PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference:
TITNICO. 882
דוון גודר
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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B.
According to returns sent to me in 1868, there were then about 1,721,000 acres of private property in the island exclusive of temple lands. Since that year there have been surveyed about 180,589 acres of Crown lands; there must consequently (presuming that the returns were correct) be about 1,901,589 acres, or say, 1,900,000 acres of private lands in the island at the present time.
To be on the safe side, I think an addition of 150,000 acres may be made to the area of estimated taxable land mentioned in my report of 1869, or 1,750,000 acres may be calculated on, at an average rate of 3s. per acre; this would give a revenue of 262,5001. per annum.
It is difficult to determine from the blue book the area of land actually under culti- vation at the present time; the return in the blue book for 1874 gives 1,550,901 acres, exclusive of all lands in the Kegalla district, and of the coffee lands in Kandy proper, Matali, and Nuware Eliya.
In the latest previous return of cultivated lands in the Kegalla district the area was stated to be 135,068 acres; allowing the same area in 1874, the total acreage under cultivation in the island would be 1,680,581, exclusive of the coffee districts above named. I think I am on the safe side in allowing 1,750,000 acres as the total area of taxable private lands whether cultivated or not.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
THE PADDY TAX.
The Hon. Mr. Alwis asked permission to substitute for the motion which stood in his name on the order of the day, another, which though it differed in expression was substan- tially the same as the one on the notice paper. His amended motion was as follows:-
"That a Committee or Commission be appointed to inquire into the taxes on food now levied in Ceylon, and to report whether it would be advisable or acceptable to the people of this island to substitute a general land tax in their place; and, if not, whether it would not be possible to devise a better mode of levying the existing tax on paddy than by the injurious mode of farming it which chiefly prevails at present.'
H. E. the Governor put the motion in its amended form before the Council, and it was agreed to.
The Hon. Mr. Alwis then said: Sir, in speaking to this motion it is necessary that I should take up some of the time of this House. Yet, seeing the important business before us on the order of the day, and how we are pressed for time, I shall not say one word more than is absolutely necessary to bring my subject fairly before hon. members. The subject is one on which, if I am to make myself understood, I must go somewhat into detail, and traverse, as briefly and rapidly as may be, a large period of history. I shall, at the outset, refer to the constitutional principles, the political origin, and the history of "the food taxes' of Ceylon. It would seem, and I here refer to the Buddhistical annals, that in a remote age, at the very first formation of society, and on the appointment of a sovereign power, the king took it upon himself to protect the people, and they, in their turn, agreed to contribute of their substance for the support of the king. I shall quote here the very words which are given in the annals; they are translated by Turnour, and are as follows:-
"Thereupon these men assembled, and having assembled thus deliberated. Friends— most assuredly wicked actions have become prevalent among mankind; everywhere theft, degradation, fraud, and punishment prevail. It will be most proper that we should elect some one individual, who would be able to eradicate most fully that which should be eradicated, to degrade that which should be degraded, to expel those who should be expelled; and we will assign to him (the person elected) a share of our sali."
This "share" I find, on looking into the commentary and other authorities on the point, was one amunam of paddy, an amunam being eight parrahs, equivalent to six bushels in English measure. We have no further particulars with regard to the quantity of land cultivated, and other matters connected with this contribution to the king, but of this fact we have undoubted evidence that every family of cultivators was in the habit of contributing to the support of the monarch. On looking into the ancient books of India, the land from whence the Sinhalese have come here, we find reference to this
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custom. This cannot be unimportant. In the "Manaradhama Sastre," or as it is usually termed, "the Institutes of Manu," the primeval law of the Hindus, the oldest book in the East except the Vedas--indeed Sir William Jones so states the fact-there is a reference to taxation. It is in these words :-
Of cattle, of gems, of gold and silver, added each year to the capital stock, a fiftieth part may be taken by the king; of grain, an eighth part, a sixth, or a twelfth, according to the difference of the soil, and the labour necessary to cultivate it.”
These words are important, and will be found to have no slight bearing in considering hereafter the tax which is at present levied, and also in fixing the principles on which commutation shall be asked. According to this then one sixth, one eighth, or one twelfth was the tax according to circumstances. Although our most ancient historical works are full of information on different matters, the Mahawansa in particular, they are not very communicative on this subject. Still it may be gathered that cultivation commenced at a very early period in the history of the country, and that taxation was imposed from the very first.
'All authorities show that it was made in accordance with the rule of Manu, the basis on which every Indian polity is founded. These inferences, which I draw from history, are fully supported by what appears on the rock inscriptions of this island. On the rocks at Mehintale is an inscription, in which the same quantity of tax is mentioned, with a slight alteration, and in the extracts I am going to read hon. members will not fail to see that what I have read from the Buddhist and Hindu works are fully borne out. The inscription was made in the year 1200 of the Christian era; it is on the great tablet at Pollanaruwa, as follows:-
"Being moved with benevolence towards the people he confirmed to them the privileges appropriate to the different families, and relinquished the revenues of five years he reduced the rate of taxes on arable lands imposed in former reigns, and fixed the Otooi duty at one ammonam three pelahs for every one ammonam's extent He relinquished the tax on the dry grain produced on chenas, the cultivation of which is attended with distress, and ordained that such tax should cease for evermore.'
It is also stated in another inscription, graven in the same year, that— "From an earnest wish that succeeding kings should not again impoverish the inhabitants of Ceylon by levying excessive imposts, he ordained that the revenue should be at the rate of 5 pelahs with a madarang of four ridies, or 1 ammonam 3 pelahs with a madarang of a pagoda for each ammonam (of land according to the fertility thereof) and considering that those who laboured with the billhook in (clearing) thorny jungles (for cultivation) earned their livelihood distressfully, he ordained that they should be always exempt from the tax."
These are important facts, and will be of considerable service in laying down principles for the action of Government, or by the Committee which I ask in the motion. I will not give further extracts relating to the Sinhalese period of history, but rapidly pass on to the Portuguese rule. I find that they, too, recognised the system of taxation I have alluded to. Being mostly engaged in war, needing many soldiers and camp followers, it is true they chiefly exacted payment in the way of services from the people. But from those who were not called upon to perform martial or other services taxes were collected, and no doubt, judging from Rebeiyro, in the same proportions as had been previously customary. Rebeiyro says:-
"Besides the services which the natives are bound to render to the king, the lords of the village are entitled to certain duties likewise; and no person, whether be be a noble- man, a soldier, or a peasant, can be exempted from the payment of any tax which is attached to his fief or parawenia. The tax is more especially paid in betel, which is a leaf held in great estimation throughout India, and this takes place according to registries which are kept among the public archives, some persons paying more, some less. There is a tax on pepper, rice, and other commodities, and their imposts are all paid in kind also without any difficulty or complaint.”
The same process of taxation it would appear continued to the close of the Portuguese period. When, however, the Dutch took their place, they recognised the ancient usage to a much larger extent. They levied an impost of one tenth of the produce from private lands, and one fourth and one half from cultivated Crown lands, the excess over one tenth being considered as rent. When the English succeeded the Dutch in 1796, the Provisional Government, which lasted three or four years, in utter ignorance of the people I must think, proposed to set this aside, and introduced, amongst other indefensible changes, a land tax. This action was so very important, in regard to
A. 614.