PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
LILICO. 882
THE
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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that stor redistrilaition of taberus will have the additional very excellent effect, that 1 must now return it will tend to present taverns being placed to close together working in conjAATIO tron with one another for the mereased consumption of alcohol to the various other points which are raised in this memorandum which so recently They ask us to define the reached me from the Low country Products Association term "arrack" in the firdenaner as suggested by us, and to introduce suck proristons therein as will render the manufacture of country spirit out of sdeclaring bases to he
The suggestion which they make is as follow ~ atrack' illegal
Now, that is a submit that arruck should to defined as country Liquor which is distilled out of the
cuted toddy of the coconut palm without any saccharini hasi fermo very excellent and business like" proposal from the point of those interested in the preaduct of the coconut tree, but, as fhave already pointed out, it is scarcely one that interested in the any Government proceeding on business lines coild entertain, for such a proposition bea_proposition for the provision of facilities inviting those preachiet of the corntut palin " to make a corner in arrack, a provision also which no Gezertiment could entertain in justive to the general taxpayer or to other owner. Their next palin trees throughout the Colony, who at least merit as much consideration as those for whom the Low country Products Association claim to speak request is" to provide definitely for the exemption of sweet toddytries from tavation.” I may say that the Government has quite made up its mind at the present moment that the taxation of sweet toddy trees is not to be considered at the present time 1- fully cons inced by the arguments brought forward that that is not an ay isable step to take, and it is prepared to discuss the matter in Select Committee whether or no it is advisable to put into the Ordinance a definite statement making that illegal We are quite prepared to consider that, but I may say that the question (Applause } of a tree tax for sweet toddy trees has been entirely discarded by Government Association's next_request is " to exclude from the operations of this Ordinance such drugs as cocaine, bhang, und ganju, with a view to bringing them under the control Now, with regard to that I may say that the Government of the Opium Ordinance”
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is not prepared to become a purveyor of these drugs; that they believe their sale and consumption will be capable of far more efficient supervision and control under the new Ordinance than under the existing Opium Ordinance, that measures from time to time will be proposed for the control of these drugs, and that they will be submitted to this Council, and any suggestions that may reach us of a practical character with a view to stamping out the use of these drugs in this Colony will be welcomed, and I may add--I cannot think that will receive our most sympathetic consideration. the suggestion was intended to be made seriously that Government has never had any intention of farming out the right to purvey these drugs in the various Provinces. Government could not possibly suggest anything Such a thing would be impossible of the sort I am certain this Council would raise a unanimous protest against it, " to recon- and even if it did not, and consented. I do not think that there is any chance of the
proposal pass Finally, they ask us Secretary of State ever letting such a sider the policy of separating the rend of toddy from arrack" This, I regret to say, As I have already explained, the first essential initial cannot be complied with measure by which the control of intoxicants in the Colony can eventually be attained is to separate the sale of toddy from that of arrack; and to give that up is to give I have already explained the reasons for the up our present scheme of reform
course adopted by Government, and I have also disclosed the reasons why the course is unpopular. The request is tantamount to asking the Government to forgo its entire Now. I turn to the memorandum which reached me on Friday scheme of reform evening from the Chilaw Association, and which is signed by the Rev. Mr. Weern singhe, the Rev Mr. Ganegoda, and Mr. Corea, the Vice President of the Chilaw Association. Once more this document is of a destructive rather than of a construc- I would, tive character It expresses fear that the undertakings of Government that taverns will not be multiplied for revenue purposes will hereafter be forgotten. however, draw your attention, Sir, to the fact that rules made under this Bill will be submitted to the Legislative Council, and, inter alia, will prescribe the procedure to he followed, and the matters to be ascertained, before any licence for such sale is go back upon the promises granted for any locality; and that if Government were to
it has made, it would be auswerable to this Council, which is to-day receiving a state- ment of its policy. The memorandum then goes on to state some facts which induce the Association to think that the establishment of licensed places for sale will have no practical effect upon illicit sales. They say, which is perfectly true, that many places of illicit sale are worked in conjunction with licensed taverns. They add that
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many persons find closing hours inconvenient, and that for a variety of reasous even persons of alleged respectability prefer using an illicit shop to a licensed tavern as a place of resort These allegations are no doubt true, but I submit that they can only he dealt with by Government assuming direct control of the manufacture, distribu- tion, sale, and eventually of the consumption, of intoxicants throughout this Colony, and by the establishment of an efficient preventive staff. These are among the main objects of the present Bill. What the facts brought forward by the Association really prove and prove beyond doubt or cavil is that at the present time there is a very extensive and uncontrolled illicit trade carried on even in places where the moral That influence of the Association has had some opportunities of making itself felt being admitted, it is clearly the duty of Government to stamp out that illicit trade. and the measures we now propose are aimed at that very object, and when the members of the Association have been able to assimilate that fact after my speech
The Associa to day. I confidently hope that they will help to carry out the proposals. tion further seeks to attribute a decrease in crime in the Chilaw District to the fact that the number of taverns there was at one time greater than it now is. It has been shown that the number of taverns has nothing to do with the amount of liquor consumed, because there are in some cases illicit shops within a few yards of a licensed tavern. Now, they state that the decrease of crime in the Chilaw District is primarily due to the decrease in the number of taverns effected some years ago. Again, I have to point out that decrease of crime is marked, not only in Chilaw, but throughout the Colony, of recent years for instance, in the Southern Province, where my honour- able friend Mr Lushington reports a decrease of crime no less great, in spite of the fact that the number of the taverns is the same as formerly-and, really, I cannot see that any conclusion of the kind that the Association suggests can logically be drawn from the facts before us. In any case, from their own showing, the number of places
of illicit sale, upon which they rightly lay so much stress, offers facilities for obtaining drink at forbidden hours, frees the stuff consumed, frees the quantity removed and the quantities consumed from all supervision or restriction; and, according to the memorandum, enables gangs of roughs bent on crime to obtain the liquor wherewith at night time to fortify their courage for ill-doing. Once more the number of taverus is shown, even by the memorandum, to have no real reference to the consump- tion, and that is the real, main, unanswerable fact, which here, as always, is com- pletely ignored What is being proposed to day are only the first difficult steps in a very long up hill journey towards a goal upon which the Government, no less than its sincere critics, has its desires fixed. I look forward to a time when every drop of intoxicating liquor imported into this Colony, manufactured in, sold, or consumed within Ceylon, will be under a rigid control. It is not possible to make a new heaven and a new earth in a moment. The transformation from a state of things such as is described in the Association's memorandum-which in common with all documents showing any study of this difficult problem proves it to be radically bad and pernicious -to a condition of affairs upon which the Colony will have a right to pride itself, I think that, even in the must necessarily be a slow and a very laborious process. initial stages, the trend will all be in the direction of improvement; but the bringing of all liquor, whether it is now consumed licitly or illicitly, under supervision must be the first step taken, and that cannot be achieved by continuing to ignore it. The We can assure Government Chilaw Association goes on in the following words :— that to restrict facilities for indulging in liquor will not be considered as an inter- ference with the liberty of the subject by any section of the community." That, Sir. is in connection with Your Excellency's Address to the Council. 1 can only say that Government welcomes that assurance, because the object which in the end it is hoped that Government will achieve by the reformed system--the sole object—will, I trust. make it eventually possible to effect that very thing. The continuance of the present system to the end of the world could never have that result-could never give us any control over the manufacture, distribution, sale, or consumption of liquor in this "We think that a very narrow Colony. Later in the memorandum, however, I read : margin, indeed, should be allowed for the exercise of a preventive staff's interference with the liberty of the subject.” I am not at all clear what that means; but if the members of the Asociation share the apprehension that members of the Excise Depart ment may act aggressively in individual cases, we can only trust that that may not be the case. But though I admit that I entertain fears lest the powers vested in a preventive staff may occasionally be abused, I regard the establishment of such a staff as a necessity, and I hope that its operations will have the effect of terrorising law breakers, and will in the end put a termination to the state of things so ably