Oct. 1906.] 



329 



Miscellaneous. 



The most remarkable feature in the land banks, on the continent of Europe, 

 it is to be observed, is the impulse given to them by the governments of the different 

 States of Europe, almost every land bank having been founded by the initiative of 

 the Government, and placed under its direct control and supervision. In Ceylon, too, 

 it cannot be denied that we have arrived at such a state of economic progress, that 

 for the further development of agriculture, some institution in the nature of those 

 land banks has become absolutely necessary. More than a hundred years have 

 passed since the British occupation of the island, and more than three-fourths of the 

 country is yet in a condition of waste or uncultivated laud. Even in districts where 

 forests have been cut down and lands opened up for coconut cultivation most of the 

 native agriculturists are in great straits. By the time the coconut estates come into 

 bearing the proprietor gets into the clutches of the Natucotta Ohetty or other money 

 lender, and not infrequently the estates pass into the hands of strangers. 



The cultivation of coffee, tea, cocoa and other new products by Europeans 

 in the higher altitudes of Ceylon has only been found possible with imported 

 capital. If not for the introduction of that capital, it need scarcely be added that 

 agriculture in Ceylon would be in the most backward condition. But the native 

 agriculturists and land-owners have not the same advantage of invoking the aid of 

 European capital in time of pressure, except on rare occasions with the help of 

 middle men and under onerous conditions. The time is ripe therefore, it is sub- 

 mitted, that the Government of Ceylon should come to the aid of the people, by 

 founding land banks under the auspices of the Agricultural Society. Unlike 

 European States, many of which are getting more and more dependent on their 

 manufactures and industries, Ceylon is a purely agricultural country, which for 

 years to come must have agriculture for its mainstay. If Government initiative and 

 assistance were found indispensable to give birth and stability to the land banks of 

 the great, independent and highly civilised states of Europe, it needs no argument 

 to prove that it would be impossible to establish such institutions in Ceylon or to 

 ensure their success, without the support, encouragement and control of the Govern 

 ment. The land banks, it is to be remembered, should be dependent for their 

 success on the confidence which they inspire, so that their bonds may circulate in the 

 market with the same facility as currency notes of the Government, and such a 

 result can never be achieved without Government connection. 



As for the funds, there is every reason to believe that all the monies requisite 

 for founding a land bank in Ceylon with branches in various districts can be raised 

 in Ceylon by means of that most valuable instrument known to European land 

 banks as debentures. When it is once known to the local public that the deben- 

 tures of a land bank are issued under the control and supervision of the Govern- 

 ment of Ceylon, and that they may be bought and sold and readily converted into 

 money in the open market, there can be no doubt that most of those who have 

 savings, even small savings, will invest their monies in them. That there are con- 

 siderable savings in the country available for a land bank may be inferred to a 

 certain extent from the funds that are invested in mortgages in Ceylon. According 

 to the statistics furnished by the Registrar General, the amount of money secured by 

 registered mortgages in 1897 was Rs. 45,918,796 ; in 1898 Rs. 40,376,729, and in 1903 

 Rs. 23,097,180, 



As for the means to carry on the work of the land banks in Ceylon, 

 we have a ready made machinery in each province in the Government Agents 

 and their Assistants, with all their subordinate staff formerly employed in the 

 collection of paddy and grain taxes. The various Kachcheries may be utilized for 

 keeping the funds, and the revenue officers of the Government maybe trusted for 

 investigating the title and appraising the value of the lands to be mortgaged as 

 security for the loans. Some special legislation will be necessary for the prompt 



