Redistribution of farmland was undertaken by the Republic of China 14 years ago in implementing the social philosophy of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founding father of democratic China.
Dr. Sun advocated eventual ownership of land by the tiller. However, he stressed reduction and control of rural rents as the first stage in a gradual process to eliminate all farm tenancy.
Early in 1949, soon after taking office as governor of Taiwan, Vice President Chen Cheng was confronted with difficult land-tenure questions stemming from widespread farm tenancy and neglect of farm administration after the Japanese defeat in 1945.
More than half the farms were tilled by tenants who paid 50 per cent or more of the main crop as rent. Landlords also expected a lump-sum deposit of one or two years' rent and the annual rent in advance. Levies were made on supplementary crops. Other services such as raising chickens and ducks for landlords were expected.
Written leases were rare and contained a clause permitting the landlord to cancel the agreement at his option. The tenant's very survival was dependent on the goodwill of his landlord. The economic disadvantages of such a system in penalizing initiative and effort are readily apparent.
As an immediate corrective measure, the governor supported a 37.5 per cent ceiling on rural rents. The Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction was invited to give advice and assistance. During 1949, more than 370,000 written lease agreements were signed and registered. Special committees were appointed in each administrative district to fix rent levels and arbitrate landlord-tenant disputes.
An immediate result of rent reduction was a rise in standards of rural living. Less immediate but equally significant was an increase in the number of farmers owning their own land in whole or in part.
Rent reduction was only the first of three steps. Next came sales of public lands to tillers.
While Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese from 1895 to 1945, the colonial administration concentrated on developing Taiwan as a source of raw materials for Japanese industry and of foods not easily grown in Japan's latitudes. The government and large corporations therefore owned and operated big plantations growing sugar cane, pineapples and other crops for export. When Taiwan was returned to China in 1945, at least one-fifth of the arable land was turned over to the Chinese government by the Japanese authorities. It was this land that the government then sold to incumbent tillers.
First sales were made in 1951 at the low price of 2½ times the yearly value of the principal crop or ten times the annual rent. In five sales, 96,004 hectares were distributed to 165,443 families.
As tenants acquired their own land, production increased. Savings went into improvement of the land. In the Tsaoluo district of Taoyuan, for example, farmers bought 200 hectares of dry land in 1951. The next year they built dikes and ditches to turn it into paddy field.
By selling public lands, the government collected 330,254 metric tons of rice and 882,162 metric tons of sweet potatoes. Proceeds provided funds for subsequent phases of land reform.
Farmer landlords receive government enterprise stocks. Here they attend stockholders' meeting (File photo)
The sales of public land was also valuable as a precedent for the most important stage of reform yet to come. Both landlords and tenants were convinced the government meant business. Landlords were to vie with one another to sell their land, and tenants had less bar of challenging landlords. The price of land dropped sharply.
The Land-to-the-Tiller Act was passed in 1953. It was preceded by an exhaustive survey of land ownership and utilization throughout the island. Every plot of ground used for farming purpose was included. Land was graded by types and productivity. All leased farmland held by a single owner beyond stipulated limits were to be sold to the government and resold to the tenant on the same terms as those for the sale of public lands. All together 139,240 hectares were sold to 194,823 families—an average of 0.7147 hectares each.
Fairness to Landlords
Landlords were treated fairly. Each could keep three hectares of medium-grade paddy or six hectares of dry land. They could lease such land. But no farmer could own more land than he could till with immediate members of his family.
Landlords received 70 per cent of the land price in commodity bonds issued by the government and the balance in the stock of government enterprises. The bonds were redeemable in kind in 20 semi-annual installments plus 4 per cent annual interest. The buyer paid out the cost in the same amount as rent—37½ per cent of the main crop.
Price of the land included all fixed facilities: house, drying ground, fruit trees, and so on.
Former tenants have risen from rags to riches. New brick or concrete houses have taken the place of thatched mud huts. Farmers own bicycles, sewing machines, radios, and even power tillers, which farmers call "iron cows."
Farmers are sending their children to school. Ninety-six per cent of those of school-age are attending classes, compared with 77 per cent before land reform.
As owners of their land, farmers are prospering. They eat and dress well. Most have radio. (File photo)
A feeling of farm security has been born. Farmer Li Jen-ying of Hsinchuang township expressed his feelings this way: "When people were enjoying their mid-autumn festival dinners, I used to fear that the landlord might return the payment for leased land and that my whole family might lose the means to make a living."
Now Farmer Li is free of fear. He has been able to build a concrete house which "is safer from floods and earthquakes."
Owning their own land, farmers exert themselves to the utmost. They grow two rice crops a year, plus wheat, tobacco, or vegetables in winter and pickling melons in summer. They have achieved one of the highest levels of productivity in the world. Annual paddy rice production of Taiwan was 1,517,860 metric tons in 1952. The figure for 1962 was 2,110,000 metric tons.
Increases for other crops included 400 per cent for soybeans and pineapples, 450 per cent for wheat, 200 per cent for citrus fruit, and 70 per cent for tea. The hog population has increased four times. Protein consumption per capita is second to that of Japan in the Asian region. The average catch of fishermen is up by five times.
Active in Community
Farmers are more active in community affairs and politics. During the last decade, 35,413 farmers have been voted into various offices, including directorships of the farmers' associations. The former peasant has become socially respectable. He has acquired the position of honor and prestige that he was supposed to occupy in history but rarely held in fact.
Former landlords also have fared well. Most have become merchants and industrialists. Former landlord Hung Yuan of Tainan recently noted that he had sold 30 hectares of farmland to the government. With the payment he set up a shop. He said he received more profit from textiles than from the land.
The national economy is the main beneficiary. Compared with the average for 1950-52, farm production had increased by 136 per cent in 1956 and by 179 per cent in 1961. The net value of farm produce in 1961 was double that of 1951. Despite a sharp increase in population, per capita income increased by a third. Deposits with farmers' associations increased tenfold in less than a decade.
Savings Campaign
These gains have lubricated the national economy and a spectacular buying spree is just ahead. For the past decade, farmers have sent to the government 130,060 metric tons of rice and 48,000 metric tons of sweet potatoes each year as payment of land price. Now that they have completed their payment, their purchasing power is considerably increased. From this year onward, they will have more than US$10 million extra to spend annually.
The government hopes to see the increment spent on farm improvement and industrial investment. A savings campaign has an annual goal of US$10 million.
Farmers are engaging in dragon dance to mark final payments on farms obtained under land reform (File photo)
Completion of land reform doesn't solve all rural problems—that of agricultural production and population, for example. Between 1949 and 1960, the number of farm families in Taiwan rose 24 per cent, from 620,875 to 769,925. In the same period, land under cultivation showed a net gain of only 18,601 hectares or 2 per cent to a total of 883,465 hectares.
Size of the average farm holding has declined from 1.3 hectares in 1949 to about 1.15 hectares. This trend is continuing, and the island's welfare obviously depends on a reduction in the rate of population growth or the discovery of new sources of food supply. Small holdings also reduce farming efficiency and mechanization.
Yet the success of land reform gives promise that further problems can be overcome. The incentive provided when tillers own their land already has enabled food production to keep pace with the population explosion. Government-farmer cooperation in tidelands development, land consolidation, and more scientific farming seems to be shaping up another agricultural miracle.