33
It is not taken as an inducement to commit hein-
ous crimes. They are used by habitual criminals,
but I do not think as a stimulus to crime.
53. No.
54. Bhang or ganja taken in any quantity rare-
ly makes a man violent.
55. Sometimes complete stupefication may be
effected by the use of ganja in persons unaccus-
tomed to it. Opium is also sometimes mixed
with it for this purpose.
56. Not known.
57. See above.
58. It works well on the whole; but, like all
institutions, it is capable of improvement.
59. If the use of ganja is to be tolerated, I
should prefer it issued from governmental ware-
houses to retailers, the price being periodically
raised or lowered with the demand. The present
system of levying duty and transit expenses is
cumbrous and open to fraud.
60. Not produced.
61. No charas produced.
62. The cultivation of bhang cannot be con-
trolled.
63. See above, answer 59.
64. Exports to other provinces should be cer-
tainly allowed.
65. I do not see any substantial difference be-
tween taxation on ganja and taxation on spirits
and tobacco. Civilised governments have all
agreed that intoxicants are proper subjects for
taxation; and prohibition is opposed to the modern
spirit as well as to racial progress. It is only the
human weeds whose decay is a gain to the race who
succumb. I am at one with Bishop Magee, who
said that he would rather see his countrymen
drunk and free; and I abhor the principles and
tactics of the so-called temperance fanatics.
66. No.
67. See answer 59.
68. Yes; consumption on the premises should
not be allowed. Men smoking there are nuisances.
69. Neighbours are generally consulted, and I
think this is sufficient.
70. Yes; Nepal ganja is smuggled into this
district, and affects the sale of the drug here.
This practice should be stopped. The border
shops suffer much from smuggling.
Oral evidence.
Question
1.—I
entered the service 23 years
ago, and I have served principally in East and
North-East Bengal. I acted as Collector and
Magistrate of Bhagalpur for 4 or 5 months in
1883, and have now been here since the end of
October
last.
Question 3.—My former experience led me to
believe that the hemp plant grew more commonly
in Bhagalpur than in other districts, but I have
now little doubt the circumstances of the district
are much the same as those of other riparian
districts. In 1883 I made a report to the Board
of Revenue describing the prevalence of the wild
growth of the hemp plant in Bhagalpur, and sug-
gesting measures for its extirpation or cultivation
under license. I have noticed the plant growing
principally on "diyara" lands, i.e., alluvial lands
of new formation. Such lands are generally pri-
vate property. I have been touring in the district
duirng the cold season, and my views as to the
prevalence of the wild growth are considerably
modified. There is now less growth on account
of the extension of cultivation on the
"diyara"
lands, which are eagerly taken up for the culti-
vation of the cold-weather crops. I have not
recently seen more than an acre or two of the
wild growth in any one plot. The aggregate area
on which the plant is found would still be consi-
derable. On the "diyara" lands the plant is found
growing with tamarisk and tiger grass and other
jungle plants. I noticed much the same sort of
growth in the Rajshahi district, though not to the
same extent, because the area of riparian lands is
not so great. The same description applies to the
Murshidabad and Nadia and Rungpur districts.
All these districts lie along the Ganges. I have
not observed the same conditions in any other
districts.
In answer to my report of 1883 the Board, as
well as I remember, wrote that the growth was so
considerable that they did not consider it practi-
cable to limit it. With reference to my remarks
under 35 and 62, I would say that it may be physi-
cally possible to control the growth, but it would
involve an inquisitorial system, which would be very
distasteful to the people. I do not think any class
of the people would be glad to see the large
patches of growth exterminated. Bhang is used
almost universally as an exhilarating or cooling
drink by the people as we use tea and coffee, also
as a basis for many kinds of sweetmeats, and
as a medicine for horses and cattle. It also en-
ters into the religious practices of large classes
of
Hindus, comprising sadhus and sanyasis,
vaishtavs, or followers of Chaitanya and the wor-
shippers of Kali. These are reasons which would
render the attempt to exterminate the plants
wholesale unpopular.
Still more urgent reasons for the unpopularity
of such a measure would be the facts that the
plant grows in the immediate neighbourhood of
villages and habitations throughout Bengal, in the
shade of ruined buildings which are found in all
homesteads, and the attempt to exterminate would
necessitate a system of domiciliary visits, which
would cause great annoyance. I do not think
any argument can be drawn for extermination
from the fact that the poppy has been successfully
controlled, nor from the fact that the hemp plant
is in evidence where it grows, because the growth
of the hemp plant is very rank and exuberant and
it prefers dark shady places. Nor can any strong
argument be derived from successful prohibition,
if such has been the case in the Central Provinces
and Assam, because in the Central Provinces
villages are more or less of an urban character,
whereas in Bengal the homesteads are isolated and
surrounded by fruit trees and jungle. As regards
Assam, it is a thinly peopled province and the
population is backward, and it is conceivable that
under such conditions an excise officer should be
able to deal successfully with the matter. On
the whole, then, I am strongly opposed, unless
the necessity is clearly established, to any attempt
being made to regulate the spontaneous growth
of hemp, though I do not go so far as to say it
would be impossible. I do not think the people
would have any difficulty in exterminating the plant
themselves in the neighbourhood of their home-
steads if the prohibition were issued. It would
have to be done perseveringly, and might take
two or three years to complete the work.
Question 14.—In this answer I was speaking
of Shahabad with reference to the estimate of
H