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C.O. 882

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4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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with it; but the question to be considered is, whether some other tax which would press more equally on the inhabitants generally might not be substituted for these two sources of revenue. I have no hesitation in saying that a land tax is the only fair substitute for them.

It is the most equitable of all taxes, and if fairly assessed does not press more heavily on one class than it does on another; the chief objection to it has hitherto been the absence of an accurate survey of all the private lands in the island; but if we wait until this has been completed it will be impossible to do away with the taxes on food for

In years to come. my letter to you No. 103 of 22nd June last, I stated that with my present staff and the duties they have to attend to, it would take about 70 years to eurvey the unsurveyed private lands in the Colony; but that with an additional force of 120 young men taken from the burgher and native population, the work could be completed in seven years at a cost of about 42,3301. per annum.

At present the estimated sowing extent of paddy has in the majority of cases to be taken and accepted as approximately correct, and why should not the same system be adopted with regard to other lands? The natives are extremely clever at determining the sowing extent of land. Every villager knows the exact size of all the gardens and fields in his village. I am certain therefore that a return sufficiently accurate to enable a land tax to be imposed could be obtained in a few months.

I would recommend as follows:-

1. Each agent and assistant agent should be called upon to send in a carefully pre- pared return of each village in his district, giving under separate heads, according to a printed form which would be supplied to him, the name of each garden or field in the village, the name of its responsible or principal owner, the description of cultivation, the number of amunams sowing extent, (not according to fine grain sowing, but as if sowed with low land paddy,) the number of acres to each amunams, the quality of the soil, the average yield, how irrigated, how often cultivated. If the field or garden is the property of Government it should be stated accordingly, also the rent or extra tax paid.

A return of this description prepared by responsible trustworthy headmen under the orders of the revenue officer, would give valuable information and enable an approxi- mation to be arrived at of the extent of private land in the island.

2. On the receipt by Government of these returns they should be carefully examined by competent persons, and a fair scale of taxation determined on. The land tax should be as nearly equal as possible, but of course a difference would have to be made between lands with a constant supply of water and those which can only be cultivated at intervals for want of water.

3. I would not exempt uncultivated private lands from taxation, but I would not tax them so highly as cultivated lands.

4. The estimated extent of the lands should only be considered approximate, and should be subject to correction when surveyed.

5. The payment of a land tax for any period should not give the claimant of the iand any right or title to it, should it be proved at any subsequent period to be Crown property.

6. Crown lands cultivated by the people should be charged an additional sum per acre

as rent.

I think that by adopting this course a fair land tax might be established, and the present paddy and fine grain taxes and import duties on rice and paddy abolished.

The import duty on rice cannot be looked upon as a protection, as the main bulk of the population are dependent for subsistence upon imported rice; but the abolition of the taxes on paddy and rice, and the substitution for them of a land tax, would be an incentive to the extension of the cultivation of paddy.

The cultivator at present sows as much as he actually requires; he does not care to extend his cultivation or to cultivate highly, as he considers he would only increase the revenue by doing so; but if he had to pay a uniform rate for his land, independent of what he realised at each crop, he would doubtless endeavour to make as much as he could, and to allow as few of his fields as possible to become waste land.

I think an average land tax of 3s. per acre on all private lands would be fair, and at the same time reimburse the revenue for the loss of the paddy and fine grain tax and import duty on rice and paddy. 1

Some lands might pay as much as 6s. per acre, others 28., and some 18., but until the returns suggested have been sent in the actual assessment cannot be determined.

The average sowing extent of paddy land is 24 bushels per acre, and allowing the crop to yield 20 bushels only, which is only eight-fold, the Government share would be 2 busbels, equal in money value to from 6s. to 88., and in some districts to more; an average of 38. per acre would therefore not be a heavy charge.

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Again, the native cocoanut gardens, which are not cultivated highly, contain on an At the lowest computation each tree yields 30 nuts per average 75 trees to the acre.

annum.

The price of cocoanut varies: it is sometimes down as low as 5s. per 100, sometimes up to 9s., and even higher. Taking the lowest rate, the sum realised per acre would be 75 x 30 × 5 = 51. 12s. 6d. I have not in this made any allowance for those gardens from which toddy is obtained.

Tobacco, coffee, Indian corn, pepper, mustard, guyelly, cotton, &c. are all cultivated in different parts of the island, also vegetables of various kinds.

From returns which were sent in to me when I was getting the information required in your letter, No. 54, of 27th May 1868, there appear to be about 2,100,000 acres of private land in the island, of which 379,000 are temple property, leaving 1,721,000 acres Vide B. as the extent of taxable private property.

The returns sent in gave about 1,700,000 acres as being actually cultivated, but the blue book for 1867 gives 1,550,664. I think, however, that we may fairly assume that there are 1,600,000 acres of taxable private lands, which at 3s. average per acre would bring in a revenue of 240,000l. per annum, to cover a loss of 231,000l. per annum.

The land tax should not be collected by middle men.

There should be no renting out, but the money should be collected and paid into the different kachcheries by salaried Government officers. The staff required for this purpose will have to be determined, but I do not think the expense will be great.

Government would, if my suggestion be adopted, receive an unfluctuating and certain revenue which could always be counted upon, and the people would also know exactly what they had to pay. I daresay that at first there would be slight dissatisfaction amongst the owners of cocoanut gardens and others who have hitherto been untaxed, but this would soon wear off, and the equitable nature of the tax could not fail in a short time to be generally acknowledged.

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In conclusion I would direct attention to Sir Emerson Tennent's remarks about temple lands.

He says:

"By the convention of 1815, which established the authority of the British "throughout Ceylon, the exemption of temple lands from taxes was understood to have "been confirmed, though it is not so stated in express terms; and although by the 'subsequent rebellion of 1817-18 that treaty was annulled, still the proclamation of "Sir Robert Brownrig in the latter year re-established the immunity of the temple "lands from all taxation whatever, although it is specially provided that power is "reserved to alter the present provision as may appear hereafter to be necessary or "expedient."

Further on he says: If the temple tenants were converted into leaseholders, on & footing with all other cultivators throughout the island, and their position elevated above their present state of dependence and serftude, he could see no difficulty in subjecting the temple tenants to the land tax, thus getting rid of the exemption without offence to the hierarchy, and bringing a revenue to the Treasury from two-thirds of the Kandyan lands, which are now entirely unproductive.

I may add that we have already surveyed upwards of 1,196,000 acres, so that only about one half the amount of private lands would have to be assessed on estimated

extents.

The Honorable the Colonial Secretary.

A.

I have, &c. (Signed)

A. B. FYERS,

Captain R.E.

From 1st January 1869 until the 31st December 1874, there were imported for con- sumption in the island 29,956,089 bushels of rice and 5,176,810 bushels of paddy, giving an average per annum of 4,992,6811⁄2 bushels of rice and 862,8014 bushels of paddy.

The total revenue derived from the import duty on paddy and rice during these six years amounted to 937,274h, or an average per annum of 156,2127.

During the same period the revenue from the taxes on paddy and fine grain amounted to 545,8681., or to an average per annum of 90,978/.

The total average revenue per annum from import duty on paddy and rice and from taxes on paddy and fine grain during the six years ending on 31st December 1874 amounted to 247,1901.

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