121
CEYLON.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :---
༑ ། ་། ། ། [ mmimmimC.O. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRASS NOT TO
2. With reference to paragraph 1 (g) of my Confidential despatch of the 14th January,** I telegraphed to you on the 19th January explaining the position as to contracts entered into before the war on behalf of Messrs. Freudenberg & Co.
3. On the 20th January I informed you, by telegraph, that I had reason to suspect that the firms of Riccardo Steinleitner and Lorenzo Marcio, of Turin, were endeavouring to obtain plumbago for use of the enemy. My inquiries are not yet quite complete, but I hope to be in a position to send you a despatch on the subject by next mail.
4. Referring to paragraph 1 (a) of my Confidential despatch of the 19th January, I telegraphed on the 22nd January that this Government agrees to the proposal to allow free delivery of unpaid or insufficiently paid letters and post- cards received from our troops on active service.
I have, &c.,
14233
No. 51.
ROBERT CHALMERS,
Governor.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 26th March, 1915.)
On Tour, Jaffna, Ceylon, 2nd March, 1915.
(No. 181.) SIR,
I HAVE the honour to inform you that in my weekly despatches since the outbreak of war I have made frequent references to the general state of the Colony as affected by the war, and it may now be of interest briefly to summarize the present position with especial reference to the condition of the native population."
2 Shortly after the outbreak of war I issued instructions to the revenue officers that they were to report immediately to Government should there be any cases of distress or unemployment, while I authorized the grant of permits to oultivate chenas on a more liberal scale, with a view-should it be found necessary --to increase the food supply of the island. The Government agents were at the same time warned that the issue of chens permits should not be abused, and the fact that they were being granted was not to be taken advantage of to create a scare that there was a likelihood of any shortage of food supplies, as the effect of granting chena permita liberally would be robbed of its value, should it result in villagers neglecting their crops in the belief that Government and others would support them with special grants and financial doles in the event of any scarcity.
Steps were also taken to provide for the regulation of prices of foodstuffs to prevent petty traders from taking advantage of the war to raise prices unduly, while the Agricultural Department were given instructions to secure supplies of seed paddy and vegetable seeds for distribution.
am glad to be able to report that there has practically been no necessity for any special measures. Special grants of chenas have been very few indeed, and there has not been a single case where it has been necessary to make special arrangements for works of relief.
3. In fact, the condition of the people of Ceylon, of all classes the traders in the towns and the small cultivators in the villages has been most satisfactory. This satisfactory state of affairs has been largely due to the general settled pros- perity of the island. which has secured a standard of comfort throughout Ceylon which admits of retrenchment without difficulty, and allows of a considerable margin for saving without causing anything more than a curtailment of luxuries; while a good harvest throughout most of Ceylon has ensured the almost sole need of the poorer cultivators-a reserve of paddy.
The report of the Chamber of Commerce, which I am forwarding to you by separate despatch, gives facts and figures showing the present condition of the main industries of the island, which give employment to the large majority of the natives of the island. Their satisfactory condition is reflected in the amount of employment and the general well-being which has continued practically unaffected by the war.
* No. 48.
| No. 49.
14285: not printed.
4. I quote extracts from reports received from revenue officers-the state of whose districts is typical of the general conditions prevailing throughout the island. Mr. J. G. Fraser, C.M.G., Government Agent of the most important Province in the island-the Western Province-reports:-
During January and the early part of February I have visited almost every part of the Colombo district. I have had no complaints of distress or want of employment. Everywhere there has been a more than average paddy crop and the price of coco-nuts is very satisfactory. I have visited several of the coco-nut mills, and found the number of hands employed to be the same as before the war, although in some cases the wage paid is slightly less.
I am not apprehensive of distress occurring on any large scale. The closing down of the plumbago pits has thrown some men out of work, but most of them seem to have been assimilated elsewhere. The carpenters of Moratuwa are short of work, but for the next month or two no distress is likely to occur, and probably by that time the general recovery in trade will also affect them favourably. The members (non-official) of the Moratuwa Local Board whom I consulted did not think there was any distress at present."
Mr. R. B. Hellings, the Government Agent of the Southern Province-a province with numerous industries and those most likely to be affected by the war- states:-
"The population of the district is densest along the coast. In the course of the month the price of coir yarn has dropped from Rs. 11:50 to Rs. 10.50 (Rs. 13.50 was the price before the war) and this is felt by the large number who earn a living in the various stages of this industry. Carpenters, masons, and sawyers are short of work; but the class that feels the pinch most is the casual unskilled coolie of the town and larger villages, who owns no property and lives by odd jobs."
"The price of curry stuffs, such as Maldive fish, onions, chillies, all imported, and regarded by the rather pampered people of this district almost as necessaries of life, is very high. On the other hand, coco-nuts are cheap; tapioca, sweet potatoes, other yams, and fine grains and vegetables are being raised in very large quantities, and the poor will have to use them instead of the more tasty imported articles. There is a fairly good harvest of fish. There is at present no actual distress."
Of the Province of Sabaragamuwa, which is a Province which showed a remark- able increase in prosperity during the last decade and has a population which depends largely upon employment on estates and with fluctuating grades of pros- perity, the Government Agent reports :--
"Unemployment in the sense that persons have been thrown out of em- ployment owing to the prolongation of the war practically does not exist in the Ratnapura district. Work on the estates is going on as usual. The Sin- halese villagers, who were formerly dependent on estate work, can find as much work now as formerly, though the rate of wages in some places has fallen. But the wages earned are ample to meet all demands. As regards public works, that is, railway construction and Public Works Department, owing to the retrenchment, there is less work. But the people employed on these works have either, as in the case of Tamils, left the district, or, in the case of local Sinhalese, turned their attention to other works, such as paddy culti vation and work on estates. Several industries have been shut down. The most important are gemming and plumbago-mining. These industries attracted large numbers of low-country villagers as well as local people. The former have, in most cases, left the district. The latter are devoting them- selves to agriculture. If any distress should be reported, the Road Commit- tees and the Gansabhawas are in a position to give work on the roads for money or food payments. The effect of the war, if at all, has only affected Kuruwiti and Nawadun Korales-the two most populated Korales which adjoin the town, but the effect so far has been insignificant. In the other Korales, except perhaps in regard to the rise in the price of foodstuffs, the condition of the people is practically the same as before the war. There is, therefore, no reason to apprehend any trouble either at the present moment or in the future in respect of unemployment in the Ratnapura district.
The prospects of the paddy and chena crops are excellent."