So they tried to frame the other person for making alcohol. The framing was very easy at that time. They just had to throw a bunch of alcohol residue in the garden, or even in the opponent's field, and that person could be imprisoned. This greatly affected the peaceful life and neighborly love of Vietnamese farmers that had existed for generations. And the powerful landlords also often used this trick to rob the farmers' land in the village.
History has shown that, during the French colonial period, countless people were fined and imprisoned for brewing “ smuggling alcohol ” or carrying “ smuggling alcohol ” with them. In 1941, the Governor of Tonkin Tholance had to confess that more than half of the prisoners in the Northern Delta were people who were guilty of smuggling alcohol. And even more absurdly, in order to protect the interests of the monopoly capitalists, the colonial government had to spend a lot of money every year to maintain the cumbersome customs apparatus and prisons that sprung up everywhere.
In order to gain more profit, the French colonialists not only did not allow the distillation of alcohol, but they also forced our people to drink a certain amount of alcohol that they stipulated every year. The people of a village in the North, forced to drink alcohol, complained to their French mandarin : " We don't even have anything to eat." The mandarin replied : "You are used to having three meals a day, now you can reduce one meal, or if necessary, reduce one and a half meals to be able to buy alcohol from the State " [30; p.44]... what a despicable argument. Nguyen Ai Quoc said: " At that time, for every 1,000 villages, there were 1,500 alcohol and opium retailers..., every year people also fed 23 to 24 million liters of alcohol to 12 million natives, including women and children " [30; p.45] ( See Appendix table: Amount of alcohol sold from 1935-1939 ).
Not stopping there, the French also issued a circular requiring employees to add water to the wine they sold; for every hectoliter of wine, 8 liters of water were added. Thus, in the whole of Indochina, out of 500 hectoliters (50,000 liters) of wine sold each day, 4,000 liters of water were added; 4,000 liters, each liter cost 30 cents, making 1,200 dong a day.
36,000 VND per month. Thus, just by turning on the tap, the company can earn a small profit of 432,000 USD or 4 million francs each year [30; p.45].
Thus, the monopoly policy on alcohol created conditions for French distilleries to have a monopoly, especially the Indochina Distillery Company (Fontain). This brought huge profits to the Indochina Bank and some rulers because they were the main shareholders. They used every trick to gain the highest profits despite the Vietnamese people having to live a life of poverty. Not only that, the monopoly policy on alcohol created conditions for French wine companies to develop in Vietnam, not only destroying the traditional cultural lifestyle of the Vietnamese people but also causing a part of Vietnamese youth to fall into alcoholism, losing their fighting spirit and no longer thinking about driving them out of Vietnam, and this is clearly depicted through the image of " Chi Pheo " by Nam Cao. However, this is only a small part of society, while the vast majority of Vietnamese people clearly see the evil face of French colonialism.
4.2.1.3. Policies that contribute to poisoning the Vietnamese people
To serve the colonial exploitation policy, the French colonialists did not ignore any field to exploit the wealth of the colonies to enrich the mother country. With the strong support of the colonial government, the Indochina Bank implemented monetary, credit and investment policies in all fields of industry, agriculture, trade and transportation, earning huge profits. Although not directly, through the Indochina Bank, the colonial government carried out its sinister plot to poison gambling, drugs and alcohol to make people lose their fighting power and they could easily make money from those addictive products.
Therefore, we can say that the establishment and operation of the Bank of Indochina had a significant impact on the society and lives of Vietnamese people under French colonialism.
Regarding the monopoly on opium trading , a toxic drug that affects the health and future of an entire nation, they have brought white death to the Vietnamese people. But because of the huge profits from taxes and super
The profits generated from the monopoly created a " magic " that attracted the Bank of Indochina to enthusiastically finance opium traders.
The amount of opium that Saigon imported increased every year. In 1875, it imported 549 barrels, equivalent to 33.5 tons, and by 1879, it had increased to 861 barrels (52 tons), an increase of 63.8% [25; p.81].
Due to the super profits, two years later (1881), the French colonialists issued a Decree on the monopoly of opium trading. This monopoly agency in French was called the Régie de l'Opium, which roughly translates to " Opium Industry and Trade Bureau " (abbreviated as the Opium Department) and at the same time started construction of an opium factory.
The opium factory, located on an area of one hectare at the beginning of Hai Ba Trung Street today, was the " pride " of the colonial government and one of the " wonders " of Saigon. The opium produced here was not only sold in Vietnam but also throughout Indochina. In Vietnam, opium dealers were spread from urban to rural areas, and dealers were willing to retail opium in the smallest weights and raise prices arbitrarily. Therefore, the amount of money earned from poisoning the natives was also very large. If only in Cochinchina, the revenue from opium brought the Cochinchina budget a very large annual income, as shown in the following table:
Table 4.7. Cochinchina budget revenue from opium in the period 1882-1885
Unit: $
Year
Total income | |
1882 1883 1884 1885 | 1,355,657$89 1,627,736$08 1,802,319$45 1,868,222$18 |
Maybe you are interested!
-
Implementing credit policy for students at Vietnam Bank for Social Policies - 2 -
Implementing credit policy for students at Vietnam Bank for Social Policies - 13 -
Results of Lending Activities for Employment at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Hanoi Branch in the Period 2018-2021 -
Activities of the Bank of Indochina in Vietnam from 1875 to 1945 - 21 -
Activities of the Bank of Indochina in Vietnam from 1875 to 1945 - 20
Source: File No. IA6/217(3), Governor of Cochinchina's office, National Archives II, Ho Chi Minh City .
Thus, if we compare 1885 with 1882, the opium revenue brought to the Cochinchina budget increased by 37.8%. It can be said that this was a considerable profit. And the income from the opium business continuously increased over the years: 6.8 million VND in 1902, increased to 13 million VND.
in 1914 and accounted for 25% in 1902 and up to 36.9% in 1914 of the total main income of the Indochina budget [25; p.81].
According to author Nguyen Khac Vien, “ the colonial government monopolized the sale of opium and encouraged addicts to smoke it. During the years 1896-1899, the price of 1kg of opium increased from $45 to $77... If we count all three monopolies (opium, alcohol and salt), in 1899 the French colonialists earned $8,500,000 (out of a total budget of 20 million), and in 1911 it was $12,000,000 (out of a total budget of 42 million) ” showing how significant the revenue was (See Appendix Table 4: Amount of opium sold from 1936-1939) .
Not only that, they also encouraged the cultivation of opium in the northern highlands while the food in the North was very scarce. Another strange thing here is: While in France the French government forbade people from using opium, on the contrary, in Vietnam they openly sold this dangerous poison, which further contributed to poisoning the Vietnamese race. That fact made Mrs. Viollis Andrée indignantly say: “In France, having an opium smoking room or a few grains of opium would be searched by the police or arrested and imprisoned, because weakening the French race is a crime. But here opium is openly sold, bringing in 15 million dong annually for the French opium monopoly” [46; p.60].
The above mentioned opium monopoly policy has caused the number of drug addicts in our country to increase gradually over the years and become widespread everywhere. In 1932 alone, according to the investigation of the League of Nations delegation, there were up to 115,000 opium addicts in Indochina. That number is increasing because the amount of opium consumed is still increasing. This has a direct impact on social life. Previously peaceful villages are now increasingly robbed and robbed, along with the constant increase in the number of poor people in Vietnamese society at that time.
Thus, not only opium but also the French policy of forcing our people to drink alcohol caused the number of alcoholics to increase dramatically. This shows the vicious policy of French colonialism towards our people. Policy
“addiction” has poisoned and affected the Vietnamese race, pushing a part of Vietnamese youth into the path of drug addiction, drug use, prostitution… Making them lose the will and ability to identify the enemy to fight for independence.
Regarding the organization of casino business , the French colonialists used a deceitful trick disguised under the name of " xec ". If anyone objected to the official opening of casinos to collect taxes for the colonial treasury, the colonialists would reply that they were " continuing the long-standing tradition " of the Hue court. But the truth was not so, the French colonial boss Lanessan himself confirmed: " The Annam government always strictly forbade gambling houses and severely punished those who opened casinos " [109; p.132].
After occupying Cochinchina, the French immediately set up casinos to get Vietnamese money to support the expeditionary army. On the other hand, they lured the Vietnamese into failure, leaving the path of national salvation struggle, so that they could easily recruit soldiers or recruits. The people strongly opposed this policy, so the French Parliament had to close the " xec " house in 1875. Until 1883, a colonial faction campaigned to re-establish it, but failed. But in 1886, unable to resist the large profits, the colonial government secretly disguised the gambling " xec " under the label of " Chinese Chamber of Commerce " [9; p.169], but in fact they were " Me shops " or large casinos. Every province, every district, even every village was full of me shops. Each casino had 2 or 3 rooms for playing me, playing three-card poker, scratch cards, and many rooms with many games, each with an opium table. They tried their best to encourage our people to smoke opium from the source of drugs that they exclusively distributed. Regarding casino profits, the Cochinchina Government alone earned 2.5 million a year and the following year exceeded the previous year many times. Out of money, robberies, murders, and brothels sprang up like mushrooms. The colonial officials had more opportunities to get rich, the French colonialists' own report admitted: " The incitement to prostitution, heavy tax increases, and profound disruption of economic conditions have impoverished the people of Cochinchina, halted the development of agriculture, and increased the number of robberies and murders."
up, there were armed robberies and many riots, which was an inevitable result, or was it necessary to restore order to the casinos ” [9; p.169].
It can be said that, although not directly, the Bank of Indochina was behind the casinos with countless tricks from lending, mortgaging, confiscating assets, to auctioning off the assets of those who lost their gambling,... Clearly, the Bank of Indochina directly or indirectly caused countless painful and tragic scenes for the Vietnamese people. By means of luring and forcing people to gamble, smoke opium, drink alcohol, and borrow at high interest rates... they eventually had to accept the confiscation of their fields and gardens. Step by step, they pushed the farmers out onto the streets. Nguyen Ai Quoc clearly pointed out the crimes of the colonial regime in Indochina: " We were not only oppressed and exploited miserably... by opium, by alcohol... we had to live in ignorance and darkness because we did not have the right to freedom of education " [21; pp.22-23].
4.2.2. Positive impact
With the function of a Commercial Bank through credit lending activities, it has brought great profits to the bank and indirectly deprived the land of farmers. However, from another perspective, we see that credit has contributed to the process of transforming the small-scale agricultural economy in our country into an economy with capitalist elements. The expansion of credit activities and monetary circulation has promoted the increasingly popular commodity-money relations in Vietnam (where capital has long preserved the " self-sufficient " economy), contributing to creating the premise for the development of the commodity economy.
Favored by the Government, the leaders of the Bank of Indochina have clearly demonstrated their leadership capacity and thanks to that, the bank has managed and done very well the pawnshops. This has also contributed to increasing the bank's capital and the profits from this activity are not small. This is also an issue that Vietnamese bank managers need to learn to find a management solution. Currently, the state is letting this field float, leaving it to the private sector and black credit to manipulate.
In addition, in terms of operations, the Bank of Indochina has left many useful lessons for banking operations in the current period. Specifically: organization methods, customer objects, mortgage procedures, management and operation... as well as operational techniques can all be studied and learned by us, especially those working in the banking industry.
With the privilege granted by the French Government, the Bank of Indochina not only issued money and operated in the banking sector, but the bank also used the mobilized capital to directly or indirectly invest in non-industry businesses. Therefore, the Bank of Indochina was also a tool for France to use during the process of French domination of Vietnam. The highlight here is that through the French rule, Vietnamese society had many changes. Capitalist production relations were introduced to Vietnam and led to the emergence of three new classes in society: workers, bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. The emergence of three new classes contributed to completing a modern class structure, determining the future development of Vietnamese society.
Another important thing is that with the French domination policy through the Indochina Bank, the urban system appeared and developed as well as the shift from a purely agricultural economy to a small-scale handicraft and industrial economy in Vietnam. This was the leading factor in absorbing Western civilization.
Chapter 4 Summary
Regarding the above mentioned activities of issuing and circulating currency of the Bank of Indochina, it has clearly shown us that the French colonialists, in addition to economic exploitation, also applied many extremely cruel forms of non-economic exploitation.
In the monetary market, they tied the Indochinese silver to the French franc to make a profit, causing great damage and affecting the lives of the majority of the Vietnamese people. This was reflected by the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Truong Chinh in his work August Revolution as follows: " Holding the monopoly on issuing banknotes, establishing a massive banking system for lending at interest, French financial capital was like an old octopus sticking its tentacles into the country.
Indochina sucked the blood of the Vietnamese people, and Vietnam was actually a colony of the Bank of Indochina ” [3; p.44].
Regarding credit activities, thanks to the flexibility in lending and foreign trade payments of the Indochina Bank, international trade activities have progressed more rapidly than ever. Domestic and international trade has grown more and more. Vietnamese goods have appeared on the world market, through the hands of French traders.
Regarding investment activities outside the industry , the bank has maximized its unique privileges, extending its tentacles not only to control the activities of French companies but also to oppress the Vietnamese bourgeoisie. With its role as the bank with the monopoly on issuing currency and holding the Indochina treasury, the Indochina Bank has abused this authority to invest in creating other monopoly products (gambling, alcohol, opium).
In addition, the Indochina Bank also participated in the government to “ protect ” its huge profits. On the contrary, the colonial government also contributed capital and had shares in the bank to enjoy the benefits together and especially to carry out the plot to control and dominate all business activities of the colonies. They considered Indochina an endless treasure trove for them to freely plunder and consolidate their dominant position.