英文摘要
|
In Taiwan's traditional society, irrigation canal systems were built with private funds and water rights were monopolized by a few private owners. After Taiwan came under Japanese Rule, the colonial authorities began to push for the nationalization of irrigation canals. In 1906 the authorities promoted associations of public irrigation canals so as to weaken the private owners. However, the associations were still controlled by those private owners and local elites, and the canal systems did not really break away from their nature of private property. During 1910-1912, Taiwan Governor's Office paid for the repairs of the of Tshi-a-pi(莿仔埤) Irrigation Canal,Sii-e-teu(獅子頭)Irrigation Canal and Auli(后里)Irrigation Canal. Furthermore, the Governor's Office expropriated the property rights of those three irrigation canals from their owners and established an "Association of State-owned Irrigation Canal Systems." They thus came to be directly managed by bureaucrats at the office and became the earliest "state-owned irrigation canal systems" in Taiwan. In 1917, the Taiwan Governor's Office appropriated the property rights of all public irrigation canal systems. As a consequence, "state-owned irrigation canal systems" lost their special status and the title was abolished in 1922. In 1924, the Governor's Office fully implemented the irrigation associations and directly controlled the irrigation canal systems on the island. By 1934, the irrigation associations had become organizations no different from other local branches of the Governor's Office. Hence, a major vehicle of Taiwan's rural self-government was put to an end. Although the "state-owned irrigation canal systems" did not exist for a long time, they were prototypes of the irrigation associations in later years. This article examines how, from the 1899 to 1934, the Governor's Office gradually reduced the power of private irrigation canal owners and local elites in Taiwan by abolishing private ownership of the canal systems. It also discusses the crucial role the "Association of State-Owned Irrigation Canal Systems" of 1910-1922 played in the process of nationalization of irrigation canals in Taiwan.
|