The opium scandal investigation has been brought to a close as far as the preliminary examination is concerned. As the result, 1r persons, including Mr. Renzo Koga, formerly chief of the bureau of colonization and an alleged right-hand man of Premier Hara, and other high officials and private persons, were found guilty of crimes committed in regard to opium smuggling.
Unlike the Tokio city scandal, the present case is interesting in that it is a matter of not only national but of international importance. The findings of the preliminary court in Port Arthur were submitted in a report to the District Court of Port Arthur, according to despatches from Port Arthur to the "Asahi" and other Tokio papers. The documents cover four sections and 3,200 pages of writing. The following is a summary of the report as given to the press by Mr. Hisamatsu Takahashi, judge of the preliminary cost of the Kuantung government in Port Arthur, To Srop Suipmenrs Siowiy, The reason for referring the matter to the District Court of Port Arthur is prefaced with a brief history of the official attitude toward opium and its users. Briedy it says that as it is dangerous to the lives of Chinese opium users to stop the use altogether the Kuantung government deemed it necessary to supply opin under btrict regulations to the Chinese users in sma' quantities with a view to gradually reducing the quantities.
ft tells then that a Tairen society, originally a Chinese Society called Kosai Zendo, was recognized us a charity institution, whose business is to render charity and also to work to cut out the practice of the use of opium. The directors were appointed by the Kuantung government from the names recommended by the civil administrator in airan. The society was then empowered to import and distribute opium to retailers. Persian opium was sold at prices permitted by the civil administrator of Tairen and confiscated opium of another make was sold at prices determined from time to time by the civil administyator. Any net proceeds after all expenses of the society were met were to be handed over through the Tairen administration to the Kuantung government in Port Arthur. Thus, in reality the opium section of the Kosai Zendo has come to have nothing whatever to do with the Kosai Zendo itself, the opium section was now controlled by the Japanese administrators. The preface closes with
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.