濁水溪下游的開荒拓野與製糖產業的發展

Cultivation in Downstream Chosui River and the Development of the Sugarcane Industry (1900-1930)

本文以濁水溪北岸沖積扇平原為研究空間，探討濁水溪下游荒地的拓墾與製糖產業發展的關係。1990年代以後，沙害與洪荒嚴重的彰化南區，因海岸地區防沙與濁水溪堤防工程相繼進行，而產生廣大的保安林解除地與河川浮覆地。這些荒地逐漸具備開墾的條件時，臺灣總督府正積極推動糖業發展，獎勵開墾官有地種甘蔗，亦鼓勵個人或是社會開墾官有原野，勸業銀行也來臺經營，提供有意投資相關事業者必要的融資。在土地上、資本有利條件的激勵下，有著台灣西部最廣闊荒地原野的濁水溪北岸沖積扇平原，逐成為活絡的新墾區。20世紀初，台灣的蔗作區跨越了濁水溪北移，臺灣本島與日方資本也開始在彰化平原建構起糖業版圖。1905年-1910年，製糖產業主要為在地資本所設立的改良糖廍，蔗作空間分布於舊濁水溪兩側。1905年後，由於總督府糖業政策轉向獎勵大製糖廠，又規定新式製糖設立區內的改良糖廍必須撤除，改良糖廍紛紛被新式製糖會社吞沒，小型糖業資本也被大型資本兼併；1910-1920年間，台灣板橋林家、鹿港辜家和日資源成農場取代了在地中小糖業的資本，重構彰化南區的糖業版圖。1927年以後，臺灣本島資本企業在糖業規模生產的競賽中逐漸敗陣下來，終不敵日本內地資本的競爭而被兼併，濁水溪以北的彰化平原盡為明治、鹽水港、源成、新高等製糖會社所瓜分，再構糖業版圖。濁水溪以北之所以成為糖業資本競爭的一級戰區，是因1920年代以降，濁水溪北岸沖積扇的荒地原野廣達5千甲以上，成為新式製糖會社最佳的「獵地」場域。位於新墾地中樞的二林地區，迅速發展成糖業重鎮，區域內有三個日資會社的二林地區，使蔗農容易比價而凸顯林本源製糖的價差；原料、肥料、比價產生的不滿情緒和動作，從而爆發了二林蔗農事件。濁水溪下游的開荒拓野，有如，「蝴蝶效應」，看似與事件無直接相關，仔細探問，卻是導致製糖原料收購價的差異化而激生事端的原因。

After the 1900s, improvements in agricultural conditions in the Chosui River alluvial fan resulted in higher rates of land utilization. Land gained by the removal of protection forests and reclaimed from the old Chosui River bank, attracted investments from various sources. Fervent cultivation in the area transformed the land into an incubator for new industries. Located in the heart of this new cultivation project, the Erlin region became a major sugar industrial town.
In the early 20th century, the Taiwanese sugarcane industry began to move north, extending beyond the Chosui River. From 1905 to 1910, local investors built sugar-refining plants on both sides of Chosui River, in order to expand farmland for sugarcane cultivation. The newly cultivated area overlapped roughly with the land abandoned after the 1898 flood. From 1910 to 1920, large family corporations annexed small local sugar businesses in Taiwan. From 1927 onward, areas of the Changhua plain beyond the north bank of the Chosui River were divided among mainland Japanese businesses, such as Meiji, Yenhsui, Gensei, Nitaka, etc.
A number of factors contributed to the Chosui River’s north bank becoming a major area of contention for sugar production and investment. Since the 1920s, agricultural conditions in the Chosui River alluvial fan had seen great improvement. Wasteland was reclaimed due to the removal of protection forests and through sediment control projects. Land from the old Chosui River bank was also reclaimed as levee projects continued along the river.
More than 79,000 acres of land were reclaimed and cleared, thus transforming the area into Taiwan’s largest new cultivation project. It also became the prime target for sugar companies to establish sugarcane farms and factories. As a result, the heart of this newly cultivated land, Erlin, developed rapidly into a major sugar industrial town. With three Japanese corporations in
the Erlin region, sugarcane farmers were more sensitive to price differences, compared especially to that of Lin Ben Yuan Sugar Corporation. Indignation among farmers resulting from comparing ingredient and fertilizer costs, served as a catalyst for the Erlin sugarcane farmer incident. I believe that cultivation in the downstream of the Chosui River relates to the Erlin incident in ways similar to the “butterfly effect.” They seem to have no direct connection, but after close scrutiny, it can be observed that cultivation was the source of price differences
in ingredients in the Taiwanese sugarcane industry, leading to the Erlin Incident.