244 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON. ) 



[Vol. IX. 





Western Province. 



Southern Province. 



1 otah 





Es. 



Rs. 



Es. 



1878 



81 



130 



211 



1879 



986 



800 



1,786 



1880 



... — 



1,130 



1,130 



1881 



1,172 



470 



1,642 



1882 



1,995 



590 



2,585 



1883 



3,987 



740 



4,727 



1884 



954 



100 



1,054 



It would appear that the royalty collected at the G-alle 

 Custom-house iu the past five years has beeu : — 1880, Rs. 5,962 ; 

 1881, Rs. 3,972 ; 1882, Rs. 3,228 ; 1883, Rs. 4,798 ; and 

 1884, Rs. 3,764. The licenses issued in the Southern Province 

 ' seem to have been 1880, 113; 1881, 47; 1882, 59 ; 1883,74 ; 

 and 1884 only 10, — the latter a significant sign of the depression 

 of the industry. 



A return of licenses issued in the Western Province for the 

 four years ending 1884 enables us to appreciate the preponderance 

 of the Kalutara district as a plumbago-yielding territory over the 

 other districts of the Province. The licenses taken out in this 

 district for each of the past four years were, respectively, 35, 94, 

 102, and 25. Colombo shows 10, 13, 5, and 1 ; Negombo 2, 

 23, 10, and 2 ; Ratnapura 7, 7, 5, and 1 ; Kegalla shows 

 very poorly, proving that the vast bulk of the mineral which 

 came on the railway at Polgahawela was from the Kurunegala 

 District. In 1881 none were reported as issued in the Kegalla 

 Disrrtct ; 1882 and 1883 gave only 2 each, and 1884 only one. 

 For the whole Province the figures were : — 



Licenses. 



1881 ... 54 



1882 ... 139 



1883 ... 124 



1884 ... 30 



All the figures within our reach seem to show that in the past 



addition to proceeds of licenses to dig at Rs. 10 each, no rent is collected 

 in the Southern Province, but simply the Rs. 10 license fees. 



N.B, — That some small sum ought to be added to plumbago revenue, 

 which is at present credited to stamps ; for Mr. Saunders, Government 

 Agent, Western Province, states that "the license fee of Rs. 10 is col- 

 lected and brought to account in different ways at the different Kach- 

 cheries. In some cases cash is taken and credited to Land Revenue 

 under the head 1 Licenses to dig Plumbago ;' in other cases a stamp of 

 lis. 10 is fixed to the bond, and then of course the revenue gains that 

 amount under the head * Stamps. ' " 



