions--who are the slaves of the opium-pipe. 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. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chinese Opium-Smoker, by Anonymous