SHIPPING AND COMMUNICATIONS— REFERENCES 111
In 1911 (Board of Trade Returns) the value of tea imported into the United Kingdom from Ceylon was 4,096, 099^.; in 1900, 4,096,241^. Other imports in 1911 were : rubber, 1,309,868?. ; cocoa-nut oil, 499, 139?. ; nuts and kernels, 273,234?. ; plumbago, 123,030?. ; cocoa, 123,357?. The exports of United Kingdom produce to Ceylon in 1911 were cottons, 512,363?. ; coal, 219,047?. ; iron and steel and manufactures thereof, 327,933?. ; machinery, 195,256?.
Shipping and Communications.
Shipping entered and cleared, 1911, 14,926,764 tons (British, 9,385,882 tons). On January 1,1911, 120 sailing vessels of 9,460 tons, and 7 steamers of 1,889 tons, total 127 vessels of 11,349 tons, were registered as belonging to Ceylon.
604 miles of railway were open at the end of 1911.
In 1911 there were ]3ost offices, 454 ; money order offices (1911), 168 ; telegraph offices, 118 ; postal packets or postcards passed through the post office (1911), 39,715,353. 4,868 miles of telegraph wire and 1,200 miles of telephone wire (1911) ; telegrams despatched (1911), 1,212,465,
Money and Credit.
The estimated amount of paper money in circulation on December 31, 1908, was 15,283,575 Rs. In circulation are also English sovereigns, silver, Indian rapees, and subsidiary Ceylon 50, 25, and 10 cent pieces Copper, Ceylon 5, 1, and h, cent pieces. Five banks have establishments in Ceylon : the Mercantile Bank, the Bank of Madras, the National Bank; the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. The Ceylon Savings Bank on December 31, 1911, had 37,099 depositors, and deposits amounting to 5,152,980 Rs. ; and the Post Office Savings Bank 89, 074 depositors, and deposits (1911), 3,048,570 Rs.
The weights and measures of Ceylon are the same as those of the United Kingdom. The money of the country is the rupee of British India with cents in place of annas and pice ; thus Ceylon has a decimal coinage. By Ordinance No. 6 of 1903, gold was made a legal tender (at 15 rupees = 1?.).
Dependency.
The Maldive Islands, 400 miles west of Ceylon, are governed by an elected Sultan, who resides in the island of Male, and pays a yearly tribute to the Ceylon Government. Next to the Sultan is 1st Wazir, or Prime Minister, then the Fandiari, the head priest or judge, and besides them 6 Wazirs or Ministers of State. The Maldives are a group of 12 coral islets (atolls), richly clothed with cocoa-nut palms, and yielding millet, fruit, and edible nuts. Population about 50,000 Mohammedans. The people are civilised, and are great navigators and traders.
Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Ceylon.
Administration Report of Ceylon. Annual. Blue Book of Ceylon. Annual Report on Cey.lon.
Decennial Census of Ceylon, 1901. Report by P. Arunaclialam. Colombo, 1902. Ceylon Sessional Papers. Annual. Colonial Office List. Annual. London.
Statistics of Ceylon ; in ' Statistical Abstract for the Colonial and other Possessions of the United Kingdom.' Annual. London.
