Mat, 1912.] 



407 



Edible Products. 



which he had his doubts, too, it is in- 

 teresting to note that 1899 was a record 

 in the Province for the largest crop of 

 paddy ever harvested (991,000 bushels), 

 and the greatest area ever put under 

 paddy (39,654 acres), thanks, of course, 

 largely to the favourable rainfall 90 

 inches, with a very heavy S. W. and a 

 heavy N. W. Conditions which also ac- 

 count for the crop of that year of the 

 Central Province being the third highest 

 on record, though the returns are less 

 liable to fluctuation there than in any 

 other part of the island. 



After all this discussion the Governor 

 in January, 1891, asked for the authority 

 of the Secretary of State to abolish 

 the " grain tax," and as a means of re- 

 couping the anticipated loss to the 

 revenue proposed first a small tax on 

 all land privately owned, besides an 

 advance in the selling price of Govern- 

 ment salt ; also death duties and some 

 additional Customs duties. In this De- 

 spatch the Governor further proposed 

 to reduce the duty on imported rice by 

 nine cents a bushel, but sub?equently 

 (Octobei, 1891) withdrew this suggestion, 

 possibly on learning that the Cobden 

 Society had on second thoughts restricted 

 its request to the abolition of the in- 

 ternal tax and so informed the Secretary 

 of State. 



In his final settlement of the matter, 

 the Secretary of State declined to admit 

 a connection, legal or economic, between 

 the question of the paddy tax and 

 that of the import duties on grain, 

 and decided on abolition pure and 

 simple. Mercifully for both Governor and 

 governed he vetoed the proposed land 

 tax and suggested as "worthy of con- 

 sideration whether any addition to 

 taxation should now be proposed," but 

 sanctioned an appropriation by statute 

 from the general revenue of Rs. 200,000, 

 to be placed at the disposal of the 

 Central Irrigation Board in lieu of the 

 fifth part of the Grain Tax set apart by 

 Sir A. Gordon. Though the Secretary of 

 State deprecated any additional taxation, 

 the Customs duties on tobacco and spi- 

 rits were increased, and a duty of 25 



cents per gallon was imposed on im- 

 ported Kerosiue oil. I see by the latest 

 returns open to me that this was over 

 five millions gallons (in 1905), so that the 

 receipts now probably equal the amount 

 of the grain duty at the time of its abo- 

 lition. As it is reported "the consump- 

 tion goes on to the supercession even 

 among natives of the local coconut oil." 

 I would suggest the people who formerly 

 paid the grain tax now contribute as 

 largely as ever to the revenue through 

 tnis agency, if, as contended by some, 

 such duties tall on the consumers and 

 not on the producers. 



So the Grain Tax was abolished from 

 the 1st January, 1893. In view of one of 

 the arguments used that the return 

 from the grain tax had fallen off con- 

 siderably, it is significant that the last 

 year it was levied the area cultivated, 

 618,600 acres, and the crop produced, over 

 10 millions B. P., were records, never 

 before equalled since the advent of the 

 British, and that the revenue collected 

 Rs. 1,047,315 was the third highest ever 

 secured." 



In consequence of the abolition of the 

 grain tax, a proposal was made by the 

 Government Agents at the annual " Dur- 

 bar " to increase the irrigation rate from 

 Re. 1, to Rs. 2, but was not accepted by 

 the Governor. 



The expenditure on irrigation during 

 Sir A. Havelock's term amounted to the 

 considerable sum of Rs. 1,881,040, and to 

 him credit must be given for sanction- 

 ing the important Deduru Oya work in 

 the North- Western Province and the 

 Giant's Tank in Manaar, for both of 

 which he was violently assailed in the 

 Legislative Council. 



A beginning was also made at the 

 instance of Mr. Prank Fisher, then 

 Government Agent of the Eastern Pro- 

 vince, with a large scheme, known as 

 Vaganeri, in the north of the Batticaloa 

 district, where nearly the entire popul- 



* This includes the amount Rs. 928,039 col- 

 lected within the year and Rs. 119,000 of arrears 

 subsequently, as did the figures given in the 

 report quoted (as well as fine grain which 1 ex- 

 clude). 



