consideration. For I think I may aver that I am fortified by the opinion of five of the most experienced of Colonial Administratorsthree of whom, Sir Hercules Robinson, Sir Arthur Gordon, and Sir Arthur Birch, are still available to bear testimony-in saying that Lord Knutsford is likely to leave the taxation and finance of the leading Crown Colony entrusted to his care in the most unsatisfactory and unsafe condition it has been in since the time-forty-three years agowhen Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli stood together in carrying an Inquiry into Ceylon Affairs, against Lord John Russell's Government of that day. J. FERGUSON, Of the "Ceylon Observer” and “Tropical Agriculturist.” LONDON, June 1892. Postscript, June 30th.-Since writing the above, another mail has come in from Ceylon bringing intelligence of the Report made by Mr. Edward J. Young-a very experienced proprietary Ceylon planter-on his Labour Mission to Southern India. Mr. Young offers reasons why the immigrant Coolies in Ceylon should have cheaper rice, and he evidently considers this to be an important means towards rendering the Ceylon planting districts more attractive to the labourers from Southern India whose services are now eagerly sought after in Burmah and the Straits Settlements. Mr. Young writes as follows:-"The present Ceylon wages are ample for the Coolies' services, and compare favourably with what he can earn at home or elsewhere; at the same time, I think more could and should be done for him by the supply of cheaper and better rations. Now that the paddy tax has gone, the sister food tax levied on rice at the Customs must necessarily follmo suit; this would considerably cheapen rice, and it should then be a rule to issue it at R3 per bushel." This forms a new and important argument for the early abolition of the Ceylon Customs duty on rice, the staple food of the Coolies, and imported from India; for no one will deny that on an increasing and abundant supply of labourers from Southern India largely depends the continued success of tea cultivation, on which again the financial and general prosperity of Ceylon at present mainly rests. Free, cheap rice in Colombo and the planting districts would certainly be one of the best means of attracting more coolies.-J. F. TAXATION IN CEYLON. (II.) From the "Times of Ceylon," with notes by Editor "Ceylon Observer. [The following circular or leaflet, drawn up by Messrs. T. N. Christie and Seneviratne, has been circulated very largely in London amongst those interested in Ceylon, copies having been sent to the Cobden Club and other similar institutions. It is a counterblast to Mr. John Ferguson's circular on the same subject, and bears the impress of Mr. Christie's hand.] "As a leaflet on the above subject recently circulated by Mr. John Ferguson, Editor of the Ceylon Observer, contains much that is inaccurate and misleading, the undersigned, who happen to be in England, desire to offer some explanation of Mr. Ferguson's attitude and of the rice taxes. "There was no tax in the whole British Empire at all similar to the recently abolished paddy tax of Ceylon; it was of itself unfair, and its collection led to the eviction, in a state of destitution, of many thousands of the native peasantry from their homes and small ancestral holdings. To these evictions, and the consequent distress, the attention of Parliament was directed two years ago." [The Indian land tax differs only in the fact that ALL products of the land are taxed and not merely one, the greatest and most fruitful, Government having voluntarily abandoned its indefeasible right in the case of all others. Not only distress but famine and evictions are frequent in India; but no attempt has been made to abolish the land tax, which is rated according to the value of produce.—ED. C. O.] "Mr. Ferguson strongly opposed the abolition of this native tax, and predicted that its abolition (which was the policy of a rival newspaper) would lead to the abolition of the import duty on grain, that the abolition of the import duty must lead to a general land tax, and that the imposition of a general land tax would have grievous effects. He now apparently would, in order to prove himself to be a true prophet, try to bring about the very evils he was at one time so solicitous of avoiding." [The remark about the policy of a rival newspaper is an offensive impertinence. The Observer opposed abolition for a quarter of a century before Mr. George Wall took to editing a paper; and the Observer. editors ever held that the moment the internal tax was removed the import duty, becoming protective against our Indian fellow-subjects, was indefensible and therefore doomed. It is now our duty to denounce and secure the removal of a protective and partial tax.-ED. C. O.] "The import duty is not, as stated by Mr. Ferguson, ad valorem, but is a fixed sum of 29 cents (44d.) per bushel, equal to about th of a penny per lb. weight. "It does not press on the poorest as the paddy tax did, for the imported rice is chiefly consumed by the Tamil population from Southern India, and a very large share of the duty is paid by the prosperous European tea-growing industry. The town residents, who also consume imported rice, are generally well-to-do people, and Mr. Ferguson is the first to find out that the tax possesses any hardship beyond that common to all taxes. It is not in practice a protective tax, for the Indian-grown and Ceylon-grown rices never come into market contact." [All of which statements we traverse, especially the monstrous assertions that the urban population are all well-to-do, and that imported and home-grown rice do not come into competition. The " 'prosperous " tea planters have to pay not only old taxes but new ones imposed to replace the paddy tax.-ED. C. 0.] "Mr. Ferguson will find it difficult to reconcile his present position, that the import duty is in effect protective, with his repeated statements, made when he hoped to maintain the recently abolished tax, that the abolition of the paddy tax would not encourage the native industry, but would, if anything, lead to a diminution of the rice cultivation of Ceylon Mr. Ferguson's circular would invite attention to the present position of the import duty on grain in Ceylon, as if that position were singular to Ceylon, or that the recent abolition of the paddy tax had effected some unheard-of and intolerable economic change. As a matter of fact, the abolition of this tax has merely removed Ceylon from what was an absolutely singular position, and placed it on a par with the other Colonies of the Empire. "Not only have the self-governing Colonies import duties on grain, but the Crown Colonies-such as Natal, Demerara, Jamaica, etc.-have import duties at much higher rates than Ceylon." [Import duties on grain are in the self-governed colonies avowedly protective; and in Jamaica, Malta and others are defensible from necessity and from the fact that grain is not locally grown. Ceylon is the only Crown Colony in the British Empire which levies what is now a distinctly protective grain tax; and we may rely on it, she will not be allowed long to occupy this position: vide the expression of hope by the Cobden Club. We trust Messrs. Christie and Seneviratne will enjoy paying the mass of new taxation which the inevitable abolition of the import duty will render necessary.—ED. C. O.]. "Those who sign the paper have no affection for any food tax, and they will welcome the day when, without raising greater evils, the Ceylon import duty on grain can be done away with; but they recognise the danger of too suddenly applying Western principles to an Eastern country, where direct taxation is extremely distasteful to the people, and in its collection invariably brings discontent and distress. "The members of the Ceylon Legislative Council, who are best able to weigh comparative evils of the import duty and of the necessary alternative taxes, may be trusted to watch for any opportunity of effecting a beneficial change of system, and if necessary of drawing the attention of members of the House of Commons to it. "A. SENEVIRATNE, Member of the Ceylon Legislative Council representing the Sinhalese. "THOS. NORTH CHRISTIE, Lately Member of the Ceylon Legislative Council representing the Planting Community. "LONDON, July 30th, 1892." ["The danger of too suddenly applying Western principles" is exceedingly rich from men who have helped to get an immemorial Oriental tax abolished by the rash application of Western principles. Some of the results are already apparent in taxing Ordinances. But we have not yet seen all.-ED. C. 0.] TAXATION IN CEYLON. (III.) A few words of correction and explanation are necessary, by way of rejoinder, to a leaflet recently issued by Messrs. A. Seneviratne & T. N. Christie on the above subject. Alluding to their connection with the Ceylon Legislative Council, these gentlemen indicate that members of that Council are best able to advise as to a change of system of taxation; but they ignore the fact that two members of the Legislative Council-one of them Mr. Christie's successor have already been opposing the new taxes arising out of the paddy rent abolition, and that a formal protest against the same has been sent home to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Messrs. Seneviratne & Christie further forget that the new burden on salt-the tax above all others in Ceylon calling for reduction or remis sion-and the increased import duty upon kerosene oil, have created very general dissatisfaction. The Chamber of Commerce and the Planters' Association have condemned these new burdens and other recent financial arrangements, such as the vote for Irrigation Works out of Customs Revenue. On the other hand, Messrs. Seneviratne & Christie declare that the import duty on rice does not press on the poorest natives as the paddy tax did; whereas in a memorial to the Legislative Council from village natives who are consumers of imported rice, the paddy cultivators are described as comparatively well-to-do; and it is notorious that in the Western, Southern, and Eastern provinces, nearly all the Sinhalese and Tamil paddy land-owners and farmers are exceptionally well-off. The import duty of 44d. per bushel of rice, the value of which is about 3s. 6d., may be equal to "th of a penny per lb. weight," but it is also 10 per cent. ad valorem, and must be contrasted with the average earnings of a native labourer, which cannot be put at more than 2s. 6d. to 3s. per week. A large proportion of the natives in the villages and towns, consumers of the imported and taxed rice, are among the very poorest of the Ceylonese, and many of them are taxed out of all proportion to the class just relieved. Messrs. Seneviratne & Christie state that "the Indian-grown and the Ceylon-grown rices never come into market contact." This is explicitly contradicted by the Ceylon Customs and Provincial Reports, which show (1) that a large quantity of surplus rice grown in the Batticaloa district is exported to compete with Indian-grown rice in the Jaffna district; (2) that rice grown in the Southern province has been sold in bazaars alongside of Indian rice as far north as Kegala; and (3) that the North-Central Province has begun to send a considerable quantity of rice to sell in other districts. All such island-grown rice it is proposed now to free of rent or tax, while maintaining a 10 per cent. import duty on imported rice, so establishing Protection in its worst form, and taxing the people of the towns and villages for the benefit of the paddy cultivators and land-owners, their fellow-countrymen. The anomalies and injustice involved in such legislation-paddy tax abolition, increase of burdens on salt and kerosene oil, and irrigation votes for the class just freed from rents-have provoked much criticism from the public and press of Ceylon; and it is admitted on all sides (in the island, as by the Cobden Club and by officials in England) that the Customs duty on imported rice cannot stand alone, but must ere long be abolished. Seeing then that a further change will have to be faced-and this even Messrs. Seneviratne & Christie seem to allow a little reflection will show that the present affords a far better opportunity for completing the revision of Ceylon taxation than is likely to recur; (1) because this is a time of comparative prosperity in the island owing to causes which may prove temporary; (2) because the natives themselves are, at present, prepared for a change of system; and (3) because experienced Civil Servants, who have not lost touch with the people, are still available to introduce an equitable and permanent system. It is under these circumstances, therefore, that a Royal Commission of Inquiry is desirable, in order to place the Ceylon system of taxation once for all on a safe, equitable, and, if possible, permanent footing. J. FERGUSON. Of the "Ceylon Observer" and "Tropical Agriculturist.” EDINBURGH, August 24th, 1892. APPENDIX XI. ESTIMATE OF GOVERNOR SIR HERCULES ROBINSON IN CEYLON. (FROM MAJOR SKINNER'S "FIFTY YEARS IN CEYLON.") IN March 1865 Sir Hercules Robinson arrived as Governor, and the month after his landing gave earnest of the interest he intended taking in the welfare of the island by starting on a tour through Happootella and Saffragam. The Colony was much to be congratulated on the SIR HERCULES ROBINSON. advent of such a Governor, the most painstaking, hardworking man I have ever met in his position. An extraordinary love of justice was his most peculiar characteristic, and I have seen frequent instances of this when travelling with him; he would not decide any claim on a superficial view of the case, but would insist upon receiving the most minute details before giving an opinion. He astonished me on one occasion, when, on a very remote journey, he called me in to his temporary office, and said, "At last I have got to the bottom of that case of yours in re Modelair Fonceka." This was a man who had been in my department for upwards of thirty years, and was most efficient and economical. In a revision of the establishment of my department, I had recommended this faithful old servant for a higher class of pay; but the Colonial Secretary refused me on the plea that eight or nine years before he had given false evidence in a court of law prejudicial to the interests of the Government. I admitted that at one time I had entertained a similar impression of the Iman's conduct, but that circumstances had occurred which had completely exonerated him; and I stated that, had not this been the case, it would have been my duty to have represented his conduct and to have recommended Government to dismiss him, and that the Government itself, if convinced of his having played it false, would not have been justified in keeping him in its service. The fact of the Government retaining his services for eight or nine years subsequently showed that his former supposed delinquencies were condoned. The subject had been laid before the Government three or four months previously; but the papers had been repeatedly referred backwards and forwards to the Supreme Court, to the Queen's advocate, and to my office. At last, while in a temporary resting-place in a remote out-of-the-way jungle, Sir Hercules investigated a mass of correspondence and judgments in Court, |