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great complaint has been made is Mauritius; but if the complaints which have been made by its inhabitants and those connected with them are examined, it will be found that they all really turn upon the ruin brought upon planters and mer- chants, as it is said, by the withdrawal of protec tion, but in truth by that reckless over-speculation At the same which protection had given rise to. time it may fairly be admitted that the Government of this colony has always been conducted in too expensive a manner; but no effort has been want- ing to correct the fault which in this respect has been acknowledged to exist in the system of administration, and already taxes to the amount of A new 65,000l. a-year have been remitted. Governor has also just been appointed, who will carry out with him instructions to revise the whole

of the public establishments upon the principles of the severest economy.

Ceylon, however, is the colony respecting which 'thecamour has been the loudest.

The facts are these.

A few years ago the cultivation of coffee in this island was undertaken by English capitalists, or on their account, and so much profit attended the first experiment that a sudden rush was made into the business. Capital to a very large amount was invested, and a great extent of Crown land was purchased for the purpose of forming coffee planta- tions. Of course while this was in progress every. thing was prosperous in the colony. The revenue was swelled not merely by the large receipts from the sale of land, but also by the great increase of duties upon imports, which, while capital was being invested, were largely augmented. Though the symptoms were only too plain, as I should have thought, that this was a delusive and fleeting prosperity which must necessarily be followed by a strong reaction, Lord Stanley in 1845 thought it prudent to make a large addition to the expense of all the public establishments in the colony, carrying this so far as to render the immediate annual expenditure not very much below what the facti- tious revenue of that year would bear, without making any allowance either for the certain falling

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