CEYLON AND ITS TEA

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 September 1934, Page 8

CEYLON AND ITS TEA

MAJOR OLDFIELD INTERVIEWED A visitor to Greymouth, to-day, wa[& Major John Oldfield, C.M.G., 0.8.Ei, M.C., a principal of the Ceylon Tea' Propaganda Board, and a former member of the Governor's Executive Coifncil, and the State Council of Ceylon, Major Oldfield is on a tour of the Dominion for the purpose of gaining a greater knowledge of the tea 8 situation in New Zealand. He had; a distinguished career during the World War. He fought at the battle of LOos, and,the Battle of the Somme, and.-he. was gassed at Ypres. He was mentioned in. dispatches on six occasions, z and. was awarded the M.C., Croix.-, de Guerre, and was made a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold. After the war, he returned to Ceylon, since when he has been chiefly identified .with the mercantile and political life of that country. He served as Chairman of the Planters’ Association of Ceylon from 1924 to 1926. In 1925 he<sVas ?made a director of Lee Hedges and CO. Ltd., and in 1926 he was'Wice-Chairnian of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of -the .Ceylon Tea Traders’ Association..;' Recently he was made a Companion of the. Order of St. Michael and- St. George for his public services to Ceylon'. Major Oldfield said he had just dompleted- tours of England and Canada; checaihg up on the results of propaganda in those countries, and he was returning home via New Zealand and Australia. When interviewed by a “Star” reporter to-day, Major Oldfield said that propaganda work in New Zealand was not necessary. He added that this was the best tea drimang country in the world, and tue tea used was generally good. However, the recent depression led for a demand for tea at a lower price,- and in this, tea had a similar experience to othfer commodities. As a result of this : demand, Indian teas had been coming into New Zealand in increasingly greater quantities in the past eighteen months. In the six months ended June 30 last, New Zealand’s imports were 3,500,0001bs Ceylon and 2,180,0001bs Indian; and for the six months previous to that 5,000,0001bs Ceylon and 960,0001bs Indian. One of the features of. the Ceylon trade with New Zealand was that the Dominion spent about £500,000 per year with Ceylon which took back only about £3,000 worth of New Zealand products. Large quantities of Australian butter, etc., were consumed in Ceylon, but no New Zealand, mainly on account of the lack of a suitable shipping service. Major Oldfield added that for the past two years the tea industry had suffered on account of the generally lower spending power, of the people. Many estates had been working at a it had been found necessary to restrict production. This was introduced at the request of the companies and an agreement was made between the Governments of India, Ceylon, and the Dutch East Indies. The .fact -that the three chief producing countries had agreed on a scheme of restriction should ensure to the producer a fair price for his teas. The scheme is sufficiently elastic to prevent, any shortage of supplies. Major Oldfield said the tea companies and the Ceylon Government recognised the necessity of researches in order to combat diseases and blights which affected the tea plant, and for this work, both the trade and the Government had established Research Departments which were giv-

ing valuable results. The tea industry in Ceylon directly employed about 750,000 people, and of course the Government recognised it as the backbone of the country. . “I suppose,” said Major Oldfield, “that the name ‘Ceylon’ conjures up in the minds of most people, the word ‘tea,’ just as in the days of our parents and grandparents the words ‘Ceylon’ and ‘Coffee’ were practically synonymous. The coffee industry in Ceylon was wiped out by disease—l might say it was wiped out almost in a night, its disappearance was so rapid. That was nearly eighty years ago, and the Island was practically ruined. The pioneer planters in Ceylon faced that adversity with the fortitude and pluck which one likes to see connected with British enterprise, and they gradually built up the great tea industry that exists to-day. Now I shall leave the subject of tea, and tell you

SOMETHING ABOUT CEYLON, and its most interesting early history. Ceylon lies in the Indian Ocean, almost as though it had broken away from the southward tip of India. But it this were so, they must have been separated for an immense period of time, long enough indeed for separate species of birds, butterflies, flowering plants and other forms of life to have arisen that are now peculiar to Ceylon, while Ceylon lacks some of India’s animals. The total population of the island is nearly five and a-half millions, and about 98 per cent, of all. these people descend from Indian races. Europeans in Ceylon number only eight thousand, little more than a seven-hundredth part of the population. “How many countries in the world can say what form of government, and what manner of civilisation they had 2000 years ago, or 1500, or even 1000 years ago? To answer such questions for Ceylon is quite simple, for the Singalese wrote history which has been preserved. Ceylon has this singular! knowledge of her past, which is perhaps unique amongst all colonies and dominions of the British Empire. Of the cities where the Singalese kings of old held sway, mile upon mile of ruins still remain. Carved stone pillars, granite images of Buddha, and figures of gods-, vast brick domes, larger than the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and inscriptions cut deep in the rocks, still bear witness to the trust of the history and the legends that have come down to us. The Roman Empire used to trade with Ceylon, its fleet sailing down the Red Sea and across the Indian Ocean when the sou’-west Monsoon blew, and returnj ing when the season changed, and the wind blew from the north-west. The Roman ships followed the monsoons like migrant birds, and for about 400 years Ceylon was in this manner known to the sailors of Europe. Every harbour on the west coast of the Island has yielded evidence of their commerce, in the shape of Roman coins, the earliest dating from Nero’s reign in the first century A.D., and the last from Honorius, in the fifth century. With that, Ceylon’s commerce with the western world came to an end, and did not start again for more than one thousand years. During those ten centuries, while the Roman Empire fell to pieces, and ’ Europe was plunged into its Dark Ages, the Island Kingdom rose in power, reached its zenith, and began to decline. The old capital, Anuradhapura, was abandoned, and a new city built to .take its place. This in turn was deserted and fell into decay; its ruins called Polannaruwa, lie beside a great artificial lake where crocodiles float among pink lotus blossoms. Another

capital city, and yet another was built and abandoned, and overgrown > by the forest. The enormous reservoirs built by the Singalese kings, reservoirs which are 10, 20, and even 30 miles in circumference, were dami aged by invaders from India, and became neglected, and burst their banks, • and hundreds of miles of irrigation ; channels Wlere choked by jungle growth. One can walk among the ruins of a thousand years ago, where elephant, bear, leopard, buffalo, and deer are to be found to-day,” said the , visitor. , Referring to modern Ceylon, Major Oldfield said that the Colombo harbour was among the first dozen in the 1 world, measured by the tonnage of ’ ships that called there, and Colombo had many fine buildings. To reach the hills, one could either follow the ! road or the railway. For the first thirty or forty miles the journey runs ’ through flat country where a dense population exists, and where every available acre is cultivated. Villages are hidden among fruit trees and palms, but all the low-lying areas, the bottoms of the hollows where water will lie, have been turned into paddy • fields; for, to prosper, paddy (rice ' must grow in standing water, almost like rushes. On steep hillsides vili lages are perched, above their ter- - raced fields, surrounded by their gar- ! dens where tea, coffee and cocoa, ; breadfruit and bananas, coconuts and s pineapples grow almost wild. Few ■ horses are seen in these villages, but ■ everywhere are two wheeled carts roofl ed over by thatched palm leaves, 1 drawn by bulls. In every field tame ’ buffaloes wallow in the mud until i they are roused and harnessed to the • plough. Naked boys shout and drive l the great lumbering beasts about. Major Oldfield said he had returned yesterday from a visit to South Westl land. “I have seen some grand , scenery in Switzerland and Central • Europe,” he said, “but have to say i that the glacier region you have here l is absolutely unique. It is different , in so many ways, and the Fox Glacier l holds its with anything similar i to it, in the' world. I have seen a , great deal of the Canadian Rockies, . and thought it would be impossible to find anything to compare with them, but after seeing the Southern s Alps, I am not so certain. Lake Louis . in the Canadian Rockies is generally , considered the most beautiful in the , world, but I think Lake Mathieson, ■ near the Fox, on a clear day, reflecting .Mount Cook, and Mount Tasman, , woujd hold its own with Lake Louis. It reminded me very much of the latter lake,’’ added the visitor. Major Oldfield will Ipave for Christchurch to-morrow, and will later visit Dunedin. He will sail from Wellington, on September 27, for Australia.