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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TLC.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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Government, whilst denouncing the renters publicly, are granting them important concessions for their convenience and advantage, and bungle the sales of toddy shops so ludicrously as to play into their hands; on the other hand, the men who are supposed to be acting in the interest of the renters, are the very men who are exposing these malpractices. It has been contended that the opposition of the public cannot be seriously entertained as the Ordinance was assented to by the Ceylon Legislative In reply to this, I have to state that the Council without a single dissentient. Ordinance, as at first submitted to the Council, dealt with the control of liquor in general terms only, leaving all the important details to be governed by rules and regulations which were left to be framed by the Governor-in-Council. Vast powers were thus to be conceded to the local Executive, and the rules and regulations so framed would have become law without adequate publicity or discussion. various public bodies that criticised the excise scheme were the first to point out the unreasonableness of the clause which conferred such powers on the Governor-in- In deference to the wishes of the Unofficial Members of the Executive Council. Legislative Council, and to public opinion strongly expressed throughout the Colony, a concession has been granted--an important concession-by virtue of which the Rules and Regulations under the Ordinance will have to be introduced and discussed, and, further, obtain the assent of the Legislative Council before passing into law. We are grateful for this, but, at the same time, we are deeply anxious to know the character of the Rules and Regulations which are likely to follow, and which we fear will be drafted by the same Excise Commissioners who have hitherto shown such a remarkable bias for revenue, and even for the convenience of the Excise Department, rather than for the interests of the public. As a further reason why the verdict of the Unofficial Members of the local Legislative Council cannot be considered final, I may mention that the majority of them are professional lawyers, who have not had the time or the opportunity of studying the complex technical details with which the excise question in Ceylon is surrounded. They have had to depend on the Govern- The history of this agitation has ment experts for facts and technical opinion." abundantly disclosed how unsatisfactory, mistaken, and prejudiced this technical opinion has been. In this connection I further beg to draw your attention to the history of the movement in Ceylon which has now happily ended in a satisfactory control of the sale of opium. For years the local Government denied that the sale As the result of a of opium was increasing unreasonably, and that it was a social evil. But your pre- decessors in this Office were not satisfied with these views. despatch from your office, a Commission was appointed to inquire into this question. On the recommendations of the Commission an Ordinance to suppress the licensed opium shops was considered by the local Legislative Council. Whilst it was being considered the native medical practitioners petitioned the Council, asking for the small concession that opium which is necessary for their practice be granted to them This appeal seems to have paralysed the Ceylon Executive. The Ordinance was at once dropped and measures of the nature of a compromise, which would have rendered the recommendations of the Opium Commission nugatory, were submitted by the Governor for your predecessor's consideration and approval. Not satisfied with them, your predecessor directed that a fresh Commission be formed to solve the difficulty with the native medical practitioners--a difficulty which the Legislative Conneil failed to overcome--with the result that a simple and easy solution was soon found by the Commissioners, and the Ordinance founded on the suggestion of the second Opium Commission is working very satisfactorily. I may further add that the registration of confirmed opium eaters has disclosed a state of affairs which has completely vindicated the action of the public on the opium question, and has proved how utterly unreliable has been the evidence of headmen and others, on which the Government officials of the Colony based their opinions previous to the passing of the Ordinance. I beg to submit that the excise problem in Ceylon is almost analogous to the opium question. During the last thirty years excise reform has been attempted on three distinct occasions. In every instance the solution of the problem has been left to the ingenuity of a Government official, who has invariably furnished a report and formulated suggestions. The questions involved have never been threshed out by a representative committee of Official and Unofficial Members working together. I urge, therefore, No evidence whatever has been taken from unofficial sources.

that before the Ordinance is finally approved by you, the Rules and Regulations which the Government intend to promulgate should be submitted to a thoroughly representative Commission of Inquiry in Ceylon. Such a Commission will have an opportunity of examining witnesses, of sifting the statements and figures submitted

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The

put by the Excise Commission, and of discussing the opinions they have Kules and Regulations, with the suggestions of the Commission, would then come before the Legislative Council for their further consideration and assent.

never

recom-

The wholesale dumping of toddy shops throughout the country, with a sudden- ness and secrecy almost dramatic, at a time when the Excise Bill was being consid- ered in the local Legislature has created a profound sensation in the Colony. More than twenty public meetings have been held at various centres, which were followed by a monster meeting in Colombo, to which delegates were sent from the provincial towns. At all these meetings strongly worded resolutions condemning the establish-

that ment of the toddy shops have been passed unanimously. Speaking from an experi-

I can most emphatically assert ence of over thirty years, before in the Island has a Government policy received such widespread condemnation and disapproval. The Commissioners of Excise have mended the separation of toddy from the arrack vend for three specific reasons. They assert that when the sale of toddy was combined with arrack "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." (Paragraph 19, Commissioners' Report.) I pointed out in February of last year that this conclusion of the Commissioners was grossly erroneous and that it displayed unpardonable ignorance on their part. No answer to my criticism has yet been made-not even by the Colonial Secretary, who devoted a very large portion of his speech on the second reading of the Excise Bill to meet my contentions. The second reason put forth is that the illicit production of toddy, which is prevalent, cannot be put down except by the establishment of separate toddy shops. contend that the illicit production of toddy is due partly to the absence of an efficient preventive staff, and partly to the inadequacy of punishment for the offence under the old Ordinance. Sir West Ridgeway, who carefully studied this question, states. "In connection with the subject of in the review of his administration of Ceylon, arrack I should perhaps allude to the illicit sale of toddy, which is unfortunately far too prevalent. It is encouraged, I am afraid, by the trivial fines which are too often inflicted by police magistrates, who do not appear fully to realise the many objections to the practice, and it is a question which demands early consideration, whether a ninimum fine should not be fixed or whether imprisonment for the offence should not be made rigorous.''

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The third contention is that the separation of toddy will give greater control over the sale of liquor. This is a mere assertion. There is nothing in the published documents which can lend weight or credulity to this statement. When once the licensing of toddy trees is undertaken by Government it makes no difference whether the sale of toddy is combined with that of arrack or permitted separately.

On the other hand the objections to the separation are numerous and important- objections, the full significance of which has been overlooked by the Government. The separation of toddy has brought about a very large and sudden increase in Nearly 1,300 toddy shops have been This is a licensed houses for the sale of alcoholic drinks. opened in addition to the 980 arrack taverns which existed before. reversion of the traditional policy of the Government of Ceylon, which, since the régime of the late Sir William Gregory, have consistently reduced the arrack taverns, as the following official figures will testify. In 1870 they stood at 1,558. In 1876, as the result of the new policy inaugurated by Sir William Gregory, they stood at 1,154. In 1891 they numbered 1,035, and in 1908 they had fallen to 974.

This reduction of the arrack taverns was not undertaken in the cause of temper- ance alone. It was deliberately carried out with the special object of putting down a greater evil. The prevalence of violent crime in the Sinhalese rural districts has been one of the most serious problems that has confronted the Administration of the Island. The direct connection between this form of crime and drunkenness has been thoroughly established, and, what is more, the reduction of the arrack taverns in the districts where such crime prevailed has invariably resulted in a diminution of crime. A policy deliberately You will now realise that the widespread dissatisfaction which the opening of the toddy shops has created in the Colony is not without a valid excuse. initiated over forty years ago and consistently pursued by Governor after Governor, with increasing prosperity to the country and a diminishing crime rate, has been suddenly given up for reasons which are neither convincing nor sound.

Another reason against the new policy is that with separate toddy shops the price of the liquor will be greatly cheapened. The exact figures are not at my disposal, but from the Ceylon papers recently received it would seem that a gallon of toddy will

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