moderation."[51] So
that if there were no other difference between the Chinese and Burmans in
their appetite for opium, there would be this, that the one habitually
smokes in moderation, the other habitually indulges to excess. Further,
one of the arguments brought forward by the Commissioner against the total
closing of all shops, a step clamoured for by the anti-opiumists, not to
mention the obvious difficulty of preventing smuggling, is that "the
_legitimate requirements_ of the 200,000 Chinese and natives of Bengal,
resident in British Burmah, must be considered and provided for. These,
to whom the drug is a _necessary of life_, constitute perhaps the most
thriving and industrious section of the population."[52] It will be seen,
then, that we cannot argue from the effect of opium on the Burmese to its
effect upon the Chinese.

The greater part of the opium consumed in India is supplied from the
Government stores under the name of "abkari," or excise opium.[53] Four
thousand chests are issued yearly for this purpose from the reserve stock
of Bengal opium; but this year it has been decided to allow Malwa opium,
for which the market is at present very slack, to supply this. Besides
this excise opium, which is never sold at a rate low enough to encourage
export, some little opium is imported from the Hill states, and a small
quantity is grown in Rajpootana, the Punjaub, and the Central Provinces,
under strict Government supervision and for local consumption only.

Besides in India opium is eaten in Turkey, where its virtues are so much
appreciated that the legend stamped on the opium lozenges is
"Mash-Allah," the "Gift of God"; and the habit is prevalent in Persia
also. Among the Malays and Siamese, and in Java and Sumatra and the
neighbouring islands, it is mostly smoked; and, of course, the Chinese
carry the habit with them wherever they go. Even America has caught the
infection, and the rapid progress of the habit, especially among the lower
orders, called forth vigorous coercive measures. It may be that these will
have the desired effect; but that will only be because the Americans have
no natural craving for the drug, and prefer their national taste for gin
and whiskey and rum. Some of the more violent opio-phobists, pointing to
the spread of this "horrid and infectious vice" among the Americans, hint
in almost triumphant tones that the secret use of opium in England is
already considerable, and still increasing,