January, 1912.] 



Edible Products. 



report for 1887 " with all the sympathy 

 for the landowners he was able to make 

 the 1887 collections without the sale of 

 a single land." Mr. Sharpe adds: "The 

 practical relief in all cases of over- 

 assessment given by the Commissioners 

 forms the best answer to the criticisms 

 of my Nuwara Eliya assistant. Mr. 

 Templet's work in Uda Hewaheta 

 shows even larger reductions than 

 in Kandy proper, varying from 21 

 to 31 %, a result at which Mr. Le Mesurier 

 was agreeably surprised ! " It is rather 

 significant that this was secured by 

 a reduction of 10 % only over 2,650 

 acres, or Rs. 1,113 a year equal to half a 

 bushel a year per acre. Though Mr. 

 Sharpe expressed himself satisfied at 

 the reduction in Kandy proper, the 

 returns show the total amount due as 

 annual commutation was Rs. 58,720 or 

 only Rs. 100 below the average collections 

 of 1878-88, and the collection in 1888 was 

 Rs. 55,000 within the year. 



In Matale the new Commutation was 

 carried out by Mr. Crawford, who in- 

 creased the average rate in Matale Ease 

 by 11 cents an acre, but reduced by no 

 less than 54 cents per acre that of 

 Matale North, where there had been an 

 addition of 640 amunams (1,280 acres) 

 in the arable area. The amount due as 

 annual commutation was consequently 

 Rs. 23,175 against an average revenue of 

 Rs. 23,859 between 1878-87, the collection 

 for 1888 was Rs. 22,960 within the year. 



In Uva Mr. King in his Annual Report 

 for 1887 states : "' The area of land under 

 paddy was the largest on record. The 

 outturn on the whole was good. The 

 tax due for 1887 was fully recovered 

 well within the year, scarcely any 

 statutory pressure being necessary, a 

 highly satisfactory achievement which 

 has now been accomplished for three 

 years in succession." 



A commutation was carried out during 

 1887 under the new Ordinance, and from 

 the same report 1 gather that paddy was 

 then selling at Rs.l"50 per bushel at 

 Wilson's Bungalow, but the Com- 

 missioner fixed the price at Rs.1'25 per 

 bushel, and that eventually the assess- 

 ment made showed a reduction in the 



grevious rates on first class fields from 

 ,s.r40to Rs.1'25, 2nd class from Rs. 120 

 to Rs. 1, 3rd class 75 to 70 cts, on 4th class 

 from 50 to 40 cts. Owing to the exclu- 

 sion of a large extent of Crown and other 

 lands which ought never to have been 

 included in the old lists, the area assessed 

 was also considerably reduced. But in 

 spite of these concessions, the aggregate 

 assessment of lands liable to annual 

 commutation alone showed an increase 

 all roundi as against the actual revenue 



of the previous fourteen years in the 

 four divisions assessed as under : — 



Ukukinda Rs. 32,510 against Rs. 28,158 



Yatikinda „ 19,855 „ „ 18,932 



Welassa „ 8,509 „ „ 6,796 



Bintenne ,, 2,385 „ ,, 1,416 



Total ... Rs. 62,859 



Rs. 55,352 



The actual collections for the first year 

 (1888) under the new system, however, 

 amounted to Rs.59,695 as against Rs.69,811 

 for the previous year under voluntary 

 commutation, though the area cultiv- 

 ated for the former year was over one- 

 third gi eater. As to how the commuta- 

 tion was generally carried out in the 

 Provinces brought under the new sys- 

 tem, it may be said " e'en the foe could 

 scarce forbear to cheer." Of the great 

 advocates for abolition, Mr. Le Mesurier's 

 surprise at the reduction in his district has 

 beeo already mentioned, and Mr. Fisher, 

 replying to the Committee's question if 

 the assesments had been unskilfully per- 

 formed, wrote : — " The replyto this ques- 

 tion, speaking generally, must be in the 

 negative. In saying this I refer to the 

 assessments which have been made 

 afresh, as in the Batticaloa district." 

 Mr. Le Mesurier in his reply concurred 

 in this view and added : " The assess- 

 ments having been checked by local 

 authoiities and by the voluntary agree- 

 ments of the last fifty years, and having 

 been carefully supervised by the Grain 

 Commissioner himself, have not been as 

 a rule unfair." 



From the figures already given it will 

 be gathered that financially Government 

 was no gainer by the change. The 

 great objections in the eyes of the land- 

 owners and cultivators were the non- 

 elasticity of the new system — the oblig- 

 ation always to pay the same sum irre- 

 spective of the condition of the crops and 

 the general difficulty, if not impossi- 

 bility of securing relief in case of excep- 

 tional agricultural disaster. Annual 

 commutation was also chosen too freely, 

 and there was no means of changing to 

 crop during the term of seven years. If 

 the Government Agents had had the 

 same powers as Collectors have in India 

 of granting remissions, most of the so- 

 called ' hardships" would have been 

 remediable, and there would have been 

 no agitatiou. 



During Sir James Longden's adminis- 

 tration (1877-83) the financial condition 

 of the Colony restricted the outlay in 

 irrigation to the completion of the 

 works begun in his predecessor's regime, 

 and the expenditure under this head fell 

 to Rs, 45,612 in 1882, 



