344 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. XVII.
Hyderabad.
699. The cultivation of hemp for ganja in Hyderabad is said to amount to
300 or 400 acres. Bhang is the refuse of the ganja
so produced. There is no restriction of cultivation,
but the right of selling the drugs is auctioned, and the cultivators are bound
to dispose of their produce to the licensee. There are 270 shops for the sale
of ganja and bhang and 50 for majum. In small districts the contract of sale
is given with that of certain poisons (arsenic, strychnia, and aconite) and opium.
For foreign import or export of ganja a duty of Rs. 10 per maund is levied,
and of bhang Rs. 3-5 per maund. The imports of ganja as given in the
State memorandum average for five years 79 maunds, and the exports 9 maunds
only. But there are no reliable statistics. The Director of Agriculture puts the
outturn at 5 to 6 maunds per acre, which would give a result of from 1,500 to
2,400 maunds per annum. Of this, only an average of 300 maunds is traceable
as having been transmitted by railway. There is no record of the ganja trans-
mitted by other means.
The Hyderabad State marches with the Madras and Bombay Presidencies,
Berar, and the Central Provinces, but only for a short distance with the
last named. There are no complaints of smuggling from Hyderabad into the
Central Provinces, though smuggling from Berar is mentioned. If ganja
is systematically treated in Madras, Bombay, and Berar, the arrangements will
be incomplete unless a similar change is made in the Hyderabad State; and as the
regular cultivation in the latter appears to be confined to certain definite areas,
control will probably be quite feasible should the Darbar agree to exercise it. For
the present, however, the existing arrangements under which the produce must
all be made over to the licensed vendors and a tax levied on all imports and
exports will, if they are observed, be sufficient to check the export of ganja
to British provinces. When by reason of the perfecting of the system in
British territory the inducements to smuggle cheap ganja from Hyderabad are
increased, it will then be advisable to suggest to the State the desirability of
exercising more complete control over the cultivation of the plant and its
produce.
Mysore.
700. The administration of excise in Mysore in respect of hemp drugs
is based upon Act XXII of 1881, which is in force
in the State, and is in advance of that of both the
presidencies which adjoin it. Cultivation is forbidden except under license,
and the produce of all licensed cultivation must be sold to the licensed contractor
or exported under a pass. But licensed cultivation has been practically abandoned;
and though it is stated in the memorandum that illicit cultivation and smuggling
are not carried on to any appreciable extent, there seems some doubt whether this
view is correct. Mr. McDonnell, the Special Assistant Excise Commissioner,
states that, "owing to the heavy dues imposed by the State (Rs. 24 per
Indian maund) and the abnormally low price of ganja across the frontier, there
are strong inducements to commit a fraud on the Mysore revenue." Thus,
although the climate and soil of the State are well adapted for the produc-
tion of the ganja plant, the regulations introduced by the State authorities
for controlling its production have had the effect of stopping it altogether owing
to the want of system in British territory and the facility with which it is
procurable thence at a much lower rate; and a large amount of the ganja