IHB TROPICAL AORICULTURIST. 
843 
JUME I, 1898.1 
We have heard many persons egress the belief 
that the clause which gives the Guvernment prio- 
rity of claim, in cases where it lends mcney to 
enable crops to be secured, will cause embarrass- 
ment both to proprietors and mortgage creditois. 
According to them the Government is too exacting 
in its guarantees. They allege that mortgage credi- 
tors Will refuse to accord a first piivilega on the 
estate itself, as they will wish to have their own 
interests pi;operly secured. At first sight, there 
appears to be a show of reason for these objections, 
but on reflection it disappears. In the first place, 
if the Government does not effectually protect itself 
against any chance of loss, the Secretary of State 
will not consent to have the 3 millions of Rupees 
place 1 at the disposal of planter-;. Secondly, v.'edo 
not see how the privilege of which we speak, could 
in any way act prejucticially towards proprietors 
or mortgage creditors. One article of the ordinance 
says; — “An advance shall not be made of a greater 
amount' tho.n t'A'O thirds of tire total value of the 
crop on the security of which the advance is made 
as estimated by the Board ” ; and in another part 
of the ordinance it is stated : — “ An advarree shall not 
be made unless the Board is satisfied that sufficient 
money for carrying on the cultivation of tire estate 
is not otherwise procurable on resisonable terms.” 
It is therefore an exceptional law, made luider ex- 
ceptional circumstances, and only transitory. Tho 
State exalts tha.t the whole of the growing crop and 
a first privilege on the estate shall be given as a 
guarantee. This privilege over the rights of the 
mortgagee in cases where he consents to abandon his 
priority, would be only nominal — until such time as 
the Government had repaid itself by the sale of 
crops. If there remained a balance due to the State 
after each crop was sold, it v/ould be so small as to 
be not worth speaking of ; such being the case the 
mortgages could not have the slightest objection to 
the Government ranking before him for a sum so 
insignificantly small. But vre repeat, it is nearly 
certain that at the end of the 1898-99 crop no im- 
portant balance will be due to the State. This clause 
in the law was necessary, otherwise the Ordinance 
would never have seen light — -for tho Stats would not 
be disposed to allow i self to rank as an ordinary 
creditor. For these reasons this Ordinance, which 
has been prepared with the help of fiaaucier.s and 
men of experience, is excellent, and the sooner it is 
ut into force the better it will be for us all. We 
ope that the members of the Legislative Council will 
accept the ordinance in its entirety — except, perhaps, 
one or two modifications of little importance. It is 
only a provisional one, and has been conceived 
with the idea of saving the planters, and giving them 
the means of securing a crop which promises to be 
an unprecedentedly large one. Sir Charles Bruce 
has taken the initiative in combating a crisis which 
was becoming daily more and more acute. By doing 
so he has proved himself to be an able administra- 
tor and a true friend to Mauritians. The whole 
community is deeply impressed by and grateful for 
His Excellency's action. 
Later on we read in the Council proceedings 
of an amendment to an imi)ortant clause 
“ No loan under this Ordinance shall be effected 
unless such objection is withdrawn by the creditor 
who has made it or unless such objection bo de- 
clared bj the Court on motion made by the owner, 
to be null because the pers.-n making it is not or 
does not represent inscribed privileged or mortgage 
creditor or creditors holding a title due und demand- 
able against the Oinicr.” The amendment was put 
to the vote and cairied by 91 to 5 Ihos-e voting 
against lieiiig Sir V. Naz, Mr. Sanzier, Dr. Rohan, 
Messrs. E. -Antelme and de Coriolis. The other 
ai tides of ihe Ordinance were adopted and the 
Ordinance was read a third time and passed. 
But not only mortguge creditor.?, hut ordinary 
creditors for store debts, rice, &e., strongly 
object unless llieir accomits against the estates 
are at once to be paid. Then again wlio are 
to get the R3, 000, COO— is it to be “ first come 
first served,” or is a proportionate division to 
be made over all the estates ? There is to be 
a Loan Board to decide on all such questions 
and on the advances to he made, these being 
limited to -§rd.s the estvuuited value of the crops 
in each case, the interest charged to he 8 per 
cent. One enrhiisiastic advocate of the loan 
measure estim.ates that the Govenmient (by 
turning bankers) will make a clear profit of 
K200,(J00 ; but suppose a “ hurricane devastates 
tiie sugar plantations a,fter tiie advances are 
made and before tire canes are Irarvested ? 
What a ri.sky business ! 
SNIPE IN CEYLON: 
THE DIFFERENCE BETY/ESN THE “PIN- 
TAILED AND “PAINTED ” SNIPE. 
Tiik following letter appears in the columns of 
our evening contemporary: — 
Sir,— With i-eferoncQ to the letter from “Ornitho- 
logy” m your issue of tire 12th inst., headed “Do 
bnipe breed in Ceylon,” “he followdng may be in- 
teresting la 1871, when stationed at Kurune- 
gala, Mr. Johnny Jobsz, a proctor, sent me a 
couple of young snipe as a curiosity. They were 
found above the Kurnnegalpj tank, I fed the 
birds _ on worms, but they lived only two days. 
This is the only case of young snipe that I have 
known in Ceylon. Painted snipe breed in Ceylon, I 
have often been told, but I never found young birds. 
, Evan il. Bybde. 
iha Residency, Aniiradhapura, May 16. 
This lias followed one or two statements of in- 
dividual casual experiences ; but it is strange 
that neither editor nor corres])nndent has thought 
of referring to the great authority on the Orni- 
thology of Ceylon ; Legge, p. 818, says of Gallinago 
feteiiui (the PipitfiiJed iSni|)e) our coniindn species 
“some few birds oceafsionally remain in the island 
throughout _ tlie _ year ; _ but these are evidently 
unfit for migration, owing to wounds, or, in some 
cases, they niay he fiisit year birds, which, as 
in tne case of other Wadeis, remain stationar'v 
the fir.st yeai'. Tlipie can be no other cause to 
make snij.e reniain in .sueli a tropical latitude 
as Ceylon.” The penultimate sentence is a 
little puzzling as it vvouM lead one to suppose 
tliat the young birds were bred in Ceylon, when 
the drift of tlie writer’s argument is against 
such an hypothesis. But what are we to think 
of the editorial note appended to Mr. Byrde’s 
letter by our ‘‘ Sport imj contemporary?” 
[Note by Ed. — The above is most interesting. Wa 
were shown a young painted snipe caught near Pol- 
gahawella m 1835.] 
We cannot but recommend a course of “Leo-o-e” 
to oiir con tempo!', ary. For, at present he is 
evidently unaware that the “painted snine ” is 
a “permanent resident” in the Ceylon low- 
lands. VJe quote for his benefit and that of 
reaoeis who may he interested in the subject • 
Legge : On Biiyi;dio;a Copensis (the Pain<-ed 
feniiie) say.s :— “ fii-trihntion,— the painted snii e 
is a pammient resident in the low-lands of 
Ceylon; hut on Ihe West and South Coasts 
there Is .an ii.ereme of its nmohcis at the com- 
iiienocment of i l'.e cool .season page 8t4 “Nidi- 
licatio!!. The I'.ainied snipe eitlier lias two broods 
in llu^ vi'ar , or ei>e it ui’ceds iucliscriminatelv at 
all seas ms. It may lie said, lioArever, as a rule 
that mure nests are fomul, youno- captured ami 
eggs taken from dead birds between Novenihe. 
and May than at tlie ojipo.site season of th^ 
