<論説>日本統治権台湾における篤農家と電動ポンプ灌漑 : 台中州北斗郡を事例として

Abstract

本稿の目的は、一九三〇年代前半の台中州北斗郡における製糖会社の甘蔗作経営と台湾人篤農家による電動ポンプ導入の過程を検討することにより、農業生産の場において技術を軸として深刻化した統治の問題と、その統治の中で生き延びる可能性を考察することである。製糖会社による甘蔗生産の合理化が蔗作農家を窮迫せしめる中で、台湾電力が利用を勧誘していた電動ポンプは高額な経済的負担という難点を含みながらも甘蔗作から稲作への転換を可能にし、惨状から脱却する可能性を農家へと示した。それまで甘蔗作に尽力していた台湾人篤農家はいかなる葛藤をへてポンプ導入を決断するに至ったのか。以上を、台湾電力資料(東京大学経済学部資料室所蔵) を主に利用して明らかにする。従来の植民地研究において近代性論はその対象を社会史・文化史に集中させてきたが、本論文はそれを経済史へと拡張しつつ、近代性論の深化を試みる。

The aim of this article is to consider the problem of governance that had grown increasingly dire and the possibility of surviving under this rule that revolved around technology in areas of agricultural production by examining the economics of sugarcane production by sugar companies in Hokuto county in Taichu prefecture during the first half of the 1930s and the process of the introduction of electrical pumps by progressive Taiwanese farmers. In regard to agricultural technology under colonial rule, there has already been considerable research done in economic history, where most studies have been argued from the viewpoint of those who initiated it and how it was spread, but, in contrast, there has been little research into what sort of impact its introduction (or lack thereof) had on Taiwanese farmers. On the other hand, while it is worth noting that studies based on theories of modernity focused on complex influences brought about by the phenomenon of development or so-called modernization, they have primarily addressed themes from cultural history and social history, and those themes which are often dealt with in economic history, such as agricultural production, have been extremely rare. In regard to this situation in the field, this paper is an attempt to examine modernity from the field of economic history by focusing on agricultural technology. Perspectives based on theories of modernity that have focused on rule and authority inherent in modernization should be recognized as of importance. However, since there has been an obsession with the themes of social and cultural history and economic problems such as production and poverty have been ignored in advancing these arguments, it has been difficult to grasp the complex phenomenon of modernity in its entirety. I aim to extend of theories of modernity to economic history and thereby to deepen theories of modernity themselves. As my analysis progresses from this viewpoint, this article addresses in particular the process of the adoption of the agricultural technology of the electrical pump by the progressive farmers of Taiwan. Behind this process was the financial plight of farmers caused by the industrialization of sugarcane production promoted by the sugar companies. And although there was a possibility that the introduction of the pumps might have led to an escape from such circumstances, they could be ensnared in the problem of an expensive economic burden. I analyze the process that led to the adoption of the pump by the progressive farmers of Taiwan who were caught in this dilemma. In this study, I have chiefly relied on documents of the Taiwan Power Company from the Resources and Historical Collections Office, the Library of Economics, University of Tokyo, In the first section, I provide an overview of the topography and social relations of Hokuto county in Taichu prefecture which served as the stage for the introduction of the pumps. Next, I examine the financial policy and especially the lowering of prices paid to obtain sugarcane and the problem of managing production in regard to Meiji Sugar Co. Inc. and Ensuiko Sugar Co. Inc. who monopolized the purchase of sugarcane from the farmers in the regions in the county. Furthermore, I point out that this exacerbated the frost damage in early 1932, and I thus elucidate the background for the introduction of the pumps. In the second section, I examine agricultural machinery in the form of the electrical pump, which was adopted under the circumstances described in the previous section. I first provide an overview of electrical pumps that spread throughout the island of Taiwan and the process of their diffusion. Next, I argue the programs of the Taiwan Power Company to promote use of the pumps. Moreover, I touch on the diesel pumps, which appear to have been introduced earlier on the island, analyze the capacity of the electrical pumps and their cost of operation, and make clear how much an economic burden was forced upon Taiwanese land owners by their introduction. In the third section, I analyze the process that led progressive Taiwanese farmers to choose to adopt the pumps. First, after confirming the position held by farmers in choosing to adopt the electrical pump in Hokuto county in Taichu in 1932, I provide an overview of the process of the diffusion from Hokuto county through Tainan prefecture. Furthermore, although the electric pumps did not necessarily bring economic benefit to landowners who adopted them, I make clear that it was not only for their own profit but the active adoption by certain progressive farmers also involved regional aspirations. Finally, I examine the process by which the use of the pump become strictly regulated by the colonial government.