民国时期堤垸管理组织的近代化尝试及其失败——基于洞庭湖堤务局的研究

Modernization and Failure of Dike Management Organization in the Republic of China Period:A Case Study of Dongting Lake Dike Bureau

1935年,洞庭湖堤垸由民修转为官督民修,当时的湖南省政府在滨湖地区统一设立堤务局,通过法规详细规定了堤务局的组织架构、人事选举及工作职责,并派遣督导员对堤局工作进行监督。堤务局的成立体现出政府希望借助公权力,推动传统水利设施管理的近代化。堤局人员主要从垸民中选举产生,投票权则依据田亩占有情况而定,由此湖区强势业户左右堤局,选举出的工作人员素质低劣,贪污腐败现象频繁。堤局工作同样百弊丛生,堤防经费负担不均,修堤工作大都敷衍塞责,所筑堤垸并未起到保护垸区人民生命财产的作用,洞庭湖堤垸管理组织的近代化尝试终告失败。

In 1935,the construction of embankment and dike in Dongting Lake was transferred from public construction to government supervision.The Hunan provincial government at that time set up a unified dike bureau in Binhu area,made detailed plans for the organization structure,personnel election and work duties of the dike bureau through laws and regulations,and dispatched supervisors to supervise its work.The establishment of the Dike Bureau reflects the government s hope to use public power to promote the modernization of traditional water conservancy facilities management.However,the personnel of the dike bureau were mainly elected from the people living in along dike and embankment,and the voting right was based on the possession of land.As a result,the powerful households in the lake area dominated the Dike Bureau,and the elected personnel were of poor quality,corrupting to enrich themselves.The work of the Dike Bureau was also riddled with problems with uneven burden of dike funding.The dike repairing was mostly perfunctory,so the dikes built did not protect the lives and property of the people in the areas circled by dikes,which led to the failure of modernization for dike management organization.