Читать книгу The Book of the Pearl. The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gems онлайн

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In the meantime, while the negotiations were in progress, there occurred the very profitable fishery of 1905, from which the colonial government derived a revenue of Rs.2,510,727, or approximately eight times the proposed annual rental; and before the lease was finally concluded occurred the fishery of 1906, with its revenue of Rs.1,376,746. While it is true that a succession of barren seasons prevailed from 1892 to 1902, yet, as the revenue in 1903 was Rs.829,548, and in 1904 it was Rs.1,065,751, there was, in the four years ending in 1906, a revenue to the government of Rs.5,782,772, or nearly as much as the total amount to be derived from the lease during the twenty years it was to run. These figures seemed to furnish strong reasons for retaining such a valuable source of revenue, with its possibilities of still greater expansion under the supervision and direction of specialists in the employ of the government.

Many of the inhabitants of Ceylon saw in this a decided objection to the lease, and there was a general feeling of indignation in the colony, with public meetings in protest, and the like. In reply to a memorial prepared at one of these meetings held in Colombo, Lord Elgin, the British secretary of state for the colonies, wrote under date of May 9, 1906: