戰後初期的「鹽賊」現象

Salt Thieves of the Early Postwar Taiwan

日治時期鹽是專賣之一，也曾發生嚴重的私鹽或偷鹽情況，然而隨著殖民基礎的穩固，私鹽與偷鹽日少，甚至銷聲匿跡，然而戰後卻死灰復燃。本文比較日治時代的專賣與戰後的鹽稅，發現專賣後期在鹽的收購價與市價的價差，確實低於戰後的鹽稅甚多。常鹽價過高，擠壓貧苦民眾的生活，望著日漸積高的鹽堆，沿海居民包括老弱婦孺，皆鋌而走險，利用各種方法挾帶私鹽。透過口述歷史，許多人提起鹽賊行為宛如當年之勇，鹽賊的「案底」或許沒有留在歷史的陰暗面，但鹽賊現象仍值得我們反思，是否因為不良的鹽稅制度，認偷鹽成為生存的必要之惡，形成戰後初期的鹽賊現象。

Salt was a monopoly during Japanese colonial era in Taiwan. There had been occurred serious salt thefts and smugglings at that time. However, the more stable colonization was, the less slat relevant crimes conducted. Both of them had been almost close to vanishing, of which resuscitation had been brought unexpectedly since the early postwar years after World War II. This paper makes a comparison of salt taxation in different durations, which includes the Japanese colonial monopoly period and the postwar years. The findings of the article are concerning that the difference between purchase price and market price of salt in the late monopoly was much lower than the salt tax in the postwar period. The poor were suffering from living rigors when salt price was over high. Those who were taking a looking at piles of sea salt, including women, children, the elderly and the puny minority, could not help taking risks to smuggle by all means. According to oral histories, there were a number of respondents who reminded the behaviors of salt thieves as a kind of courageous actions in the past. The salt theft relevant records might not leave in the negative side of our history, but such a social phenomenon concerning salt thieves is worth of introspecting and self-reflecting whether the design of salt taxation was inappropriate, or salt stealing was a necessary evil, either of which made it popular in the early postwar years of Taiwan.