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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:

C.O. 882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

Clause 2.

Clause 6.

Clause 8.

Clause 9.

Clause 7.

Clause 10.

Clause 13.

Clause 2.

I

In this sub-committee the Bill was again most closely examined and amended. enclose the report of the sub-committee which shortly enumerates the amendments they recommended in the Bill. The report is dated the 9th of December, and was brought up on the 11th, when the Bill was read in committee of the whole Council, and the The suggestions of the sub-committee with a few other amendments were adopted. Bill was read a third time on the 18th of December, and I assented to it on the following day.

6. The Ordinance is divided into two parts.

7. The first part of the Ordinance contains the machinery for ascertaining the amount of the tax which ought to be paid in money to the Government in lieu of the former For this purpose, Commissioners are to be appointed payment in kind to the "renter."

by the Governor, who are to ascertain" with as much accuracy as possible" the average annual yield of each taxable paddy field during the last 14 years, and the money value of the tax which ought to be paid to Government annually where the landowner elects In cases where the landowner declines to compound to compound for a term of years. for a term of years the Commissioners are to ascertain the average annual value of the paddy fields in each of the years within the last 14 years in which the land has produced a crop, and fix the tax accordingly. A return of less than three-fold of the paddy sown is not to be considered a crop. It is optional, as I have already explained, with cach landowner to compound his tax for an annual payment for a term of years or to pay upon each crop. In either case an appeal from the decision of the Commissioner as to the amount to be paid lies, first to the Government agent of the province, and finally to the Governor and Executive Council. In respect to the kinds of grain other than paddy commonly called "dry grain," subject to the tax, there is a special mode of assessment provided by the Ordinance. This latter assessment is to be made by native officers, not below a certain rank, who are to assess the probable value of each crop, when cut, and the share due to Government.

8. As soon as in any province or district the Commissioners have concluded their labours, the Governor in Council may, by proclamation, declare that the Ordinance shall be brought into operation in such province or district, and thereupon the several Ordinances now in force for securing the due collection of the tax are to cease to have any force in such province or district, and it becomes illegal to farm out or rent the tax But the taxes found by the Commissioners to be due to due to Government. Government in respect of paddy fields and the grain duty assessed by the native headmen on dry grain crops must be paid in money to the Government agents, and Clauses 18, proper machinery is provided for securing such payments.

Clause 3.

Clause 14.

Clause 5.

19, 20, 21. Clanse 26.

Clause 15.

9. It is ordered that the annual composition, and also the sum determined by the Commissioners to be due by landowners who do not compound on each crop raised on their land, shall be revised at the end of every seven years.

10. With a view to encourage the spread of cultivation, it is enacted that any land which shall hereafter be brought into cultivation shall not be taxed until the next septennial revision. This applies to all land which has not been cultivated for

14 years.

11. These are the principal features of a measure which has been enacted with a sincere desire on the part of the Government and of the Legislature to benefit the native peasantry, and to offer every inducement to the extension of cultivation. It is not a measure which will add to the public revenue; it will probably lessen it; but, if it has the effect which is hoped for in encouraging a better style of agriculture, any actual loss to the revenue will be amply repaid by the improvement in the well being of the people. I say that this effect is hoped for, rather than anticipated, for it is hardly to be expected that the Sinhalese peasant-proprietor will, under any stimulus, exert himself to do more than he has been accustomed to do.

12. It was pretty clearly shown during the inquiries made in connexion with the Ordinance that, in practice, the abuses of the renting system were not so great as they have been theoretically supposed by distant observers to have been, still it is admitted that the system was open to abuse, and it undoubtedly caused many vexatious restraints from which the cultivator will hereafter be freed.

13. For carrying the Ordinance into effect the first consideration must be the appointment of the Commissioners who will have to appraise the money value of the tythe. It will be evident from a perusal of the Ordinance itself, from the report of the Queen's Advocate, and from the report of the Sub-Committee, that the successful working of the Ordinance will depend upon the labours of the Commissioners, who will have to ascertain and declare the money value of the tythes which have not heretofore been coinmuted. The septennial revision may hereafter be conducted by the Govern-

ment agents in their several provinces. But the work must, in the first instance, be committed to officers who are qualified by experience in commutation work, by know- This last ledge of the language, and by sympathy with the native population. qualification is no mere sentiment. In a matter of pure business I trust that I should But if the Ordinance is to be successful, the be the last man to introduce sentiment. composition or assessment of the tax must be made by officers in whom the natives repose confidence; and, in presence of the timorous distrust with which the change will most assuredly be viewed, confidence can only be gained by those who show that they have a just sympathy with the people, and desire to secure their rights while preserving the rights of the Crown. The Commissioners so appointed must also be enabled to devote their whole time and care to the work. It is in the Civil Service, and in the Civil Service only, that officers can be found possessing the necessary qualifications. I propose, with your consent, to detach two, or perhaps three Commissioners, as may be found necessary, one from the second and the other two from the third class of the Civil Service, and to fill their permanent appointments by acting officers from the junior grades of the Service. In this manner, and by this means, I believe that the In view of the length of time work can be most effectively and economically done. that will be occupied by the Commissioners in their work, certainly not less than two years, more probably three or four,—I would suggest that I should be allowed to award to the acting officers who fill the posts temporarily vacated by the Commissioners the full salaries of the office which they temporarily fill. The cost would not be great, and the arrangement would, in my opinion, be a just one considering the exceptional circumstances under which the acting appointments will be made and the length of time that they will last.

14. If the Ordinance should be confirmed, and you approve of the arrangements I have here proposed for carrying it out, I would ask to be informed of your approval by telegraph, that I may lose no time in considering the personal selection that should be made.

15. With regard to the special subject of dry-grain, I propose to address you in a separate despatch.

16. If any explanation is needed on any point in the Ordinance, Mr. Cayley, the Queen's Advocate, who will I trust have arrived in England before this despatch can

every information. reach you, will, I know, be ready to afford

The Right Honourable Sir Michael

E. Hicks-Beach, Bart., &c. &c. &c.

I have, &c. (Signed)

J. R. LONGDEN, Governor.

Enclosure 1 of Dispatch No. 32 of 27th January 1879.

ORDINANCE enacted by the Governor of Ceylon, with the advice and consent of the Legislative COUNCIL thereof.

(L.S.)

No. 11.-1878.

J. R. LONGDEN, Governor.

An Ordinance to make better provision for the due collection of the Tax, Duty, or Share due to Government upon Grain grown in this Island.

WHEREAS it is expedient to make better provision for the due collection of the tax, Preamble, duty, or share due to Government upon grain grown in this Island: It is therefore enacted by the Governor of Ceylon, by and with the advice and consent of the Legis- lative Council thereof, as follows :—

> PART I.

Ordinance.

Short title. 1. This Ordinance may be cited as "The Grain Tax Ordinance, 1878.” 2. Part I. of this Ordinance shall come into operation on the first day of May 1879. Commence- Part II. shall come into operation in such districts only of the island, and at such time ment of or respective times as the Governor, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, shall, by proclamation published in the Government Gazette from time to time, or at any time appoint; such proclamation shall define the district or districts in which Part II. of this Ordinance is to be brought into operation, and shall be published by beat of tom-tom or by such means as may ensure due publicity in each district to which it shall apply.

Between the date of the publication of any such last-mentioned proclamation, and the time when Part II. of this Ordinance is thereby appointed to come into operation, it A 3