September, 1911.] 



231 



Edible Products. 



promoted to be Revenue Commissioner 

 of the Kandyan Provinces, after serving 

 under Sir John D'Oyley in Sabara- 

 gamuwa. 



Mr. Turnour is described as having 

 early acquired a profound knowledge of 

 the language " and an indefatigable 

 spirit of enquiry," qualifications which 

 led to his undertaking an examination 

 of the Sinhalese annals, and resulted in 

 the publishing (in 1837) of the first pare 

 of a translation of the Mahavauso. 



It may be here noted, in view of the 

 important services rendered to the 

 Colony by this able civiliau and his 

 rather, that the latter, the Hon. George 

 Turnour, was a son of Earl Winterton 

 (an Irish peer) born in Feb., 1768, and 

 married to Emilie de Beaussett, niece of 

 Cardinal Due de Beaussett. He was the 

 officer whose service in the Wanny dis- 

 trict in the early days of British rule 

 have been aheady referred to as a most 

 successful administrator, as more fully 

 detailed and acknowledged by Mr. Lewis 

 (in his Wanny manual), and whose 

 methods for pushing paddy cultivation 

 in particular, deservedly received high 

 commendation from Sir A. Swettenham, 

 K.C.M.G. The father's life seems to have 

 been sacrificed to his duty, and he died 

 at Jaffna, in January, 1813, at the early 

 age of 45, leaving a widow (who lived 

 till 1846), and a son George born in 1799, 

 who happily joined the Ceylon Civil 

 Service in 1820, and in a few years rose 

 to the important office already mention- 

 ed of Revenue Commissioner. In this 

 capacity he seems to have gained the 

 confidence of the Kandyaus and quietly 

 perfected a new departure for the en- 

 couragement of paddy cultivation, the 

 details of which more properly come 

 into the history of the next period. 



As it is fraught with important results 

 to agricultural interests, mention should 

 be made at this stage that the affairs 

 of the Colony occupied the attention of 

 the English House of Commons, and led 

 to the appointment, on the 27th May, 

 1830, of a " Select Committee to enquire 

 into the Revenue, Expenditure and Com- 

 merce of Ceylon." This action was taken 

 at the instigation of a Mr. John Stewart, 

 M.P., whose knowledge of the island 

 was in his own words as follows : — 



"I was shipwrecked in the island in 

 1805 where I remained for some mouths, 

 and I frequently visited the Colony 

 after that period, and was engaged for 

 many years in commercial intercourse 

 with it. I passed several months there 

 in 1822, which was the last time I,visited 

 it." 



Limited as was his experience in the 

 island, he succeeded in raising the cry 



of " Slavery " and made other serious 

 charges against the administration. 



Actual slavery existed at the time in 

 the island, and was not finally abolished 

 till December, 1844 ; but apparently the 

 denunciation was rather directed against 

 what was locally known as Rajakariya. 

 This was the system which had existed 

 for centuries in Ceylon, uuder which the 

 old Sinhalese kings had carried out and 

 maintained extensive public works, irri- 

 gation and others, which existed in all 

 parts of the island. Though mistrans- 

 lated as ; ' forced labour," it was based 

 on the principle " that all land was held 

 from the Sovereign for a registered rent, 

 such rent being payable either in labour 

 or in kind or both." The British found 

 a considerable area still held as private 

 properly oh the tenure of personal 

 service direct to the Sovereign, but in 

 the low-country taken over from the 

 Dutch, tenure by service was abolished on 

 May 1st, 1802. (For details see Sessional 

 Paper XVII of 1890.) 



In the Kandyan districts " rajakariya " 

 still existed after the British occupation 

 in a complicated form, and, besides the 

 service due to the Government, covered 

 those reudered by tenants of lands 

 assigned to Chiefs, Temples and others 

 by the Sovereign. In consequence of 

 abuses which had arisen owing (accord- 

 ing to Turnour) to "the absence of the 

 despotic power of the Sovereign by 

 which the undefined power of the chiefs 

 was kept in check," a new system was 

 adopted by the Proclamation of 18th 

 November, 1818. By this the payment of 

 a tenth of the produce of paddy lands 

 was declared the substitute of all former 

 gratuitous services due to Government, 

 except for " the construction and repair 

 of roads and bridges," but all other per- 

 sons were declared liable to "perform 

 services to Government on payment." 



By a further notification of 16th Octo- 

 ber, 1819, the Agents of Government in 

 the Kandyan districts were directed to 

 restrict their requirements "for a term 

 not exceeding ten days without previous 

 reference to superior authority." During 

 the administration of Sir Edward 

 Barnes this limit was, however, greatly 

 exceeded, as stated in the extract from 

 the report already given. This was 

 possibly overdrawn, and sufficient allow- 

 ance was not made for the exigency of 

 the political situation, which required 

 the opening up of the recently conquered 

 districts ; or, the possibility considered 

 of preventing such extreme application 

 of the right to exact labour from a 

 population, not in a position to contri- 

 bute in money to the development of 



