When the Chamber of Commerce was young

Saturday, 9 August 2014 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By D.C. Ranatunga For any organisation to be in existence for 175 years is a proud achievement. That is what the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has achieved. Inaugurated on 25 March 1839, it celebrated the milestone recently. Although initial records are difficult to gather, the progress after the first 15 years or so is well documented. At the initial stage there had been just 10 subscribing firms. It was literally ‘kopi kale’ – a common term used today to indicate when referring to old times. Coffee was the major crop that was grown at the time in addition to cinnamon.

The name of Joseph Rad has been recorded as the first Chairman of the Chamber. The initial work of the Chamber has been identified as “the tabulation of the rates of commission and charges then usual for the conduct of business and the preparation of returns of imports and exports.” Coffee, cinnamon and coconut oil are mentioned as the main export items. From its early days the Chamber had started corresponding with the government on matters relating to trade and commerce. In 1855 the Chamber had taken up the matter of the proposed railway and had suggested that it be built by the Government and not by a private company under guarantee.

Seven years later the suggestion had been adopted. The Chamber had also been agitating for increased shipping accommodation and taken up the issue of wharf and harbour improvements. In 1872 in the welcome address to the newly appointed Governor William H. Gregory the emphasis had been “upon the great importance in Ceylon commerce of increased and improved harbour accommodation of Colombo”. By then the number of steam vessels coming in place of sailing ships had been increasing and the Chamber had shown that “the resources of the port were strained to the utmost limit” and made representations to secure better working of the Customs. When the form of currency was changed from pounds, shillings and pence to rupees and cents, the Chamber of Commerce committee had reported that “the distasteful change that had been effected was found attended with great inconvenience and the committee is of opinion that if the rupees must be the unit its Indian subdivisions should have been introduced.” No change was made, however, and the mercantile fraternity itself had soon hailed the change to the new form of currency a wise and statesmanlike measure.

A landmark event in the history of the Chamber was the nomination of its chairman Sir William W. Mitchell to the Legislative Council as the Mercantile Member in 1875. He was partner of Darley, Butler & Co and was a respected figure in the mercantile community and became chairman of the Chamber in 1868. The first reference to tea was made in the Chamber’s first half-yearly report in 1876 .Tea had by then become the major export product following the crash of coffee due to poor world prices. The committee requested the Collector of Customs to add ‘Tea’ to a column of the list of exports he published in the Gazette. The Chamber informed him that “the export of this article is likely to assume considerable importance ere long,” which it did. Later in the year the Chamber held a special meeting to denounce statements made in England that the leaf disease Hemilciavastatrix had practically brought the cultivation of coffee in Ceylon to an end. In 1890, on representations made by the Chamber a reduction of the postal rates to UK had been effected and the parcel post system introduced. The formation of the Tea Traders Association under the auspices of the Chamber in 1894 was another landmark event in commerce in the country. It has been recorded that in 1905 the average price of tea was 35 cents a pound. By this time the membership of the Chamber had increased to 72, recording an increase of 27 in 10 years. Source: ‘Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon’