PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
9
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
18
36
this is an argument that is always thrown at us--
and that private play would take the place of public, but the Government of Sir Robert l'eel thought otherwise, and thought rightly. Gambling became a matter of danger, and public and private play at games of chance has almost entirely ceased throughout the length and breadth of England. I anticipate the same good effects here by imposing restrictions upon drinking We must, as I said before, be pre- shops, though not to the same extent. pared for a slight, but I believe a very slight, decrease of revenue in conse- quence of curtailing the area in which arrack taverns may be established; but even supposing we are thereby obliged to protract the completion of some works of utility for a longer period, can any work be named more beneficial, more urgent, more accompanied with God's blessing than that of trying to save the bodies and the souls of those committed to our charge?
Now, Sir, this extract that I have quoted contains everything that I can possibly say on the subject, and that is the view that most of us who are conscientiously working in the cause of temperance are taking in the matter; and we hope, earnestly hope, that the operation of the Ordinance that we are about to pass will not have the effect of increasing the consumption per head of spirituous liquors in the case Now, with of our people. So much is with regard to the establishment of taverns. regard to the drink habit itself, I am tempted to quote what has already been quoted by our friend, the late General European Member, Mr. John Ferguson, who has taken so warm a part in causing discussion on this subject to be brought forward; even at the risk of being charged with quoting what has already been brought before this Council, I simply want to show what so exalted a person as Lord Curzon has said about it. He said :-
"Drink is a leper spot on the surface of the nation, a moral canker eating into the vitality of our people, and producing effects which do not die with the year, or the life, or even with the generation, but will be repro- duced from year to year, from generation to generation, in a terrible, por- tentous legacy of poverty, misery, and crime."
In anything that we do, if it tends to increase drunkenness in this country, it is a matter that all of us would most deeply deplore; but we most earnestly hope that what we are doing now will not have the effect of cultivating habits of drunken- ness, but will greatly enable us to wipe out the consumption of arrack altogether, if We need not depend upon possible, whatever the cost of it may be to the revenue. this blood money for the expenditure which we require. We are prosperous enough in so many industries from which we obtain revenue, and I would advocate, even at the risk of being charged with being an enthusiast, that we should sweep away altogether this blood money, this four million rupees, or seven million rupees, four millions of which we shall save if we work as is proposed to be done. Sweep it off, Sir, entirely, and let us rely for our prosperity upon the blessing of God, and upon the regeneration of our people. I am a strong believer in checking as far as possible intemperance. As Sir William Gregory said, in olden times it was regarded as a disgrace for a man to be considered a drunkard. Now it is regarded as the fashion. Our people unfortunately are rather apt to ape and copy other people's ways, but they have not the discrimination to judge as to what is good and what is bad and should be rejected. The Opium Ordinance is working away, I was delighted to learn from every direction. I made inquiries, and I find that it is working admirably well. Now, if the same machinery, even at a large cost, were adopted with regard to the consumption of liquor, I think we should to a certain extent gain our ends. It is to my lay mind somewhat difficult to understand, without a great deal of subtlety of reasoning, that an increase of taverns will necessarily diminish the consumption of liquor. As a layman, and not a subtle reasoner, at the first blush it appears to me that it brings temptation to our doors, and that most of the people in our villages, who are not educated men, and who do not know the difference betweeen the use and the abuse of liquor, will be tempted to fall. Now, that is something, Sir, that I am anxious to guard against in any machinery that we employ. Now, Sir, with regard to the other point, local option, it is said in defence of the increase of or addition to taverns that there is a demand, there is a want, and that that demand and that want should be supplied. How is that want and how is that demand to be ascertained without questioning the people and knowing what their wishes are? This local option seems to me to be nothing more than that. You ask the people whether they want a tavern to meet their
37
Yes, we want one," give it demands and to supply their wants, and if they say them; but if they say they do not want it, why thrust it on them? Now, if one man wants to drink as opposed to the bulk of the majority, let that man be put to the trouble of walking a greater distance than going next door and getting his arrack. 1 am, Sir, entirely in favour of the Ordinance, except on those two points, namely, that we should not be denied local option, and that there should be some guarantee that the number of taverns will not be so increased as to increase the amount con- sumed per head. (Applause.)
The Honourable the EUROPEAN RURAL MEMBER. - Your Excellency and gentle- have men, in the ten years during which I have been connected with this Council no hesitation in saying that this is quite the most important measure that has yet been brought before it. I am fully in accord with the principle of the Bill, and I am more than satisfied with the safeguards included in the Bill, especially after the lengthy explanation made by the Honourable the Colonial Secretary yesterday as regards not instituting any taverns merely for revenue purposes. But, Sir, in certain districts and towns there are recognised bodies of organised thought, who have local knowledge and experience second to none, and I ask, if it is possible, before licensing a tavern or before abolishing an existing tavern, that they should he consulted, not necessarily that such consultation should be final, but that their views should be taken. I am strongly of opinion that local option is in no sense of the word suited to this Colony. In all agricultural countries it is the tendency for a small and noisy minority to pose as voicing the opinions of the silent millions of the tillers of the soil. I do not know that this Colony is any exception to the rule, and for this reason I think it would be a great mistake to experiment, and it would he a very great experiment, in local option; but if Government can see their way to give some assurance that these recognised bodies should be consulted, I think it more than meets the case.
The Honourable the TAMIL MEMBER: I have great pleasure, Sir, in rising to As the Honourable the say a few words on the Bill now before the Council. European Rural Member says, it is, I think, a most important measure, and, as observed very properly by the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, it is designed to meet a very far-reaching evil. By this Bill, Sir, it is proposed to do away with the system which has been in force for over seventy or eighty years in this Ísland, a system which has been found to be pernicious, and which has impressed itself On that point there is unanimity of upon all kinds of people as objectionable. opinion, and my honourable friend the Colonial Secretary, in his very able and exhaustive speech, gave us convincing proofs of the utter worthlessness of the system which we have adopted all these years. Now, any system which will be better than that ought to be acceptable to us. On that ground, this being certainly the better system of the two, I mean the system proposed by this Ordinance, at all events the less injurious, I may say it will be welcomed by almost all sections of people. There are certain objections urged by the general public of Ceylon, and certain memorials have been addressed to the Government, and those objections, at all events some of them, we consider sound and reasonable. If we analyse them, we shall find the objections of substance to be about four in number. The first objection, and the most formidable one, was with regard to the suggestion made by the Excise Com- missioners that a toddy tree tax should be imposed. This, Sir, is perfectly unjust and indefensible, and it was a great relief to me to hear in an authoritative manner from the Honourable the Colonial Secretary yesterday that it has been decided not to impose any tax at all on sweet toddy trees. Well, I say that removes one of the most formidable objections presented to the scheme. In connection with that, Sir, it will be necessary to make a few amendments in this Ordinance, and these can be very well made in the Select Committee. I think it is scarcely necessary for me to dilate upon the amendments I propose, except to suggest that certain clauses should be so amended as to impose no restraint at all on a person who draws sweet toddy from any palm trees; in fact, according to the present law it is permissible for any man to receive toddy from a tree in a pot or other vessel, when sufficient precautions have been taken by him to prevent fermentation. In the Northern Province, as was properly stated by the Excise Commissioners in their Report, the method adopted is to have the pot thoroughly coated with lime, and that effectually prevents fermentation; and I think there has been no case in the Northern Province in my experience where such toddy has been turned into fermented toddy. I know that lime and some other substances are used to prevent fermentation. I think it is possible for the Government to devise such measures as will effectually prevent
$3407
0 3
1
D