PUBLIC RECORD
OFFICE
Reference :-
EPERE CO. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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4. This Colony has been favoured with a record crop this year. It is in fact so abundant that the transport available is not sufficient to carry it all, and even if carried the sugar mills would be unable to crush it all.
5. It is estimated that about 4,000 acres of canes, mostly belonging to small Indian planters, will be left uncut this year, as the cost of cutting and of transport exceeds the price paid by the mills. The position of the small planters, a very deserving class, will, therefore, be very unfavourable this year. On the other hand the position of the large planters is far from favourable.
6. It is estimated that the cost of production of sugar averages about Rs. 6.25 per 100 lbs. in ordinary years. In consequence of the large crop this year the average cost of manure and of cultivation per 100 lbs. is less, but the cost of labour, owing to increased demand for cutting and carrying, is nearly double. I would not be justified, therefore, in putting the average cost per 100 lbs. at less
than Rs. 6.20.
7. In September the price of Bombay sugar in Mauritius was Rs. 9.50, giving an average for all sugars, including inferior qualities, of Rs. 8. But the price has fallen steadily ever since, and I now learn that on Friday last the 18th instant, a large parcel was sold for Bombay at Rs. 7.80. This gives an average for all sugars, including inferior qualities, of Rs. 6.30 per 100 lbs. But a deduction of two per cent. must be made for broker's charges and dock charges, so that if the price be maintained the planters will actually receive about Rs. 6.18 per 100 lbs. or about two cents less than the actual cost of production.
8. A considerable quantity of sugar was sold in September, October, and November at higher prices, but I estimate that about 90,000 tons still remains to be sold, and it is obviously a matter of great importance to know at what price the sugar will be sold.
9. The planters have a number of bills at the banks which will mature about the end of the year, and the Arab purchasers are perfectly aware of the fact. But even if this knowledge did not influence them in favour of lower prices the reports from Bombay would do so. The latest Bombay quotation is nine rupees six annas, equal to Rs. 7.88 in Mauritius, so that a profit of only eight cents is left to cover the purchaser's risk on a falling market.
10. These considerations have given me cause for anxiety, more especially as the Colony is pledged to a re-afforestation loan of £110,000, and a Mare-aux-Vacoas loan and a drainage loan of £40,000 as well as a Black River Railway loan of £10,000.
11. It will also be necessary to increase the rolling stock on the railway. The strain on the railways has been more than they can bear. In ordinary years they carry 1,038 tons daily during the busiest time. This year they have carried 1,350 tons daily during the busiest time, nevertheless there are about 200,000 bags of
sugar at the country railway stations, and in the sugar houses which the railway cannot carry.
This sugar will be damaged if a cyclone visits the island before it can be transported, and the railway is being served with legal notices by the various estates with which they have contracts.
12. It is absolutely necessary that the Railway Department be placed in a position to fulfil its legal obligations, but I do not at present see how the necessary rolling-stock can be purchased out of revenue. For to increase taxation in the present position of the sugar industry would be dangerous.
13. I will at a later date report on this matter, and on the question of the con- struction of branch railways referred to in your despatch, No. 254, of the 3rd ultimo, but I propose to postpone my report till the month of January when I will be in a better position to form an opinion on the financial condition of the Colony.
14. I may explain also that I am being pressed by the Elected Members to bring these railways forward, but have declined to take any decision before January.
The question is not free from difficulty. On the one hand I feel that unless something is done to bring the small planters into communication with the main line of railway they must be ruined. I feel too that if the sugar industry should collapse the Government would be responsible for a large number of Indians
15.
• No. 112.
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to whom they are under moral if not legal obligations. Whilst on the other hand
I am extremely reluctant to advise the addition of fresh debt unless the position and prospects of the sugar industry should improve.
16. For the present I content myself with explaining the cause of the delay in these matters, and will tender later such advice as the circumstances may, in my opinion, justify me in giving.
(No. 34 of 1903.)
I have, &c.,
GRAHAM BOWER,
Officer Administering the Government.
Enclosure in No. 122.
MINUTE BY ACTING GOVERNOR.
Expenditure on account of increased Rolling-stock.
Referring to His Excellency the Governor's Minute of the 20th October last, submitting to the Council a report by the General Manager of Railways as to the increased rolling-stock required to meet the exigencies of the goods traffic during the coming year, the Officer Administering the Government has the honour to lay on the table a further report from Mr. Pitot, dated 10th November, urging the necessity of ordering the new engines and waggons with as little delay as possible in order that they may be here in time for the next crop.
The expenditure asked for by the General Manager of Railways amounts to Rs. 600,000 and comprises the rolling-stock necessitated by the opening of the new railway lines.
It was suggested by the Governor, in the Minute above referred to, that, in the event of the scheme being approved, so much of the expenditure as will be required by the new projected lines might reasonably be charged to capital account and included in the loan to be raised; the rest of the expenditure being spread over two years, and charged partly to current year and partly to the Treasury balances.
The Officer Administering the Government desires to obtain the views of the Council on the following suggestions.
It is estimated that one engine and 80 waggons will be necessary for the Black River and Mountain Long lines, which represent an expenditure of Rs. 255,000, and which, subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Council, might be included in the loan to be raised for various purposes, in- cluding the Mare-aux-Vacoas and Drainage Extensions.
The amount to be expended for the general purposes of the traffic will thus be reduced to Rs. 345,000, and the Officer Administering the Government considers that it will be prudent to defer the decision as to how this can be met until the financial position can be more accurately ascertained and the estimates are under consideration.
Government House,
November 21, 1903.
GRAHAM BOWER,
Officer Administering the Government.
ANNEXURE TO MINUTE of His Honour the Officer Administering the Government, No. 34 of 1903.
REPORT by the General Manager of Railways.
THE HONOURABLE
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY,
I AM afraid that I have not made my meaning quite clear in my report of 6th October.
His Excellency the Governor wrote in the last paragraph of his Minute of 20th October.
"The Governor recognises the necessity of an adequate increasing traffic caused by the extension of the railway
equipment to meet the system of the Colony.”