CHAPTER XVI.
 

                       CONCLUSION.



Relation and Importance of Ceylon to India—Progress of Christianity

    and Education—Statistics of Population—Need of Reform in the

    Legislative Council, and Sketch of  a Scheme for the Election of

    Unofficial Members—Loyalty of People  to British Rule, as evinced

    during Royal Visits,  and in connection with the Jubilee of Her

    Majesty the Queen-Empress—Jubilee  Celebration—Progress  of

    Ceylon since 1887.



   CEYLON, in a social and  political way, bears the same

    relation  to  India  and  the  Far East that England

has done to the European continent.   Mr.  Laing, when

Finance  Minister for India, confessed it was most valuable

to  law-makers  and administrators  in  the Indian  Presi¬

dencies to have Ceylon under a separate form of govern¬

ment,  and  to have experiments  in administrative  and

legislative reforms tried here, which served as an example

or  a warning  to the  big neighbouring  continent,  the

peoples being allied in so many respects.   There  is, for

instance, no  distinction made between  native and  Euro¬

pean judges  and magistrates in Ceylon; and  the acting

Chief Justice, lately,  was  a Eurasian, while a Sinhalese

barrister  only retired last  year  from  being  Judge of

the Supreme  Court after fifteen years'  service, and other

Ceylonese fill the responsible offices of Attorney-General

and Crown Counsel as well as District Judges and Magis¬

trates of the Colony.   Again, in Ceylon, we have a decimal

system of currency, a  great  step in  advance of the cum-

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