CO882-(8-9) — Page 584

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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Thad.

and 11.

In 1837 the Treasury called upon the Colony to £24,000 a year towards the military expenditure in paras, addition to its previous charges. This contribution, which continued until 1865, was frequently objected to by the Colony without success,

Cathlons Paper.

In 1861 the Select Committee of the House of Commons House reported that the experse of the troops in Ceylon should be in a greater degree borne by the Colonial Treasury. 19 of While the report was under the consideration of the 1861, Government, a despatch was received from Ceylon, dated para. 16 of the 13th February, 1862, in which the Governor forwarde! Report an address to Her Majesty from the Legislative Council A. EI. on the subject of the military contribution. The address. p. 2. pointed out that in 1850 the Colony had had to pay £71,525 for a garrison of 4,084 men, whereas in 1860 the charge had been £116,147 for a garrison of 2,534 men. The Council asked that the whole question of military expenditure in Ceylon should be submitted to their revision with an especial view to ascertain and suggest the proportion which the Colony ought to pay as a fair and just compensation for the protection it received from the mother country.

The Government recommended that an

annually fixed sum should be agreed upon by the Council for the purpose of covering the gross military expenditure of the year.

f.

In September, 1863, the Secretary of State informed. Thid., p. 13 the Governor that he was still in correspondence with the (No. 4. Treasury and War Office on the subject of military expenditure, but that in the meantime the Governor should be prepared for an increased military contribution The despatch was not to the extent of £30,000 for 1864. very clear, but it apparently meant that the £30,000 was to be in addition to the £24,000 already imposed annually on the Colony.

At this point it becomes necessary to touch upon the vexed question of the cost of the garrison of Trincomalee.

In 1861 the Committee of the Legislative Council of Ibid., p. 9,

Ceylon, in considering the military charges, had expressed sub fine.

a desire for a careful revision of the whole of the military establishments. "Such a revision will also enable the

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Council to point out to the Secretary of State that much "of the military expenditure in the Colony is incurred "for Imperial purposes, in maintaining garrisons and "fortifications, especially at Galle and Trincomalee, which, "without being essentially necessary to the internal safety of the Colony, are of the last importance as military "stations of the Empire, and towards the maintenance of "which the Imperial Government ought in fairness to The address to "contribute a reasonable proportion."

.

Her Majesty submitted by the Council in 1862 said that

the heavy military charge was a grievance, "especially in Ibid., p. 4,

"view of the fact that the possession of Ceylon, as afford- para. II.

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ing at Galle and Trincomalee a convenient port of call,

"and a most valuable harbour for British vessels on

"the Indian seas, is of very great importance to the "mother country."

The Governor in July, 1863, sent home a memorial Ibid., p. 11 from the Planters' Association, in which occurs the (No. 3), following:-

and En-

your

closure. Para. 4,

"That your memorialists beg further to call to "mind, that two of the largest garrisons in the island, sub fine. "those at Trincomalee and Galle, are maintained purely "for Imperial purposes, and in no way affect the internal "security of the island."

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These passages appear to be the first indication of the desire to distinguish garrisons maintained for Imperial purposes as opposed to garrisons maintained for internal security; and they are important because they mark the change which was taking place in the conditions of Ceylon. The strength of the garrison was originally due to the necessity of watching and keeping down the Kandyans, and so late as 1848 there was a small localised rising a fact which probably accounts for the large garrison existing in 1850-but by 1862 all apprehensions of interual trouble were dying or dead, and the garrison was needed to secure the country against foreign attack and to maintain the safety of important naval stations such as Trincomalee. It is desirable to mention this here since the majority of the 1888-90 Committee came to their conclusions owing to a misapprehension of the true facts.

Long correspondence had taken place from 1861 onwards between the Treasury, War Office, and Colonial Office, as a result of the Select Committee's report, and finally an agreement was arrived at, which is embodied The No.9 in Mr. Secretary Cardwell's despatch of the 26th of September, 1864, and the accompanying memorandum. This agreement was embodied in an Ordinance (No. 16 of 1864) which was passed by the officials, the unofficial members of Council having resigned.

and En- closure.

Ibid., p. 28 (Enclosure

in No. 8).

Ibid., No. 9,

para. 7 and

It provided for

(1) A capital sum of £30,000 for works and

buildings. (2) Payment of £100,000 a year for two years from

1st January, 1865, to be increased after the 31st December, 1866, to £135,000 a year by instalments of not more than £10,000 a year.

(3) The continuance of payment by the Colony of

the Governor's escort, colonial military estab lishment, pensions to native troops, compensa- tion for loss on issue of rations, and military charges not otherwise included.

It was anticipated that this arrangement would cover the whole cost of the garrison.

As regards the Trincomalee garrison the Council in 1864 had protested that it was maintained exclusively "for the protection of the dockyard and naval stores, " and was valued at upwards of a million sterling "certainly not fairly chargeable against the Colony even "on the principle recognised in the report of the [Select] "Committee on Colonial Military Expenditure."

The Council were referred, in reply, to the memorandum Enclosure accompanying the despatch of 26th September, 1864, in which it was stated that Her Majesty's Government were not prepared to admit the justice of the view that the fortifications and troops at Trincomalee ought to be looked upon as Imperial works and garrisons.

Ibid., p. 48 (No. 14).

0.0.

Library volume 5713.

In informing the Governor of Her Majesty's allowance of the Ordinance the Secretary of State instructed him to appoint a Commission to settle a definite scale of military force and military works and buildings to be chargeable to the Colony in time of peace.

The Commission reported in 1865. They recommended the payment of an inclusive sum of £152,000 and £8,000 estimated as the probable cost of native pensions which the Commission thought should be paid direct by pp. Ivi and the Colony, the £152,000 being paid to the Imperial Government in money. These sums included the whole cost of the troops in the Colony and the home charges,

Ibid.,

xvii.

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