In Ceylon The Population is 2,224,940 Souls and the direct taxes amount to £8,473 per annum. The indirect taxes are £650,165. Total £658,638.
Nearly as possible 5s// a head.
Comparison ought to be made with Singapore burden of taxation. On this head it must be remarked that Singapore, Penang and Malacca are treated as one settlement, and if this treatment is adopted in the present case, the Hongkong Memorialists must be allowed to be correct; if however Singapore alone is compared with Hongkong, as to their respective burdens of taxation, the reverse will be the case. The following calculations will illustrate the above deduction.
In 1861, the total taxes raised in the Straits Settlements amounts to £140,482 in the following proportions to the population:
Population Taxes £ Singapore 81,792 £86,505 Penang 124,772 £35,638 Malacca 76,267 £18,339 Total 282,831 £140,482