CO882-(4-5) — Page 235

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

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"The result of my inquiries on this subject does not entirely confirm Mr. Braybrooke's opinion, that the existing paddy commutation agreement has been considered satisfactory by the inhabitants of all parts of the Central Province, except Uva. On the contrary, I am given to understand that they look on the rates (from 1s. 8d. to 2s. 8d. according to the more or less favourable position of the tracts of rice land with reference to roads) as very high. This discontent was not unreasonable during the late series of bad seasons and the period of general depreciation of property, but it seems to bave yielded to the more favourable circumstances in which the people find themselves in 1870. I purpose to carry out the late Government Agent's proposal of extending the existing agreement in Kandy, Mátalé, and Nuwara Eliya Districts for another period of seven years, of course at the present rates."

From 1864 to 1870 the amount of commuted grain tax due annually for Walapane was Rs. 11,080; from 1871 to 1877, Rs. 11,240; from 1878 to 1887, Rs. 11,222; and from 1888 to 1894 it has recently been fixed at Rs. 4,390.

The figures for Uda Hewábeta for the same periods are respectively Rs. 12,200, Rs. 13,510, Rs. 13,492, and Rs. 10,741.

The last assessments, it will be observed, have been fargely reduced, especially in Walapane.

Under such a series of disasters-loss of cattle, loss of cros through drought, failure of water-supply generally, periodical attacks of fever, and, finally, failure of coffee, in the village gardens first and shortly afterwards on the neighbouring estates, from 1872 onwards some of the people abandoned their fields no longer capable of cultivation, and their coffee trees destroyed by fungus, and left the district to seek & livelihood elsewhere; while the condition of those who remained was no doubt wretched in the extreme.

(2) The (alleged) Deaths by Starvation.

The result of Mr. Moir's direct inquiry was to find that a few deaths were caused by the sales, though from his remark "after the lapse of so much time I deem it quite impossible to ascertain with precision in how many instances death can be rightly attributed to the sale of a land," it may be inferred that the evidence on which that finding rests was not accepted as altogether conclusive by him.

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But the editor of the "Ceylon Independent" alleges that 1,048 persons, whose lands or shares in lands had been sold, succumbed to positive starvation. This number 1,048 was taken, it is said, from statistics "obtained for the information of the Governor, and "that they should be as accurate as possible, a special officer was detached to go through "the villages and ascertain what sales had taken place, what the population then was, "and what had become of the original owners.'

"

The records of the Assistant Government Agent's office afforded the best evidence of what sales had taken place, and do so still, and the inquiry made as to what had become of the original owners of such lands was calculated to elicit incorrect answers.

It is well known that a Sinhalese, even of superior rank and education, will, owing to his naturally keen sense of politeness, invariably answer a question put to him by one in authority, or acting on behalf of one in authority, as he thinks that question is expected to be answered. The villagers in this case were well aware of the kind of answers wanted and gave them accordingly. No reliance can be placed upon such statistics, nor upon the statements, official and unofficial, which have been made on their credit.

The statement of the present population of the different kóralés of Walapane given on page 16 of the appendix to the report of Mr. Moir is not accurate, both for the reasons signed for the inaccuracy of the other house-to-house statistics, and because it is directly contradicted by the return, a copy of which Registrar-General of the Island. (Appendix A.)

append, furnished by the

It will be seen by that return that the population of Walapane increased from 9,260 in 1871 to 10,564 in 1881, to 10.938 in 1888, and to 10,945 on June 80, 1889; while the population of Uda Héwáheta increased from 13,122 in 1871 to 15,700 in 1881, to 16,341 in 1888, and to 16,890 on June 30, 1889.

If further proof is required of the inaccuracy of the specially collected figures in the appendix, it is afforded in the second paper bereto appended, "An Abstract from the "Numerical Return of Persons liable to perform labour under the Ordinances No. 10 "of 1861 and No. 31 of 1884 froin 1871 to 1889." (Appendix B.) all males (excluding immigrant labourers from India employed on the plantations) That is a return of between the ages of 18 and 55 resident within the district of Nuwara Eliya during each of those years. The figures increase from 4,025 in 1871 to 7,617 in 1881, to 7,899

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in 1883, and to 9,765 in 1889; for the district of Walapane from 1,740 in 1871 to 1,906 in 1881, to 2,123 in 1883, and to 2,303 in 1889; and for Uda Hewáhets from 1,260 in 1871 to 3,232 in 1883, and to 3,417 in 1889.

It by no means follows because Mr. Whitefoord avers there was "no epidemical fever " in the district during the period 1882 to 1885, that "the only general cause of death prevailing in the district was starvation and the diseases consequent thereon," or that starvation was a cause of death at all. Mr. Baumgartner reports, as quoted above, that in 1884 there was a good deal of fever in parts of Walapane. But from the figures of the Registrar-General it is clear that there was no exceptional mortality from any cause between 1881 and 1888. The death-rate per mille, indeed, for that period (excluding estates) was for the whole of Walapane 33, against 34 for the period 1871 to 1880 (including estates), while in Uda Hewaheta it was 27 against 32.

The rate for the whole Island in 1881 was 27, and it was 27 in 1888.

In 1881 for the Kurunegala District the rate was 60 per mille, for Mátalé 43, for Trincomalee 45, and for Anuradhapura 44. And in 1884, when the misery of the Walapane and Uda Hewáhets people was keenest, while the rate for the Nuwara Eliya District was 219, that for the Island was 22:1, for Mátalé 36, for Mannár 41, Vavuniya- Vilánkulam 38, Kurunégala 40, and Anuradhapura 36.

Again the number of deaths in Walapane from 1871 to 1880 was 3,375, against 2,886 for the period 1881 to 1888, the corresponding figures for Uda Hewábets being 4,71 and 8,464.

In his administration report on the district for 1884, Mr. Baumgartner says "the "defaulters' sales in December necessitated the consideration of every field in default "and elicited reasons why the tax had not been paid." The papers showing those reasons are the third set appended to these notes. (Appendix C.) For closer reference, however, a classification of the reasons is given below :-

Fielda.

Abandoned the owner has left the district

24

Do.

as the owner has no means to cultivate

LOS

Do.

as the owner is dead-

71

Do.

as the soil in poor

3

Do.

owing to landslipa

14

Do.

for want of water

198

Do

Do.

sa the field has been washed away for some years

6 80

In how many of these cases can it be said that the sales of the lands induced starvation,

or even diminished, ever so little, the food supply of the owners ?

They afford striking evidence of what was perhaps the chief cause of the accumulation of arrears, viz., "the injury to the water supply by the clearing of forests for estate or chens cultivation."

It may be noted here that cheua cultivation is not, as might be supposed by an inexperienced reader, a form of cultivation adopted by Europeans as an alternativa to estate cultivation.

It is a favourite, though demoralising and wasteful, system of cultivation practised by natives, and it appears, too freely practised in the neighbourhood of the rice fields of Walapane and Uda Howáheta.

But perhaps the best evidence adducible in disproof of the allegation that 1,048 persons "succumbed to positive starvation" in the "affected districts" during the period under review is to be found in the following statement made by the editor in the pamphlet under notice :-

"We think our readers will agree with us that Mr. Moir showed very scant courtesy to Mr. Whitefoord, and dismissed his testimony without the respect due to an eye- witness of the condition of the people. In the same off-hand manner be assumed that we ourselves had no original information, though he must have known that during several years of the period in question we personally visited and traversed those very districts professionally four times a year.”

As to Mr. Whitefoord, whatever his eye witnessed at the time his heart or head rejected as unworthy of serious notice or action. If he saw persons die from starvation, as the editor states, or if, as he himself says in his evidence, before Mr. Moir, he "received information of deaths from destitution," why did he not communicate his knowledge or information to the Government officer in charge of the district, to the

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