Chatting Sri Lanka: Powerful Communications in Colonial Times
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Chatting Sri Lanka: Powerful Communications in Colonial Times Justin Siefert PhD 2016 Chatting Sri Lanka: Powerful Communications in Colonial Times Justin Siefert A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History, Politics and Philosophy Manchester Metropolitan University 2016 Abstract: The thesis argues that the telephone had a significant impact upon colonial society in Sri Lanka. In the emergence and expansion of a telephone network two phases can be distinguished: in the first phase (1880-1914), the government began to construct telephone networks in Colombo and other major towns, and built trunk lines between them. Simultaneously, planters began to establish and run local telephone networks in the planting districts. In this initial period, Sri Lanka’s emerging telephone network owed its construction, financing and running mostly to the planting community. The telephone was a ‘tool of the Empire’ only in the sense that the government eventually joined forces with the influential planting and commercial communities, including many members of the indigenous elite, who had demanded telephone services for their own purposes. However, during the second phase (1919-1939), as more and more telephone networks emerged in the planting districts, government became more proactive in the construction of an island-wide telephone network, which then reflected colonial hierarchies and power structures. Finally in 1935, Sri Lanka was connected to the Empire’s international telephone network. One of the core challenges for this pioneer work is of methodological nature: a telephone call leaves no written or oral source behind. Thus the work will have to use a broader body of sources, advertisements and films and ‘read between the lines’ about the nature and content of telephone conversation. The telephone was more than a crucial part of the island’s colonial business structure or a useful tool to call for help in situations of distress, but beyond this primary purpose, it offered the opportunity to communicate and chat with other members of your peer group, which was particular important for women. The telephone was also an expensive commodity and consumption was the first step for the indigenous elite to challenge the colonial power. The thesis argues that the telephone played a role in the processes of political and identity building during colonial times. Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1. Telephone network ............................................................................................................ 24 1.1. Phase I (1880-1914) ..................................................................................................... 24 1.1.2. The development of the colonial infrastructure .................................................. 24 1.1.3. Colombo ............................................................................................................... 36 1.1.4. Early Problems ...................................................................................................... 37 1.1.5. Cinnamon Garden Exchange ................................................................................ 38 1.1.6. First Trunk Line and Exchanges outside Colombo ................................................ 40 1.1.7. Planting districts and private telephones ............................................................. 41 1.1.8. Licenses for private telephone systems .............................................................. 54 1.1.9 World War I as a watershed .................................................................................. 57 1.2. Phase II (1920-1939) .................................................................................................... 58 1.2.1. The changing policy in the 1920s ......................................................................... 59 1.2.2. Colombo and other towns .................................................................................... 67 1.2.3. Trunk lines and the emergence of an island-wide network ................................. 71 1.2.4. Private Telephones ............................................................................................... 74 1.2.5. International calls ................................................................................................. 87 1.2.6. World War II ......................................................................................................... 90 1.3. Conculsion ................................................................................................................... 91 2. Subscribers and Telephone usage ...................................................................................... 93 2.1. Some general observations ......................................................................................... 93 2.2. The telephone in Colombo .......................................................................................... 98 2.2.1. The ‘nerve centres’: working in the telephone exchanges ................................ 102 2.2.2. Telephones in the public arena .......................................................................... 117 2.2.3. Colombo’s subscribers ....................................................................................... 134 2.3. The telephone in the planting districts ..................................................................... 151 2.3.1. Subscribers in the rural areas ............................................................................. 151 2.3.2. The telephone and everyday life on an estate ................................................... 152 2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 162 3. ‘The virtual saloon’: socialising, discussing and making politics on the phone ................ 164 3.1. Socialising on the phone ........................................................................................... 164 3.2. The Social Network .................................................................................................... 175 3.3. Politics on the phone: A Glimpse from Sinhalese Society ......................................... 177 3.3.1. The telephone enters the political stage ............................................................ 180 3.3.2. Politics and the telephone during the interwar period ...................................... 188 3.3.3. Telephone as a political issue ............................................................................. 199 3.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 201 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 203 Appendix............................................................................................................................... 210 Appendix I: Maps .............................................................................................................. 210 Appendix II: Images (Ferguson’s Ceylon Directory) ........................................................ 214 Appendix III: Images (Ceylon Administration Reports) .................................................... 218 Appendix IV: Images (newspapers) .................................................................................. 220 Appendix V: Postcards ...................................................................................................... 222 Appendix VI: Tables .......................................................................................................... 223 Literatur ................................................................................................................................ 247 Glossary: Ceylon National Congress (CNC) District Medical Officer (D.M.O.) Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH) Karava, Salagama and Durava castes (KDS castes) National Telephone Company (NTC) Oriental Telephone Company (OTC) Post-Master General (PMG) Planters’ Association (PA) Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PAC) Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) United National Party (UNP) List of tables, figures, images and maps: Table 1: Government Expenditure on Roads and Bridges p. 26 Table 2: Metalled roads in the Central and Eastern Province p. 29 Table 3: Rates for Telephone subscribers in 1905 p. 39 Table 4: The estimated cost for each subscriber to the Dimbula exchange p. 51 Table 5: Government Exchanges, 1934-39 p. 71 Table 6: telephone plants erected and maintained by the Department p. 73 Table 7: Telephone exchanges connected to the trunk line system p. 74 Table 8: Number of effective international calls p. 90 Table 9: Services in the financial year 1938-39 p. 95 Tab. 10: Number of subscribers connected to Gov. Exchanges p. 95 Table 11: Total population and telephone subscribers p. 95 Table 12: Prices for telephone subscription in 1905 p. 97 Table 13: Rates for the Galaha Exchange in 1911 p. 98 Table 14: Percentage distribution of ethnic groups in Colombo and the total of the population in 1921 p. 102 Table 15: New salaries for female telephone operators in 1913 p. 105 Tab. 16: Recommended salaries for the officers of the Department 1932 p. 105 Table 17: Telephonists trained