MERRILL, FREDERICK T. Japan and the Opium Menace. Pp. xv, 170. New York: Institute of Pacific Relations and Foreign Policy Assn., 1942. $1.50

• Date: 01 November 1942
• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222400143
• Author: W.L. Treadway
• Published date: 01 November 1942
• Subject Matter: Articles

206

succeeded

only

because

of

our

military

de-

feat.&dquo;

&dquo;French

democracy

paid

the

price

of

its

complaisance.

It

died

because

it

tolerated

a

modern

Vendee.&dquo;

May

other

democracies

&dquo;guard

themselves

against

France’s

error!&dquo;

&dquo;

&dquo;Up

until

now,

American

policy

has

failed

to

understand

this

im-

placable

reality.&dquo;

This,

and

not

a

denun-

ciation

of

X’s

personal

code,

is

the

real

message

of

this

honest

and

impassioned

book.

ALBERT

GUÉRARD

MERRILL,

FREDERICK

T.

Japan

and

the

Opium

Menace.

Pp.

xv,

170.

New

York:

Institute

of

Pacific

Relations

and

Foreign

Policy

Assn.,

1942. $1.50.

Japan

and

the

Opium

Menace

appeared

May

1,

1942.

It

was

on

press

at

the

out-

break

of

the

war,

and

is

concerned

with

the

description

of

the

conditions

respecting

opium

and

narcotic

drugs

only

in

those

areas

of

the

Far

East

which

were

then

under

the

jurisdiction

of

the

Chinese

and

Japanese

Governments.

A

second

volume

is

contemplated

dealing

with

the

smoking-

opium

problem

under

government

mo-

nopoly

systems.

The

present

volume

is

the

outgrowth

of

suggestions

made

by

the

International

Re-

search

Committee

of

the

Institute

of

Pa-

cific

Relations

at

its

Princeton

meeting

in

January

1939,

which

were

referred

to

the

Opium

Research

Committee

for direction

and

completion

of

the

study.

The

theme

of

this

volume

is

expressed

in

the

Foreword,

prepared

by

Joseph

P.

Chamberlain,

who

points

out

that

the

inter-

national

movement

for

the

regulation

of

narcotics

was

first

inspired

by

the

evil

ef-

fects

of

opium

smoking

in

East

Asia

and

contiguous

islands,

including

the

Philip-

pines.

The

Foreword

proceeds

in

brief

summary

to

point

out

the

shift

of

emphasis

from

smoking

opium

to

the

menace

of

excess

manufacture

of

narcotic

drugs

for

the

illicit

traffic,

first

in

western

Europe,

thence

in

the

Middle

East,

which

subsequently

came

under

control,

and

now

in

the

Far

East,

that

is

laid

at

the

door

of

Japan.

Brief

reference

is

also

made

to

the

part

played

in

the

control

field

by

the

Opium

Advisory

Committee

of

the

League

of

Na-

tions

and

by

the

Permanent

Central

Opium

Board;

to

their

present

limitations

in

activity;

and

also

to

the

need

for

con-

certed

international

measures

for

protection

against

the

narcotic

evil

when

order

is

re-

established.

Not

only

must

the

menace

of

excess

manufacture

be

combated,

but

concerted

efforts

must

be

directed

toward

the

limitation

of

poppy

growth

and

opium

smoking.

The

book

deals

with

a

historical

resume

of

the

origin

of

smoking

opium

in

the

Orient,

with

the

social

and

economic

as-

pects

of

addiction,

with

its

menace

in

China

both

before

and

since

the

Japanese

inva-

sion,

and

with

smuggling

bases

in

the

Far

East.

Three

chapters

deal

more

specifically

with

the

Japanese

situation

concerning

nar-

cotic

drugs

in

Japan,

with

the

opium

prob-

lems

in

Japanese

dependencies,

and

with

the

widespread

use

of

narcotics

in

Man-

churia.

The

last

chapter

is

concerned

with

the

international

aspect

of

the

opium

problem

in

the

Orient,

with

the conclusion

that

a

successful

international

antidrug

campaign

depends

essentially

on

the

following

four

points

of

endeavor:

(1)

the

universal

rati-

fication

of

international

conventions;

(2)

their

adequate

enforcement

in

all

countries

by

able,

experienced,

and

efficient

national

agencies;

(3)

close

and

active

co-operation

between

governments

and

an

international

co-ordinating

and

supervising

authority;

and

(4)

a

minimum

of

political

stability

that

would

insure

respect

by

all

countries

for

minimum

standards

in

the

conduct

of

international

affairs.

W.

L.

TREADWAY

U.

S.

Public

Health

Service

Relief

Station,

Los

Angeles

QUIGLEY,

HAROLD

S.

Far

Eastern

War,

1937-1941.

Pp.

xi,

369.

Boston:

World

Peace

Foundation,

1942.

Paper

Ed.:

$1.00;

Cloth

Ed.:

$2.50.

Professor

Quigley

has

given

us

a

work-

manlike

survey

of

the

Far

Eastern

war

from

Lukouchiao

in

July

1937

to

Pearl

Harbor.

In

compiling

his

account

he

has

relied

almost

exclusively

upon

materials

in

English.

He

has,

quite

properly,

pref-

aced

his

narrative

with

a

brief

description

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