Miscellaneous. 



TO 



[October, 1906. 



their strained circumstances and inability 

 to combat the many evils arising therefrom. 

 The ordinary villager is not a man without 

 energy and intelligence, and he is able and 

 willing to work if there is a way of getting 

 help to overcome the difficulties with which 

 he is beset. As there are no friendly associ- 

 ations or companies in existence among the 

 people to carry on Agricultural or Industrial 

 work, what is to be desired is a fund, to 

 be created by themselves which will enable 

 them to carry on paddy cultivation and 

 other agricultural pursuits. Paddy culti- 

 vators, being generally a poor and neglected 

 class of people, require help in carrying on 

 this most important industry, and the only 

 way the people can help themselves is by 

 a voluntary cess. In this the Government 

 can help by recovering a share of the produce 

 of their paddy lands to be spent upon im- 

 provements in paddy cultivation. This 

 would enable the cultivator to get monetary 

 help in times of need — a thing which the 

 people have not been able to do except on 

 the most ruinous terms. 



Paddy cultivation has been the main in- 

 dustry in this country for thousands of years 

 past, and the payment of the tithe as royalty 

 existed from time immemorial. The people 

 were used to it, and never grumbled at 

 having to pay it. The Portuguese historian, 

 Captain John Kobiyro, in his "History of 

 Ceylon" states that "there is no nation which 

 so highly venerates its King as the Sinha- 

 lese." It is equally true that the Sinhalese 

 held this tax as something sacred to the 

 Sovereign. In the early days it was taken 

 in kind and continued during Dutch rule 

 and even at the commencement of the 

 British Government. The tax came to be 

 regarded unfair, methods subsequently adopt- 

 ed in levying it proving a harass to the 

 cultivators. Renting out crops by Govern- 

 ment resulted in many cases before Courts 

 between the renters (generally strangers) 

 and the cultivators. The renting system 

 was given up in 1881 and commutation 

 introduced; but this proved still more 

 vexatious, many of the small holdings of 

 the people falling under the hammer in 

 default, ~ until in 1893 it was abolished. 

 The people everywhere are agreeable to the 

 tithe and, I believe, there is a general im- 

 pression that paddy cultivation was more 

 prosperous during the days of the tax than 

 now. This may be attributed largely to the 

 attention which the headmen paid to the culti- 

 vation and the crop. Another reason is that 

 the people act freely regardless of others, 

 whereas paddy cultivation should be carried 

 on systematically and with mutual under- 

 standing and co-operation. The revival of 

 the tithe would not be imposing a land tax 

 but a voluntary contribution by the people 

 for their direct benefit. 



I suggest the necessity of having a Tithe for 

 the advancement of the industry— revival of 



a custom the people are used to — not the 

 resuscitation of an abolished Tax. 



The cultivators all over the Island have no 

 repugnance to paying the tithe, and they will 

 be the more willing to pay it, when it is known 

 to be used for their own benefit. The proceeds 

 of the sale shall be applied to necessary im- 

 provements in cultivation, the remainder 

 credited to the District Committee. The 

 cultivators are often obliged to attend to 

 other agricultural pursuits during times of 

 recess in order to provide for themselves and 

 families when they are actively engaged in 

 paddy cultivation. This fund shall be of 

 great service at such times, and turn them off 

 the money lenders on exorbitant interest. 

 Loans might be given on joint security where 

 necessary, and such privileges granted will 

 afford them much relief and comfort. When 

 the fund has increased by yearly contri- 

 butions to a big capital, Government would 

 be better placed in initiating large and useful 

 migation works with the co-operation of the 

 people. I have so far pointed out the de- 

 sirability of having a fund for the cultivators, 

 and how it can be conveniently formed out 

 of the produce of the lands. 



Whether the levying of a tithe is effected 

 by a special Ordinance or by special Rules 

 framed to be worked under the Village Com- 

 munities' Ordinance, or the Paddy Cultivation 

 Ordinance, the fund shall be administered by 

 Village Committee members, selected by the 

 cultivators and presided by the chief Revenue 

 Officer of the District as Chairman, all act- 

 ing under the presidency of the Government 

 Agent or the Asstistant Government Agent. 

 When any necessary work has to be effected, 

 the Village Committee can discuss the matter 

 and report their views to the Government 

 Agent or the Assistant Government Agent, 

 who can, with the consent of a reasonable 

 majority, take action. The co-operation of 

 the Irrigation Department in such cases may 

 be availed of, and the work done under its 

 supervision, the cultivators supplying all such 

 labour as they can render according to the 

 quota assigned to each by the proper officer, 

 necessary expenses being met out of the fund. 

 I consider, from my long experience as a 

 District Mudaliyar, the procedure above to 

 be the best ; this opinion is held by other 

 native chiefs of long service as also by land- 

 owners of experience. 



It is for the Government to consider the 

 further utilization of the Irrigation Depart- 

 ment so as to make its usefulness and advan- 

 tages widely extended. Every Province is 

 understood to possess an Irrigation Instructor 

 or Adviser, whose special duty is to see that 

 the cultivators conform to the rules on the 

 improved methods of cultivation, with a 

 small staff to inspect the works. 



In districts where the Paddy Cultivation 

 Ordinance is in force and worked upon, a 

 class of petty headmen called Vel-Vidanes 

 are generally taken from the ordinary classes. 



