15
parts of India into harmony with these conclusions and generally improving the adminis
tration, the Commission have made the following suggestions : —
(a) That in Bengal, Government warehouses for the storage of ganja should be
constructed in Rajshahi (Chapter XVI, paragraph 643).
(b) That, subject to this addition, the Bengal system of ganja administration should
be generally followed in the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay, Berar, and
possibly in Ajmere and Coorg (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 656, 671, 672, and
673).
(c) That in the Central Provinces all ganja should pay a direct duty, whether
consumed in the province or exported ; that the rule under which ganja is
supplied by wholesale to retail vendors at a fixed price should be abolished ;
and that the number of wholesale licenses should be granted more freely and
without charge (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 649, 654, and 655).
(d) That in the North-Western Provinces the cultivation and manufacture of ganja
should be prohibited and the system of bonded warehouses introduced for its
storage (Chapter XVI, paragraph 657).
(e) That in Madras and Bombay cultivation of the hemp plant should be prohibited
except under license, and that the licensed cultivation should be restricted
to limited areas ; also that a fixed duty should be imposed on ganja,
such supervision of the manufacture and storage of the crop being main-
tained as is necessary to its imposition (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 662,
669, and 671).
( f) That similar measures should be introduced into Berar and possibly Ajmere
and Coorg (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 672 and 673).
(g) That on all charas imported into the Punjab a duty of not less than R80 per
maund be levied, the drug being stored in bonded warehouses, and duty paid
when it is taken out by the vendors. Inter-provincial arrangements re-
garding the crediting of duty to different provinces to be made under the
orders of the Supreme Government (Chapter XVI, paragraphs 674 and
675).
(h) That, where possible, a duty should be levied on bhang. Where refuse ganja
is used as bhang, the rate may have to be fixed at a higher figure with ref-
erence to this fact (Chapter XVI, paragraph 677).
(i) That, as a rule, separate licenses should be granted for the sale of the different
kinds of drugs (Chapter XVI, paragraph 680).
( j) That licenses for retail sale should not ordinarily be granted to wholesale
dealers (Chapter XVI, paragraph 682).
(k) That a separate license should be granted for each shop (Chapter XVI, para-
graph 683).
(l) That licenses for retail vend should contain a provision prohibiting the vendor
from selling the drugs to children or insane persons (Chapter XVI, para-
graph 684).
(m) That when new shops are proposed, municipal bodies, rural notables, zamin-
dars, or headmen, as the case may be, should be consulted as to the
necessity of opening them and as to their location, and that objections, if
made, should receive the most careful attention (Chapter XVI, paragraph
688).
(n) That the limit of legal possession of the hemp drugs should be the same for
the whole of British India, viz.,—
Ganja and charas, or any preparation or admixture thereof, 5 tolas.
Bhang, or any preparation or admixture thereof, one-quarter of a sér,
And that Native States should be invited to adopt this maximum (Chapter XVI,
paragraph 690).
48. The Governor General in Council approves generally of the suggestions
of the Commission. There can be no doubt that the systems in different parts
of India should be brought into harmony, and that the Bengal system of
administration is the one which should be generally followed as being on the whole
the best. The different provincial systems of administration will be described
in the ensuing paragraphs, and the general policy which the Governor General in
Council desires each Local Government to follow will also be indicated.
49. The system of hemp drug administration in force in Bengal is thus des-
System of administration in force in Bengal. cribed in the Report of the Commission : —
"Though the hemp plant grows spontaneously in many districts of Bengal, this fact
does not seem to affect the ganja administration to any great extent, as ganja, except
of a very inferior sort, cannot be manufactured from the wild plants. Cultivation of the
hemp plant for the production of ganja is only allowed in an area of about 64 square