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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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14. I beg to report that, thinking that this matter may still be under consideration at the Colonial Office, and in order to save time, I am sending a copy of this letter direct to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 12.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

F. PRESTAGE.

THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received, through Mr. Ráma Náthan, December 4, 1886.)

THE RIGHT HON. E. STANHOPE, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES,

&c., &c., &c.

THE MEMORIAL OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

MOST RESPECtfully ShewETH,

It has

1. THAT since the Association memorialised your predecessor in office early this year," the Commissioners appointed by his Excellency the Governor to inquire into and report upon the financial prospects of the railway to Úva have completed their labours. also learnt that an influential deputation waited on Lord Granville in June last and obtained from him an assurance that an inquiry will be made into the desirability of adopting a narrow gauge line from Nanu-oya to Uva, in place of the broad gauge line upon which the existing estimates have been made.

2. The Association begs leave to submit that, on the basis of the figures supplied by the Commissioners, the hope of extending the railway to Badulla must be altogether abandoned. They estimate that, in the Uva Province, the produce in coffee would amount to 7,716 tons, in cinchona 362 tons, and in tea 1,092 tuns; and they allot to Haputale 4,389 tons of coffee and 90 tons of cinchona; and to the districts of Badulla, Madulsima, Hewa Eliya, and Monaragalla, 3,327 tons of coffee and 138 tons of cinchona; but they do not allot the tea in the same manner.

From other sources,

however, it is easy to determine the distribution of tea. In the last list of Ceylon tea estates, published two months ago by Messrs. Rucker and Bencraft, the Association learns that Haputale (proper and west) has 2,661 acres, and the other districts 3,393 acres under tea cultivation, namely, Badull. 2,410 acres, Madulsima and Hewa Eliya 951 acres, and Monaragalla 22 acres. The total of 6,054 acres thus arrived at differ somewhat from the area of 6,524 acres mentioned by the Commissioners, but the Association would not be far wrong if, adopting the ratio of the acreages supplied by Messrs. Rucker and Bencraft, 485 of the 1,092 tons of tea estimated for the province of Uva were assigned to Haputale, and the remaining 607 tons to the other districts. The total of traffic in coffee, cinchona and tea, would, therefore, be for Haputale 1,964 tons, and for the other districts 4,072 tons, or in the ratio of 55 per cent. to 45 per cent.

As the whole of this traffic, together with the up traffic from Colombo, yields according to the Railway Commissioners, only an income that will suffice to meet the charges on the loan required for the extension to Haputale, it is plain that the figures found by them go far to disprove the practicaoility of a paying broad gauge railway to Badulla.

3. Your humble memorialists submit that it was never intended originally or in later times that Haputale should be a terminal station. The interests of the natives of the Uva province, and the European planters of Badulla and the adjoining districts, demand that the railway should, if possible, be carried on to Badulla. If this cannot be done on the broad gauge system, it is all the more necessary to prosecute with zeal the promised inquiry into the suitability of a narrow or incter gauge line from Nanu-oya to Badulla. It will be a grave financial blunder to rest for good the paying capacities of the extension on the attractions of Haputale as a terminus, or of the desolate country through which the line would pass to that village.

4. Your memorialists would now respectfully point out the assumptions involved in the Report of the Railway Cominissioners, with the view of ascertaining whether the traffic collected at Haputale would be equal to paying the charges on the capital outlay required for constructing a broad gauge railway to Haputale.

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5. In the estimate submitted to his Lordship the Earl of Derby, under cover of the Governor's Despatch, No. 265, dated 19th June 1885,* the down traffic in coffee was estimated at 6,705 tons as the average of the three years 1881-84, but the estimate of 1886 gives the average of the five years 1880-85 as 7,716 tons. The Commissioners are inclined to think that the prospects of coffee in Uva are not gloomy, and that for some years to come a falling off in crop need not be anticipated. Your memorialists deduce a very different conclusion from the figures-for, establishing as they do, a higher average for the last five years than for the last three years, they emphasise the steady declension in the out-turn of coffer from Uva. The crop of 1884-85 was more abundant than that of the three previous years owing to specially favourable climatic causes, but the crop of 1885-86 amounting to 224,000 cwts., and more specially that of 1886-87, which is estimated by local authorities to amount to 185,000 cwts., will show that the decline is again steadily going on.

6. Your memorialists submit that the Commissioners have no right to take for granted that estates in the more distant districts would utilise the railway to Haputale. The planters, may, indeed, have promised to send the produce to that station, but a similar assurance given in aid of the Nawalapitiya-Nanu-oys line was not carried out in view of cheaper cart fares and other causes. Your memorialists, therefore, think that the Comi- missioners have over-rated the attractive capacities of Haputale, and that 8,821 tons are not likely to be collected there.

7. The Commissioners are very hopeful of the success of the tea industry and speak in high terms of praise of the vast progress it is making. But increase in tea produc- tion does not necessarily mean revenue to the railway, for, if the market for tea in Colombo or abroad is not encouraging, tea may not be despatched from the plantations. The Association views with much concern the enormous rate at which tea is being raised in the island. In 1875 there were only 1,080 acres, yielding 1,438 lbs., but in 1885 the figures rose to 102,000 acres and 3,373,000 lbs., and it is estimated that in the season of 1888-89, the probable export would be no less than 30,000,000 lbs. If quality be maintained and prices rule favourably, the benefits to Ceylon would be great indeed, but your memorialists fear that over production and inferior quality would glut the market. Indeed, the tea brokers of London have already sounded a warning note. Messrs. Rucker and Bencraft said in their circular of August last, "We have written so fully from time to time to urge upon planters the great necessity of striving after quality, that we risk appearing wearisome by reminding them that very strong brisk flavoury China tea with a fair leaf can be bought from 7d. to 8d. in this market, and "that if Ceylon tea is not kept away above this class in quality, the results' must be

simply disastrous.

Such a list, as this is necessarily incomplete as "fresh ground is broken every day, but it may be of some use if only to signal caution, "in view of what must be regarded as a certain overproduction of tea!' The Director of the Botanical Gardens, advocating the retention of healthy coffee, also broadly hints in the following paragraph of his Administration Report, dated 1st June 1886, at the dangers which the tea enterprise is likely to pass through: "A few years may not improbably develope a state of things in which planters will find it to their advantage "to have other products besides tea on the land."

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8. Turning to the up traffic, the Commissioners assert that it will be twice as much as the down traffic, though the figures supplied by the estates themselves show that the up traffic is much lighter than the down traffic. The actual figures are 8,821 tons down traffic and 7,443 tons up traffic. The Commissioners, however, reject the latter figure, and assume that the up traffic will be as heavy as 18,274 tons, on the strength of the experience gained on the main line that the up traffic is three times as much as the down traffic. Your memorialists are much struck with the simplicity of the observation of the Commissioners that the estate returns on this point "simply include "the two items of rice and manure brought up for the estates.” Could much more rice or other goods be taken up to Haputale for any other purpose? The Association respectfully submits that the Commissioners have forgotten that, if on the main line there is heavier up traffic than down traffic, it is due to the special circumstance that the large populations of Kandy, Matale, Gampola, Nawalapitiya, Pusselawa, Nuwara Eliya, and other places draw their supplies from Colombo, whereas there are no such centres of population to be served by the proposed extension. At present Badulla and the adjoining districts are largely indebted to Batticaloa and Hambantota for rice, salt, salt-fish, coconuts, &c. It must also be remembered that the down-traffic of Uva is usually much heavier than that of the other planting districts. For these reasons, the

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Association is strongly of opinion that the Commissioners' estimate of up-traffic at 18,274 tons is far too sanguine.

9. But while there are good reasons for believing that the traffic estimated for the Haputale extension will not be realized, your memorialists feel certain that, if the line were carried to Badulla, the more central and advantageous position of that town would attract even a much large traffic than that estimated for Haputale.

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10. That the difficulties of breaking gauge at Nánu-oya have been greatly exaggerated. It is estimated by competent authorities in the island that about 80 per cent. of the goods collected at Nanu-oya may be "transhipped" by one and the same process, and that at the rate of 10 cents for a ton of coffee, rice and manure, and 20 cents for goods requiring special methods of transhipment, the 27,000 tons of traffic referred to by the Commissioners may be transhipped for about Rs. 3,500, exclusive of the interest on the cost of constructing and maintaining the interchange station. The whole expenditure will not exceed one per cent. of the revenue of the traffic which the railway is calculated to carry.

11. In 1876, at a sitting of the Matale Railway Extension Commission, the following resolution was adopted :- "That in the opinion of this Commission any further attempt at railway extension in the Central Province on the broad gauge would be a waste of time and money, and they desire to record their decided opinion that future surveys should be made for narrow gauge lines." If this resolution, which was strongly supported by the late Sir John Douglas, Colonel Fyers (Surveyor-General) and Messrs. Bowden Smith and George Wall, had been given effect to, the financial failure of the Matale Railway might not have occurred. So, if gauge had been broken at Nawalapitiya the Nanu-oya line might have been a success. Actual experience has shown that the resources of the island are unequal to broad gauge lines. Sir William Gregory, at a public reception given him in Ceylon in 1884, said, "I deeply regret that when I took in hand this railway scheme I did not take my courage in both hands, as they say, "and I did not propose a break of gauge, a narrow gauge from Kandy up to Uva. "If I had done so, I believe that the railway would have been constructed to Uva by "this time, and I believe at an enormously decreased cost to the Colony." Since 1876, scientific and lay opinion in Ceylon have grown greatly in favour of narrow gauge

lines The Acting Surveyor General, Mr. Stoddart, and Messrs. Donald Mackay, F. D. Mitchell, Thomas Nowell, and Rutherford, all men who have had great experience of railway construction in Ceylon, and who know the wants and capacities of the island, strongly support this system. Mr. Nowell, writing to the Times of Ceylon newspaper in July last, said "the extension of the expensive broad gauge will retard the development of railway extension by half a century. In my opinion the metre 3.3 gauge should be adopted

This gauge has been generally adopted by the Government of India during the last fifteen years under their Consulting Engineer Mr. Molesworth, so that the necessary plant, rolling stock, &c., is abundant in the market, and can be comparatively It will suffice for all require- speaking cheaply constructed and economically worked.

ments of passenger and goods traffic." Your memorialists have reason to believe that with sharper curves and steeper gradients, a narrow gauge line may be constructed from Nánu-oya to Badulla at less than the cost estimated for the broad gauge railway from Nánu-oys to Haputalé.

12. The Association would have moved earlier, but the documents above referred to were not laid before the public until the Legislative Council opened its Sessions for the year early this month. Your memorialists feel that the soundest policy is to carry the extension to Badulla. A broad gauge line to that town could, perhaps, be made for about twelve millions of rupees, but the Commissioners have made it clear that the traffic would not be sufficiently paying if the capital outlay exceeded six millions of rupees. The Association has furnished reasons to show that this estimate is overdrawn if the line were to end at Haputalé, but by no means overdrawn if Badulla were made the terminus. Indeed, if the line were carried to Badulla, a large margin might be allowed for development of traffic. The Association humbly submits that more than ever has it now become necessary to consider the question whether a railway of cheaper construction may not suffice the wants of the Uva Province. The delay consequent upon such inquiry may disappoint a few planters in Haputalé, but if it will result in the adoption of a different and cheaper gauge and the extension of the railway to Badulla, the whole island will be most materially benefitted.

Wherefore the Association prays that this memorial may be taken and considered in connection with the Report of the Railway Commissioners, dated 17th April last, and the Despatch of H.E. the Governor No. 257, dated 23rd June last, and that Her

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Majesty's sanction to the loan ordinance passed by the Legislative Council may be withheld pending the inquiry into the cost and suitability of a narrow or meter gauge for an extension into Badulla.

And your memorialists as in duty bound shall ever pray.

SIR,

No. 13.

CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Downing Street, Londou, December 11, 1886.

I HAVE the bonour to forward a copy of a letter from the Consulting Engineer for the Ceylon Railways, advocating the employment of Mr. Waring in the completion of the plans, specifications, and other preliminaries of the Haputale extension of the Ceylon railways. Whatever may be Mr. Secretary Stanhope's decision as regards the immediate construction of this extension, the opportunity of completing the plans which is afforded by Mr. Waring's presence in England, should not, it appears to us, be lost, and we propose, with Mr. Stanhope's concurrence, to approve of Sir C. Gregory's suggestions.

The Under Secretary of State,

Colonial Office.

GENTLEMEN,

I have, &c.

(Signed) M. F. OMMANNEY.

Enclosure in No. 13.

Sir C. H. GREGORY to CROWn Agents. Ceylon Government Railways.-Haputale Extension.

2, Delahay Street, S.W.,

December 8, 1886.

(1.) I BEG to submit to you that it would be very desirable to take advantage of Mr. Waring's presence in England to complete the drawings, specifications, and bills of quantities, for the Haputale extension line, and that be should be authorized to carry out this work under my direction, and to incur such expense as may be necessary in providing office room, office assistance, and stationery for the purpose.

(2.) The contemplated work is already considerably advanced, but its revision and completion should, if possible, be taken in band at once rather than be left for some uncertain future, and it would be so arranged as to be a basis for the work of the extension, whether carried out departmentally or by contract.

SIR,

I have, &c. (Signed) CHARLES Hutton Gregory,

Consulting Engineer.

No. 14.

CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

Downing Street, London,

December 30, 1886.

Wrru reference to the proposals made by Mr. Prestage for the construction of

a narrow gauge railway from Nanu Oya to Haputalé, in Ceylon, I have the honour to forward a copy of a letter addressed to us by Mr. Waring, C.E., forwarding his reply to Mr. Prestage's latest criticism on his report on this question. The original of this reply will be transmitted to Ceylon by the mail of the 31st, and the enclosed copy is forwarded for the information of Mr. Secretary Stanhope.

2. Mr. Prestage's letter, to which Mr. Waring refers, has already been under the consideration of the Secretary of State, and I have stated that, in our opinion, it does not in any degree strengthen the case for the narrow gauge line or weaken the material objections to the proposal which Sir A. Gordon has raised in his despatch commenting on Mr. Waring's report. The more detailed examination of Mr. Prestage's statements,

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