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318
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GOLD AND GEMS.
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one
of the Commissioners on Ceylon affairs, stated in his report that
provision had been made for the delivery of cinnamon and black lead-in
the Kandyan Provinces (then including the Seven Korales) at fixpd
rates. Reference to three Government Calendars shows that there is no
mention of plumbago until 1831, when it was included in the list of
articles liable to export duty, the rate being lOrf. per cwt. The
amount of revenue at this rate in 1832 was £22 18s <od. The mineral did not, however, assume real importance in the commerce of
Ceylon until 1834, and for the half-century which has elapsed between
that year and the end of 1884 I possess, thanks to the courtesy of the
Assistant Auditor-General, Mr. C. Dickman, full details of the rise,
progress and fluctuations of the trade until from small beginnings it
has in the past five years attained truly important dimensions whether
regard be had to the quantity and value of the mineral exported, or the
revenue derived by Government from a royalty finally fixed in 1877 at
the very moderate rate of R5 per ton.
For
the first three years of the period beginning with 1834 no export duty
was leyied on this article. From 1837 to 1846, and again from 1858 to
1869, a duty of 2^ per cent was levied, which yielded in the earlier
period sums so low as R12-25 in 1839, rising to R759 in 1846. In the
second series of years, when export duties were levied expressly for
railway purposes, the duty rose from R1.190 in 1858 to the appreciable
sum of R22.24TJ in 1869. The latter sum was levied on 226,132 cwt.
valued at R889,620. The rated duty seems, therefore, to have been as
nearly as possible one-tenth of a rupee per cwt. The only Customs
impost to which plumbago is now liable is apart, from the royalty, T
cents per barrel, recently exacted for harbour purposes. As each barrel
contains 5J cwt. net of mineral, the burden is only a fraction over one
cent per cwt., in addition to the royalty which since 1877 has been
levied at the rate of R5 per ton, or 25 cents per cwt., equivalent to
2J per cent on the Customs valuation of RiO per cwt , but rising to 5
per cent if the real value is only about R100 per ton. Previously to
1851 no royalty was levied, and the varying rates since then have been
:—
In 1851 per ton ... ... is. In 1864 per ton...... 16j.
„ 1852 ,, ... ... 5s. „ 1869 „ ...... 30*.
„ 1859 „ ......17s. %d. „ 1873 ........ RIO
•„ 1862 „ ... ... \is „ 1877 „ ... R5
There
can be no possible question, it would seem, of the propriety of
exacting a royalty, moderate in proportion to its market value, on this
mineral, which is entirely an article of export, and which is as much
the property of Government, or the people of Ceylon, as are the pearly
treasures of the "oyster" banks off Arippu,—providing, too as the
revenue from plumbago does for the construction, amongst other public
works of means of communication which facilitate and cheapen the
operations of the diggers. We could only wish that copper, tin, nickel,
and other ores which have been so positively written about as occurring
in Ceylon with gold, which beyond question does exist, were found in
quantities sufficient to add appreciably to the revenue in the shape of
royalties. The one necessary qualification is of course, that the
amount of the tax should be such as not to bear heavily on an
enterprise which is always toilsome and often precarious. Taking the
average value of plumbago at RIO per cwt., the Customs figure, the
present impost of 25 cents is, as noticed above, only equivalent to a
rate of 2J per cent, which certainly cannot be complained of as unduly
onerous, however justifiable complaints and remonstrances were when 14j, 16s,
and even 30s, per ton were exacted, or RIO between 1874 and 1877. The
present rate has the merit of being light, easily collected, and
productive, for in the five years ended 1884 an average export of
nearly 12,000 tons per annum, of an annual value of R2,400,000, yielded
royalty equal to a yearly average in round numbers of R 60,000. When
the proceeds, of digging licenses and leases of Crown lands, and stamps
on those leases
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