July r, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



37 



couiagement for Tropical Agriculture in Oeylon. Our 

 natives are being so rapidly educated that by 1,000 

 A. D. English will practically be the language of the 

 larger body of the people. Colombo is the centre 

 of the Eastern world, thanks to Sir John Coode's 

 Dew harbour ; and capital invested in tea and 

 cacao culture especially, is as likely to bring a good 

 return as any agricultural enterprize I know of any- 

 where. 



Mr. A. N. Birch, c.m.g. : I am very glad that an evening 

 has been given by thi< institute for a discussion on the 

 interesting subject brought before the meeting by Mr. 

 Mos^e in the paper he has read. It is a subject that may 

 not greatly interest the majority of those who usually at- 

 tend these" meetings, but it is a very important one, which 

 has little chance of publicity. The merchants and planters 

 have a very active press in which to ventilate their wants 

 and grievances, but the natives of the interior have hitherto 

 depended solely on the Governor and public officer to help 

 them in their distress. I had thegood fortune to hold office 

 in Oeylon at a time when the island was very prosperous. 

 There was plenty of money for public works, aud we had 

 an energetic and very able Governor in Sir William Gregory, 

 to push forward irrigation works. I have visited more than 

 once, all the districts referred to by Sir William Gregory, 

 and lean thoroughly endorse all ho has said of the terrible 

 sufferings and distress existing in the interior of the Islaad, 

 and the marked results of the irrigation work» where com- 

 pleted. It has been a matter of great regret to me that .-inoe 

 I left the colony there has been a great annual reduction 

 in the irrigation votes, and consequent stoppage of many 

 important schemes commenced in my time. The great re- 

 diction in the revenue' has been the main cause of this, 

 no doubt. But I trust and believe that the new Governor 

 his the interests of the natives thoroughly at heart, and 

 will spend every penny he can in pushing forward this great 

 work of restoration. I was chairman of the committee from 

 whose report Mr. Mosse has quoted, and although seven years 

 have passed since that report was written, I am as strongly 

 convinced as ever that the great object for the Government to 

 accomplish is to make the country produce enough grain 

 for its native and immigrant population, and to 

 accomplish this it is desirable to continue, on a 

 larger scale than hitherto, the restoration aud improve- 

 ment of irrigation works throughout the country." I 

 cannot, therefore agree in much that Mr. Ferguson has 

 said on the question of rice cultivation. Past history 

 shows that Ceylon was a large grain-producing island, 

 as I trust it will be in the future, when the restoration 

 of the old tanks is completed. If this meeting has the 

 result of calling public attention to the matter it will 

 have done good. 



Mr. Charles Bruce, c. m. a. : Although my official con- 

 nection with Ceylon ceased some time ago, my interest 

 in the colony has not ceased, and I consider it a pri- 

 vilege to be present tonight, and to be allowed to take 

 a part in these proceedings. And, indeed, as Mr. Mosse 

 has remarked, the subject is not one of interest exclusively 

 to Ceylon. It has an interest for other colonies ; and in 

 Mauritius, with "which colony I am now officially con- 

 nected, there is no question which is attracting more 

 serious attention than the storage and distribution of water 

 both for drinking and for agricultural purposes. With, 

 regard to the subjects directly dealt with in Mr. Mosse's 

 paper, I will confine myself to justtwo points. Mr. Mosse 

 lias called attention to the system of Kajacaria, and with 

 what he has said on this subject, as well as with the re- 

 marks of Sir John Douglas on the same topic, I generally 

 concur. There can be no doubt that at the time Haja- 

 caria was abolished by order in Council, Englishmen in 

 England knew more of the later abuses of the system than 

 of its legitimate uses. The translation of the term may 

 perhaps have led to some confusion. If the term is trans- 

 lated " forced labour," as, I think. Mr. Mosse has called 

 it tonight, it is difficult to dissociate it from the odious 

 significance which is attached in France to the expression 

 travaux forces, but if we use the sufficiently literal trans- 

 lation, " On the king's service " or ''On Her Majesty's 

 service," we have an expression which has rather an hon- 

 ourable than an odious importance, and which perfectly 

 conveys the impression of the thing signified. Rajacaria 

 was originally work done for the public advantage and for 

 public uses, but in course of time the term got to he almost 



exclusively associated with the idea of work tyrannically 

 imposed upon the people either for the exaltation of the 

 sovereign in the construction of public monuments for purely 

 selfish purposes having no other object than the personal 

 gratification of princes or administrators. In the irrigation 

 works recently undertaken in the North Central Province 

 of Ceylon, a system somewhat similar to Eajacaria has 

 been, as Mr. Mosse has explained, resorted to, 

 and I think that all who are present and who are acquainted 

 with the financial possibilities of Ceylon, will agree that 

 without some such system it will be impossible to carry 

 out the beneficial schemes which have been explained to 

 us here to night. Such a system, however, must be limited 

 by two conditions : it must be resorted to only for the 

 construction of public works of recognized and obvious 

 utility; and it must be worked through the agency and 

 with the consent of the local native authorities, so that 

 the persons called upon to contribute their share of labour 

 or its equivalent may be thoroughly satisfied that they will 

 not be called upon to perform any work for the personal 

 advantage of any English administrator or official, but will be 

 asked to co-operate only in the carrying out of works 

 demanded by their own general needs and for the general 

 advantage of themselves and their posterity. (Applause.) 

 Mr. Mosse has in his paper given us a narrative of irrig- 

 ation in Ceylon, and has recalled the names of kings and 

 princes famous in the history of the honourable works con- 

 nected with it. I think that in modern times no one has 

 more fully recognized the importance of the subject or 

 deserves larger credit than Sir William Gregory, who has 

 addressed us this evening. (Applause.) I am sure also 

 that we have all heard with pleasure what he has told us 

 about the works now being undertaken by Sir Arthur 

 Gordon. But in the history of irrigation in Oeylon there 

 is a class of men to whom, in my opinion, great credit is 

 due, and who have not, I think, been mentioned. I al- 

 lude to the the officers and men of the Public Works Departs 

 ment. (Applause.) In the course of my official duties in 

 Ceylon, as Director of Public Instruction, I visited near- 

 ly every part of the island, including those districts where 

 fever and sickness are almost constantly prevalent. Every- 

 where I found the officers of the Public Works Depart- 

 ment (and I speak especially of those connected with the 

 Irrigation Department), at their post, Sir John Douglas, 

 Mr. Birch, and others present, will, I am sure, concur 

 with me in bearing testimony to the patient, the devoted, 

 and efficient but often scarcely recognized labours of 

 these valuable public servants. It gives me pleasure to 

 take the opportunity now offered me of calling attention 

 to the gallant endurance with which, in remote and obs- 

 cure districts, constantly attacked by fever both in their 

 own persons and in their families, they devote them 

 selves to the service of Government and to the interest 

 of the people entrusted to their care. (Applause.; And 

 now let me say that I came here tonight, not to speak, 

 but to learn, and I have learnt much, not only from Mr. 

 Mosse but from others, and especially from Mr. John 

 Ferguson. I think we were very fortunate in having had 

 him here this evening, for on all subjects connected with 

 Ceylon he can speak with authority. Indeed with the 

 exception of Mr. A. M. Ferguson, the senior Editor of 

 the Oeylon Observer, there is probably no European who 

 has so intimate a knowledge of the affairs of Ceylon 

 generally as he has. (Applause.) 



The Chairman : It is now my agreeable duty to ask 

 you to convey to Mr. Mosse your best thanks for his 

 interesting and instructive paper. 



Mr. Mosse, in reply, said : I thank you very sincerely 

 for your approval of my paper. The subject is, of course, 

 a large one, and there are various points of view from 

 which it may be regarded. It is, however, quite clear that 

 since irrigation has been adopted crops, before uncertain 

 have been rendered certain, that prices have been mater- 

 ially reduced, and that there is plenty of |food in place 

 of scarcity. I will not. at this late hour, enter into any 

 discussion as to forced labour, or labour " on Her Majesty's 

 service," and statute labour, but I think everybody ought 

 to be very thankful for the beneficial results which have 

 attended the present system. (Applause.) 



The Chairman announced that the next meeting of the 

 Institute will beheld on Tuesday, June 10, when a paper 

 will be read by Governor Sir Frederick A. Weld K. C, 



