, 1875-11-03

membering that almost every one of the old
tanks is capable, when repaired, of irrigating
at least 1000 acres, some idea may be formed
of the change for which Government is now
paying the way. With the village tanks a
different course has been pursued. The object
of Government was not merely to have them
put in order, but to get the people to do it for
themselves, and thus to stimulate them to show
a little more interest in their own welfare.
With this aim in view the Government took
advantage Of an excellent ordinance passed
about three years ago, the effect of which may
be described as introducing mmunal govern
ment into such of the villages of Ceylon as
elect to receive it. By virtue of this enactment
the villagers themselves make laws for the
internal regulation of their own societies and
appoint tribunals to try and punish offenders.
All the regulations made by the villagers of
which the Government has formally approved
have the force of law within the limits where
they were enacted, and some of these are sensi'
bic and pointed enough to serve as models for
domestic legislation on a larger scale.
Now the Government has by means of this
communal system been able to induce the peo-
pie to embark upon the repair or RECONSTRUCT
tion Of their old tanks. A description of the
course followed in providing labOur may be OF
interest. The Government Surveyor examines
the tank and plans out what must be done.
A day is then fixed for commencing work, and
a certain number of villagers are called out by
beat of tom. tom, for the village Council has
declared that every able-bodied man who pos
sesses a stake in the community must contribute
his. share to the labour, not exceeding 80 days
annually, or commute the task for the sum Of
money, at a trife less than Sd. per diem. If
the villager does not turn out when ordered, or
fails to do a fair days work, he is liable to be
fined a shilling a day. In this way every one
is made to do his part, and the work goes
heartily on. There is probably no other system
which could have secured such thorough CO.
operation on the part of the people. 1t was
the decline of this communal organization,
which is known to have existed in the earliest
historical times in the island, which led to
the ruin of village cultivation. This IS we'll
shown in the last North Central Province re-
port. The Government agent says:-
"The whole Of the Province is composed of
a number of small agricultural republics, each
of which has its tank, with the field below it,
and the duty of maintaining the tank with its
channels in repair properly by custom devOlves
upon the community, each member being
bound to contribute his share of labour in pro-
norton to his share in the field. But under
our rule there has hitherto been no simple
machinery for compelling the idle and the abb
sentee shareholders, who go and live in other
villages, but still retain their claims on the
fields, to perform their share of the work. The
others are unwilling to work for the benefit of
the defaulters, and the work is left undone. To
this cause alone much of the present ruin of the
tanks is attributable"
When the villagers have cleared out the
basin Of the tank and constructed the earthen
6und, the Government next steps in and pro-
vides a sluice and a spill-water at It's own ex-
ponse. 1t also furnishes the villagers with
skilled supervision for their labour. At first
the people could scarcely realize the inten-
tions of Government, and were very unwilling to
turn out for labour but when the matter was
clearly explained they came forward of their
W accord to volunteer their services. Eyes,
yes,'' they said to Captain Woodward, the
Royal Engineer officer in charge of the irri-
CATION works, eve must all work we are
not going to repair our tank as we have hitherto
done it We are going to repair it as in the
times of the Y6day6" (the giants who built the
great tanks). So willingly do they work that
on an average they do half as much again as
the Government has prescribed for a days
toll Last year the repairs of about so village
tanks were commenced, aud over a score will
be finished before the close of 1875. It is
intended that some 20 or 80 tanks shall be
finished annually, and as there are nearly a
thousand of such village tanks scattered over
the North Central Province, the work must
necessarily be spread over a series of years.
But when the tanks are finished, where are