August i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



117 



London is a better spec for sucli <han the Congo in 

 Africa. Renumber there are 5,000,000 people in and 

 about London, who all driuk ti'a, and that the 

 majority of them can get only poor, adulter- 

 ated rubbish from C'hiiia ! It will be to the 

 interest of t!ie aforesaid established businesses to 

 r.dicule this advice; but it is sound. It only wants 

 the rig! t men, with sufficient capital to begin in a small 

 way, to woik up s eadily to an ever-expanding trade. 

 It also requires a knowledge of London itself which 

 jierhaps few possess ; but the key to this knowledge, 

 for tradii g purposes, lies in the fact that " Lomlon " 

 is an agglomeration of a hundred different towns in 

 one. That is, it has (within the pcstal elistricts say) 

 a hundred eliff-rent centres, around each of which, m 

 circular areas of vast extent, reside an immense popul- 

 ation, which has so little in common with its nei^h. 

 hours, tliat many thousands of people almost live 

 their Uvea and dit^ without seeing auy other part of 

 '• London " but their own. Even busy City men seldom 

 visit the We-tend, but for phasure occasionally; and 

 Westenders may be larely seen in the City oftener 

 than twice a year, when dividends are due at the 

 Bank of England. London is an inexhaustible sub- 

 ject, and Ceylon an infinitesimal one in comparison. 

 Those Ceylon men who have left the country .ind 

 are successful at home or in new lields will not regret 

 having doneso— but doubtless a few years hence will 

 see many others of them return to their old haunts, where 

 tncir local experience and knowledge will yet 

 be in great demand. Ceylon has a great and 

 immediate " fuluie " before it, undoubtedly. And I 

 hope and trust that all who are here now, without 

 exception, but esj ecially the much-tried, olcler resid- 

 ents, will have their full share in the coming prosperity. 



BRAZIL AND JAVA : 

 REPORT ON THE COFFEE CULTURE IN 

 AMliRICA, A8IA AISD AFRICA, 



BT 



K. F. VAX DELDEN LAEENE. 



It is a well-known fact that the coffee grown in Brazil 

 represents one-half of all the coffee produced in the whole 

 world ; therefore Brazil may be considered to rule the 

 whole market. As it is for our Government, who derive 

 a great part of the revenue from this source, of para- 

 mount importance to be thoroughly acquainted with the 

 conditions of this culture elsewhere, especially when such 

 a seriousrival as ]!razil interferes, it was resolved in I.SS.3 

 to send cut an authorized and quahfied person, to examine 

 into the state of the coffee culture in Brazil in order to 

 study it in connection with the interests of our coffee 

 culture in Java. 



Our readers may remember that accordingly in 1883 Mr. 

 K. F. Van Delden Laerne was charged with this delicate 

 mission. This gentleman was, by his position as Referendary 

 at the Dipartment of the Interior at Batavia, and his 

 known abilities, eminently qualified for this nii.'^sion. Accortl- 

 ingly he left the port of Lisbon ^Sept. 9th, 1883, and on 

 the 6th of April lsi^4 he re urned to Europe vinth astore 

 of materials carefully collected for his report ; these he 

 worked up with surprisinj? diligence; for, in the short 

 space of six months afier his return to Europe, his report 

 w.is ready and delivered to the minister of Colonies. 

 This repoit, a voluminous octavo volume of GOO 

 pages, was published in December of last year, and 

 a splendid specimen of industry and presevcrance it is, 

 besides bemg provided with maps, views and a number 

 of statistical tables of great value. 



■We hear now, that to render the contents more univers- 

 ally known, an Edition in French is almost completed, 

 and one in Eiighshis in course of publication. The inter, 

 est of the matter deserves this distinction. The hook 

 is full of carefully collected f.acts with many useful and 

 practical suggestions concerning our own trojiical cultures. 



Thus we find the vital question of labour, the great 

 BtumbliDg block in Brazil, elave-labour or government cult- 



ure, fully discussed. The fiuaucial system in Brazil his 

 also been an object of close scrutiny ; the overiiroduction 

 aud consequently low prices, which latter consideration lias 

 led the Ccntro da Lavoura e Oommercio to look out for 

 new di'bonc/its for their coffee. 



We have further a chapter on immigration which would 

 be so neccs.sary to replace slave labour in case of com- 

 plete emancipation, the agrarian and economical conditions 

 of the country, the means of communication especially 

 Railways, Conimerco and Bankini; business, and then m. 're 

 especially the Coffee culture as is it is practised in that 

 country. 



The writer concludes his most interesting report with 

 a review of the coffee culture in Netherland Imlia, ex- 

 pressing it as his conviction, that by better pluck and bet- . 

 ter preparation the Dutch Government could derive much 

 more advant ' ge from the culture, without oppressing the 

 native population. 



To give the reader a specimen of the work, we will ex- 

 tract the conclusion of the Chapter Slavery and Eman- 

 cipation. 



" Tho new settlement of the emancipation question 

 will not, I fear, be effected without a violent struggle, 

 and even then we shall have to ask ourselves, how it is 

 to be carried out. 



By the proposed bill of the Minister Dantas, which 

 if it passes will render the above mentioned motion 

 of De Bulhoes null aud void, — freedom is desired for all 

 slaves : 



a. That have attained their sixtieth year. 

 Ii. That have not been registered previously. 

 c. That have been removed from their legal domicile. 

 It is further enacted : 



il. That all liberated slaves of sixty years of ago and up- 

 wards have a claim to board and lodging as long as ihey re- 

 main with their former masters ; but cannot insist on pay- 

 ment for work performed : this is left to the good will of the 

 master. 



e. That, if liberated slaves leave the service of their 

 masters, they shall be maintained by the State. 



/. That within a year after the passing of this Bill, there 

 .shall be a new registration of slaves— based on that of 1817- 

 73 stating name, age, colour, size, nationality, parentage, 

 phj'sicalcapahilities, calling and value. All slaves not re- 

 gistered are free. 

 (/. That the registration fee shall be one milreis per head. 

 k. That the value of the slaves be estimated accoiding to 

 age, and must not exceed : 



SOU milreis for those under 30 

 700 „ „ „ between 30—40 

 COO „ „ „ „ 411-5(5 



400 „ „ „ „ 60— CO 



/. That the compensation paid out of the Emancipation- 

 Fund shall be calculated according to that standard, with 

 this understanding, that the slaves valued lowest shall be 

 the first to be bought out. 



k. That a tax shall be paid of 5 per cent in Rio de 

 Janeiro and the seven largest provincial capitals, 3 per cent 

 in the other towns, and 1 per cent in the iuteiior. 



I. That from this time forward there shall be levied a 

 tax of from 10 to 2.5 per cent on slaves changing hands 

 hy inheritance ; 5 to 25 per cent on legacies inter vivos ; 

 and 10 percent on sales. 



)H. That the ecclesiastical orders, after the conversion of 

 their lands into Government bonds or "apolices" shall 

 have to pay a duty ef 20 per cent on the interest of these 

 apolices. 



It. That the slaves legal domicile shall be considcied to 

 he the Province where he is on the day the Bill becomes law, 

 always excepting such as are attending their masters on a 

 journey. 



0. That all slaves whose liberty has been bought out o 

 tho Fund, shall be required to continue work for five 

 years in the district they are in, on pain of fine, forced labour 

 on public works, or imprisonment. 



)). That all work agreements, which must not be entered 

 into for more than three years, shall be registered. 



q. That the minimnm wages to bo paid to the emancip- 

 ated slave shall be determined annually by specially ap- 

 pointed judges and arhitors. 



)■. That no traffic in slaves shall he carried on on painof a 

 fine of 5,000 milreis for each offence. 



