CO882-(3-4) — Page 443

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :

LICO. 882

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

4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

Revision of

the grain

tax.

Appeal

against re- vised duties.

Revised com-

mutation to

be entered

in register.

12

+

commutation or grain duty, to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and thirteenth sections respectively, save and except that the periods of fourteen and seven years respectively to be taken for the purpose of fixing the amount of annual-commutation or crop-commutation, as provided by the said seventh and eighth sections respectively, shall be the periods of fourteen and seven years respectively next preceding the expiration of the term of commutation so agreed upon as aforesaid.

26. The annual-commutation or crop-commutation fixed or determined under the provisions of this Ordinance in respect of any field or parcel of land shall be revised by the Grain-Commissioner or Grain-Commissioners for the time being at the expiration of seven years from the date of the same becoming first payable, and thereafter at the At each such revision it shall be lawful for such expiration of every seven years. Commissioner or Commissioners to increase or reduce the annual-commutation or crop- commutation payable in respect of any field or parcel of land, if any exceptional circum- stances shall have arisen, which may in his or their opinion be reasonably expected to reduce or increase the value of the produce of such field or parcel of land or render more uncertain or less uncertain the probable yield thereof.

It shall also be competent for the owner of the land at any such revision to make his election whether annual-commutation or crop-commutation shall be thenceforth payable.

The revision of the Commissioner or Commissioners shall be subject to appeal to the Government Agent, and his decision shall be subject to appeal to the Governor and Executive Council in the same manner and to the same extent and with the same effect as is provided for appeals by section ten.

Such revised annual-commutation or crop-commutation shall be duly entered in the register mentioned in section eleven, and shall become subject in all respects to the pro- visions of this Ordinance in the same manner as the annual commutation or crop-com- mutation originally payable thereunder.

WHEREAS the sum of Rs.

SCHEDULE.

A.

was due for annual-commutation [crop-commuta-

and for

tion or grain-duty, as the case may be] in respect of the produce of costs, which said eum has not been paid by the person liable therefor: And whereas the said land was seized in conformity with the Grain Tax Ordinance, 1878, and sold also in conformity therewith on the chased by

by the said

of

day of

for the sum of Rs.

: Now know ye that I

and the same was pur- which has been duly paid [Government Agent or Assist- ant Government Agent, as the case may be,] by virtue and in exercise of the power vested in me in this behalf by the said Ordinance do hereby certify that the following property (to wit)

[here describe the property with special accuracy as to boundaries] has been sold to and purchased by the said [name of purchaser] for the sum of Rs.

which he has duly paid, and that the said premises are and shall hence- forward be vested in the said

his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns,

this

free of all incumbrances.

Given under my hand at —

day of

[Signature. Passed in Council the eighteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.

J. A. SWETTENHAM,

Clerk to the Council.

Assented to by His Excellency the Governor the nineteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.

J. DOUGLAS,

Colonial Secretary.

13

Enclosure 2 of Despatch No. 32 of 27th January 1879.

REPORT on the ORDINANCE No. 11 of 1878.

PUBLIC attention having been frequently drawn of late years to the subject of the duties upon grain levied in Ceylon, Sir William Gregory, then the Governor of the island, on the 22nd January 1877, appointed a Commission to consider and report generally upon the question.

The Commission comprised the most representative men, official and unofficial, that could be selected from the community, and, after obtaining voluminous evidence from persons of all classes and races in the island, they sent in their report on the 30th October 1877.

The conclusions at which they arrived are thus summarized in the report :-

1. That historical inquiry shows that taxation in some form of home-grown paddy is of immemorial usage, and has always been willingly acquiesced in by the people.

2. That the payment of tithe is borne without complaint by the people, and is generally felt to be neither oppressive nor unjust.

3. That the import duties on grain enable the Government to reach the classes which otherwise would pay no tax at all in a way which they do not feel, owing to the large margin in their favour between the cost of living and the rate of wages.

4. That the great object for the Government to accomplish is to make the country produce enough grain for its native and immigrant population, and to accomplish this that it is desirable to continue on a larger scale than hitherto the restoration and improvement of irrigation works throughout the island.

5. That it is more to the interest both of the native population and of the European planter to extend irrigation and to improve the means of communication between the coast and the interior and throughout the interior of the island, than to reduce taxation.

6. That the present renting system is indefensible in principle, is open to abuse and has actually led to abuse, and that a system of compulsory commutation should be substituted for it.

The question whether the duties hitherto levied on produce other than paddy should be continued was much debated amongst the Commissioners. The majority were in favour of the abolition of these duties, a minority, with whose opinion the Secretary of There State concurred, thought that for the present at least they should be continued. duties, which amount to about Rs. 70,000 per annum, are mainly derived from the Northern Province.

With the object of carrying into effect the conclusions of the Commission the present Ordinance has been passed by the Legislative Council. Its leading provisions are

these:-

1. The retention of the existing grain duties, though in a modified form. 2. The abolition of the renting system.

3. The substitution in all cases of a payment of the duty in money for a payment in kind.

The remaining provisions of the Ordinance are subsidiary only; they lay down the principles upon which the amount of the commuted duties is to be determined, and create the necessary machinery for carrying the measure into effect.

The speech of the mover of the first reading of the Bill in the Legislative Council explained fully the main principles, as well as the more important details of the measure, and was translated into the native languages and largely disseminated amongst the revenue officers and principal headmen of the different provinces, who were invited to obtain the opinions of the cultivators upon the proposed changes in the law, and the sub-committee of the Legislative Council appointed to report upon the Bill also obtained much evidence, both oral and written, from Government officers and others as to the acceptability and practicability of the new enactment. The result of all these inquiries was that the sub-committee was satisfied that the measure would prove both practicable in its working and generally acceptable to the people.

In order to explain with clearness the principal features of the new enactment it may be useful to give a brief summary of the previously existing laws on the Bubject.

T'he immemorial usage by which a certain share of home-grown produce of all kinda was paid to Government received legislative sanction and regulation in the maritime

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