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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

C.O. 882

9

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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the principle of dividing the licences so that as far as possible each one would be in the hands of a different person would be followed, &c.

4 The Committee maintain that the pledges given by the Government have not been redeemed. With regard to (i) they beg to point out that toddy taverns have been established not only where there was no proved demand, but where there was strong and even unanimous opposition on the part of the inhabitants, and where trees have not been previously tapped for toddy. In numerous cases the people are so strongly opposed to the introduction of toddy taverns that they have refused to give sites for buildings or trees for tapping. The Committee beg to cite the following specific instances, not as exhausting the number of cases, but as illustrating the present position.

(a) The Buddhist Excise Memorial Committee represented to Government that they were in a position to prove that toddy taverns had been established where there had been no previous demand, and asked for a public enquiry. At the request of Government they offered to lead evidence in regard to two out of a number of villages about which they held information, namely Botala and Pirisiyala in the Hapitigam Korale, in which they asserted that there were no habitual toddy drinkers, and no trees had been tapped for toddy during the previous twelve months. The Government have not up to date instituted an The enquiry, or even agreed that a public enquiry should be held. correspondence on this matter is hereto appended.

(b) Complaints have also been made by Hindu and Buddhist priests and Chris- tian missionaries in various parts of the Island, as well as by influential residents, that toddy shops have been opened in places where no illicit sale existed, and where there was no legitimate demand.

(c) In many instances the Crown has granted land for the purpose of erecting toddy taverns, where the residents have refused to allow their land to be used for the purpose. Thus Government have forced taverns on an unwilling people.

For instance, at Kalliliya, in the Hapitigam Korale, four miles from Mirigama, a toddy licence was sold, but no one in the village The Govern- would grant or sell land on which to erect the tavern.

rent.

ment Agent thereupon alienated a portion of the village burial ground for the purpose, and the licensee is paying Rs. 3 per month as ground The burial ground has been in use for over a century; it is the only ground available for interments, and is now used for the

pur- pose by persons of all faiths in at least two villages. The action of the Government Agent has outraged the feelings of the people.

At Pambala, in the North-Western Province, Government decided to establish a toddy tavern, but there, again, no land was available, and the inhabitants were so averse to the tavern that they refused to grant land. The Government have, therefore, allowed the tavern to be placed upon a piece of land set apart as a road reservation.

At Kalagedera and Kapitiwelana in Ḥapitigam Korale, Crown land has been granted for the purpose of erecting taverns, as the villagers refused to grant land for this purpose.

The fact of the establishment of toddy taverns without proper investigation in places where there was no demand for them is abun- dantly proved by what has transpired in connection with the sale of toddy rents in the Ratnapura district of Sabaragamuwa Province.

Originally, the toddy rents in this district were sold by Korales or Pattus, giving the licensees the right to establish taverns in every wasam, there being considerably over 100 wasams. In one Korale only, Nawadum, the licences were sold by wasams, totalling about 40. The licensee who bought Kuku! Korale offered to surrender the taverns, which numbered 15, to Government, forfeiting the two months' rent which he had paid as security. The taverns were offered for sale at his risk in one batch. The highest bid was Rs. 250 for 10 months, whereas at the previous sale the rents for twelve months had realised more than

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Rs. 2,500. This bid was not accepted and the Korale was re-advertised. The taverns were then offered separately, and only three found bidders, the total of the sale being only Rs. 410.

They

The same licensee had bought about six taverns in Kadawatte Korale (Medapattu), which were surrendered with the rest. were offered again, and not more than one found a bidder.

According to information received, in the whole Ratnapura district not more than 20 taverns have been established, though origi- nally over 100 were sold.

5. With regard to (ii) the Committee beg to refer to paragraph 4 of their Memorial. Since the Memorial was forwarded, there has appeared the affidavit

of Mr. Corea (appended hereto) which makes quite clear the connection between the arrack renters and the toddy licences.

There is, further, the fact that in several cases in which toddy licences were purchased, and two months' rent paid in advance, the licensees have not made any effort to establish taverns, the inference being that the licences were purchased in the interest of the arrack renters.

6.

With regard to (iii) it is obvious from the following facts that there has been no attempt by Government to establish the renting system in its simplest form in the case of toddy.

(a) So far from selling the toddy licences to approved residents in the different districts, the licences in most cases have been sold to persons who did not belong to the district in which the taverns were to be established, and about whom no previous investigation had been held. The buyers as a rule were drawn from the few areas where nearly the whole of the persons connected with the arrack farming reside.

(b) The Government have, in many cases, sold toddy licences in blocks, and even where they were sold separately, large numbers of licences have been bought in the same district by one person. The notice in the Government Gazette for Friday, August 30th, of the re-sale of toddy licences at Ratnapura, states in explicit words :-"The Government Agent reserves to himself the right of putting up the same areas for sale in blocks of pattus (Koralas division) or in one block for the whole Korale." This proves conclusively that the Government are open to establish in regard to toddy the very system they have condemned in regard to arrack, the farming system, and, so far from this being a simple" form of renting, it is so complicated and difficult that, as has been shown in the case of arrack, abuses are certain to arise.

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7. The Government of Ceylon have admitted that the present Excise scheme

Is of the nature of an experiment. The Committee of the Legislative Council to which the Excise Bill was referred, unanimously recommended some form of local option, or of the consulting of local opinion. Over 1,000 toddy taverns have, how- ever, been opened without any reference to the wishes of the residents of the places concerned.

As above indicated, there is a considerable body of evidence forthcoming to prove, first, that the Government have not succeeded in their desire to prevent the association of arrack renters with toddy licences, which was the chief reason given for the establishment of a large number of toddy taverns in addition to the existing arrack taverns; and, second, that toddy taverns have in numerous cases been established where there was no proved demand, and in opposition to the wishes of the people.

The Committee would, therefore, urge that before the Government scheme is confirmed in its present form and arrangements are made for the sale of arrack and toddy rents for the year beginning July 1st, 1913, a committee of enquiry should be appointed, on which the public of Ceylon should have adequate representation, to enquire into the matters referrea to and to formulate suggestions that will lead to the improvement of the Excise scheme of the Government.

We have, &c.,

JAS. PEIRIS,

W. J. NOBLE,

Chairman.

Secretary.

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