CHAPTER VIII 



LAND GRANTS 



Terms upon which Land is Obtained and Held 



I ^HE conditions upon which land is obtained vary very 

 much according to the country. In Ceylon land is gener- 

 ally acquired by purchase, either from Government direct or 

 from some private holder who has previously obtained a title 

 from Government. The land is freehold, and, the price paid, 

 there is usually no annual rental to provide for. There are, 

 of course, cases of land being held on lease from the owner of 

 the freehold, but these are not very common. Native titles 

 are not a secure holding as a rule, and should not be accepted 

 without first obtaining from Government what is known as a 

 C.Q.P., i.e., a Certificate of Quiet Possession. 



In the Federated Malay States and Straits Settlements such 

 things as freehold land are comparatively rare, although they 

 do exist, and land is now acquired from Government, subject 

 to an annual rental of $1.00 per acre for the first year, and 

 thereafter at the rate of $4.00 per acre. Many of the old 

 companies, of course, hold land on very much better terms 

 than these, mostly averaging fifty cents per acre, but no grants 

 are now issued on such terms. 



In Sumatra there are duties to be paid to Government 

 before a title is issued, and these, while varying in different 

 districts, usually average about G.3.oo per acre, the proceeds 

 being divided between the Government and the local native 

 Sultan. In addition there is an annual rental to be paid, 

 equal to one shilling per acre, which is also divided between 

 the Dutch Government and the local Sultan. Leases are for 

 seventy-five 3?ears an d are renewable. 



It should be borne in mind that, in Sumatra, grants of land 

 are always subject to native rights as to fruit trees and to 



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