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 [‎14r] (17/44)

[ 7 ]
consistino- of 7 maunds, was effected (letter dated 6th July 1844) within the very extensive
ranoe of the Collector of Continental Customs and Excise.
Malwa. —(Letter dated 22nd August 1841.*) The Agent in Malwa submitted in 1844 a
statement exhibiting the financial results of the pass system from its first introduction in
1830. From this it appeared that during the first five years, with the fee at Rs. 175 per
chest, the average number of chests exported was 1821f, and the average revenue realized
at Indore Rs. 3,89,705. From 1835-36 to 1842-43, with the reduced fee of Rs. 125, the
> average number of chests was 15,412| and the average revenue Rs. 18,07,8311. In 1843-
44, with the fee at Ri. 200, the number of chests exported up to the date of Mr. Hamilton's
report was 13,325, and the revenue collected Hs. 2,66,500; and the Agent anticipated that at
the end of the season tiiese figures would be increased to 14,325 and Rs. 28,65,000. In
1839-40, in consequence of the war in China, and consequent interruption of trade, only
2,151 chests were exported, and Rs. 2,67,500 of revenue realized ; and in 1842-43, in conse
quence of an intimation of the intention to raise the fee from Rs. 125 to Rs. 200, every
exertion was made by the dealers in opium to bring as much of the drug as was possible to
the scales before the 1st October 1843. Thus in September of that year, in which month
the transactions are very limited, no less than 8,414 chests passed the scales, and the num
ber of chests exported during the whole season was 24,337, and the receipts of Government
Rs. 30,26,500. From these data the Agent deduced that the enhancement of the pass price
had not affected the revenue, nor, as far as he could learn, had it affected the cultivation.
The price, he observed, "operates neither on the producer nor the speculator, but on the con
sumer in China." Transactions in opium, like those in stock, are governed by the price on
the settling day, and the drug is bought, sold, delivered, and adjustment made, more in the
spirit of gambling than straightforward mercantile enterprise. The rate of duty, therefore,
is but a secondary consideration to the large speculators.
22. In 1846 a circular dated 10th June 1846 was again issued to the same officers, re
quiring them to report the effect produced on the opium trade by the price of passes having
been raised from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300, and whether in particular it had led to an increase of
the traffic formerly carried on at Demaun, or to smuggling generally. The general result of
this reference established that no increase of smuggling had occurred, or that, taking into
consideration the number of passes^taken out in anticipation of the rise of price, that there
had been any diminution in the quantity of opium exported generally, although the quanti
ty exported by the Khandeish and Guzerat routes appeared to have undergone some change
in favour of the former. The Collector of Surat, however, although he reported (letter
dated the 19th September 1846) that the Demaun trade had not increased, and was at
present inconsiderable, stated that an increase of smuggling was proved by the fact that the
sale accounts of the retail dealers in the city had fallen off two-fifths, since as no diminu
tion in the consumption had taken place, the difference must have been supplied by illicit
importation from the Guicowar's and other foreign territories adjacent to his Collectorate.
23. In June 1847 the pass-fee was raised from Rs. 300 to Rs. 400, and the time has now,
I think, arrived for repeating the circulars of 1843 and 1846, in order that we may ascertain
whether the imposition of this high duty has not had the effect of diverting the traffic in
opium into channels over which we have no effective control, especially as we were informed
by the Government of India, that should it appear hereafter that special preventive measures
are requisite in any particular direction to check a tendency to smuggling, they would be
prepared to co-operate to any extent circumstances may warrant towards the protection of
this very important branch of the public revenue. According to the latest return 1 have
seen, the number of chests exported during the season of 1847-48 was 11,128, yielding a
revenue of Rs. 44,48,800 (vide Bombay Government Gazette, dated the 20th July 1848);
and had it not been for a sudden and unexpected rise in the price of opium in China, the
* 1 or further particulars regarding the results of the pass sj'stem, see Bombay Opium Agent's report, dated
l^t November 1814.