PUNJAB MEMORANDUM.
47
and, on a reference to the Government Advocate, it was pointed out by him that there was no
power under the Excise Act to impose such a duty. The orders of the local Government on
the proposals are contained in Punjab Government letter No. 8, dated 11th January 1892 (No.
16 of the Proceedings). The Lieutenant-Governor "was of opinion that a tax of Rs. 20
per maund might be imposed upon charas with effect from 1st April 1893. No doubt the
retail price of charas will be somewhat raised; but this in itself is an advantage, as the use of
the drug is certainly pernicious." Accepting the opinion of the Government Advocate as to
the manner in which the tax should be imposed, the letter describes the system to be
adopted—the establishment of golahs to which all charas should be taken on entering the
Province and which it should be allowed to leave only under a license or pass for which a fee
should be levied at the rate of 8 annas a seer. With regard to bhang, "the Lieutenant-
Governor was not thoroughly satisfied with the proposals made by the Excise Commissioner,
and he would prefer to reconsider the question hereafter when the tax upon charas has been
actually introduced."
Rules drafted in 1892 and 1893.
5. In accordance with these orders I drafted a set of rules giving effect to them. The
draft was circulated to Commissioners and selected District
Officers; and on receipt of their opinions the case was sub-
mitted to the Financial Commissioner in October 1892 for orders with regard to several
points that had arisen in connection with the draft. In April 1893 Government passed
orders calling for a copy of the rules in complete form, and pointing out that a tax on charas
only and not on intoxicating drugs [section 3 (h), Act XXII of 1881] had been agreed to.
Some further correspondence passed, and last month (August 1893) I submitted to the
Financial Commissioner a final draft of the rules. In the meantime the Government of
India had taken up the question of amending the Excise Act so as to make the imposition of
an import duty on intoxicating drugs legal. With the passing of Act X of 1893 the
necessity for the system of golahs and passes accepted by the Punjab Government in their
letter No. 8, dated 11th January 1892, ceased. It will now be possible to revert to my origi-
nal proposals of 1890, at least so far as they provide for a direct import duty on charas.
Present state of the proposals for
taxation.
6. It is probably unnecessary for the Commission to refer to the correspondence dealt with
in the preceding paragraph because it relates to a con-
dition of things which has ceased to exist and represents
so much labour lost. The present state of affairs may be
described as follows:—(i) an import duty at the rate of Rs. 20 per maund will probably be
imposed with effect from 1st April 1894 on all charas entering the province; (ii) rules pro-
viding for this duty and also putting the system of licensing vend on a satisfactory footing
will be submitted shortly to the Government of India; (iii) with regard to bhang, His
Honor the Lieutenant-Governor has recently referred to this question in reviewing the Excise
Report for 1892-93 (paragraph 6 of the Review). I quote the paragraph in full because it
mentions the subject of an import duty on charas also: "The question of levying an import
duty on charas was referred to in the 10th paragraph of the Review of the Report for 1891-92.
There were legal difficulties in the way of imposing this tax under Act XXII of 1881, but
these will be removed when the amending Bill now before the Legislative Council has been
passed, and draft rules will shortly be submitted to the Government of India. The question
of the taxation of bhang is a far more difficult one, but it must before long be taken in hand.
It must, however, be borne in mind that, as remarked in the 10th paragraph of last year's
Review, 'in regard to matters of this sort, which involve an interference with ancient and
firmly-rooted habits of large masses of the people, it is desirable to proceed cautiously, doing
one thing at
time'"
I will now proceed to give such detailed information as is available
with regard to the supply of these drugs, and will then describe the system under which their
supply and vend are controlled.
Trade returns of the import of charas,
&c.
7. Dealing first with the import of the drugs, I take the following figures from the Pro-
vincial Reports of External Trade. The figures give the
amount imported in maunds:—
YEAR.
CHARAS IMPORTED FROM
Ganja.
BHANG FROM
OTHER KINDS.
YEAR.
Ladakh.
Kashmir.
Kabul.
Ganja.
Kabul.
Kashmir.
Ladakh. Kashmir.
1887-88
2,822
711
42
No import.
25
4
1888-89
2,629
717
96
No import.
13
10
1889-90
1,625
250
38
No import.
27
47
1890-91
2,560
669
No import.
5
485
6
1891-92
2,863
431
No import.
25
3