Miscellaneous. 



578 



[June 190S. 



knowledge of the natives, men who know 

 the vernacular thoroughly, men in whom 

 the natives would have every confidence. 

 To get them future teachers will be boys 

 drawn as far as possible from the best 

 families, on the understanding that when 

 they have gone through the requisite training 

 they will obtain a Government appointment, 



WHiCH WOULD BE IN THE AGRICULTURAL BRANCH 

 AND IN NO OTHER, 



As regards the country districts, as I have 

 already said, I believe that teaching should 

 be done as far as possible in the vernacular, 

 and that the English should be limited to 

 the elementary standards. In this connec- 

 tion I should like to draw your attention to 

 the fact that whatever machinery is organ- 

 ised, and in whatever way we bring this 

 necessary desideratum into effect, the pro- 

 vincial or local branches of the Society will 

 be of the greatest assistance. (Hear, hear.) 

 I regard these branches in the future as being 

 the working basis of the movement, and 

 they therefore, should derive every encourage- 

 ment at the present time for what will be 

 their object in the future, namely, to push 

 forward agriculture in their own districts to 

 the best of their ability in accordance with 

 prescribed programmes which may be laid 

 down from time to time. In such a way one 

 of these provincial branches has just been at 

 the present moment — or rather, I hope, it 

 will be — made use • of. It is in connection 

 with the tobacco industry in Jaffna — a matter 

 which has been engaging the attention of 

 this Society. (Hear, hear.) When I was at 

 Jaffna few days ago I promised them the 

 assistance of the Government, provided that 

 I got the co-operation of the tobacco planters, 

 because, as the Society quite rightly men- 

 tions in their report to-day, such co-operation 

 must be a sine qua non. But in carrying 

 out the experiments, they will be made in 

 the direction you have indicated in your 

 Report. I consider in turning it over in my 

 mind, that the best machinery I can make use 

 of in order to carry them into effect, consider- 

 ing that pur own professional officers cannot 

 be always on the spot, is to make use of the 

 provincial branch of this Association, and I 

 hope to put matters in such a way that, this 

 branch of the Association will be one of the 

 first in carrying out an object lesson which, 

 I hope will in the future, be common to other 

 branches in the Island. I am glad to notice 

 the observation that you make about School 

 Gardens, and particularly the good work 

 which they are doing. Long may they con- 

 tinue to do so. But, of course, if the revised 

 scheme comes into effect these School Gardens 

 will eventually be absorbed in the Agricul- 

 tural Schools. The School Gardens will be 

 found at the Agricultural School as part of 

 practical training, for, of course, in these 

 agricultural schools we want not only theore- 

 tical teaching, but also practical demon- 



strations. You refer also in the Report to the 

 co-operative credit system. I am glad to 

 find in certain portions of the Island that a 

 commencement at all events has been made 

 in this very necessary arrangement by the 

 efforts of the people themselves. I brought 

 up the question the other day at the Durbar 

 of Kandyan Chiefs at Kandy, and one of the 

 Chiefs gratified me immensely by telling me 

 how great had been 



THK SUCCESS IN HIS DISTRICT BY THEIR PUT- 

 TING TOGETHER A FEW HUNDREDS OF RUPEES 



which enabled them to buy seed paddy and 

 allow the cultivator to have it at a reasonable 

 rate of interest instead of being his exposed 

 to the usurious rate of interest which he 

 had hitherto been accustomed to. Again, it 

 is only recently during my visit to the North 

 I found in the Wanni district, that it was 

 not an unusual thing for the paddy cultivator 

 there to pay no less than 120 per cent, upon 

 the valuable seed paddy which he got for his 

 cultivation. Now it is in this co-operative 

 credit system that I hope I shall be privileged 

 during ray period of administration to help 

 the Society and help the people and the 

 peasantry immensely. (Hear, hear.) 1 have 

 no doubt but that I shall be able to so lay 

 matters before the Secretary of State that he 

 will permit Government to help the people 

 to establish this co-operative credit system 

 in the form of agricultural banks in such 

 a way that we can give direct help to the 

 working population and relieve them from 

 the burdens which they too often have to 

 undergo from the fact of their having to 

 borrow money at such heavy rates of interest. 

 What we want especially to do is to push 

 forward our Ceylonese peasantry so that 

 they shall not be contended with cultivation 

 such as they have now, but that they can go 

 in for many more items of cultivation such 

 as pepper, cotton, tobacco, and other things 

 which I might mention in order that they 

 shall establish an export trade ; because, in 

 order to increase our exports it is most im- 

 portant that we should push forward the 

 Agricultural industries. Natives already have 

 wealth in the coconut and in cinnamom. 

 What they have done in those I should like 

 to see them do in other products, because all 

 exports mean money coming into their 

 pockets, and, therefore, an increase in the 

 prosperity, health and comfort of the rural 

 population. You, therefore, can take it from 

 me that! the perusal of the Report gave me 

 ome considerable pleasure, 



I HAD HAD SOME FEELINGS OF HESITATION AS 

 TO WHAT WAS TO BE THE FUTURE OF 

 THIS SOCIETY, 



but I feel that if the Society takes up the 

 lines which are indicated in this Report and 

 pay attention to what I have tried to des- 

 cribe to-day as its two principal branches 

 the Society will- be fraught with good and 



