Talk:Jacob Mossel

Amfioensociëteit
In the present version it says he became the first Director of the Amfioensociëteit, which tried to regulate - or rather monopolise - the trade in opium. This is not entirely correct. The Dutch East India Company tried to maintain the monopoly on the opium trade for many years, but many of its employees smuggled opium for their own profit. The Amfioensociëteit was created to prevent this smuggle. The VOC still was the sole importer of opium, but the Amfioensociety was allowed the retail trade. Anyone was allowed to be a shareholder of the Amfioensociety, and in this way entitled to a part of the profit. So, monopolising is not really an accurate description. Jan Arkesteijn (talk) 14:49, 15 November 2008 (UTC)