CO129-482 - Public Offices - 1923 — Page 653

}

651

But different reasons contributed to make

the well-meant efforts fail. Firstly an Archipelago such as the

Further little Dutch Indies is particularly suited for smuggling. cooperation for decreasing the use of opium was to be expected from the farmers. Of course these men cared only for greatest possible profits. A decrease of the sale clashed with their

And thus interests, but an increase gave them extra profits. it will be quite

comprehensible that they tried to encourage the use. With regard to the means to that end, they were not always very particuler. When, for instance, the raw opium wes furnished to them by the Government only in limited quantities or at high prices, they often had recourse to smuggled opium,

Further the opium-farm-system had not only the serie imperfections as every other lease-system, but had also other abuses, For coping with the smuggling it required the aid of the Police, and often the latter was obtained in less decent ways, It had also engaged many spies, who often abused their The Opium-farm power to have their personal foes condemned. was a state within the State especially in Java in different districts and the maintenance of the monopoly often led to diverse provoking situations.

11.

It was especially these and other abuses,

to be mentioned afterwords, attaching to the Farm-system, which were the cause of a strong movement against this system.

19

Was

After long controversy it was resolved to take the opium directly under Government management, as an

This rogie experiment, underthe name of : Opium-regie". first established in the island Madura in 1894, and in the castern ports of Java in 1996. As it appearud that the Regie worked well, it was introduced gradually throughout the Dutch Indies.

these Indies any more.

After 1st April 1913 no opium-farm existed in

which

From the beginning of the experiment it has beon the desire of the Government that, under the Regie all could extend the use of opium among the population, should bo repressed, so that not only the above-mentioned abuses of the farm should cease but also various other evils, which were unknown before to the Governant or against which it was powerless to act from wont of officials,