April i, 1889.] TH£ TROPICAL 
lions of maunds ia 1884 to 2 millions in 1837. 
The truth is' that in many cases natural salt 
formations give such poor returns in quality as 
well as quantity, that in the interests of the 
consumer as well as the revenue such forma- 
tions are destroyed and it was doubtless some 
of the recommendations of the Ceylon Commission 
of 1857 which the " Examiner" editor had in his mind 
when he recently stated as a proof of the iniquity 
of a salt monopoly that collections of salt were des- 
troyed. Messrs. Lee and Braybrooke wrote in 
1857 :— 
Oodopancaree. — Should supply the retail store at 
Chilaw, and all the Salt should be removed thither as 
eoon after the collection as possible. The manufacture 
at Poolicbancolom should be discontinued, and im- 
mediate steps taken by the Assistant Agent, to pre- 
vent the formation of Salt there in future. This, we 
believe, can very easily be done, as th9 Salt pans lie 
on the very margin of a large iake, called Moondane 
Kalapoo, which would afford every facility for des- 
troying the Salt works. 
Oarativoe. — Should supply the Calpentyn stores, and 
no issue of Salt should, on any account, be allowed at 
the former place. The collection of the naturally 
formed Salt of Tiliady (Calpentyn) should be entirely 
discontinued, and sea water should be let in at the 
proper periods, to destroy the formation of Salt. That 
place yielded 111 cwt. last year, and its ordinary pro- 
duce is from 120 to 130 cwt. only. 
On the Island of Carativoe also, where Salt forms 
naturally, and where, on account of its remoteness 
from superintendence, plunder extensively takes place, 
which has sometimes led to collisions with the Govern- 
ment officers, care should be taken to prevent the Salt 
from forming. It is of an inferior description and 
never gathered by Government. Fishermen from 
Negombo and other places, resort thither in the fish- 
ing season to cure their fish, and to evade the mon- 
opoly. 
The Hambantotte Stores are supplied from three 
Leways in the immediate vicinity of the town, and a 
sufficient quantity is sent to Tangalle by sea, for the 
retail trade of that portion of the Province, with little 
expense and trouble. 
A quantity of 4,919 cwt. of Salt was collected last 
year from the Jamboorokalla Leway in the Girraway 
pattoo, situated about midway between Hambantotte 
and Tangalle; because the stock of Salt on hand was 
low, and the prospects of collection elsewhere very 
unpromising. The cost of this Salt was very high (7§d. 
a cwt.) and its quality is so inferior that no purchasers 
can be found to take it. A portion of it was sent to 
the Tangalle store, for retail consumption ; and there 
the people complained of its being very impure and 
unwholesome. We found that 1,482 cwt. had been 
already sold with an admixture of good Salt, but even 
this did not prevent the outcry against it; and this 
was not to be wondered at, as it was largely impreg- 
nated with sand and mud, and deficient in grain. We 
consequently advised the Assistant Agent to discon- 
tinue its issue, and to apply for leave to strike the 
quantity remaining off his returns, as we felt satisfied 
from personal inspection, that it was not fit for use, 
either for culinary purposes or curing fish. 
This salt would probably have been suitable 
an manure, judiciously mixed with other substances 
or with the soil. But for the existence of the 
monopoly, and government supervision it would 
probably have been used for curing fish. To 
quote again from Simmonds : — 
The mines of Mandi and Kohat, in Northern India, 
produce about 550,000 to 600,000 maunds (says 2,000 
tons), Kohat producing four-fifths of this. 
About 1,500 tons of salt aro brought into India 
by Thibet ; but, though imported free of duty, it ia 
not profitable to bring it down to the plains in com- 
petition with Indian salt, which has to pay the duty of 
two rupees a maund of 82 lb. 
The Indian export trade in salt is large and in- 
creasing, averaging now about 50,000 owt. Jt is sent 
principally to Upper Burma, Nepal, and Kashmir. 
agriculturist: 709 
That taken by Kashmir and Nepal has to -pay the 
Government duty of two rupees per maund. That 
which goes Kashmir is Punjab rock salt ; that ex- 
ported to Nepal is mostly, if not altogether, Sambhar 
lake salt, and in either case the duty is paid at the 
mines or the lake before removal. The salt sent 
to Kabul and Bajaur is the great salt of the Trans- 
Indus districts, which for political reasons, payB only 
half the duty, or eight annaB the maund. 
The salt taken to Upper Burma is all either Che- 
shire, Italian, or Sicilian salt, which pays a duty of 
three annas per maund, when taxed for consumption 
in British Burma ; and of one per cent, ad valorem, 
at Rangoon, when forwarded to Upper Burma. It is 
sent up the Irrawaddy in the flats of the Flotilla 
Company. 
The imports of salt into India have increased in 
quantity from 274,000 tons in 1879, to 424,000 tons 
in 1888, but the average value per ton has fallen from 
£3 to £1 10s. 
The only noticeable feature of the Indian trade is 
the commencement of large imports from Aden, 
where, under concessions granted by the local ad- 
ministration, an Italian company has commenced to 
manufacture on an extensive scale. 
The Ceylon Commission of 1857 was constituted 
by Sir Henry Ward, who, in one of his able 
minutes, exposed serious defects in the system 
then in operation, which were subsequently cured. 
The result of the full inquiry, however, waB to 
show that absolute fraud was by no means so 
prevalent as the Governor had been led to believe. 
From Sir Henry Ward's Minute we quote as 
follows : — 
The justification of a monopoly of this kind, is its 
productiveness. The more it yields, the greater is the 
return, which the Government is enabled to make for 
it, in Public Works, or useful Institutions, and the 
less the necessity for other taxation. It sliould, 
therefore, be strictly, but equally enforced ; and the 
Government, which undertakes this responsibility, is 
bound to see that there be no temptation to fraud, in 
its own arrangements, — that the people shall not be 
taxed for the benefit of the illicit dealer, but that it 
shall have the entire fruit of the sacrifice, which, it is 
called upon to make, by foregoing the use of an article, 
which the soil produces spontaneously, but the value of 
which is raised bylaw, from three pence three-eighths 
of a penny, to 4s and 8d per cwt. 
The value of the Natanda Canal and 
"Brodie's Road" was dwelt upon in 1857, but 
what we now want is railway contruction 
bringing the salt pans of Puttalam into connection 
with the system of land and sea carriage which 
radiates from Colombo. When the seaside railway 
has reached Matara, it will be time to agitate for 
its extension to the other great source of salt supply 
in Ceylon, the " lewayas " of Hambantota. 
The evaporating pans at Puttalam are private pro- 
perty: the leways at Hambantota are the sole property 
of Government and convicts are now employed 
to collect the southern salt. Regarding the mono- 
poly, which some decry so much, we quote as follows 
from the report of 1857 by Messrs. Lee and 
Braybrooke : — 
It is, of course, generally known that a Government 
Monopoly exists in Ceylon with regard to Salt ; and 
as far as that Monopoly itself is concerned, we cannot 
express our own opinion on the subject more forcibly 
than by quoting the words used by Mr. Plorvden "the 
Commissioner appointed to inquire into and report 
upon the manufacture and sale of, and tax upon, 
Salt, in British India." In his Report laid before 
Parliament in 1856, with respect to the Salt Monopoly 
under the Madras Presidency, he says : " Regarded 
simply as a plan for the realization of an indispens- 
able revenue, the Salt Monopoly under the Madras 
Presidency, as at present constituted, does not, it must 
be admitted, afford much room for practical objection. 
Salt of good quality is abuudantly supplied by the 
Government at a moderate fixed price, and the Kevenuo 
is easily and cheaply collected ,- the exportation of Salt 
