CO882-(4-5) — Page 234

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TIPLIC.O. 882

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

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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have suffered from cattle disease and from a season somewhat unfavourable for cultivation. It will be seen in appendix (letter L) that in the district of Uda Hewaheta nearly one-fifth of the total number of cattle died during the year. The disease which has been the main cause of this serious loss has chiefly attacked the animals in the hoof, and thus, independently of the large number which have perished, several of the buffaloes have been incapacitated from ploughing. The consequence has been that native agricultural operations have been greatly impeded.. The collection of the arrears of revenue has thus been a matter of much difficulty, for the people have bee: barely able in many cases to pay the sums due for the current year.'

Mr. King, for 1875, notes a recurrence of the disease; since that year cattle seem to have been almost free from disease.

The great loss sustained by the people from 1870 to 1872, interfering as it did most seriously with agricultural pursuits, inay be taken as the first of the misfortunes which caused their poverty.

The health of the people is reported by successive officers to have been good until 1878, during which year Mr. Murray records :-

Fever and general debility prevailed to a certain extent among the lower classes in two or three villages of Walapane, owing to the scarcity of food. The inhabitants subsist almost entirely on kurakkan and Indian corn, and these crops were a total failure owing to the unfavourable weather which prevailed during cultivation. About Rs. 1,000 given by Government were expended in the neighbourhood of these two villages on relief works, such as the opening and repairing of roads, &c., and the able-bodied men were induced by me to work in the adjoining district, where they were well paid, and were enabled to send food to their families at home. I again recommend to Government the construction of the anicut at Balagandewala and the repairing of the old water-course leading therefrom, for the purpose of bringing under cultivation the old range of paddy fields bearing the above name. They lie close to the villages which suffered from starvation, and would have effectually prevented the destitution had the villagers been able to avail themselves of the produce."

Again, for 1881, Mr. Le Mesurier reported:

"There was a considerable amount of fever in Walapane during the last quarter of the year.

At one time it assumed almost au epidemic form, but in consequence of the prompt measures adopted by the Medical Department and the local headmen for its suppression it was soon got under. The general health in other parts of the district was normal."

For 1882, Mr. Baumgartner reported :-

"The health of the population was very good throughout the district during the year, and except in parts of Uda Héwaheta, the condition of the people was on the whole satisfactory, though they were not so prosperous as in past years. The exception referred to was in the Gangapaláta of Uản Héwáheta, where, owing to continual failure of crops, many of the people were, towards the end of the year, reduced to some distress for want of sufficient proper food. This distress, however, was not of long duration, I am glad to say, as a good crop of kurakkan (the principal food of the people there) carly in the present year came very opportunely to relieve it,”

And the same officer again for 1884 reported:

"The health of the district was fairly good, but there was a good deal of fever in parts of Walapane, the result of want of sufficient food among a population already impoverished."

No mention is made in the administration report of the occurrence of any exceptional sickness in 1885; but there was much distress from scarcity of food.

All that Mr. Le Mesurier has to say on this subject for 1886 is ;—

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That the health of the district was fairly good, although small-pox, chicken-pox, and measles prevailed to some extent in Kotmalé and Uda Héwaheta, and there were a few cases in Walapane as well,"

"

Again, in 1887, the same officer reported :-

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An outbreak of fever in Walapane, due to the prolonged drought followed by excessive rains. This was aggravated by the poverty of the people, their consequent physical weakness, and their want of care In the sanitation of their houses and premises.”

He added that the attack was overcome through the distribution by the Government of medicine and food.

These extracts from the annual administration reports of the officers in charge of the district from 1867 to 1882 show clearly that during that period the people had suffered in health, in the loss of cattle, and from scarcity of food, the result of the failure of their

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chena crops through drought. Nowhere, however, is it recorded either during the period under special notice or in the years immediately preceding and following that time, that exceptional mortality from any cause had taken place, nor is a case of death by starvation reported.

Fever aggravated by scarcity of food is unfortunately prevalent in many districts of the Colony, and is not unknown even in those districts best supplied with water and with food; but to attribute the deaths of those who succumb to these afflictions to starvation is inaccurate and mischievous.

That the rates of commuted tax fixed by Mr. Braybrooke, the officer in charge of the province in 1864, and which were renewed by his successor, were too high, may be admitted; also that the arrears of tax were, in consequence, augmented. It cannot be admitted, however-for it is not the case, that the payment of tax at these rates contributed even remotely to scarcity of food amongst the villagers or to the abandon- ment of their fields.

What Mr. Braybrooke himself had to say on the subject is given below in extracts from his reports for 1867 and 1868:-

"The rate per bushel at which the commutation agreement previous to the existing one was fixed was extremely low throughout the province, and, therefore, advantage was taken of the new agreement to raise the rate from 1s. 4d. to 28. 8d. the bushel in all the districts which are supplied with good cart roada, and are within easy distance of markets for their produce. In all other portions of the province the rates vary from 18. Ad. to 28. the busbel, according to their position and circumstances. I have not heard of a single complaint from the inhabitants of any part of the province that these rates were too high, except from the people of Uva, and this was entirely owing to the worse than mismanagement of a former Assistant Agent, who almost encouraged the people to murmur. Ia Kandy, Mátalé, and Nuwara Eliya the people most gladly accepted the rates, which were in every case below the market price of paddy in the different districts. Indeed, I have reason to know that in many parts the landowners were prepared to accept higher rates rather than have the renting system introduced into their villages. Even the people of Uva are now quite satisfied that the rate fixed for the different portions of the district are fair and reasonable, but they certainly have cause in some localities to complain of the manner in which the assessment has been carried out, and wherever any gross mistake has been committed I have authorised my assistants to revise the assessment and place it on a satisfactory basis. After all, in dealing with landowners under a system of commutation, the main point is to secure s fair assessment of the lands with a view to arrive at a general average, and, if this be attended to with an evident desire to do justice to them, the Kandyan proprietors will not be disposed to quarrel with the money rate.

"The present commutation agreement ou paddy lands throughout the province will expire at the end of 1870, and it will be necessary to take steps for its renewal. I do not think that a general re-assessment of lands will be requisite, as this was made in 1864, and was satisfactorily carried out in the districts of Kandy, Mátalé, and Nuwara Eliya, so that few complaints were made by landholders. In the Badulla District this was not so well effected, owing to the difficulty of securing the services of trustworthy and efficient assessors, The consequence was, that a good many complaints were made by landowners, and my assistant, Mr. Sharpe, was authorised by me to revise the assessment in many cases and to fix them at reasonable rates."

It may be pointed out that in 1867 it appears that the people of the Nuwara Eliya District were quite satisfied with these assessments, for Mr. Liesching in his report for that year noted :-

"As in other sub-divisions of the Central Province, the commutation system prevails in the Nuwara Eliya District. It unquestionably works well, and complaints against the assessment have, during the past year been nil, while only two or three instances of accidental misnomer in the registration lists have been brought to my notice. Less rare have been cases, where, with a view to bolstering up fictitious titles to land, individuals had their names inserted and even paid the commutation on lands to which they clearly had no title. Doubtless the stress laid in many of the law courts on the evidence afforded by the production of commutation receipts acts as a stimulus."

From the report of Mr. Russell (who succeeded Mr. Braybrooke) for 1869, what might happen under adverse circumstances of seasons and of general prosperity, and what did eventually happen, is clearly shown.

"The decrease under "paddy commuted" is the result of the recovery of large arrears in 1868, when the villagers were able to resume the payment of their dues to Government.

1 89068.

K