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null and void. Those Taiso Rights which become valid after the coming into force of this Ordinance, are regarded as having become valid at the date of the coming into force of this Ordinance, but these rights shall not be used before they do become valid.

Art. 2.-The Government shall pay an indemnity to those persons whose Taiso Rights become void by virtue of the preceding article, or to their successors.

Art. 3. This indemnity shall be paid in Loan Bonds to be issued by virtue of the Law of Formosan Works Loan, but odd amounts which are too small to be paid in bonds shall be paid in cash.

Art. 4.-The amount of the indemnity shall be determined by multiplying the amount of the Taiso Rent hitherto paid by a rate to be fixed by the Governor-General.

Art. 5. In regard to the Tithe Taiso Rents and their variations, the amount received in an average year shall be the amount of the Taiso Rent referred to in the preceding article.

Art. 6.-The Governor-General shall publish a list of the names of those whose Taiso Rights have become valid, together with the amount of the indemnity to be paid in each case.

Art. 7.-Those who desire to receive the indemnity must apply to the Governor-General within six months from the date of the publication of their names and the indemnity amounts in accordance with the foregoing article.

Art. 8.-Any one who fails to apply within the period prescribed in the preceding article forfeits all claim to the indemnity.

Art. 9.-The owners of such Taiso Rights, as have hitherto been paid annually, are hereby authorised to collect their Taiso Rent for the first six months of 1904, and the owners of such Taiso Rights as have been paid semi-annually may also do likewise.

Art. 10.-Any regulations which may be found necessary as supplementary to this Ordinance shall be issued by the Governor-General.

This Ordinance shall come into force on the 1st of June, 1904.

In accordance with the above ordinance, the Formosan Government purchased the landowners' rights to the value of

Yen 3,672,436, issuing loan bonds to the amount of Yen 4,080,485. Thus the Taiso Right, which had for three hundred years been the foundation of the land system in Formosa, was abolished, and the tenants came to enjoy the absolute ownership of the land which they or their ancestors had been farming for three centuries. Such a change certainly amounted to a social revolution. Most of the revolutions recorded in history required sacrifices, but the present one was entirely bloodless. This change has given the tenant absolute ownership, thus insuring security of property, and saving much unnecessary trouble in the payment of taxes. The landowners have received an equal benefit, for now there is little likelihood of their being cheated by cunning and unscrupulous tenants, and having to pay taxes to the Government for fields which bring them in no rents. With a goodly bundle of Government bonds secure in their cash-boxes, they can spend the rest of their lives in happy retirement.

In short, this change has not only effectually closed those avenues which, as long as they were open, always lured the needy tenant to lay himself out to cheat his landlord; it has also ensured security of landed property, so that capitalists can now invest in Formosan land without any qualms. These benefits will, I believe, be permanent.

Though the relations which have hitherto existed in Formosa were legally those which existed between a landlord and his tenants, practically they were those of a feudal lord and his vassals. The former Daimyos of Japan held their territories by right of occupation, or by right of inheritance, while the common people were mere tenants. At length, however, the real ownership of the land passed into the hands of the people, the feudal lords merely retaining the power to impose taxes upon the people. The old independent Formosan landowners have now abandoned their ancestral rights of occupation, and have, instead, received Government securities. History repeats itself; what was accomplished in Japan a few years after the Restoration has now taken place in Formosa.

CHAPTER VI.

FINANCE AND ECONOMY.

The importance of finance-Relations between the mother-country and her colonies-The burden of Formosa-Table of incomes and subsidies-Formosa's financial emancipation—A comparison between Formosa and French Indo-China-Japanese and Formosan taxes compared-Reasons for Formosa's heavy taxation-Special expenditure-Japan's profits from Formosa -Table of expenditures and loans-Redemption of the Loan BondsGovernment taxation policy-Estimated income and expenditures for 1903 -Rates of land tax-Tax on tea-Systems of taxation in French and British colonies-Revised land tax rates.

THE most important question in the life of a nation is the supply of food and clothing for its subjects; for this reason the success of an administration must be gauged by its financial success. However pretentious a policy it may adopt, no administration can look for long-continued success unless its finances are skilfully managed, and placed upon a firm basis. Some scholars say that ancient Rome fell because she failed in this respect. It has also been said that the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in more recent times was really due to the financial mistakes made by the Central Government, and that the revolutionary war began in the Government exchequer, not with the battles of Toba and Fushimi.

Colonies are not drawn towards the mother-country by historical associations or by a desire to be ruled over by the same sovereign. They can be only attracted by the hope of mutual profit, and a colonial administration can succeed only so far as its finances are wisely ordered.

Many people say that it was the despotic behaviour of the priests which recently involved Spain in the loss of nearly all her colonies, but I believe her financial blunders were the real cause. Under these conditions a student of colonial enterprise should desire first of all to examine a nation's financial organisation. When Formosa first passed into our possession in 1895,

the island was in such a disturbed state that it was quite impossible to form an accurate estimate of her financial strength; but it was estimated that she would require an income of Yen 9,650,000, of which not more than Yen 2,710,000 could be raised in the island by taxation, the remaining Yen 6,940,000 having to be supplied by Japan. Those who were interested in the nation's welfare feared greatly for the future of the island, and were sadly disheartened at the terrible burden Japan had assumed, though some of them agreed that it was quite unavoidable, seeing that it was our first colonizing attempt. They were hopeful that the burden would grow less as years passed on, but in the Estimates for 1897, though the taxes to be collected in Formosa had risen to Yen 5,320,000, the expenses of the Government were put down at Yen 11,280,000, and there still remained a deficit of Yen 5,960,000 to be obtained from the Home Government. If such a question were brought up to-day, it would certainly give rise to prolonged discussion, but as the people were elated with their successes over China, the Estimates passed the Diet without much difficulty.

Since that date the island's income has steadily grown, and the subsidies from Japan have decreased. It was expected that until 1909 Formosa would continue to be a drain upon the Imperial Treasury. She has, however, belied these expectations; in 1904 she retained only Yen 700,000 out of the Yen 1,496,115 voted by the Diet, returning the remainder to Japan, and since that time has become entirely self-supporting, though her expenditure has risen to over Yen 20,000,000. This wonderful progress shows how extremely successful has been the financial policy of the colonial administration.

ESTIMATED INCOME OF FORMOSA FROM 1896-1904 (IN YEN).

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It will be seen from the above table that the income for 1902 was estimated to produce more than four times as much as that for 1896, but this is partially accounted for by the fact that in 1896 and 1897 the local taxes were very small owing to the disturbed state of the island, and were not included in the Estimates. As the income increased year by year, the subsidy from Japan, which was over Yen 6,940,000 in 1896, dropped to Yen 2,450,000 in 1902, and to Yen 700,000 in 1904, none at all being required in 1905. Those who feared that Japan would be heavily burdened each year must have greatly rejoiced at this happy result, for the total sum assigned to Formosa during these nine years was only about Yen 30,500,000.

After over twenty years' occupation, the subsidy which France granted to Indo-China amounted for eight years (18871895) to francs 750,000,000 (Yen 300,000,000), together with Public Loan Bonds worth francs 80,000,000. When French Indo-China recently became able to support herself without extraneous help, France rejoiced greatly and hailed the event as the dawn of a new era in colonization effort. The Times too expressed its admiration, and said the result showed what great talent the French had for colonizing. But Formosa was only nine and a half years in our possession before she became self-supporting, and she only required assistance to the extent of Yen 30,000,000 altogether. What would the French have said if Indo-China had done likewise?

The population of French Indo-China is 18,230,000. The income of the Governor-General's Office is 65,000,000 francs, and that of the local offices 32,000,000 francs approximately, equal altogether to Yen 38,800,000, making Yen 202 per capita. In Formosa each person pays on an average 70 sen as local tax, and Yen 3.85 as Central Government tax, making Yen 455 per capita. In Formosa, too, over Yen 2,000,000 are raised annually from the camphor, salt and opium monopolies, but no part of this can be called a direct tax, and for that reason is not included in the above figures. The revenue derived from these sources is so large because by virtue of the monopoly Japan is practically able to control the prices for camphor.

If we compare the above figures with the amounts paid in

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