Feb.  x,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
S23 
PROGRESS  IN  BORNEO. 
For  aeveral  reasons  we  in  this  island  have  always 
felt  much  interest  in  the  affairs  01  what  has  been 
called  the  sixth  continent,  though  Joseph  Hatton 
dubbed  the  Northern  and  British  portion  as 
“ New  Ceylon.”  A good  many  of  our  planters 
as  well  as  cf  Ceylonese  have,  from  time  to 
time,  left  their  native  soil  in  order  to  take  up 
occupation  of  Eome  kind  or  another  in  Borneo,  and 
this  faot  alone  would  go  far  to  account  for  the 
feeling  with  which  its  affairs  are  watched  here. 
Then,  again,  Borneo  has  not  at  any  time  threatened 
to  become  a livsl  in  any  cf  our  chief  local  pro- 
ducts. At  the  time  when  tobacco  cultivation  on 
a large  scale  was  thought  to  be  likely  to  become 
an  important  industry  amor  g us  there  was,  perhaps, 
reason  why  some  Blight  feeling  of  jealous  rivalry 
might  have  been  entertained,  but  with  the  oollapse 
of  our  own  hopes  in  that  respect,  there  oame  the 
feeling  that  we  had  no  competition  to  dread  from 
the  cultivation  pursued  by  the  several  Companies 
which  have  been  striving  to  develop  the  resources 
of  North  Borneo.  We  need  therefore  feel  nothing 
but  sympathy  with  the  shareholders  in  these 
Companies  whe-n,  year  after  year,  their  directors 
have  to  meet  them  with  the  statement  that  it 
is  as  yet  impossible  to  give  them  any  return 
upon  their  investments,  a disappointment  whioh 
can  only  be  partially  solaced  by  the  hopes 
annually  held  out  of  better  things  to  oome.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  latest  information  reoeived  of  affairs  in 
Borneo  differs  in  no  respect  from  that  which  it 
has  been  the  painful,  duty  of  the  directors  of 
the  British  North  Borneo  Company  to  submit 
to  their  shareholders  for  the  past  ten  years.  It 
is  still  a case  of  hope  deferred  and  of  renewed 
disappointment.  It  can  hardly  be  wondered  at 
that  the  shareholders  are  beginning  to  turn 
restive  under  such  provosation,  though  the  in- 
sinuations made  that  the  directors  are  to  blame 
would  seem  to  be  hardly  warranted  by  the  facts 
made  publio.  Indeed,  when  some  two  years  back 
there  was  a rush  for  land  belonging  to  the  Com- 
pany with  the  intention  of  planting  tobacco  on  a 
large  scale,  it  seemed  as  if  the  day3  of  its  diffi- 
culties were  over  and  that  a bright  future  was  in 
store  for  its  shareholders  But  then  came  the  in- 
crease in  the  rate  of  the  American  tariff,  and  that 
vaBt  field  for  disposal  of  produce  became  as  com- 
pletely closed  to  the  tobacco  planters  of  Sumatra 
and  Borneo  as  it  had  for  the  buttons  of  some 
French  towns  and  for  the  cutlery  of  Sheffield.  An 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  disastrous  effect  that 
the  MacK:nley  tariff  had  on  the  tobacco  planters  of 
Sumatra  from  consideration  of  the  fact  that  the 
annual  yield  of  their  produce  for  the  present  year 
is  estimated  at  120,000  bales  only,  against  the 
240,000  bales  of  1891.  Half  the  land  formerly 
cultivated  with  tobaoco  in  Sumatra  has  been 
thrown  out  of  cultivation  owing  to  the  effect  of 
the  increased  duty  imposed  in  America.  Naturally, 
such  a result  was  felt  with  equal,  indeed  with 
even  greater,  stress  among  the  planters  in  North 
Borneo,  who  were  then  struggling  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  a newly  commenced  industry.  It  can 
hardly  surprise  us  to  learn  that  under  such  con- 
ditions estates  have  had  to  be  abandoned  in  great 
numbers,  and  there  seems  to  be  but  little  ebance 
of  their  again  being  cultivated  while  tho  Americans 
continued  to  impose  a duty  of  two  dollars  per 
pound  upon  imported  tobaoco.  This  rate  of  duty 
is  alone  equal  to  the  retail  selling  prices  of  the 
finest  tobaccos  in  the  London  shops,  and  so  long 
as  this  tariff  is  retained,  the  planters  of  Sumatra 
and  Borneo  can  hardly  look  for  a revival  of 
hope.  Tobacco  is  now  indubitably  the  staple  of 
production  in  Borneo,  and  until  its  growth  oan  be 
mad6  to  pay,  we  fear  the  shareholders  in  the  several 
companies  working  there  will  hardly  obtain 
a return  upon  the  money  invested  by  them. 
It  is  not  the  case,  however,  that  tobacco  is  the  solo 
cultivation  of  Borneo.  We  aie  told  of  hemp,  Liberian 
coffee,  and  gambier,  all  doing  well  ; but  these 
industries,  although  said  to  be  full  of  promise,  are 
but  yet  in  their  infanoy,  and  cannot  be  said  to 
hold  out  any  prospeots  of  early  profitable  return  to 
those  who  have  taken  up  land  for  the  purpose  of 
pursuing  them.  Then  the  search  after  gold  has 
also  proved  disappointing.  The  metal  is  found  in 
paying  quantities,  but  sickness  has  struck  down  in 
large  numbers  the  Chinese  diggers  who  have 
immigrated  in  the  hopes  of  makiDg  rapid  fortunes. 
Year  after  year,  when  the  directors  have  met  the 
shareholders,  there  have  been  hopes  expressed  that 
railways  would  scon  be  commeDDed  and  their  con- 
struction prove  a panacea  for  most  of  the  ills  with 
which  the  territory  is  afflicted ; but  as  yet  this 
scheme  has  not  gone  beyond  the  discussion  stages, 
and  it  is  with  reference  to  this  delay  that  so  much 
of  blame  is  attributed  to  the  directors  of  the 
British  North  Borneo  Company.  It  is  impossible 
for  us  to  say  how  far  the  hopefulness  these  express 
for  the  fu'ure  may  be  justified,  but  it  is  certain  that 
hitherto  the  results  to  European  enterprise  in 
North  Borneo  have  been  disoouraging  in  the  extreme. 
THE  CEYLON  LAND  AND  PRODUCE 
COMPANY,  LIMITED. 
Your  Directors  beg  to  submit  the  annexed  Profit 
and  Loss  Account  and  Balance  Sheet  for  the  3 ear 
ending  30th  June,  1892,  duly  audited. 
The  amount  at  credit  of  Profit  and  Loss  Acoonnt, 
after  reduoing  the  mortgage  over  North  Ma'ale 
Estate,  dto.  by  £2,015  7s.  5d.,  is  £6,118  14s.  lld.t 
which,  with  the  sum  of  £1,096  15s.  2d.  brought  forward 
from  last  year,  leaves  £7,215  10s.  Id.  to  be  dealt  with. 
On  the  20th  of  July  last  an  Interim  Dividend  of  7£ 
per  cent,  on  the  Ordinary  Shares,  and  3 per  oent.  on 
the  Preference  Shares  was  paid,  and  your  Direc- 
tors now  propose  to  pay  on  the  31st  day  of  Janu- 
ary next  the  balance  of  the  fixed  cumulative  Divi- 
dend on  the  Preference  Shares  (3  per  cent.), 
making  6 per  cent,  for  the  year,  and  74  per  cent, 
on  the  Ordinary  Shares,  both  free  cf  Income  Tax, 
makbg  15  per  cent,  for  the  year.  It  is  also  pro- 
posed to  tike  from  the  Profit  and  Loss  Account  a sum 
of  £500  for  the  further  reduction  of  the  North  Matale 
Mori  gage.  This  will  leave  a balance  of  £1,903  10s. 
Id  to  be  carried  forward,  subject  to  the  Directors’ 
remuneration  for  the  year  under  review,  to  be  fixed 
at  tho  General  Meeting,  and  to  the  payment  of  In- 
come Tax,  &c. 
The  result  of  the  operations  during  the  past  season 
has  not  been  quite  so  favourable  when  compared 
with  that  of  the  preceding  year,  and  this  is  largely 
owing  !o  the  abnormally  wet  and  cold  weather  that 
has  prevailed.  The  Tea  bu‘hes  have  been  prevented 
from  flushing  to  their  average  extent,  and,  as  a natural 
consequence  tho  estimates  of  the  crops  have  not  in 
all  cases  been  reached.  The  Cocoa  crop  rather  ex- 
ceeded the  forecast,  but  the  yield  of  Coffee  was  very 
deficient. 
Tea —During  I he  first  6ix  months  of  1892  the 
sales  of  Ceylon  Tea  showed  an  increase  over  those 
in  the  same  period  of  1891  of  nearly  55,000  packages, 
but  the  average  pride  was  disappointing,  being  l^d. 
per  lb.  less.  For  the  last  eleven  months  (January- 
November)  the  total  quantity  offered  at  auction  was 
753,000  packages,  sold  at  an  average  of  9Jd  per  lb., 
against  695,600  packages  in  the  previous  year, 
which  realised  lojjd  per  lb.  Heavier  supplies,  and 
the  expectation  of  a considerably  increased  yield, 
combined  with  the  dullness  of  trade  generally,  kept 
our  market  depressed,  until  the  lowest  point  wm 
