( 22 ) The public debt stood on September 30, 1921, at £9,835,694, plus Rs. 3,000,000, i.e., less than two years' revenue. Public Debt. £793,300 have been repaid out of a total sterling debt of £10,628,994. The loans were raised mainly to meet the cost of railway construction, irrigation, Colombo harbour works and other purposes, £1,420,000 for Colombo Drainage Works, &c. These loans were incurred at various dates between 1876 and 1921, and are due for final settlement at various dates between 1934 and 1959. The payment of interest and sinking fund is provided for out of general revenue at an annual cost of somewhat over £556,650. The following is a summary of the public works costing over Rs. 100,000 being carried out by the Public Works Public Works. Department in 1921 : (1) Government Buildings and General.-Colombo Grain Sheds; new Government Dairy at Narahenpita; quarters for clerks at Nuwara Eliya; new Customs buildings at Talaimannar; completion of Quarantine Camp at Mandapam; and Colombo Lake Development Scheme. (2) Educational Buildings.—New Science Block, University College,, Colombo; and new Royal College, Colombo. (3) Police Buildings.—Commencing Police Training School, Colombo, (4) Hospital Buildings.-New hospital at Udugama ; new hospital at Elpitiya; new Lunatic Asylum at Angoda; and completing Leper Asylum at Batticaloa. (5) Roads.-Completing Kalawellawa-Bellapitiya road; extending Algoda-Woodend road; re-constructing Horana-Talagalla and Agalawatta-Badureliya roads; improving Ambalangoda-Elpitiya, Weligama-Telijjawila, Dankotuwa-Madampe, Pannala-Kuliyapitiya, and Madampe-Hambantota roads. (6) Bridges.-New bridge at Digarolla on Colombo-Galle road; new bridge at Gampola; new bridge over Kalu-ganga at Ratnapura; renewing bridge over Pol-oya, Galle District. Taxes and The chief taxes and licenses are Customs import and export duties, port and harbour dues, toll rents; foreign liquor licenses; licenses for carriages, carts, &c., guns, motor cars, dogs; licenses to shoot game, to slaughter cattle, to mine, to dig for gems, to hunt with hounds, to do business as pawnbroker, to register a company or society, &c.; to register a trade mark or design; royalty on timber; stamp duties on instruments of conveyance, contract, and various other deeds and instruments, on law proceedings, on testamentary proceedings, on judicial processes, births and deaths, &c. Local rates are collected in Municipal, Local Board, and Sanitary Board towns for police, water, and local administration. In addition, a poll tax or commutation tax for labour is imposed on all fit males of the ages of 18 to 55 at the rate of Rs. 2 or Re. 1·50 per head, the proceeds of which are devoted to the maintenance of roads and resthouses. A similar tax is levied at the general rate of 50 cents per head for the purposes of local village administration. ( 23 ) SECTION 2.-ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM. Or the dependencies of the British Crown, of which the affairs are administered under the direct control of the Secretary of State, and which are called "Crown Colonies," Ceylon is one of the most important and populous. By Letters Patent under the Great Seal (April, 1831) a Council of Government was appointed, and by a Supplementary Commission to the Governor (March, 1833) the form of Government somewhat as now existing was established in accordance with the Royal Commission of Inquiry of 1829–31. The ultimate authority, subject to the will of the Crown and the Houses of Parliament, rests with the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Administrative Government in Ceylon is vested in the Governor, who holds office for a term of six years. He is assisted by an Executive and a Legislative Council, over which he presides. The Executive Council is composed of 7 Members, 4 Official and 3 Unofficial. Of the 4 Official Members, 3 are ex officio The Executive Members, viz., the Colonial Secretary, the AttorneyCouncil. General, and the Government Agent, Western Province. The remaining Official Member and the Unofficial Members are persons appointed by the Governor in pursuance of instructions from His Majesty the King. The duties of the Executive Council are advisory, and the Governor, though he consults them, is at liberty to disregard their advice, but in such cases he is expected at once to report the question at issue to the Secretary of State. The Legislative Council consists of 37 Members, 14 Official and 23 Unofficial. The 14 Official Members consist of The Legislative 5 ex officio Members-the Senior Military Officer, the Council. Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Controller of Revenue, the Treasurer-and 9 other Nominated Members holding public office under the Crown. The 23 Unofficial Members consist of 16 Elected Members, 3 Nominated Members not holding public office, 1 Nominated Muhammadan Member, 2 Nominated Kandyan Members, and 1 Nominated Indian Member. The 16 Elected Members are composed of one Member for each of the following constituencies: the European Electorate (Urban), the European Electorate (Rural), the Commercial Electorate, the Burgher Electorate, the Low-country Products Association Electorate, the Western Province (Division A), the Western Province (Division B), the Town of Colombo, the Central Province, the Northern Province, the Southern Province, the Eastern Province, the North-Western Province, the North-Central Province, the Province of Uva, and the Province of Sabaragamuwa. No person is qualified to vote for the election of members who is not a British subject or is a female; or is not of the age of 21 The years; or is unable to read and write English, Sinhalese, Franchise. or Tamil; or has not resided in the electoral district to which the register relates for a period of one year prior to the thirty-first day of July in such year; or has been sentenced ( 24 ) in any part of His Majesty's Dominions to death or penal servitude, or to imprisonment for an offence punishable with hard labour or rigorous imprisonment for a term exceeding three months; or has been adjudged by a competent court to be of unsound mind; or does not possess one of the following qualifications, viz. :—(i.) A clear annual income of not less than Rs. 600; (ii.) the ownership of immovable property, either in his own right, or in right of his wife (but not as lessee or usufructuary mortgagee), situate within the electoral district to which the register relates, for a period of one year prior to the thirty-first day of July in such year, the value of which, after allowing for any mortgage debts thereon, is not less than Rs. 1,500; (iii.) the occupation as owner or tenant for the period of one year prior to the thirty-first day of July in such year of any house, warehouse, counting-house, shop, or other building, situate within the electoral district to which the register relates, of the annual value of not less than (a) Rs. 400 if situated within the limits of any Municipal, Local Board, or Sanitary Board town, or of any Urban District Council; (b) Rs. 200 if situated else. where. The Colonial The Governor's orders to the Heads of Departments are communicated by the Colonial Secretary, who is the permanent head of the whole Public Service, and, particularly, of the Civil Service. The Colonial Secretary has, thus, important and wide powers of administration and control, and his office is the great office of record in the Island. The appointment of Treasurer is the third of the staff appointments, the other two being the Colonial Secretary and the The Treasurer. Controller of Revenue. The Treasurer takes charge of all public moneys, is Accountant-General, superintends the work of the Government Agents as sub-accountants, and deals with questions of finance and other matters affecting the revenue and expenditure of the Colony. The Ceylon Civil Service, recruited partly by examination on the same basis as the Indian Civil Service, and partly by The Ceylon local appointments, furnishes officers for the general Civil Service. administrative, and part of the judicial, work in the Colony. The senior officer of the Civil Service generally holds the office of Controller of Revenue, in which are vested certain general supervisory powers in revenue matters. . The important posts of Government Agents-one in each of the nine Provinces-are generally held by the next senior Civil The Servants. To the Government Agents is entrusted Government the general administrative work of their Provinces, Agents. while their Kachcheries, or offices, are the provincial treasuries for the receipt of revenue and the payment of the local expenses of Government. The Government Agents are also ex officio Provincial Registrars; Fiscals; Chairmen of Local Boards, Provincial Road Committees, District Road Committees; in the cases of Kandy and Galle, Chairmen of the Municipal Councils; and in the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Provinces, Collectors of Customs. 66 ( 25 ) 66 For administrative purposes Ceylon is divided into nine Provinces, viz., the Western, the Central, the Southern, the Revenue Northern, the Eastern, the North-Western, the NorthDistricts. Central, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa. These, except the North-Central and Uva, are subdivided into districts, of which there are nineteen, with nine Government Agents and ten Assistant Government Agents. The districts are Colombo, Kalutara ; Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya; Jaffna, Mannar, Mullaittivu; Galle, Matara, Hambantota; Batticaloa, Trincomalee; Kurunegala, Puttalam-Chilaw; Anuradhapura; Badulla; Ratnapura and Kegalla. The officer next subordinate to the Government Agent or Assistant Government Agent is the chief native headman, who is The Headmen. differently styled in different districts: "Mudaliyar in the maritime Sinhalese districts; "Ratemahatmaya' in the Kandyan Districts; Maniagar," "Adigar," and "Vanniya" in the Tamil districts. There are about 110 chief headmen in the Island. In some cases the Mudaliyar is assisted by one or more Muhandirams. Next to the chief headman ranks the superior headman, called in the maritime Sinhalese districts "Vidane Arachchi," in the Kandyan Sinhalese districts the " Korala," and in the Tamil districts the Udaiyar." There are about 613 superior headmen in Ceylon. Lastly comes the village headman, who is in charge of one or more villages, and whose jurisdiction is the administrative unit. The number of village headmen is about 4,000. In addition, there are peace officers, irrigation headmen, and others appointed for special purposes. Each of the three principal towns (Colombo, Kandy, and Galle) has been created a Municipality, of which the affairs are Municipalities administered by a body corporate consisting of a and Local Chairman (who, in the case of Colombo, is a member of Boards. the Civil Service and nominated by the Governor, and in the cases of Kandy and Galle, the Government Agent) and a number of elected members and of nominees of the Governor. Every ratepayer who possesses a house of the annual value of Rs. 180, or every tenant who pays a monthly rental of Rs. 15, or is a graduate of a university, is qualified to vote for the election of a Councillor. In twenty-one of the smaller towns the administration has been entrusted to Local Boards of Health and Improvement, composed of the Government Agent or Assistant Government Agent or a person nominated by the Government Agent as Chairman, two other official members, and three unofficial members. The maintenance of roads other than main thoroughfares is the duty of the Provincial and District Road Committees, while the administration of village affairs and the working of rules connected with irrigation are vested in Gansabhawas or Village Councils. Ordinance No. 11 of 1920 provides for the establishment of District Councils throughout the Island to take charge of the Local sanitation, communications, and development of their Government. districts. District Councils are to elect their own Chairman, and are debarred from electing the Government Agent or his Assistant. Rural District Councils are to consist of 4 to 8 members nominated by the Governor, but Urban and General 34-20 6 ( 26 ) District Councils are to be composed of from 6 to 12 members, two-thirds are to be elected by the inhabitants. These loca are to be supervised by a Local Government Board. This B established in June, 1921, and Urban District Councils ha formed for Negombo and Ratnapura. Steps are being taken similar Councils for Chilaw, Panadure, Kalutara, Jaffna, Ma Matara as from January 1, 1923. These Councils will not be in any area unless the people show a desire for them and pre notices are first issued to ascertain whether such desire exists. In addition to the Government Agents and Assistant Gov Agents, the Civil Service also supplies off Government the appointments of Principal Collector of Departments. and Assistants, Postmaster-General, Registrar Land Settlement Officers, Excise Commissi Assistants, Inspector-General of Prisons, District Judges, Colonial Secretaries, Police Magistrates, Office Assistants Government Agents, &c. The following are the principal Government Departments and Department. Agricultural Department .. Analyst's Department Controller of Revenue, Office of the Court, Supreme Customs Department Forest Department Government Agent's Department Immigration and Quarantine, Irrigation Department Land Settlement Department Mineral Survey Department Museum, Colombo Police Department Port Commission, Colombo Title of Head of Depart Commissioner of Request Principal Collector of Cu Government Agent Chairman of the Board Director, Colombo Muse Post and Telegraph Department Postmaster-General |