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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference:
C.O. 882
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Out of 46 native witnesses 40 were to whom questions were put by the Commission. totally opposed to the imposition of a land tàx. Out of 27 European witnesses 23 were decidedly opposed to it. My late friend Mr. Alwis went so far as to state that a general land tax could only be collected at the point of the bayonet. I will not go so far as to coincide in this, but still I firmly believe that if it were attempted to tax the gardens and plantations of natives the result would be on every side either evasion or passive resis- tance- When we remember further that we have no detailed survey of the country, which seems almost necessary for a land tax to be assessed, when we consider the infinitesimal subdivisions to which the property of the natives is subject, and the great variety there is in the productiveness of the soil, so that one field may be worth 1007. an acre whereas another in the same village may not be worth one hundred pence; when, again, we bear in mind that in consequence of these inequalities we should be subject to the inconvenience of a constant revision of the tax, it appears to me that there are such insuperable objections to the scheme that we could not introduce it. If it could be shown, however, that these taxes upon grain were odious to the people or were inequitable in their incidence, of course every effort should be made to supersede them by some other system, although it might be at the risk of several important interests. But, sir, these taxes are neither odious nor inequitable. On the contrary, they are acceptable to and willingly acquiesced in by the people, and they have existed from time immemorial. Hear what Mr. Alwis says with regard to them: "I shall state at once "that I am most decidedly of opinion that the people do not think the tax on paddy is objectionable, and that they do not ask for its removal. When, however, I say this I "am by no means prepared to affirm that the tax should be continued at its present rate or that certain modifications may not be made so as to encourage cultivation and "promote agriculture. I shall show hereafter in what respects the tax may be modified. In itself, I repeat, it is not vexatious or unacceptable to the people." The Commission, which was constituted of a number of gentlemen probably the very best in the Island to form and express an opinion upon the subject, deliberately came to the following conclusion: Historical inquiry shows that a grain tax in some form is in immemorial and has always been willingly acquiesced in by the people. The payment of tithes " is borne without complaiut by the people and is generally felt to be neither oppressive nor unjust." Among the gentlemen who signed this report we have, in addition to the Civil servants, Mr. Justice Dias, my hon. friend the Tamil representative in this Council, the late Mr. Alwis, Mr. George Wall, the Maha Mudaliyar, and a well-known Kandyan chieftain. Without a dissentient voice, these came to the conclusion that these taxes were neither oppressive nor unjust. Certainly they cannot be considered to be in any way inequitable. The tax on home-grown grain falls upon the Sinhalese villagers, and that upon imported grain upon the inhabitants of towns and upon the floating population, who would otherwise pay nothing at all. It falls upon the Tanil coolies who flock to this country in such large numbers, and as the rate of wages paid to them must necessarily depend in a great measure on the price of the principal article of food, through them indirectly it falls upon the European planters and others who employ immigrant coolies and others. Thus it seems to be a tax which more or less hits all alike. Now when a tax which has existed from time immemorial is found to be so productive as this, and proved to be acceptable to the people, and catholic and equitable in its incidence, I think he would be a rash counsellor who would advise us to
give it up and substitute some other impost in its place merely in deference to certain economical and political principles which, though true and valuable enough in the country that gave them birth, may be altogether inapplicable to a country like this, where the circumstances of life are so dissimilar.
I think I have said enough in justification of the first part and the 5th section of this Bill, which expressly provides for the continuance of this tax. whatever may be said in favour of the retention of this impost, a great deal may justly be said in condemnation of the mode of collecting by the farming system. This has been generally condemned: it is condemned by the Commission as susceptible of abuse, and, no doubt, in certain cases there has been abuse, though I believe the abuse has been exaggerated. Still the system is wrong in principle, and it is not altogether convenient in practice. I am aware that fault has been found with the Commission for not taking oral evidence in detail on this subject, but, having at a very early meeting agreed that the mode of collecting taxes by the farming system could not be defended, they thought it not worth while listening to a mass of evidence in support of a foregone conclusion. The Commissioners have recommended that this mode of collecting the grain taxes should be superseded by a system of commutation, and it is with the view of carrying out this recommendation that the present Bill has been framed. The Bill provides for the substi- tution in every case of a money payment for the payment in kind, and consequently the
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abolition of the renting system must follow. It may either assume the form of a commutation based upon the average yield of the previous fourteen years-this commu- tation to be paid annually-or it may take the shape of a fixed payment to be made not annually but only in those years when the field in respect of which the tax is due produces a crop. Of course it is the very essence of commutation that the money should be paid every year, whether the land produce anything or not, but it has been thought almost impracticable to enforce a commutation on all the lands in the Island.
In the case
of many lands, where the supply of water is perennial and the prospects of crop every year are good, commutation is unquestionably the preferable mode of collecting these duties, and no doubt in all these cases the people of the low country will-at least I trust they will follow the example of the people in the Central Province, and, without it being necessary to put the compulsory clauses of the Ordinance into force at all, will agree with the Government to pay a fair commutation. But with regard to other lands, where the crops are very precarious from want of water, from being liable to inundation or some other cause, and which therefore can only be cultivated at considerable intervals, it would be impossible to compel people to commute the tax. Where these lands are chiefly found the people are poor, and, in all probability, as poverty and improvidence generally go together, they will be found to be improvident and will not when they have a good crop lay up for the year when they will have to pay their commutation without having order to meet cases of this kind, there is a provision here that any crop at all. So, instead of the commutation paid every year a larger sum shall be fixed and shall be paid only in those years in which the field or parcel of land in respect of which the money is due produces a crop. Within certain limits it will be optional with the cultivator to say whether he will pay this annual commutation or whether he will pay this fixed sum in As soon as he has exercised his choice it will those years only when he has a crop. remain final until the revision of the scheme, which will take place seven years afterwards. Where during the preceding seven years land has produced a crop sevenfold at least the amount sown,—this is a fair average, I learn,-in that case there is fair basis on which to assume commutation, and commutation will be compulsory, but that refers to paddy lands only. In all other cases,-where the crop is precarious or where the field produces some grain other than paddy,--it will be optional with the cultivator whether he will commute or pay this fixed amount in those years only when his land produces a crop. Of course the commutation which is paid, whether the land produces a crop or not, is more encouraging to agriculture than a payment which is only made when the land produces a crop. Therefore, as an encouragement to people to commute, in estimating the amount of commutation upon the average of the preceding fourteen years the Government will make a deduction of 10 per cent. to meet the cost of seed paddy for the following years. In some districts and in certain seasons the crops may be so small that the Government duty would exhaust all the profits of the cultivation: there is a provision that in these cases nothing shall be paid unless the crop is at least threefold the quantity sown. These two concessions will be found to be very important concessions indeed to the people. In addition to these concessions there is a further provision which it is hoped will prove a great encouragement in bringing new lands into cultivation. If any landowner chooses to bring into cultivation again any land that has not been cultivated during the fourteen years previous to this Ordinance coming into operation, or if he chooses to bring entirely new land into cultivation, he will not be liable to pay any duty whatever to Government until the next grain tax revision takes place seven years after the first. The Ordinance, it will be seen, is divided into two parts. The first part provides the necessary machinery for estimating the amount which is to be payable by way of grain commutation or by way of grain duty. It provides for the appointment of Commissioners who will superintend this work; it sets out the principles upon which they are to proceed, and it also provides for the proper record of the conclusions to which they come. This part of the Ordinance will come into operation on the 1st of May next. When this work is done in any district it will be competent for the Governor to bring Part II. into operation in any particular district or districts, and when that is done the duty to the Government ceases to be payable in kind, the renting system becomes a thing of the past and the new system is introduced. It could made not very well be introduced into all parts of the Island at once, and so provision
As soon as it has been for its introduction by proclamation into district after district. introduced the grain tax will be payable under new principles and a new system. The non-payment of commutation money will cease to be any offence. The tax will practically become a charge upon the land. It is to be hoped that all the evils of the It will be seen from the present system will then be entirely done away with. concessions provided for in the Bill that the object of the Government in introducing
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