PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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111
These statements show that accounts were balanced in 1883, by reducing expenditure and by raising additional taxes. Under a special tariff for the Colombo Harbour, Rs. 300,000 were levied in excess of the receipts of 1882. In 1885, further assistance was given by the remission of Rs. 600,000 of the contribution towards military expendi- ture; the sum allowed for the maintenance of the roads was reduced by Rs. 300,000 (I bere quote Sir A. Gordon's figures); and the customs tariff and stamp duties were increased by ordinances passed at the end of 1884, while on 6th May 1885, the tariff of Colombo Harbour dues was again increased. The general financial result may be correctly stated as showing an increase in the total revenue of 1885, as compared with 1882, of about Rs. 490,000, which is mainly accounted for by additional taxation; and a saving on the expenditure side of more than Rs. 750,000, by reduction of Rs. 130,000 in establishments (notwithstanding a large increase in the railway establishment), by reductions under the head of education of Rs. 35,000, and under military expenditure of Rs. 600,000. On the other hand, railway services (under which interest on railway loans is included) show an increase of Rs. 110,000, exchange of Rs. 78,000, and interest (exclusive of interest on railway loans) of Rs. 400,000. Nor does the expenditure on public works show any improvement; it is as follows:-
1882.
1885.
Rs.
Works and buildings Roads, streets, and bridges
·
126,600
Rs. 247,564
1,474,035
1,323,839
Total
1,600,635
1,571,403
It is stated that, "During the year 1885 several works of importance were under- taken, 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 at the close "of the year to Rs. 39,656." It is difficult to reconcile this statement with the above figures. Smaller expenditure on the maintenance of roads gives Rs. 300,000 for irrigation or for new roads; but less, and not more, was available for public works in 1885, as compared with 1882. Nor is it clear how the revenue for 1886 can be expected to exceed that for 1882 by nearly Rs. 1,000,000. The revenue for 1885 exceeded that of 1882 by only Rs. 490,000, and the revenue for the first nine months of 1886 shows, as compared with the first nine months of 1885, a falling off in customs, port and harbour dues, land sales, rents, licenses, and stamps, and a net decrease for the nine months of Rs. 55,267. The present state of the Ceylon finances unfortunately more than justifies the prognostication of 1882; while the increase in revenue is due to additional or increased taxation; there is no real improvement on the expenditure side. The increased taxation is not enough to cover the increased charges for interest on loans for public works, for, in place of Rs. 982,883 in 1882, these charges* stand at Rs. 1,342,764 in 1885, and at Rs. 1,527,519 in the estimates for 1886; the savings in expenditure by reductions in establishments and in the military contribution are swallowed up in an increased pension list and in other administrative charges, so that there is no addition to the amount available for public works, and while the receipts from the railways are somewhat less thau in 1882, the increased mileage entails largely
• Interest and sinking fund on loans for :-----
Railway
Break water
Waterworks -
Total
-
1682.
1885.
1886. (estimated.)
Rs.
Rs.
Rs.
773,279
789,075
850,000
209,604
480,045
500,562
173,644
176,957
982,888
1,342,704
1,527,619
NOTE. The railway loan for the main line, towards which Rs. 166,186 was paid in 1882, has been extin- guished by the accumulations of the sinking fund. The charges in 1886 are, for the Mátaló railway Rs. 183,883, and for the Nanu-oya railway Rs. 666,667. In 1885, for the breakwater an additional loan of 60,0001, was raised, and for the waterworks 40,000. The sinking fund on the waterworks loan commencen in 1888, and will be an addition to the present charges of 3,300% = Rs. 44,200 per annum.
115
increased expenditure; in place of Rs. 1,363,694 in 1882, it was Rs. 1,513,665 in 1885, and is estimated for 1886 at Rs. 1,596,260.*
5. In one particular I am bound to admit that my anticipations in 1882 are fortunately not justified by the results of 1885. The Grain Ordinance, then newly introduced, was expected to lead to a reduction the land revenue, and in the districts first dealt with by the Grain Commissioners there was a considerable reduction. Latterly there has been, on the contrary, a gain, and the land revenue derived from native agriculture shows satisfactory improvement. To the extent of Rs. 60,000 my calculations were in error, but this does not affect the main issue, which, briefly, was this, that an improve- ment the financial position of the Colony in 1885, as compared with 1882, was necessary, being caused in great part by obligations unavoidably increased on account of loans for public works during the period in question. The sum to be aimed at was stated at Rs. 1,056,000; allowing for the admitted excess of Rs. 60,000, this may be taken at Rs. 1,000,000, which has been met by additional taxation to the extent, say, of Rs. 400,000, and by the remission of military contribution to the extent of Rs. 600,000, the balance over revenue in the year 1885 being only Rs. 39,656.
I venture to think that these figures sufficiently show that para. 12 of Sir A. Gordon's despatch does not correctly set out the effect of the memorandum with which it purports to deal.
48
6. In para. 21, Sir A. Gordon writes, "The 10th paragraph of Sir F. Stanley's despatch contains two erroneous statements. The first of these, however, is one for "which not Sir F. Stanley, but Mr. J. F. Dickson, is responsible. The yield of coffee, "in Uva (except, possibly, on some highly-favoured and exceptional spot, never "amounted to 11 cwt. the acre, as stated in his Administrative Report for 1884; and I am at a loss to understand how so able and experienced a public officer can have been "led to make a statement so entirely fallacious and misleading. More than 10 years ago, 5 cwt. per acre was considered by the Railway Commission of that day to be the average yield.
The fall, therefore, to 4 cwt. in 1883-84 is not so great as "Sir F. Stanley supposed."
**
In my report for 1883, I gave the information furnished to me by the planters of four districts in Uva, one of whom, tabulating the returns of the coffee crops from 79 estates, showed a fall of "50 per cent. during the last 10 years," and I summarised the results as follows:-" These statements show that the production of coffee has fallen in the "last 10 years in Haputalé and in Uva generally by 33 to 50 per cent., and that the "rates now ruling for transport are about 33 per cent. lower than those of 10 years C ago; that a considerable quantity of cinchona is now produced where there was none "10 years ago; and that but very little tea or cacao are as yet produced; that salt in "now brought from Hambantota; and that a considerable quantity of rice supplies is " drawn from Batticaloa."
In reference to the above extract, and to the tabulated and detailed statements on which it was based, I wrote in my Report for 1884 :-"What was there put forward has "received considerable attention, and it is satisfactory to find that no error has been "found in the figures therein given. Exception was, however, taken to the absence of This figures comparing the production of Haputalé in 1883 with that of 1873. " omission may be sufficiently supplied by stating that the normal yield per acre has "fallen from 11 cwt. to 4 cwt. per acre, and possibly the fall is still greater." On this Sir A. Gordon remarks: "The yield of coffee in Uva (except possibly in some highly "favoured and exceptional spot) never amounted to 11 per cwt. the acre, as stated in "the Administration Report for 1834." It is difficult to understand how Sir A. Gordon can have confounded Uva and Haputalé. In Uva generally, including Haputalé, the average yield per acre was stated, in my Report for 1883, p. 16, to have "fallen from "5 cwt. to 2 or 3 cwt.," and in the passage quoted above it was shown "that the pro- "duction of coffee had fallen in the last 10 years in Haputalé and in Uva generally by "33 to 50 per cent." The planters of Haputalé did not furnish the full information
• Railway expenditure (exclusive of charges on loans) :———
1886. (estimated.)
1882.
1885.
Rs.
Rs.
Salaries
507,888
612,092
Rs. 564,804
Maintenance and working expenses
866,356
1,001,578
1,081,456
Total
-
· 1,863,694
1,613,665
1,596,260
Nor-This is exclusive of interest on loans and sinking fund, amounting to Rs. 850,000 per annum.
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