BURMA

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21084, 8 February 1934, Page 13

BURMA

AN INTERESTING LAM)

PROGRESS AND DIFFICULTIES

A land of open spaces, of teak forests, rice fields, and evergreen bush, where the climate is a succession of scorching hot • days and phenomenal downpours of rain—the description was applied to Burma by Mr H. Tonkinson, who has lived there for 29 years, when speaking to a representative of "The Press" last night. M rTonkinson is a member of the Indian civil service, and last year was financial commissioner to the Government ot Burma. He is on extended leave and is making his first visit to New Zealand.

"Burma at present is a part of India, but one day—in fact, wo are expecting the news at once—t)ie two countries will be separated," Mr Tonkinson. said. Burma had been running a responsible government for the last 10 years, with more or less success, and there was no reason to doubt that the administration would be much more effective in th'e immediate future. The people there lived mainly by cultivation, with rice and teak growing as the main industries. There were rubber plantations also, some tin. lead, and silver mines, and a fair amount of oil. However, the country was not nearly so prosperous as it was a few years ago, for the price of rice had fallen by half and rubber was so low that some growers had ceased tapping it. Burma's exportable surplus of rice was the biggest in the world and its areas of teak were also unsurpassed. Besides this one of the lead and silver mines had the largest known output. A Criminal Population. hi one way, the government of the country was a much lighter task than it was in India, for the proportion of literacy and the standard of living were considerably higher. On the other hand, there was what might be called a "criminal bias" among the people, and it was safe to say that the country had more crime, in proportion to population, than any other country in the world. However, an efficient police force was maintained, composed of Europeans, Indians, and Burmese. The Europeans, of whom there were about 100, were the superior officers, and next to them in position were the Burmese. The Indians made up the rank and file. The justice system was rather more complicated than it was in New Zealand. The High Court was situated at Rangoon and the judges did not go on circuit. Below them were l officers known as "divisional judges," who conducted civil business. They did go on circuit sometimes. The High Court judges were recruited from the civil service' and from the bar, but they were not necessarily Europeans. The Indian penal code, which was also the law for Burma, was based on the English common law, and civil justice was much thd same. Communications. "The communication services have been greatly improved by the extension last year of the air mail from England to Rangoon, and recently the route was carried further, to Singapore," Mr Tonkinson said. "We hope very soon to get right through to Australia." The Burmese railways had suffered a good deal from motor competition, and had not made much advance l , but road communication had been developed enormously. Dealing wilh the population, Mr Tonkinson said Rangoon, the largest town, sheltered 400,000 people. Next to it was Mandalay (140,000), and all the other towns were very much smaller, the largest of them having no more than 60,000. This was, of course, explained by the fact that the people lived mostly by cultivation and were therefore scattered about the countryside. It was an interesting fact about the climate, Mr Tonkinson said, that the average rainfall in Rangoon was 130 inches, and it lessened as one went| inland, until at the centre it was only! about 30 or 40 inches.