Drugs and 



34 



" In the early part of 1904 a readjustment of the schedule of prices was 

 made, by which it was intended that the Government should stand the cost of 

 transportation from the outlying districts, while the manufacturer would still 

 bear the loss in weight while in ti'ansit. Under the schedule then arranged, 

 which is now in vogue, all deliveries were to be made at Taihoku. The prices 

 were fixed as follows per picul : — 



Crystallized camphor. Camphor oil. 



First grade. Second grade. Third grade. 



District. Yen. Yen. Yen. Yen. 

 Gilan, Skinko, Toshien, 

 Shinchiku, Byoritsu, 

 Taichu, Nanto and 



Toroku ... ... 30.00 ... 27.00 ... 24.30 ... 15.00 



Kagi ... ... 31.00 ... 28.00 .., 25.30 ... 15.50 



Banshoryo and Ako ... 32.00 ... 29.00 ... 26.20 ... 15.90 



Taito ... ... 32.70 ... 29.70 ... 27.00 ... 16.30 



" One picid equals 133| pounds. One yen equals $0,498 United States 

 currency. 



" The Government supplies to the manufacturers two sizes of canvas bags, 

 one-half picul and one picul, in which the crude camphor is shipped to Taihoku, 

 where, if it is to be exported in its crude form, it is well packed in zinc-lined 

 cases or tubs holding about one picul. The monopoly bureau has a factory at 

 Taihoku for cleaning and pressing such as is to be exported in a semi-refined 

 state, which consists of redistilling and compressing into blocks weighing 10 kin 

 (ISh pounds). Ten of these blocks are packed into a zinc-lined case. A very 

 small proportion of the camphor is marked and turned over to the sole selling 

 agents. Although the Government factory is equipped for extracting camphor 

 from the oil, the most of it is delivered to private refineries in Japan, which, 

 under an arrangement with the monopoly bureau in Formosa, extract the crude 

 camphor and deliver it to the bureau's branch office in Kobe. The oil is supposed 

 to yield about 49 per cent, of crude camphor. The residual oils are used in 

 the manufacture of disinfectants, perfumes, soaps, etc. 



" Contract for Sale of the Drug.— As regards the sale of the camphor, 

 the monopoly bureau in the early part of 1900, after inviting tenders from the 

 foreign and Japanese firms desirous of obtaining the sole selling agency, awarded 

 the contract to Messrs. Samuel Samuel & Co., a large British firm, the term of 

 which was for three years, and the general conditions were :— The holder of 

 the agency was to place with the Government a guarantee of 1,900,000 yen, 

 which was permitted to be in the form of Government bonds, bearing interest ; 

 he was to conduct the sale of the camphor at London, Hamburg, New York 

 and Hong Kong, and must be prepared to accept from the Government from 

 20,000 to 50,000 piculs of camphor a year. The Government reserved the right 

 to sell to private persons, other than the sole selling agent, camphor for use of 

 the Government, and also as raw material for the purpose of manufacture in 

 the Japanese Empire. The camphor was to be of two grades— ' A ' to be known 

 as cleaned and pressed, and 'B,' which is the camphor in its ordinary crude 

 form. So far as possible, the agent was to send such quantities of camphor to 

 the leading markets as would be necessary to supply the demand. The 

 prices to be asked for the drugs abroad were as follows :— For ' A ' grade in 

 10-kin blocks, for London, Hamburg and New York, 107,843 yen per picul, 



