18
with the drug at R3 per sér. It was contemplated in the agreement that the price
might be raised by increments of 4 annas to R4 per sér, and the duty by increments of
3 annas to R 2-12 per sér within the year 1880-81. At the same time the system of
auctioning the monopoly of retail vend by circles was done away with, and monthly
licenses were issued at fixed rates, varying according to the size of the town or village,
and without limit as to the number of licenses existing in one place. This system, how-
ever, was abandoned in the following year, and the auction system was again for the most
part introduced. This was the origin of the system of monopoly of wholesale which
exists to the present time in the Central Provinces. Since 1882-83, by which time
Act XXI I of 1881 had become law, the wholesale monopolist has been
called upon to pay a certain amount per sér in addition to the direct duty of R2
per sér, the rate varying in different districts and being generally determined by tender.
Such tender is limited by the necessity of supplying retail vendors at R3 per sér to an
amount per sér less than R1. The object of this measure was to fix the difference
between the duty on the drug, R2 per sér, and the price at which it was to be sold to
retail vendors, R3, at a figure considerably in excess of the cost price of the drug, and to
put up the gross profits thereby secured to the wholesale vendor to auction in the form of
tender. It was thought that this would practically raise the direct duty in the districts
where the cost price of the drug was least, and so equalize prices throughout the prov-
ince. Cultivation in British territories has been concentrated, and since 1891 it has only
been allowed in the Khandwa tahsil of the Nimar district."
56. The defects in the Central Provinces system are, the Governor General
in Council observes,—
(1) The low rate of fixed duty, R2 per sér is too low a rate. There
should be no fixed price of supply by wholesale to retail dealers.
It is not desirable to create a monopoly of wholesale vend and
then temper it by conditions of selling at fixed prices. Compara-
tive freedom of wholesale vend enables the Government to levy
w h a t e v e r d i r e c t t a x i t f i n d s p o s s i b l e , a n d e n s u r e s t h e r e t a i l v e n d o r
getting the drug at a price which will not leave a margin of taxable
profit to the wholesale dealer. In the Bengal system the wholesale
dealers are not required to pay fees for their licenses.
(2) Exported ganja should be taxed adequately under arrangements to be
made with other British Provinces and with Native States—at pre-
sent Government licensed vendors exporting to the North-Western
Provinces or other British Provinces pay only a small storage fee,
R1 per maund, by way of registration fee, and foreign purchasers
pay only R2 per maund for permit and registration fees.
The Chief Commissioner should arrange to remove these defects.
57. As to the system in force in the
System of administration in force in the
North-Western Provinces, the Commis-
North-Western Provinces.
sioners say
—
657. "The statistics for North-Western Provinces are regarded by the Excise
Commissioner as very defective so far as regards the amount of imports and exports. In
the absence of any fixed duty, and with a revenue determined solely by the license fees,
no provincial record of the traffic has been kept up. Mr. Stoker is not confident that
allowance has been made for transfers from district to district, and he thinks there is
much risk that the same drugs may have been counted twice, and the provincial total thus
exaggerated. Moreover, licenses for the sale of the different kinds of drugs have not been
sold separately. All that can be gathered from the statements furnished is that the total
amount of the license fees has increased by about 75 per cent. in the last 20 years and the
number of retail licenses by 50 per cent., and that the imports and consumption of ganja
seem to be on the increase. The excise ganja of Ben gal is being displaced by the drug
from the Central Provinces and Native States, which is almost wholly untaxed, and this is
one of the weak points in the North-Western Provinces Administration as pointed out in
Chapter XV, paragraph 609. The total revenue from license fees is in 1892-93 R7,04,788,
but from this would have to be deducted the amount due to licenses for the sale of
charas and bhang which cannot be ascertained. At a rough guess, it may be put at
one-third, leaving R4,70,000 due to ganja, To this must be added the duty on Bengal
ganja levied in Bengal (about R1,12,600) and the registration fees at R1 per maund
levied on Central Provinces ganja at Khandwa, making a total of about R6,00,000, or
R3-2-3 per sér on all imported ganja reckoned on an average of 4,774 maunds. On
the whole this does not appear to be a very inadequate incidence of taxation, but it must
be remembered that there is no control of production in the province, and that the
taxation on the different kinds of ganja imported is very unequal. The number
of shops is very large, nearly double in proportion to population of that which is found
in Bengal. There can be no doubt that in this province more control is necessary, and