<Articles>Progressive Farmers and Electrical-Pump Irrigation in Japanese-Ruled Taiwan : The Case of Hokuto County in Taichu Prefecture

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 up