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EVIDENCE OF BURMA WITNESSES.
Evidence of COLONEL H. R. SPEARMAN, Commissioner, Tenasserin Division.
1. Thirty-one years' experience as Assistant
Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Com-
missioner.
20. Ganja.—Natives of India temporarily in
Burma ; proportion unknown to me ; localities,
wherever they may be and can get it.
Charas unknown to me. I have never come
across a Burman, Shan, or Karen consumer of
either ganja or charas.
25. I have not any reason to think it increasing
or decreasing. Any increase there may be is due
to the large influx of natives of India (troops,
military police, and followers) since the annexa-
tion of Upper Burma.
33. By Burmans and persons of cognate races
as highly disgraceful. Due to Buddhism and the
training of centuries.
34. No. Many natives of India, I think, give it
up, because they cannot get ganja here without
great difficulty, risk and cost.
35. The mere possession is, and has been for
years, prohibited.
58. Might perhaps (?) be improved.
59. Possession is now punishable with fine or
with imprisonment. It should be punishable with
rigorous imprisonment only. As a Magistrate, I
found imprisonment a much better deterrent than
fine, and in awarding it had the whole Burman
population with me.
62. Is, and should, continue to be, absolutely
prohibited. The annual classification of crops for
revenue purposes is a sufficient means of control.
64. No. Import is, and should remain, abso-
lutely prohibited.
70. No. No duty. No general use.
Oral evidence.
Question 1.-I have been thirty-two years in
Burma—in all parts of Lower Burma without ex-
ception. I was fifteen months in Bhamo in 1871-
72, but know nothing of Upper Burma.
Question 20.—I have never been in the Shan
country, and speak only of what I have seen in
Lower Burma.
Question 25.—I personally know nothing of any
extensive smuggling, not more extensive than it
used. to be. One hears of it through the Post
Office. Smuggling at ports through the Customs
House would not come to my knowledge except
when the Excise Officer had to interfere : this is
rare. Smuggling through the post office would
come to my knowledge through the Excise Officer's
diaries. Only two cases have (so far as my mem-
ory serves me) come to my knowledge during the
last two years while I have held charge of the
Tenasserim Division. Before that I was in the
Irrawaddy Division. I have no particular recollec-
tion of smuggling there. It has to be remembered
that the greater portion of the smuggling from the
sea would come through Rangoon; and I have no
personal knowledge of that, though I used to hear
a great deal about it in newspapers and in casual
statements which I had neither means nor desire
of verifying. I have no confidence that I have
ascertained the facts about smuggling. I do not
mean at all to assert that there is little smuggling,
but simply that I personally have no facts.
Since the Government prohibited the drug it has
done nothing special to enforce the prohibition. It
has left it to its officers to carry out the orders
issued. It has left it to its officers to arrest the
offenders and its magistrates to punish them. I
have no recollection of any orders of any kind being
issued by Government. I have no recollection of
any censures or strictures regarding ganja in Ex-
cise Reports. The stern prohibition issued by Sir
Ashley Eden still remains in force, and I under-
stand Government considers it sufficient. In my
opinion it is the most that can be done. I do not
see that anything else can be done, though it is not
sufficient to absolutely prevent smuggling. I con-
sider that there is no need of increase in zeal in
enforcing this prohibition in my Division. If I
heard casually even of smuggling there, I should
have it carefully inquired into. The annexation
of Upper Burma has not had any appreciable effect
in increasing the rate of immigration of natives of
India into Tenasserim. The normal rate has con-
tinued. There have also been some grants of land
given to natives of India in the north of my Divi-
sion, and this has perhaps slightly increased immi-
graton. Natives of India work better than Bur-
mans. But the Indian population is not ver y
markedly greater than twenty years ago in pro-
portion to the general increase of population in my
Division. If anything, immigration will increase.
There is no ground to believe that it will cease.
Question 34.— I cannot say that the prohi-
bition has succeeded as regards the natives of
India, as I cannot say that there is no ganja in the
country. The consumption of ganja would, how-
ever, I believe, have been very much larger among
them if there had been no prohibition. I can
answer for Tenasserim and Irrawaddy. My state-
ment that many natives of India give up the drug
owing to the difficulty, risk and cost of getting it
is based on conversations with respectable natives
of India. I believe, however, that ganja is a
marketable commodity though expensive, and that
any native (Burman or any one else) who wishes
it could get it if he paid the price. This, no doubt,
gives Burmans a chance of becoming consumers.
I am exceedingly anxious to prevent as much as
possible Burmans from becoming consumers. They
cannot control passion. They exceed in opium or
liquor as well as in revenge ; and would, I believe,
exceed in ganja if they took it. At present they
only use it for elephants, etc., and rarely put leaves
in curry I believe. I consider the present opium
license system a bad one, and I should consider
such a measure in regard to ganja equally inad-
visable. There is no chance of checking opium by
the present system. It seems to me that the
proper measure would be to have licensed shops