, 1888-07-04

OO ''Ne WIN ~ PAONNN ~ II iEtCG
that some 20 or 80 thousand TamilS from
Southern India, COM over every year to
labour on the coffee, tea and cinchOna
plantations. There is not so much differ
ence then, on this score.
OeylOn has not been in British possess
sion for a hundred years yet, but the enOr.
nous advance she has made in civiliZa-
ton and progress has been marvellous,
as it is shown by a most interesting &C.
count published in the Times of March
3rd. There are not more than 5000 Eu.
ropeans i'll the whole colony, and we learn
that there are 100 miles of railway con-
structed, and that the public debt of the
colony is only % millions sterling. Nearly
the whole of the railway debt has been
paid OFT, and from an article in the OUer-
land CeytOn Observer, we CLEAN that near
ly one fourth of the Revenue is obtained
from Railway Receipts. While therefore
the colony owes only some two and ii
half millions, she has 100 miles of railway,
a magnificent breakwater at Colombo
which cost over $685., 900, and most exten.
sive systems Of water works Ii tanks for
irrigation purposes, those of Colombo alone
representing 9331,O0O. In the year 1886,
the sun of 2, l89.277 rupees was spent on
public works, exclusive of railways, an
amount equal to about G218,000 sterling
Now let us glance for a moment at the
revenue and expenditure of this progress
sive colony. Up to 1873 the revenue
rose steadily. In 1879 it was 81 500 900.
1t gradually fell on account of the diSas-
trOuS failure of coffee, through the leaf
disease. 1t reached its lowest point in
1888, when the amount collected reached
only &I,162, 179; from that period it be-
gan to recover, and in 1885 it stood at
Gl,1SG, 01S. We have no returns since,
but there is 10 doubt whatever that III
1886 and 1887 the revenue nearly reached
the maximum i'll 1879.
The people are not taxed heavily. The
revenue is raised from Customs duties, a
few light export duties, a tax ON rice
lands, the pearl fishery and salt mOnOpO-
ly, and railway receipts, with the sale
of Grown lands. The railways have paid
so we'll that it is thought any further ex-
tension may be left to private enterprise.
Referring to the planters of CeylOn, the
Times correspondent thus writes =
They are Kindly and hOspitable, full of
pluck and ability and %perSevering ener-
gy. Since 1887, when planting first be-.
gan, they nave suffered blows that would
have FRUSTRATED men of any but Anglo
0dAOn OlOONs l. ANuACAAOOL OOLA1O NC0lS
ago travelling through the Island, and
for miles together l saw nothing but the
dead stumpS of the coffee plant. Millions
of pounds were irretrievabIy lost on those
slopes. But the planters rallied after a time.
They tried cinchOna, they tried cocoa, they
tried cardamOms, they tried tea, and every
once of those new cultures turned out a trump
card. In 1872 only a few pounds of tea
were exported i'll 1887 at least 10 mil
lions of lbs of tea went to England. The
island in the planting districts is now as
busy and an flOuliShing as ever it was. The
people look healthy and are fairly dres-
Sed the houses are we'll built there is a
pervading air of prosperity. AS one of
many proofs of the good planting has done
| may mention that in 1900 there was
hardly a cart in the island, and now there
are over 10000. But there are districts
where the planter does not go, where pow
erty and suffering still reign, and it is to
these districts that our Government must
turn its attention, and by the restitution
of the old tanks bring plenty within reach
of all the three millions that people the
island.
l have completed my picture, very
much no doubt, has been done since we
came into the country. A few figures will
show a striking degree of material pro-
gress. The population has trebled in
the century. The revenue is five times,
and the shipping is iftyfOld what they