city had always been specially exempted. The third part may be described as a local supplementary police code for the purpose of meeting local needs and requirements.

4. BENGAL.

Acts passed-2.

The two Bengal Acts are of merely local interest.

5. UNITED PROVINCES.

Acts passed-o.

The Legislature of the territories formerly known as the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, but now to be known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, did not pass any Acts in the year under review.

6. PUNJAB.

Acts passed-3.

Waste Lands.-The Sind-Sagar Doab Colonisation Act, 1902 (No. 1), provides machinery for the establishment of the title of the Government in land to be acquired for the purpose of reclaiming and colonising certain waste lands between the river Indus and the rivers Jhelum and Chenab.

Steam-Boilers. It is interesting to find that the increase in the number of boilers in use in the Punjab has necessitated the passing of an Act (No. 2) to provide for the inspection of steam-boilers and prime movers attached thereto.

Coronation Durbar.-A temporary Act (No. 3) embodied special police regulations for the areas in which the great Coronation Durbar was held at Delhi.

7. BURMA.

Acts passed-4.

The Legislature of Burma passed Acts amending its Village Regulation Acts (No. 1), the Rangoon Police Act (No. 2), and its general Municipal Act (No. 3), and consolidating its Forests Acts (No. 4).

8. REGULATIONS UNDER 33 VICT.,

Regulations made-4.

C. 3.

Kachin Hill Tribes.-Regulation No. 1 lays down further restrictions on the possession and transport of opium in the regions occupied by the Kachin Hill tribes.

Aden Pilgrims.-Regulation No. 2 extends certain provisions of the Aden Pilgrim and Pauper Regulation, 1887, to persons not being natives of Asia or Africa.

Sea Traffic in Arms and Ammunition.—Regulation No. 3 arms the Political Resident at Aden with the power of placing restrictions on the traffic in arms and ammunition in the Gulf of Aden, which, it will be remembered, washes the northern coast of the Somaliland Protectorate.

Kohat Local Dues.-Regulation No. 4 declares the immemorial right of the Khan of Tari to levy the dues known as "tirni" and "bua" in certain estates situated within the district of Kohat in the North-West Frontier Province, and makes provision for the speedy and effective realisation of these dues.

Useful information as to the recent course of legislation in India, and as to the administrative questions with which this legislation is concerned, is to be found in the latest Decennial Report on the Moral and Material Progress of India, published as a Parliamentary paper in the summer of 1903 (East India, Progress and Condition, 1903, C. 249).

III. EASTERN COLONIES.

1. CEYLON.

[Contributed by FREDERICK H. M. CORBET, ESQ., and RICHARD F.
HONTER, ESQ.]

1901.

(N.B.-The Ordinances of 1901 summarised below were not available to the editors in time for inclusion in the review of that year's legislation.)

Lands Attached to Buddhist Temples (No. 3).-The Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance was passed in 1889, and its operation having demonstrated the necessity for modifications, this measure is concerned with the constitution of the provincial committees, or local administrative bodies, created by the original Ordinance.

Power to make necessary rules for the conduct of business is given to

these committees. The procedure at the election or deposition of the spiritual and lay guardians of the temples is indicated. Power is also given to determine the share of each temple in the expenditure consequent on the execution of the provisions of the Ordinance.

Import Duties (No. 7).-By this amendment of the principal Ordinance of 1869 the Governor is authorised to order exemption from payment of duty in the case of goods on which duties are ordinarily laid; he is, however, required to state his reasons in the order. The rest of the Ordinance deals with the warehousing of goods.

Municipal Councils (No. 8).-Certain prior enactments are repealed. The scope of the by-laws which may be made by councils is defined. The progress and growth of Colombo, the capital of the Island, have necessitated the provision of a by-law under which additional offices to those already in existence may be created.

Sale of Manures (No. 12).—The increase of plantations in the Colony, with a consequent enhanced demand for fertilisers of the soil, has resulted in the manufacture and importation of either inferior or adulterated material. The preservation of the standard of purity is the immediate object of this Ordinance. The use of any artificial process constitutes manufacture for the purpose of this enactment.

On the sale of quantities of manures weighing more than one hundredweight the vendor is required to furnish a guarantee containing the name and constitution of the article. A heavy penalty is imposed on a breach of this duty or the delivery of a false guarantee. Agricultural analysts are to be appointed whose certificates will be sufficient evidence of the composition of manures which have been made the subject of litigation. Such cases are in the jurisdiction of police courts; from their decisions appeals may be made to the Supreme Court.

1902.

Ordinances passed-20 (between January 18th and December 22nd, 1902). Passenger Transport (No. 1).-The introduction of tramways into Colombo necessitated the amendment of the principal Ordinance of 1901 dealing with the regulation of vehicular traffic. Rates and fares for the carriage of passengers by tram-cars had been made the subject of an agreement between the Colombo Municipal Council and the company who undertook the construction of the line. This Ordinance provides that rates and fares be fixed accordingly.

Repression of Crime (No. 3).—Provision is made by this Ordinance for the assessment and allotment of a charge imposed on villages in respect of the police or other protection afforded them. The clause in the principal Ordinance dealing with the system of assessment and allotment is amended.

Contributions in money may be commuted for labour at a fixed rate. Failure to pay or perform labour is punishable with rigorous imprisonment.

Employment of Natives in Theatrical Performances Abroad (No. 5).— This paternal measure on the part of the Ceylon Government provides that contracts with natives and residents in the Island for their employment in exhibitions, or theatrical, musical, or spectacular performances must be in writing, and the duty of attestation is imposed on specified officers at the port of embarkation; no emigrants of this description may be shipped until the issue of a pass by the collector of customs. Before the pass is granted, the employer is required to execute a bond with two approved sureties resident in the Island in favour of the collector, guaranteeing the return of his employees to the island at the expiration of their service. Every master of a ship or employer guilty of a breach is punishable by a fine and by imprisonment of either description for two years.

Jaffna Hindu College (No. 6).-This Ordinance incorporates an educational institution to be conducted " on purely Hindu lines."

Municipal Councils (No 7).-Changes in and additions to the principal Ordinance of 1887 are effected. Provision is made for the election of four standing committees on law, sanitation, finance, and works respectively. In the event of the chairman being in a minority in a disagreement with a standing committee, reference may be made by him to the general body of the council. Rates and taxes may not be levied on school buildings, buildings exclusively appropriated to religious worship, public libraries, burial and cremation grounds, and military buildings. Authority is granted to the councils in the following respects: Roads may be broken up for the purposes of lighting, telegraphic communication, or transport, on condition that a specification of the work has been submitted for the approval of the Governor and that the work itself will he speedily completed. Concessions may be granted to persons or firms for any purpose, with the sanction of the Governor.

Explosives (No. 8).-Local circumstances have determined a stricter form for this Ordinance than those of 1894 and 1895, which are repealed. Its expressed intention is the prevention of accident. The manufacture and importation of explosives are within the competence of the Governor, who is required to take the advice of the Executive Council before making his orders. The sale or storage of explosives is permitted under licence from the Chief Government Officer of the district where the store is situated. Explosives may not be hawked about the streets nor may they be sold to children under the age of thirteen years.

The Crown stores for military purposes are excepted from the operation of this Ordinance, and exceptions are made in favour of fireworks and explosives in small quantities for chemical purposes.

Railways (No. 9).-The extension of the railway system of the Colony has given birth to a new Ordinance (repealing that of 1885) which is not

without interest to students of the State administration of railways. Military and Government officials are privileged at the expense of the general public. In the regulation of passenger traffic there is an attempt at the solution of the problem of overcrowding; passengers having tickets for the longest distances are to be preferred to others; the public service, however, is entitled to priority even in such cases. The general manager is empowered to enforce claims against passengers by detaining their luggage.

The general manager, as the chief responsible official, is liable to a heavy fine if he fails to erect and maintain gates at railway crossings; it is within the competence of the local police magistrate to order their erection and maintenance.

Roads (No. 10).—This Ordinance is to be read with those of 1861 and 1884. It provides for the appointment and remuneration of officers to carry out the provisions of the Ordinance of 1861. The expenditure is to be met by the moneys received by the Provincial Road Committee in commutation of labour.

Game Preservation (No. 11).-One of the additions to the principal Ordinance of 1891 is a clause rendering wild animals captured or killed contrary to the provisions of this measure, or the conditions under which licence was issued, liable to confiscation after the person concerned has been convicted of the offence.

Estate Roads (No. 12).—Applications for the construction of branch roads leading from a principal line of traffic may be made by the proprietors of two or more neighbouring estates. A district cannot be brought within the jurisdiction of this Ordinance until the assent of the proprietors of twothirds of the acreage owned as estates has been obtained. Provision is then made for the election of a local road committee who shall appoint assessors to determine the liability of estates and who shall be responsible for the maintenance of the roads. Appeals may be taken from the local assessors to the Provincial Road Committee, from whose decision an appeal lies to the Governor.

Export Duty on Tea (No. 13).-The export duty levied on tea is increased, the funds thus obtained being devoted to the advertisement of Ceylon tea in foreign countries. The duty, collected by the Government, is virtually administered by the Planters' Association and the Chamber of Commerce, subject to the approval of the Governor in Council.

Village Tribunals Stamp Ordinance (No. 14).-A stamp duty is levied on civil cases tried before village tribunals. A successful plaintiff may have the value of the stamps, which he had supplied at the commencement of the case, awarded him as costs.

Printing Presses (No. 16)-The registration of printing presses is enforced under heavy penalties. No book or paper is to be printed without the names of the printer, publisher, and place of publication.

Lepers (No. 17).-The principal Ordinance (No. 4 of 1901) is amended