Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [‎27r] (43/44)

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altogether prohibited it, but this is clearly illegal. In others they have threatened the im
position of the prohibitory duty of Rs. 12 per Surat seer, and, under this threat, have obliged
the growers to deliver to Government all their produce on payment of a fair valuation. In
others, the impression that Government did not wish the cultivation to take place may have
•sufficed altogether to prevent it.
29. On a representation from this Government in 1839, the Government of India (7th
August 1839, No. 90) communicated its determination altogether to prohibit by law the
culture of the poppy within the Bombay Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ; but in the succeeding year, 1840, (19th
^ August 1840, No. 66,) it expressed itself, though desirous of stopping this culture, to be
unwilling at the time to pass such a law; and the matter has remained in this position to the
present time.
30. In Khandeish the Government undertakes the preparation of opium on a somewhat
large scale. The Collector, acting on the decision that the ryots cannot legally themselves
prepare the drug, obliges them to deliver the juice to Government at the lowest remunerat-
ing price. It is taken to the depot at Dhoolia, where it is worked up by the prisoners in
the jail. The opium so made is sent to the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. , and issued for the supply of our
internal consumption. I believe this manufactory has continued up to the present time, but
1 have of late seen no reports of its operations.
31. The cultivation in Khandeish is necessarily much affected by these restrictive
measures of the Government, but there can be no doubt, that were it declared perfectly free,
and the produce subject to no prohibitory duty, a great part of the province might be covered
by the poppy. There are no sufficient grounds for believing that, if carefully prepared,
Khandeish opium, though inferior to that of Malwa, might not find a ready sale in the
China market.
32. Guzerat, also, is capable of producing large quantities of opium. Lnder our system
of discouragement, the cultivation in our villages has been checked, and in some districts it
was said at one time to have altogether ceased (vide Revenue Commissioner's letter No>
1C18, 9th December 1840) ; but this is of little avail, since the domains of Native States are
so mixed up with our's, that by prohibiting the culture of the poppy in our villages, while it
is free in those contiguous to them, we effect nothing beyond depriving our ryots of a
profitable cultivation, and throwing them for their supply upon foreigners,
33. I think we should call for information on the state of the poppy cultivation in all our
districts, and that we should have a special report from Khandeish, detailing all proceedings
since the last report, and giving a statement showing the quantity of the drug produced eacli
vear since the commencement of the Government operations, and the mode and result of its
disposal.
34. Opium is consumed to a large extent in Guzerat and Kattiawar, and but little in
other parts of our territory.* Our sales for consumption in the former provinces have fallen
off almost entirely, while there is reason to believe that the consumption has increased rather
than diminished. Our mode of regulating the price at which we issue the drug from our
depots is of itself sufficient to account for this. We charge the original purchaser nearly
with all the expenses of transit, establishment, &.c, and in the case of Malwa opium include the
amount of the pass, and thus sell at prices far above those at which the drug is to be readily
procured in and alLaround our territory. It is not, therefore, surprising that our depots are
not resorted to, especially when it is considered that the quantity required at each purchase
by a consumer is so small, and the purchasers and sellers so numerous, that it is impossible
to exercise any effectual surveillance, so as to confine the sale to the shops ol licensed
voftders.
$5. I think, that so long as the present system exists we should regulate our sale prices
* The quantity issued for retail sale in Guzerat and Kattiawar was in 1842-43 about 270 Indian maunds ; in
1847-48 it was only 16 Indian maunds. Throughout our whole territories the quantity issued in 1842-43 was .> l t!
Indian maunds; in 1847-48 only G8 Indian maunds. This information is from the Opium Agent's Office.