than one hoko. When a number of ho wish to cooperate on matters that cut across their boundaries, they may, with the permission of the provincial governor, organize a league of ho to confer on the subjects. The ho in a gun do not appear to be organized into a single unit, nor are the ho in a province. Since all the actions of the hoko are subject to approval by the Japanese authorities, it appears that the Japanese have kept the hoko broken into separate units in order to facilitate their control. This control includes fining all the members of a ko for a crime committed by one. In the past the heads of the ho and ko were respected elders in the society; but at present, with knowledge of the Japanese language as a requisite for the positions, there has been a shift of leadership from the old to the young. At least once a year the head of the gun and the proper police authorities must muster the heads of the ho within their jurisdiction for a hoko conference. The extent to which the conference is used by the ho leaders to voice complaints is not known. The reasons for complaints vary to some degree in accordance with the character of the local Japanese officialdom, since the relationship between the Japanese on the lower governmental levels and the Formosan-Chinese is not uniformly good or bad throughout the island. The soteidan is an organization of men over seventeen and under forty, selected from the ho to receive various types of training from the police, in order to guard against bandits, flood, typhoons, and fires. A single soteidan may be comprised of men from one ho or of men from several ho who organize the group as a cooperative venture under police encouragement and supervision. The soteidan is not to be confused with the seinendan, an organization which originated in Japan and is used for the promotion of the Japanese nationalistic spirit. Membership is open to both Japanese and Formosan-Chinese, the total membership in Taiwan in 1938 being 114,465. The hoko expenditures amount to approximately 60 sen per month per household, and are collected as an obligatory fee. The leaders of the ho and ko are elected by the members, subject to the approval of the Japanese authorities. They receive no pay, although in special cases they may do so if prior approval is received from the provincial governor. b. Number of hoko and soteidan. At the end of 1938 there were 53,876 ko in Taiwan (14,631 Tainan Province) and 5,649 ho (1,528 in Tainan Province). There were 42,601 men organized into 1,035 soteidan, of which number 12,593 men and 260 soteidan were in Tainan Province. One leader was listed for each ho, and one leader and five assistant leaders for each soteidan. e. Duties of the hoko and soteidan. Regulations governing the hoko and soteidan were laid down in an ordinance of 1898, which was revised in 1909, 1919, and 1920. Probably there have been revisions after 1923, the date of the source material now available, but it is doubtful if such modifications would make any fundamental change in the system. The gist of the essential articles of the ordinances is as follows: (1) Government-General Order No. 87: ARTICLE 1. The ko is to be organized from about ten households; the ho from about ten ko. ART. 2. The ko leader is elected by the ko with the approval of the gun head, the cho head, the metropolitan police head, or the subpolice head. The ho leader is elected by the ho with the approval of the provincial governor through the gun head, cho head or metropolitan police head. ART. 4. When a soteidan is to be established, the ho and ko leaders must secure the permission from the head of a gun, the head of a metropolitan police station, or from the provincial governor. ART. 5. The soteidan should be organized from the young men of the ko, and the soteidan of the ho should be organized from the union of each soteidan of the ko. However, according to the situation, several ho can unite and organize a soteidan. One soteidan leader and a number of assistant leaders are elected by the members subject to the approval of the gun head, the head of a police station or the head of a sub-police station. ART. 6. The soteidan is supervised by the competent head of the gun, police station, or sub-police station, or higher class leader. ART. 8. When a soteidan is harmful to the public welfare, the provincial governor may order its disbandment. ART. 9. The expenditure required by the hoko and the soteidan must be paid by the people living in the gai or sho. ART. 10. An estimate of income and expenditure must be approved during the middle of December by the gun or police heads and the settlement of accounts must be reported to the same officials before the end of January. ART. 12. Rules necessary to carry out these regulations are decided upon by the provincial governor and should be made in consideration of established customs of the people. (2) Government-General Order No. 97: ARTICLE 1. The Hoko Regulations are to be enforced everywhere in the provinces. ART. 2. Permission to organize the hoko must be secured by sending a petition to the provincial office. The petition should be signed by the heads of the households in the proposed hoko, should be accompanied by a set of regulations, give the name of the hoko, the boundary, the number of households, and a map of the hoko district. ART. 3. The hoko should be organized in keeping with the established customs of the area, and in conformity with the relationships existing between the various races, tribes and groups. The hoko must be within the boundaries of a gai or sho, although several gai-sho can be united to make a ho, or one gai-sho can be divided into several ho. One gai-sho cannot belong to two or more ho. The ko is organized so as to consist of houses adjacent to each other and which are counted from a certain direction in the ho. ART. 5. Persons cannot become ho or ko leaders who are under twenty years of age or who are not heads of households in the hoko district or who have been punished for “a crime more serious than imprisonment.” ART. 6. The date and place of election of ho and ko leaders must be reported beforehand to the gun or police office. ART. 7. Another election must be held if any officer is deemed unfit. ART. 8. Ho and ko leaders are elected for two years and may be re-elected. ART. 9. The hoko regulations should include regulations covering: a. The name and boundary. b. Household investigation. c. The control of persons coming in and out of the district. d. Protection against natural calamities and the search for bandits and robbers. e. Prevention of contagious diseases. f. The correction of the vice of opium smoking. g. Repairing of minor damages to roads and bridges and regulations about the cleaning of roads and bridges. h. Protection against harmful insects. i. Protection against animal diseases. j. The hoko conference. k. The punishment of members who commit misdemeanors. 1. Prizes and subsidies with the hoko. m. Income and disbursements, assessments and the collection of funds. n. The maintenance of peace. ART. 10. The duties of the ho leader are: a. To supervise the ko leaders. b. To watch the inhabitants in the ho and to prevent them from violating the law. c. To aid the police officials in the capture of criminals. d. To deal with violators of the hoko regulations. e. To participate in the granting of prizes and subsidies. f. To be concerned with the collection and disposal of fines. g. To be concerned with income and disbursement; assessment and collection of funds. ART. 11. The duties of the ko leader are: a. To aid the ho leader in his work. b. To investigate the households within the ko and to control the persons coming and going from the ko. c. To aid the police and the ho leader in the capture of criminals. d. To watch the inhabitants in the ko and to prevent them from violating the law. e. To make the head of each household in the hoko adhere to the hoko regulations, and to have the head of the newly arrived household or the newly appointed head of a household vow to follow the regulations. ART. 13. When the ho and ko leaders see any change in a household or receive a report of such change from an inhabitant they must report it immediately, the ko leader to the ho leader, and the ho leader to a police official. ART. 14. The head of each household must report immediately to the ko leader when: a. He discovers a criminal or finds a person whose action is suspicious. b. When a person from another place is being lodged overnight; when a person in a household makes more than an overnight trip; when a guest departs, or when a member of the household returns. c. Whenever a birth, death or other event occurs which makes a change in the household. ART. 15. Related ho should organize a league of hoko to determine by conference, matters related to the ho. ART. 16. To organize a league of hoko, permission must be received from the gun office, sub-province, or metropolitan police station. A hoko league should make a report to the gun, sub-province, or metropolitan office at the opening and closing of its conferences. ART. 17. A police official should be in attendance at the events mentioned in Articles 6 and 16. ART. 19. The soteidan as a rule is organized in each ho; if it is being organized by two or more ho a separate regulation for assessment of funds, collection and expenditure should be drawn up, and proper approval obtained. ART. 21. In the event of natural calamity or the presence of robbers, the soteidan must follow the direction of their leaders or of police officials. ART. 24. When a member of the soteidan is on duty, he should wear a specially designed uniform. ART. 25. A police official may muster the soteidan and conduct an inspection periodically or on special occasions. ART. 26. Hoko and soteidan members are to work without pay. If pay is deemed necessary, approval should be obtained from the provincial governor. ART. 27. When a person living within a ko is sentenced for a felony, each household head in the ko is required to pay a fine. If the criminal is brought to the proper authority by the head of the ko before the crime is discovered by the police, the household heads will be exempt from the fine. ART. 28. Persons will be fined who: a. Refuse to take the vow to abide by the hoko regulations or who refuse to adhere to the regulations. b. Refuse to pay an assessment or a fine, or who delay payment without giving an acceptable ART. 29. Soteidan members who, without proper reason, refuse to be on duty in case of mishap are to be punished with a fine. e. The chokai system. The hoko system appears to operate everywhere in Taiwan with the exception of the aborigine territory and the cities. A very similar organization, the chokai, exists in the cities to provide a network of control extending from the mayor's office to each home. A city is divided into a number of sections whose heads are appointed by the mayor, and who receive no compensation. Each section is divided into chokai consisting of the inhabitants of a number of streets or blocks, each chokai having an elected head. The expenses of the chokai system are met through "voluntary" contributions, with the exception that some municipal funds are appropriated for office expenses. The contributions range from ¥2.40 to ¥60 per family, according to financial ability. The chokai, like the hoko, provides a quick and convenient method for the dissemination of instructions, information, and public notices. Individuals are assigned a limited number of houses and take notices from door to door, obtaining from the family an acknowledgment that the notice was received. The same method is used to draft attendance at meetings and celebrations, to secure labor contributions, and for a variety of other purposes. 5. Provincial, city and gun agencies and officials. The following list, with the exception of the explanations, was taken from an official publication which purports to give the complete list of government agencies in Tainan Province in 1938. It is doubtful if every agency was included, for since that time many changes have occurred. The total personnel employed in the Tainan provincial government (excluding schools) as given in 1939 was 468. a. Governor (Chiji). The governor is appointed by the Emperor of Japan and thus is an official of chokunin (firstclass) rank. He is nominated by the Governor-General, to whom he is responsible for the execution of laws and regulations. He is empowered to nullify the orders of gun and shi heads and of the heads of the police stations when such orders are contrary to regulations or inimical to the public welfare. He may impose prison terms of up to two months and/or fines up to ¥70 without recourse to the courts. He appoints half the members of the shi, gai, and sho assemblies and has full power of veto over the acts of the assemblies. The Governor presides over a Provincial Assembly, half of whose members are appointed by the Governor-General of Taiwan and half elected by the city, gai and sho assemblies. In 1936 the Assembly had 14 Japanese and 11 Formosan-Chinese members. b. Office of Governor (Chiji Kambo). c. Two Commissioners (Chiho Riji-kan). Total personnel Head of arbitration section... Head of taxation section_. Regional technicians. Attached personnel_ Regional school inspecting official_ Head of public works section__ Undesignated---- Industrial production director_-- Quarantine veterinarian. River superintendent__ Industrial production secretaries_ e. Department of Police Affairs (Keimu-bu). Total personnel_ Head of department (also executive official). Head of higher police affairs section_. Head of police affairs section, and head of Construction technical aides. f. Kagi Taxation Branch Office (Kagi Zeimu) Kagi-shi, Hokumon-cho. Regional technician (also Head of Sanitation Section) 1 73 2 52 o. Tainan City Hall (Tainan Shiyaku-sho) Tainan-shi, Omiya-cho. The mayor, an official of sonin (secondclass) rank, is appointed by the Governor-General but is responsible directly to the governor of the province. He has power to veto acts of the city assembly. He is assisted by a council of eight, of which he is the chairman, the deputy mayor, and six members elected from the city assembly. Tainan and Kagi both have city assemblies, half of whose members are appointed by the governor of the province, half elected by the qualified voters. In 1940 there were 18 Japanese and 8 Formosan-Chinese in the Tainan Assembly; 18 Japanese and 12 Formosan-Chinese in the Kagi Assembly. |