§ MR. HALDANE (Haddington)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Excise Paddy Tax of one-tenth of the rice crops in Ceylon has been abolished, while the corresponding Customs Duty of ten per cent. on rice imported from India is retained; and whether, as a consequence, about one-half of the native population will be eating rice free of taxation, while the other half, including some of the poorest Ceylonese living in the towns, will be paying ten per cent. ad valorem on their staple food to the Government?
§ *BARON H. DE WORMSThe reasons for the recent measures regarding the taxation of grain in Ceylon will be found very fully stated in a despatch of the Secretary of State of 12th February, 1892. This appears in a Paper laid before the Legislative Council of Ceylon, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, and a copy of which will also, if he wishes it, be forwarded to the hon. Member.