(18)
When disposed of, it is brought for weighment to the gánjá office, and after
this operation its export is permitted. After weighment it is baled in a pre
-scribed manner, packed in gunny, and the packages sealed.
The system which makes it necessary that the cultivator should have custody
of an exciseable article such as gánjá is open to many objections, the chief one
being the possibility of smuggling. It is perfectly true that, when the matter
is closely investigated, it becomes clear that no smuggling occurs, but it at
the same time is true that there must be a contact succession of people
sufficiently thoughtful to perceive that smuggling is possible and sufficiently
imaginative to decide, and, without having had the means of making a full
enquiry, to give expression to their opinion, that it therefore exists. The
resources of Government and the time of its officers have on more than one
occasion been unnecessarily expended in disproving assertions of this kind.
It would therefore be of some moment were the possibility of storing gánjá
by Government instead of by the cultivators demonstrated.
That smuggling does not occur is easily ascertained from the care with
which Government checks the amount of land under hemp cultivation and
the quantity of gá njá made as compared with the export of the manufactured
article. And though this system of ascertaining that smuggling does not
go on cannot directly prevent the practice, a little thought shows that indirectly
it does so most effectually. Even if the regulations now in force did not
necessarily ensure the prevention of any contraband transaction, they almost
necessarily ensure its detection ; the consequences to the cultivator, already
pointed out, would be far too serious to induce him to throw away his chief
means of livlihood. It has, moreover, to be kept in mind that the people of
the gánjá mahals happen to form one of the most peaceful and law-abiding
communities in India.
The measurements of the various kinds of gánjá, the relative positions
of which have been shown in Chapter V, are shown below in two columns, the
left-hand columns giving measurements " unbound" indicate the bulk of a
maund of the article as it is stored in the houses of the cultivators, and therefore
as it is presented for weighment ; the right-hand columns show the reductions
effected by the pressure exerted by means of a rope and levers when baling
it in maund bundles for export.
TABLE III.—Measurements of maund packages of the different kinds of G á n j á .
KIND OF GÁNJÁ.
UNBOUND (before weighment).
BOUND (after weighment).
Dimensions.
Bulk.
Dimensions.
Bulk.
Large FLAT . . .
Circumference 6 ft. 8 in
9 ½ c . f .
Circumference 5 ft. 8 in
6 ½
c .
f .
Height
3 ft. . . .
Height
3 ft. . . .
FLAT Twig . . .
Circumference 8 ft. . . .
8¼ c .
f .
C i r c u m f e r n c e 6 f t . 8 i n .
5¾ c . f
.
Height
1 ft. 6 in.
H i g h t 1 f t . 8 i n .
ROUND . . .
C i r c u m f e r e n c e 8 f t . . .
4 . c . f .
C i r c u m f e r e n c e 7 f t . 6 i n .
39/10 c. f.
Height 1ft. . . .
Height 1 ft. 1 in.
C h ú r . . .
Circumference 5 ft. . . .
5 ¼ c . f .
C i r c u m f e r e n c e 5 f t . . . .
5¼ c . f
.
Height
3 ft. . . .
H i g h t 3 f t . . . .
It is to be noted in connection with this table that the pressure to which
flat twig' gánjá is subjected reduces the girth of the package very consider-
- a b l y , b u t c a u s e s a t t h e s a m e t i m e a d i s t i n c t e l o n g a t i o n o f i t . T h e s a m e i s t h e
case with 'round ' gánjá, where it will also be observed that the binding does not
greatly reduce the dimensions of the package ; this is due to the bundles
of 'r o u n d ' b e i n g s o s m a l l t h a t t h e c u l t i v a t o r h a s t o t i e t h e m u p a t h o m e
by exerting pressure if he wishes to handle his packages with ease and comfort ;
as round ' gánjá is stored in his house, it occupies about 6½ cubic feet per
maund. Chúr being, as has been already said, packed in bags that are simply
weighed, sealed, and exported, occupies the same bulk throughout.