PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
mnimwim
TILL CO. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGIAUNOT TO
90
CEYLON.
The price of rice on 1st August was, say, Rs. 4/50, which rose to the prohibi- tive figure of Rs. 6/50 a few weeks later, but the commodity has now fallen to, say, Rs. 4/80 per bushel-with every prospect of lower prices being soon secured notwithstanding the rather gloomy forecast of the new crops" sowing in India
and Burmah.
During the periods when certain trade routes were interrupted, dislocation of regular supplies of rice gave cause for considerable anxiety, but the difficulties in maintaining a sufficiency for the island's needs have now largely disappeared.
>>
Freight space for London at one time became very scarce, and His Excellency's action in putting the prize ship "Fürth on the berth was much appreciated, this being done at a time when serious congestion existed at the wharf, as well as in every warehouse in Colombo, and when large quantities of valuable produce could not find a market here.
Generally speaking the local and home markets for tea. rubber, copra, and coco-nut oil continue satisfactory, while the prices being realized show reasonably good profits to the producers-especially can this be said in the case of tea.
Plumbago. There has been a fall in price, and a reduced demand, for obvious reasons--but the plumbago industry in Ceylon had previously enjoyed a period of exceptional prosperity.
The Honourable
the Colonial Secretary, Colombo.
50414/S
No. 41.
I am, &c.,
Secretary.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 18th December, 1914.)
(Confidential.)
SIR,
The Queen's House, Colombo, Ceylon, 24th November, 1914. In continuation of my Confidential despatch of the 20th instant,* I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of the following telegraphic despatches :-
(a) Your cipher telegram of 20th November, regarding the detention of a certain ship.
The naval storekeeper was informed accordingly.
(b) Your cipher telegram of 20th November, inquiring as to the position of Austrian and German firms in Ceylon.
Confi- In reply, I have to inform you that (as I have already explained in my dential despatch of 27th Octobert) Messrs. Freudenberg's business is being carried on, under orders of Court, by the British firm Messrs. Ford, Rhodes, & Church. The business of Messrs. Boysen & Co. is being carried on by Messrs. Morrison & Bell, Chartered Accountants. The premises of other German and Austrian firms have not closed, but very little business, if any, appears to be done. The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China is carrying out for Messrs. Bohringer & Co. a contract for the supply of papaine to an American firm.
(c) Your telegram of 20th November, in answer to my telegram of 25th October as regards the meaning of the words "British ports," and dealing with the question of exports of foodstuffs and rubber.
I enclose, for your information, a copy of a letter I have caused to be sent to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on this subject.
(d) Your telegram of 21st November, asking for my observations on the representations of the Ceylon Association that trade between Russia and Ceylon was hampered by lack of exchange facilities.
I replied by my telegram of 23rd November, expressing my view that the difficulties of trade with Russia were due not to exchange as such, but to the absence of credit in London against which to draw in payment for Russian purchases.
* No. 40.
+ No. 87.
97
OBYLON
2. Adverting to paragraph 1-(c) of my despatch of 20th November,* I am glad to inform you that the proposal to raise a contingent of Ceylon Light Infantry met with unanimous approval in the local Press, both European and Ceylonese, though some of the papers are of opinion that it will be possible to raise a consider- ably larger contingent than the one at present proposed by me, on military advice. 3. As regards the prisoners of war, I have to inform you that all the prisoners interned at Ragama Camp were transferred to Diyatalawa on 20th November, and the Ragama Camp has now been closed.
64
4. With reference to your telegram of 11th November, vide paragraph 1 (a) of my despatch of 20th November, I replied by telegraph on the 21st instant recommending for commissions as captains Captain F. C. Smith, of the Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps, and Mr. P. H. Milward, who raised the contingent of intend- ing recruits and sailed with it for England on the 8.8. Derbyshire" on 17th November. I informed you at the same time that I considered more than one hundred of the Ceylon Contingent of Volunteers now in Egypt would be found suitable for commissioned rank, and suggested that Colonel Fell, who knows them personally, and the General Officer Commanding the Troops in Egypt should be asked to advise the War Office as to the qualifications of individuals.
5. In order that you may be informed as to the origin and development of the proposal to present to the War Office one million pounds of tea from the ten estates of Ceylon, I enclose a report of the proceedings of the Ceylon Planters' Association at a meeting held on 13th November.
This proposal (which seems unlikely to prove a success, seeing that the gifts of tea amount at present to less than 150,000 pounds) is, I understand, viewed with considerable disfavour by the estate-owning companies in England, who appear to evince a disinclination to pay for this unauthorized generosity on the part of their estate superintendents in Ceylon.
6. In continuation of the concluding paragraph of my despatch of 20th November. I enclose, for your information, copy of a letter of 17th November last and its enclosure, from the Honorary Secretary of the Low Country Products Association, an association composed almost entirely of Ceylonese producers, and now working in close touch with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
SIR,
I have, &c.,
ROBERT CHALMERS,
Enclosure 1 in No. 41.
Governor.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo, 23rd November, 1914. ADVERTING to my letter of the 29th ultimo, in reply to your letter of the 94th idem, I am directed to acquaint you, for the information of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, that His Excellency the Governor learns, through a telegram received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, so far as concerns the export of foodstalls and the raw materials thereof, the prohibition of such exportation extends to European ports only and therefore not to the United States of America.
2. As regards plumbago, licences for export to the United States can be granted in Ceylon provided that in each case the proper authorities are satisfied that the material will be need in the United States.
3. As regards rubber, His Excellency can only assure you and the Chamber that the existing prohibition is deemed necessary in Imperial interests, and that in the United Kingdom the prohibition of export now applies to all destinations alike. While he gathers that grounds exist for hoping that possibly arrangements may hereafter be negotiated as regards the export of rubber to the United States, he can only express his regret that, in the meantime, shipments of rubber front Colombo to that country cannot be authorized.
4. I am to add that correspondence is still proceeding between His Majesty's Government and the Governments concerned, with reference to the export of rubber
to Russia (through Vladivostook), Japan, and France.
J. Thomson Broom, Esquire,
Chairman, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
I am, &o.,
E. B. DENHAM, for Colonial Secretary.
H
* No. 40. + Not reprinted.