The Minneapolis journal., 1901-05-28
COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS
OF TO-DAY.
xv--CEYLON
BY Walter Hodgson. NJ. A.. OF Keble College.
Oxford

Copyright, 1901 by Victor F. Lawson.
Ceylon is the largest, the most populous
and the most prosperous and progressive Of
Great Britain's "crown colonies" so-called
because the administration of their affairs is
directly under the control of the British col
onial office.
Geographically Ceylon is an appendage OF
India. as Sicily is of Italy; but though it has
roughly followed the fortunes of India in its
history, 1t has never been an Indian province,
but always separate dependency. It's varied
resources make it land to be desired for its
own sake by a commercial nation. The har
Dor OF Trincomalee Is sufficient inducement to
make naval power with an interest in the
eastern seas glad to possess 1t and eager TO
keep 1t, holding as it does singularly cen
tral position as place Of call on the route
from the west to the south and east. So
great, indeed from the first has been the
value put upon Ceylon that at the general
peace in 1876, after the conquest of Handy,
Great Britain elected rather to give up Java
to the Dutch in order to retain in her own
hands the ''key of India" inferior though it
was in area. in population and in natural
resources.
Resources of the Island.
The island has large resources, mainly -ag
rieultural. Its mountains are grouped in the
coast. There are variations of climate and of
rainfall; consequently the products also are
various. But though the soil is rich there IS
no good natural water communication, the
rivers of Ceylon being of but little use for
navigation or for storage. In olden days this
want was partially met by canals and reser-
voirs constructed under the authority Of the
native kings; but in later times Of trouble
and invasion these channels and tanks were
allowed TO go to ruin, and it is only in COM
paratively recent years that the government
has applied itself to the task of restoring
them.
Ceylon from time immemorial has been
famed for its gems: Catseyes. sapphires,
rubies and other precious stones. The pearl
fishery, too, on the west coast, is from time
to time a valuable source of revenue; and
the salt monopoly in the northwestern and
southern provinces yields steady income to
the government. Plumbago Is an important
feature in its mineral products, being export
ed largely for the making of crucibles and
lead pencils
Attracted by the peculiarly healthful cli-
mate, the beauty of the country and the
suitability of the soil, large numbers Of col
onists from Great Britain made their way to
the sup-country districts sixty years ago to
take advantage of the great opportunities Of
1ereQ Dy the ALREADY eStaDllSned coHee-planI-
ing industry, which, in spite of speedy and
serious check soon recovered itself and for
some years returned rich reward for their
invested capital and labor But from 1880
onward first the ''eoffee bug" and then the
'leaf mold" proved so disastrous that very
many who had risked their fortunes on coffee
abandoned its cultivation. With eharacteris-
tic British ''pluck," they rooted up acres up
on acres of their plantations, preferring all
the risk of a new enterprise to what ap-
peared to be inevitable ruin. Hence sprang
that great cultivation which has caused Cey-
Ion tea to become household word through
cut the civilized world.
Elements of the Population.
Within an area of 25,S ,S65 square miles
dwells a population of close upon 3,500,000 of
whom 2,5O0,OOO are native Cingalese, 81 per
cent being Buddhists and the remainder
Christians. The Tamils number 1000; the
Moorsmen-half Arab, half Tami-who are
Mohammedans, and who are as they always
have been, the traders OF the island, num-
Der, together with the Malays, Veddahs and
various other races, 200 600; the burghers, in
c1uding those of pure Dutch descent, as we'll
as Eurasians, who are. almost all Christians,