Trouble in Nam-Po-To Monastery Front Our Own Commroxomy:
Amoy, July 30, The local Government of Amos" has begun a vigorous campaign against opium addicts under 36 years of age.
Hitherto, a permit was necessary before opium could be purchased and sixty cents had to be paid monthly by a smoker for this necessary per mission to buy the drug. This week, however, irrespective of whether the permit had lapsed or not and without any previous intimation, the police arrested a number of persons' they found, under this age limit, addicted to smoking the drug. Two men were fined one hundred dollars each with the alternative of, for one, of three months, and forthe other, of six months, in gaol, a third was fined Atty dollars, with the option of six months imprisonment, and three others sixty dollars each or three months, 'The British Consul has rigorously stopped all Chinese claiming British nationality from traflcking in or selling this drug, and the Japanese Consul, following' this good exampis, wave orders that many 'Taiwan-Japanese subjects, who ran opium-sm-king shops, were to close their' bus-messes. 'The order, however, was never enforced and' the shops continued to flourish, The Japanese Consul has now allowed an extension of the closing date, sine die, To be in the Amoy gaol during the present hot weather is to be in a place in which one would most reluctantly ass the summer holidays, An English visitor to one of the model gaols of America told its governor that it ever he returned to California th Prison would be the place where he would wish to slay during his visit, He would certainly not desire a long slay in the Amoy gaol, It is like the bare cage of some fierce animal in a menagerie, only about fifty times the size, and' growing darker and darker os one penetrates into its murky depths from the iron bars that form the front of a deep equilateral, The heat generates dysentery and fever, but no attention is pald 0 the miserable humans lying "there for weeks at a time on the conerete floor in large numbers, "'They just suffer in silence and spread infection, A kindhearted local lawyer, Mr. William Kal, made a donation to' the Amoy prison authorities of $100 to purchase medicine for these ailing prisoners, but he has done more than given money; he has interested the doctors of the Chun Shun Hospital and got them to visit the prison in rotation every Thursday, But a hundred dollars will soon be exhausted and conditions will return to their former state, Others, however, may follow his example, Pure Buddhism forbids its devotees to hanker after the "filthy Iucre" of this "temporal world, either in the form of gold, possessions, or power, but rather to sock the things that ax eternal, Nirvana. Hearts and minds should be clean in those who seek to aspire to the Godhead. Human nature, however, has ever proved incapable of pure selflessness when in contact daily with the simplicity. of credulity, Sacerdotalism, whether Christian or Buddist, battens and fattens on the credutously simple. Amoy has a Buddist temple through which visitors love to walla, It lies at the foot of the five-peaked hill and 4s called Nam-Po-To, Its silent eorriders und shady paths, its soft-footed monks treading with down-east eyes, impress one with a feeling of solitude, selflessness and holy meditation, " Its abbot is well known, even far beyond China, for his spiritual gitts and erudition. On a recent visit to Tibet, he brought back many ancient manuscripts which are now. being translated, 'These manuscripts may prove valuable to the spheres of science and religion by throwing Light upon, that subject we know so little about at present, psychology, the study of the human' mind, The Devil of Greed The devil of greed, however, has now seized Nam-Po-To, Certain of the monks have claimed privileges and rights over gifts and donations which are quite alien to the spirit of their creed, The monastery is rich; large sums are voluntarily given to it in tiny dribblers by the thousands of simple people who visit it annually, The abbot has dismissed already twenty of these mercenary, disgruntled priests and more are under suspicion, The water reservoir for Amoy is in the hands of a limited company, the majority of the stock of which is held by a Kulangsu mil-Honaire. The officials of this com. pany have sent a petition to the locat authorities protesting against the selling of water by carriers. These carriers are unemployed men who penetrate into the hills surrounding the city, draw water from the springs that flawy there, bring it to the town, and sell it at the same rate the Amoy Water Works charges for its supply. By this means they have found a way of earning a little during these hard limes, The company, however, sees in this a menace to the water monopoly it possesses and has remonstrated. It has howled, in its Petition, of "contamination," "im= purity," "hygiene" and all the stock arguments iting such a case." But. the real point at issue is whether a man, out of work, should be restrained from earning a lillie, by hard. about, to keep himeelf and olliers alive, ' or whether he should be restrained by law in order to swell
few rich men. the profits of a monopoly held by 3
The chairman of the China Acroplane Association for Fukien is visiting cities of the south and the interior, actively carrying on a campaign to raise money for the purchase of aeroplanes for national defence. He visited Chuan-chow recently and consulted its military adviser regard: ing plans to raise subscriptions m that area. In a public speech he said that the "people of Fukien had given generously for this object. without evil or hesitation. The amount that 4s expected to be raised in Fukien is $200,000, but It will probably amount to $250,000. Fukienose overseas have been especially generous, Mr. An Boon Haw, of Tiger Balm fame, had promised to raise $300,000. Two other Well known Singapore gentlemen, Mr. Tan Kah Kee and Mr. Lee Choon Guan, have promised jointly to raise Janother hundred thousand, - which Jaugurs well for the value of Fulden's gift to the Republic.
Over sixty Japanece men of war Jare expected to arrive in Amoy on. 'August 5, 'They will remain in the port for' five days. The Japanese Consul has stated that these vessels are simply on a friendly visit during the usual annual manoeuvres of fleet in the China Sea. Japanese residents are busy with plans to en-certain the naval visitors. Vacant houses in Kulangsu have been rented by local Japanese residents and altogether a busy time may be ex-ceted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.