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أسيسا

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

C.O. 882

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

4PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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No. 19.

GOVERNOR THE HON. SIR A. H. GORDON, G.C.M.G., to the RIGHT HON. EDWARD STANHOPE, M.P. (Received January 24, 1887.)

(No. 2.) SIR,

Queen's House, Colombo, Ceylon, January 3, 1887.

I HAVE the honour to enclose a memorial* addressed to you by the Ceylon Agricultural Association, on the subject of railway extension to Badulla.

2. It is unnecessary for me to say much on the subject of this memorial, which travels over much old ground, and repeats arguments and assertions already put forward on previous occasions.

3. The two main points urged by the memorialists are, that, in their opinion, the traffic estimated for the Haputale extension by the Commissioners, whose report was enclosed in my Despatch, No. 257, of the 23rd June last,† will not be realised, but that if the line were extended to Badulla, a much larger amount of traffic even than that estimated by the Commissioners would be obtained; and, secondly, that the difficulties of breaking gauge at Nanu-oya have been greatly exaggerated.

4. My very short reply to the first of these assumptions would be, that, as every ton of traffic leaving Badulla for Colombo must necessarily pass the door of the proposed railway station at Haputale, I do not think extension to Badulla would have the effect contemplated. I can understand controversy as to traffic below Haputale being attracted to the Haputale railway station, but a terminus at Haputale must, it seems to me, necessarily catch all traffic from, or beyond, Badulla.

5. To the second statement I answer by simply denying that the difficulties, incon- venience, and expense attending a break of gauge at Nanu-oya have been in any way exaggerated. Nothing but the conviction that a break of gauge there would prove in the highest degree undesirable has driven me from the adoption of a course which I should otherwise have been most willing,-and not only willing but desirous,-to adopt. I regret that the railway was not in the first instance built on a narrower gauge, from Kandy upwards; but I cannot shut my eyes to the grave objections which exist to now making the alteration at Nanu-oya.

6. In my Despatch, No. 163, of the 13th April 1885,‡ I stated my inability to ascertain the number of members of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. It has since then increase in number, and now possesses 107 members, chiefly, I believe, resident in the neighbourhood of Kalutara.

7. In my Despatch, No. 258, of the 23rd June last,§ I observed that so far as Mr. P. Rama Nathan represented anyone, he represented the Tamils of Jaffna, who were desirous of railway extension in their own direction, and could hardly be regarded as impartial critics of an Uva line. This is, I think, fully borne out by the petition I enclose in another Despatch of this day's date,‡ presented by Mr. Rama Nathan to the Legislative Council, and urgently pressed on the attention of Government by him.

I have, &c. (Signed) ARTHUR GORDON,

The Right Hon. Edward Stanhope, M.P.,

&c.

&c.

&c.

No. 20.

MEMORANDUM by MR. J. F. DICKSON, in reply to certain STATEMENTS contained in paragraphs 12 and 21 of St A. GORDON'S DESPATCH to the SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES, No. 257 (Ceylon), of 23rd June 1886. (Received January 24, 1887.)

In para. 12, Sir A. Gordon demurs to certain assumptions contained in a despatch of Sir F. Stanley's to the Governor of Ceylon, No. 153, of the 28th October 1885,|| on the proposed extension of the main line of the Ceylon Railway from Nánu-oya to Haputalé, and he says :—“ They would appear to be due, not so much to an examination

• No. 12.

( No. 4.

† No. 3.

+ Not printed.

|| No. 2.

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of actual facts, as to an impression remaining from the exaggerated alarm which prevailed some three years ago, when, according to Mr. Dickson's Memorandum appended to the Report of the Retrenchment Committee, a deficiency of Rs. 500,000 " in the Colonial revenue for 1883 was to be anticipated, increasing to one of "Rs. 860,000 in 1884, and Rs. 1,056,000 in 1885. But these sinister prognostications were far from being 'verified. There was no excess of expenditure over revenue in any of these years, and the revenue itself has increased annually since 1882, showing in 1885 an excess of more than Rs. 500,000 over the revenue of the former year. "Should the estimated revenue for the present year be realised, it will exceed that for "1882 by nearly Rs. 1,000,000. It must be remembered, moreover, that even if the revenue had remained at what it was in 1882 (its lowest point), a sum of not less " than Rs. 900,000 is now annually available for purposes of Government, which was "not so in that year; Rs. 600,000 a year less than formerly is now devoted to military expenditure, owing to the reduction of the contribution conceded in reply to the request of the Legislative Council of Ceylon; while Rs. 300,000 are saved by the improved system of road upkeep. It cannot now with truth be said that the annual "receipts are barely sufficient to allow the ordinary administration of the Colony to "be efficiently carried on.' During the year 1885, several works of importance were undertaken, forming no part of ordinary administrative expenditure, at a total cost "of at least Rs. 500,000; yet the surplus of revenue over expenditure amounted st "the close of the year to Rs. 39,656."

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I will not inquire whether the assumptions of Sir F. Stanley were based, as may reasonably be supposed, on an examination of actual facts, or were due, as Sir A. Gordon suggests, "to an impression remaining from the exaggerated alarm" stated above to have prevailed some three years ago, but as my name has been imported into the despatch in connexion with this supposed "exaggerated alarm," I will take leave to show that my memorandum was not calculated to give rise to it, nor do I know that such alarm existed.

2. The calculation of an anticipated deficit in 1883 of Rs. 500,000 was, as Sir A. Gordon must be aware, not mine, but that of the Retrenchment Committee of which I was a member, but whose report I did not sign. The Committee report:-" The "expenditure of 1882 was estimated at Rs. 12,956,953, which is Rs. 865,000 in excess "of the actual revenue. Every effort has, however, been made to keep the expenditure "as low as possible, and it is probable that the revenue for the year 1882 will nearly

cover the expenditure.

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Turning to the year 1883, the revenue has been estimated at Rs. 12,410,000, "As regards many of the items which go to form this amount, there appears to be no present reason to apprehend any material change; but, in regard to the railway receipts, the effects of the disastrously small coffee crop now being gathered in had "not been anticipated at the date when the estimate was prepared; it now seems unlikely that the gross railway receipts of 1883 will exceed Rs. 2,400,000. The "estimate is Rs. 2,750,000, showing a probable falling off of Rs. 350,000 on this

one item.

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"Customs and toll rents are also unlikely to produce the amounts estimated, and it may be stated roughly that the amount of retrenchment which the Select Committee "have to aim at as regards the present may be taken at a sum of Rs. 500,000 required "to ensure the Colony against deficit, leaving no margin available for irrigation and "other works of improvement.

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In regard to further burdens which the Colony will have to assume during the "coming five years, precise data cannot, of course, be arrived_at. A statement has "been prepared by the Auditor-General, at the request of the Committee, from which "it may be deduced approximately that there will be increased charges on account of "interest and sinking fund for the Colombo Waterworks (contribution by Government), "the Nanu-oya railway extension, and the improvement of the Colombo Harbour, **amounting in all to Rs. 400,000. In this estimate it is anticipated that the receipts " from the Nanu-oya extension will suffice to cover working expenses, but will not, during the period now under review, contribute anything towards interest or sinking "fund on the money borrowed for the construction of the line."

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On this I remarked in the memorandum appended to the report of the Retrenchment Committee:-

"The report shows that the estimates for 1883 (in which the revenue and expenditure are nearly balanced) cannot be accepted. The information obtained since they were framed shows that the revenue will probably be less by Rs. 500,000 than the estimate. There are further charges for interest and sinking fund to be met in the next few years, Q 2

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