The Government's policy toward the mountain tribes is based on the following principles:
(1) As a part of the Chinese population the mountain people should enjoy the rights of suffrage, recall, initiative and referendum just as the people on the plains do.
(2) Their living conditions should be improved. In December, 1953, the Taiwan Provincial Government promulgated a set of regulations governing the development and reconstruction of the mountain administrative areas. During the past two and a half years, the Provincial Government has carried out the following reforms:
I. Implementation of Self-Government
During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, the Japanese authorities preserved the tribal institutions. There were 367 tribes, and for each tribe there was a chief. These 367 chiefs were under the control of the Japanese police. After this island was restored to China, the Provincial Government divided the tribe-inhabited mountain regions into 30 hsiang comprising a total of 197 villages. In each hsiang, there is a chief with several assistants in charge of its administration, and its legislative powers are vested in the hsiang delegates' assembly. In each village there is also a chief to handle administrative matters under the direction of the hsiang chief. All the hsiang and village chiefs as well as the members of the hsiang assemblies are elected by direct suffrage. Every mountain hsiang is entitled to send a delegate to sit as its representative in the assembly of the hsien under whose jurisdiction it is located. In 1948, one of the members of the Taiwan Provincial People's Political Council was an aborigine. In 1951, after the establishment of the Provisional Provincial Assembly which replaced the Political Council, the number of representatives from the mountain people was increased to three, of whom two are elected by those in the mountain regions and one by those living on the plains.
II. Appointment through Special Examinations
According to the law governing the appointment of civil servants, promulgated in January, 1954, anyone wanting to enter government service must either pass certain examinations or fulfill certain requirements prescribed by the Ministry of Personnel. Because of their lower standard of education and lack of experience, the mountain youths are not placed on the same footing with the people on the plains in regard to examinations and qualifications. Special examinations are conducted for them. The Provincial Government gave such an examination on August 24, 1956 to which only mountain people were eligible.
III. Primary Education
Primary education is compulsory in Free China. There is no exception in the case of the tribal children. There are one or two model primary schools in every hsiang, and primary schools, branch schools and special classes in all villages. All textbooks are supplied free of charge. For the mountain students, the Department of Education of the Provincial Government has provided special textbooks somewhat different from, and simpler than, those used in ordinary Chinese primary schools, to suit their different environment. Adults, men and women, who did not have any opportunity to receive education in the past are given short courses in special classes. Through' 10 years of constant efforts, the Government has made considerable progress in this field. In 1945, there were 148 schools with an enrollment of 14,652 students. By the end of 1955, the number of schools has been gradually but steadily increased to 225 with an enrollment of 19,234 students. For adults, there were 61 special classes with an enrollment of 2,880 in 1949. By the end of 1955, there were 243 short course classes with an enrollment of 9,643.
IV. Secondary and Vocational Education
According to investigations, only 17 mountain students received high school education during the 50 years of Japa11ese occupation. After the retrocession of this island, the Provincial Government took measures to encourage the mountain students to further their education either in middle schools or vocational schools by providing them with facilities such as exemption from tuition, free board and lodging, and free supply of textbooks and stationery. From 1946 to 1955, a total of 1,962 primary school graduates have been sent to middle or vocational schools. Short courses on vocational education have been conducted in different mountain regions in Yinan, Taitung, Pintung and Nantou. By the end of 1955, a total of 2,298 students completed vocational training.
V. Social Education
Besides short course classes, the provincial educational authorities have adopted other measures to educate the masses. Members from the Education Department are sent to various mountain regions where they make public speeches on national affairs, health and productive work. Educational movies are often shown in the villages. Publications are distributed free of charge. Orations in Kuoyu, athletic meets and dances are held in the schools.
VI. Health
In every hsiang there is a health station with three full-time doctors and two nurses, and in nearly every village there is a clinic with an assistant doctor and a midwife. There are altogether 30 health stations and 167 clinics. Before 1953, medical supplies were given free of charge. Since then, a fee of 50 cents to one dollar is collected from every patient because .the financial conditions of the mountain people have been greatly improved. The health stations have taken measures to improve the health of the people, through vaccination and anti-cholera and anti-typhoid injections. A short course of medical training has been conducted in several centers in the mountain administrative areas. By June of 1956, a total of 478 persons completed their medical training. As a result of these medical measures, the death rate is declining from year to year. During the eight years of war from 1937 to 1945, the average number of annual births was 3,830 while the number of deaths was 4,930. After the Chinese Government took over, through the improvement of health conditions, the annual death rate dropped from the average number of 4,930 in 1945 to 2,081 in 1955, while the annual birth rate increased from the average number of 3,830 in 1945 to 6,658 in 1955.
VII. Improvement of Economic Well-Being
A. Land reserved for the mountain people—A total of 196,445 hectares of land has been reserved for the mountain people. They can build houses, grow grain, raise livestock, and fell trees for timber within the confines of the reserved lands. No land tax is levied, and only stamp tax is collected from the people. In order to protect their land rights, the Provincial Government issued regulations forbidding dealings in the sale, mortgage, exchange and donation of these reserved lands between the mountain people and the people on the plains.
B. Irrigation works—During the years of Japanese occupation, no irrigation work was done for the mountain people. They were the victims of either drought or flood. Famine was of common occurrence. Since 1945, the Provincial Government has spent a considerable amount of money on conservation of water resources and land reclamations. In the last 10 years, 332 irrigation projects have been completed, irrigating an additional 2,814 hectares of land.
C. Cooperatives—The Provincial Government has since 1953 helped the mountain tribes to establish cooperatives. They can obtain what they want from the cooperatives at lower prices, and sell what they produce through the cooperatives at fair prices. The cooperatives also take charge of processing native products and exporting them.
D. Expansion of family production—The mountain people are being taught how to breed silkworms, raise livestock, and grow vegetables, hemp, jute, pineapples, bananas and other fruits. The Provincial Government has opened handicraft training classes such as hat-weaving and mat-plaiting for various mountain tribes.
E. Expansion of community production—Expansion of financial resources of the mountain communities is of vital importance. Large tracts of lands have been demarcated for cultivation of hem p, tea, bamboos and fruit trees as well as for reforestation. In 1954, 463.72 hectares were planted with tea, hem p, pineapples, sugar cane or pears. By the end of 1955, this figure had been increased to 631.547 hectares. In 1954 about 849.041 hectares were reforested, and at the end of 1955, the figure was raised to 1,576.003 hectares.
VIII. Improvement of Mode of Living
The mountain people were formerly very superstitious and inherited certain bad traditions and habits. Through consistent popular education, the Government has brought about the, abolition of ghost-worship, of cure of disease by witchcraft as well as the habits of eating with fingers and over-drinking. The aborigines have been encouraged to wear clothes and improve their living quarters. According to statistics, 4,314 houses were either repaired or rebuilt in 1951; 3,994 in 1952; 2,910 in 1953; 226 in 1954, and 896 in 1955. These houses have bathrooms and lavatories. As to their habits of eating, 4,483 families used bowls and chopsticks in 1950. This figure was raised to 17,380 by the end of 1955. In 1950, 4,490 families used tables, and chairs, and by the end of 1955, the number was increased to 17,482. As to their clothes and coverlets, the mountain people had a total number of 63,612 pieces of clothes and 16,159 pieces of coverlets in 1950. These figures were increased to 354,814 and 54,092, respectively, in 1955.
IX. Improvement of Fanning Implements and Expansion of Area of Cultivation
In 1951, the Provincial Government promulgated a set of regulations governing the improvement of agriculture in the mountain regions. The mountain people are taught new methods of farming and how to use new farming tools. The area of lands placed under cultivation has been greatly expanded. In 1950, there were 2,796 hectares of paddy fields, 12,258 hectares of dry land and 919 hectares of slope land placed under cultivation, These figures were raised to 3,682, 14,082, and 2,330 respectively, in 1955.
X. Promotion of Reforestation
The mountain people are encouraged to engage in reforestation. According to the regulations promulgated by the Provincial Government in 1951, mountain slopes of more than 30 degrees which are not suitable for agriculture should be planted with trees. Every mountain village should plant a forest not less than 10 hectares in area and plant no less than 100 square meters of seedlings. Expenditures involved in this project are provided by the local governments. In 1951, there were 25,524 hectares of land planted with 1,675,700 seedlings and 1,201.1850 hectares of forestland with 3,592,326 trees. By the end of 1955,84,245 hectares of land were cultivated with 10,109,400 seedlings and 9,296,1200 hectares of land were planted with 29,026,233 trees.
XI. Exemption of Taxes
The mountain people are, as stated above, exempt from payment of taxes, and are only required to pay stamp tax. All expenditures involved in the administration of schools and the maintenance of hsiang and village offices as well as in scholarships for mountain students studying in normal, middle and vocational schools are provided by the provincial Government. The maintenance of the mountain administrative areas, cost the provincial treasury NT$2,077,298 in 1949. In 1954, this figure went up to NT$35,784,050. This shows the importance the Provincial Government attaches to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the mountain regions.