4,02 



in question in London, he was told that they would take 100 tons 

 at £15, after which they could not guarantee a price. Such a rapid 

 change of front was not allowed to pass without comment, and 

 your Committee are pleased to be able to report that H. E. the 

 Governor considered the matter of sufficient importance to refer to 

 Sir F. Abel, who has dealt with the complaint in a manner leaving 

 nothing to be desired. 



Memorial to Secretary of State. — The fact that the Govern- 

 ment of India, were planting up a large area in Para Rubber 

 (Hevea Braziliensis) was already engaging the attention of your 

 Association, when a communication was received from the Secre- 

 tary of the Ceylon Planters' Association stating that a memorial on 

 the subject had been forwarded to the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies by that body, and inviting our support. 1 he subject was 

 one of such obviously pressing importance that a similar memorial 

 was, with as little delay as possible, drawn up and despatched 

 through the Resident-General to the High Commissioner for trans- 

 mission to the Colonial Office. We have since heard that the reply 

 received by the Ceylon Planters' Association was unfavourable, but 

 we have hopes that the additional arguments adduced by us, and 

 the great prospective value of the Rubber industry to this country, 

 may induce the Secretary of State to consider the subject afresh. 



JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P., 

 His Majesty 's Secretary of State, 



For the Colonies, 

 Downing Street, London, 



The Humble Memorial of the United Planters' Associa- 

 tion of the Federated Malay States. 



Respectfully Showeth. 



1. That your Memorialists desire to bring under your considera- 

 tion the intention of the Government of India to plant up 10,000 

 acres in the Mergui Division of Burmah with the Para Rubber tree 

 { H evea Braziliensis) . 



2. That, whilst it is stated by the Revenue Secretary to the 

 Government of Burmah that this proposed scheme on the part of 

 the Government of India is in the nature of an " experimental 

 measure, " your Memorialists desire to point out that the acreage 

 referred to is at least equal to, if not in excess of, the whole area 

 planted by private enterprise in the Federated Malay States and 

 the Straits Settlements. 



3. That for the last five years the cultivation of Para Rubber 

 has been progressing steadily in this country, and promises in the 

 near future to be the main agricultural staple. Owing to the con- 

 tinued depression of the coffee market, the Liberian Coffee Estates 

 of this Peninsula have been almost without exception planted up with 

 Para Rubber, in the same way that Cinchona and Tea were planted, 

 with such successful results to that Colony, on the Coffee Estates in 

 Ceylon ; at the same time, a considerable area of virgin forest has 



