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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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TC.O. 882

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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Whatever other powers may be conferred upon him by the law of the particular Colony, he is by virtue of his commission and instruction from the Crown the repre- sentative of the Queen in this part of her Dominions, who is herself the source of all executive authority therein

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In whom then was He would like to recall to the House another function of the Governor. They knew that the Sovereign was the fountain of all honour the power of distributing the honours granted by the Sovereign invested in that Colony! It was invested in His Excellency the Governor, and if he was not mis- He taken he believed that the lonourable Mr. Ramanathan was the recipient of an The source honour from the King presented by His Excellency the Governor on his behalf. apologised to the Council for the subject upon which he had spoken.

of the Governor's position was the letters patent and the Royal instructions.

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR--(to Mr. Ramanathan)-Does the honourable member wish to put his amendment to the Division?

Mr. RAMANATHAN: No, Sir.

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR: With the leave of the Council the amendment is withdrawn.

Toddy Taverns.

Mr. Fairlie asks for an explanation.

Coming to sub-section 2 (paragraph g) of the same clause, Mr. ALEX. FAIRLIE inquired why Government had felt it desirable, whilst that Ordinance was under consideration, to license a great number of new taverns throughout the Island. The matter had caused considerable feeling, as they were aware, and he thought some explanation should be given.

Sir HUGH CLIFFORD said he was under the impression that an explanation had been given. He explained to honourable members at great length on the 15th of last month what were the initial steps that were necessary in the opinion of the Executive, and which after due inquiry and deliberation they proposed to take under the old Ordinance, in order to make a start, the first few steps being a long and difficult journey, the ultimate goal of which was to enable the control of con- sumption of intoxicants in this Colony to be secured by the Government. He ex- plained at considerable length why arrack and toddy had to be separated, and he also told honourable members that even supposing that Bill were to be thrown out in this Colony, that the Government, finding itself able to face the immediate loss of revenue, and the increased expenditure which would be necessary to carry out those measures, were resolved no longer to shirk what they recognised as a duty, and which they had also recognised as an extremely difficult piece of work, which, for a number of reasons, including a state of prosperity not equal to that which they to-day enjoyed, had rendered it impossible for previous Administrations to do more than deplore. In the Select Committee he told his colleagues that he believed there would He placed it at 1,800 because he was particularly He had had handed be about 1,800 toddy taverns. anxious to over-state rather than to under-state the number. to him that day the revised figures for the whole of Ceylon with the exception of the Province of Sabaragamuwa, and he found that they came to 1,046, as against the 1,600 that he anticipated. To that figure of 1,046 they would have to add the figures that he had not yet got from Sabaragamuwa, but he imagined that they would not come to 200, and, therefore, his estimate of 1,600 was probably about 400 places too many. He would also draw the attention of honourable members to the fact that in 1870 there were no less than 1,558 arrack taverns in this Colony, and that to-day there would be 843. In the past toddy had been sold at the arrack taverns; therefore from the 1,200 toddy taverns that it was proposed to institute they must, in order to arrive at any indication of the actual increase, deduct the number of arrack taverns, that was to say, they must take 843 from about 1,200 and they then got approximately 350 extra places. But it was a mistake to suppose that that meant that they were going to have more places where toddy was available in the future than they had in the past. They were going to have nothing of the sort. They were going to have revealed to them for the first time, as he told them on April 15th, something of the real extent of the consumption of liquor in this Colony. It was their duty to face the fact that there was a very large consumption of toddy going on in this Colony and a very large consumption of arrack, and under the present system they could only deplore that and continue to deplore it without making any attempt to tackle the difficulties that were before them. Their attempt to overcome

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the evil entailed a loss of revenue which would amount to between three and four lakhs of rupees, and it entailed during the next financial year an increase of expen- But that was the liture amounting to something over three and a half lakhs. sacrifice which they had to make in order to get the first initial steps taken that eventually might enable them to obtain control over the manufacture, importation, and supply of intoxicants, and until they had got control over those the illicit Consumption would still go on.

The Bill passed unanimously.

The clause was then passed.

After a few minor corrections had been made in some of the remaining clauses. Sir ilUGH CLIFFORD moved that Council resume.

The Bill was then read a third time and passed unanimously.

Enclosure 6 in No. 1.

PROPOSED EXCISE SYSTEM FOR CEYLON.

REPORT by Messrs. B. Horsburgh and R. M. Thurley upon the proposed abolition of the present System of Production and Distribution of Arrack and Toddy

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in Ceylon, and the Introduction of a System of Excise on the lines of that in force in the Madras Presidency.

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II-Separation of Arrack and Toddy.

Under the existing renting system the monopoly of retail sale both of arrack and toddy within defined areas is sold to the highest bidder, who is generally known As a matter of fact he is quite as much the "toddy renter,' as the "arrack renter." though he is never so called, and the distinction in name rests on a real distinction in fact, for the arrack' and toddy renter" has as little to do with toddy as he possibly can.

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16. Three separate systems have resulted from the combination of the arrack and toddy rents, viz., (1) that by which the renter himself separates the arrack rent from the toddy rent, keeping the former in his own hands and re-selling the latter by small defined areas to purchasers who are known as sub-renters, who then- a consideration," of course-allow any one who wishes to draw and sell fermented toddy within the limits each of his own sub-rent area, the payment of the "con- sideration" being enforced, where necessary, by prosecution for tapping without permit, for no permit under the Ordinance is issued even to those who pay the

This is the system," if such it can be called, which exists in the sideration." Northern Province, and it results in a universal and uncontrolled sale and con- sumption of fermented toddy and a low standard of temperance among the people.

17. It is, of course, a gross and open evasion of the law, which in this respect is entirely unsuited to the conditions and habits of the people, and therefore unwork- able and unenforceable. The only thing that can be said for it is that Government gets from it a fair proportion of toddy revenue, which it does not do in any other part of the Island.

18. (2) The second method on which the combined rents are worked is that where the renter keeps fermented toddy for sale in all or certain of his taverns along with arrack, and endeavours to put down its consumption elsewhere as far as he can. This state of things is found in the districts of Colombo, Galle, Matara, Tangalla, Hambantota, Negombo, Chilaw, Trincomalee, and Batticaloa.

19. Here the main object of the renter is to push the sale of arrack at the expense of that of toddy, so that the price of the latter is kept disproportionately high generally 60 cents a gallon-and a preventive establishment of peons is employed to harass and worry those who draw toddy otherwise than to supply the taverns. As, however, toddy consumption is practically universal where there are trees, and prosecutions are few compared with the number of actual offences, one is left to guess what actually happens in the circumstances.

20. It cannot be said that this state of things is at all satisfactory, and it is absolutely certain that Government does not get its fair share of the revenue that should accrue from the actual toddy consumption, if, indeed, it gets any share at all, the renter in this case being generally supposed to omit toddy altogether from his rent calculations.