CO882-(4-5) — Page 442

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

سل

TLC.O. 882

52

the measures taken in 1879 and subsequent years that it has now been decided to introduce the more stringent measures which are explained in the note of which a copy is enclosed.

5. In conclusion, I am to forward copies of the Burma excise reporta for the last five years, which give an account of the dealings of this Administration with opium during that period.

I have, &c.

SIR,

No. 7.

C. G. BAYNE, ~

Revenue Secretary.

THE MARQUESS OF RIPON to SIR A. E. HAVELOCK. [Answered by No. 9.]

WITH reference to your Despatch of the 4th ultimo,t I have the honour

Downing Street, April 20, 1894. to transmit to you a copy of a question asked in the House of Commons, as to a petition in favour of restricting the importation of opium and bhang, which appears to have been addressed to you as President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, together with · a copy of the answer given to this question.

I shall be glad to receive at your early convenience a copy of this petition and a report upon its contents.

·

Enclosure in No. 7.

I have, &c.

RIPON.

Mr. SAMUEL SMITH asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention had been drawn to a petition addressed to the President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, signed by upwards of 27,000 residents in the island, and by all the non-official members of the Legislative Council, praying that the importation of both opium and bhang be prohibited, save through the agency of the Civil Medical Depart- ment of the island, and that their sale be restricted to the regularly licensed apothecaries and dispensers under medical prescriptions, and whether the Government would take steps to give effect to this request.

In reply to Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON said :—

The Secretary of State has not received this petition but he will request the Governor to forward it with a full report. I may add that the question of restricting the consumption of opium and bhang in Ceylon is already being considered in correspondence which is still passing between the Secretary of State and the Governor of Ceylon.

No. 8.

53

and bhang, under the new law, in the localities specified, is considerably less than under the old, that the number is less in each individual instance except three, and that only in one case, viz., that of Trincomalie, have licenses been issued where none were issued before. 4. This instance of Trincomalie, however, must not be thought to be a violation of the principle by which your Lordship desires that I should be guided (and by which, indeed, I have been guided), for although no licenses for the retail of opium have previously been asked for in that town, I have no doubt whatever as to the previous existence there of the practice of using the drug, for there is a Malay population of 668 souls in the district of Trincomalie, and a strength of 99 men of the Asiatic Artillery, whose requirements in this respect may safely be assumed to have hitherto been supplied by illicit retail.

5. That the trade, however, is small may be inferred from the fact that the two licenses sold by public auction realised only Rs. 300, and it is not, therefore, to be wondered at that the illicit sale should have passed hitherto undetected.

6. It is, in my opinion, more wholesome that as the practice exists it should be recognised and licensed, and consequently subjected to the control of the police, and I trust that your Lordship will concur in that view.

+

7. The total increase in the price paid for the privilege of retailing is considerable, the sum realised for 41 licenses in 1893 having been only Rs. 4,100, while that paid for the 28 licenses issued for 1894, under the new Ordinance, was Rs. 30,240; and this is irrespective of similar results of the previous amendment of the law in respect of Colomba, where also the annual proceeds of the retail licenses have been largely increased-viz., from Rs. 1,800 for nine licenses in 1889 to Rs. 16,300 in 1894.

8. That this increase, which is the result of the competition arising from the sales by auction of the restricted number of licenses, can but have the effect of enhancing the retail price of the drug, and consequently of tending to diminish rather than to increase its consumption, I think your Lordship will be safe in assuming. I trust that the incidental advantage accruing to the finances of the Municipalities and Local Boards concerned from the operation of this Ordinance will not be regarded otherwise than as a satisfactory concomitant to the wholesome results, which I believe the measure to have secured.

I have, &c.

A. E. HAVELOCK.

Enclosure in No. 8.

SCHEDULE OF RETAIL OPIUM LICENSES issued for 1894 under ORDINANCE 2 of 1893, contrasted with the NUMBER of LICENSES issued during 1893 under ORDINANCE 4 of

1878.

Name of Municipality or Local Board in which Licensu in issued.

Number of Licenses Issued

Price paid

for the

for 1898

under

of 1878.

Námber of Licenses issued

Price

paid

for 1994

ander 1

for the

same.

of 1898.

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

SIR A. E. HAVELOCK to the MARQUESS OF RIPON. (Received May 7, 1894.)

MY LORD MARQUESS,

Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon,

April 13, 1891.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's Despatch of the 10th January last, intimating to me that Her Majesty will not be advised to exercise her power of disallowance in respect of the Ordinance entitled "An Ordinance relating to the sale by retail of opium and bhang within Municipalities and Local Board "towns." "

"

2. I observe that it is your Lordship's desire that great care should be exercised in the application of this Ordinance, so that it may not be allowed to come into operation in any locality where there is any doubt as to the previous existence of the practice of using these drugs, as your Lordebip apprehends that pressure might be brought to bear on the Government by local bodies anxious for the introduction of the Ordinance for the sake of consequent increase of their revenues.

3. Guided by this principle, I have as yet brought the Ordinance into operation only in those towns which are shown in the annexed Schedule, from a perusal of which it will be seen by your Lordship that the total number of licenses issued for the retail of opium

• Not printed.

↑ No. 6.

‡ No. 5.

The Local Board of Negombo

Ra.

Ra.

The Municipality of Kandy

Ditto

500

8,750

Galle

900

5,095

400

1,810

Ditto

Kalutara

500

6,400

Ditto

Matale

200

800

Ditto

Nuwers Eliya

100

Ditto

Gampola

900

800

Ditto

Matara

300

2,620

Ditto

Batticaloa

200

205

Ditto

Trincomalie

300

Ditto

Karangala

400

2,500

Ditto

Badulla

200

700

Ditto

Ratnapura

800

1

840

41

4,100

28

80,240

In 1889.-The Municipality of Colombo issued nine retail opium licenses under Ordinance 4 of 1878, for which they received a sum of Rs. 1,800-00, whilst for four retail licenses in 1890 they received Rs. 10,700-00 under the provisions of Ordinance No. 9 of 1889, which are similar to those of No. 2 of 1893.

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