PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
THC.O. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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The 69,000 who formed the class of slaves was deprived of all education, moral or intellectual. The higher classes, composed of a few thousands, were educated, and many, the descendants of the old French families, highly educated; but there was no middle class; refinement above and ignorance below. Prejudices of colour were rife and created a wide chasm between the two fractions of the general population. Now, thank God, slavery is nothing but a dark spot in the history of the past. Those prejudices which were the greatest obstacle to the advancement of the Colony have vanished, and the Mauritians form one compact population united in the same interests and the same love for their small but endearing country. Education has spread and is spreading everywhere, carrying with it its beneficial effects, and has made this small community equal in moral and intellectual attainments to any of the British Colonies.
The garment which had been proportioned to And yet our Constitution is the same.
Our system of Government the size of a child is kept for the use of a full grown man. is a despotic one, as in all Crown Colonies. Although we must acknowledge that it is a despotism allayed with mildness owing to the progress of the times and to the liberal spirit which generally animates English statesmen, we cannot conceal from ourselves that a Governor in Mauritius is almost omnipotent; his powers are only checked by those of the Colonial Office. Here he commands a majority, the eight members who are on the official side must vote as the Governor directs, and it is proper that they should do so, as they form the Cabinet; and even were the eight unofficials to vote as one man, a fact which is of very rare occurrence, and which I should be happy to witness to-day, no measure advocated by the Governor could be stopped by them. And speaking of the powers of the unofficial members, I may here observe that their position They are not expected by Government to be is not what people generally believe. entirely free and independent. There is a State paper of the highest importance which clearly establishes the nature of the relations which ought to exist between the Government on one side and the different Legislatures of the Colonies on the other. is a Despatch of the Secretary of State under date the 17th August 1868, enclosed in a circular of 15th September following. With regard to an unofficial appointed by the "He will indeed naturally understand that, Crown, he uses the following utterances:
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holding his seat by nomination of the Crown, he has been selected for it in the expectation and in the confidence that he will co-operate with the Crown in its general policy, and not oppose the Crown on any important question without strong and substantial reasons, but of the validity of those reasons he will be himself the judge." But mark the contrast with the position of the elected unofficial member. The Secretary of State continues, "The last case is that of the elective member who "does not hold office of emoluments under the Crown. He, of course, will support or oppose the Government as he sees fit, and it will be his duty to exercise a vigilant supervision over the measures introduced by the Government.
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Is not the contrast striking, and is any commentary necessary?
No, Sir, nominees of the Crown cannot escape the consequences of their origin. They cannot forget that they may be removed on the pleasure of the Governor when I must honestly state that I do not their opposition becomes too unpalatable. remember, in modern times at least, a single case of removal, although I have heard that, in one instance, one of the most distinguished members of this Board had been made to understand that if he considered that his position here did not tally with his independence he was at liberty to withdraw his services. But I do remember that, a few years ago, two gentlemen who sat in the Council of Seychelles were summarily dismissed.
I might certainly not go farther, the insufficiency of our Constitution being too glaring even to the most prejudiced eyes. But there is an assertion made by my honourable friend, the senior unofficial member, whom I regret not to see in his place to-day, and complacently endorsed by Mr. Broome, and repeated by his Lordship the Secretary of State, which I must answer, it is to the effect that the Colony has been highly prosperous under the present system, and that the inhabitants are perfectly satisfied. I have already refuted that assertion elsewhere, but I cannot help refuting it again. No one can deny that the Colony has been prosperous, and I, in good faith, and without the slightest hesitation, acknowledge that the Government has, in a certain For instance, the administration of our measure, contributed to that prosperity. finances, that mainspring of all governments, has been as a rule, saving a few failings now and then, prudent and honest, and has allowed us to steer through many a storm. But it is a fallacy to say that we owe our prosperity to our political system. it to our geographical situation, to the fertility of our soil, to the energy and enter-
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prising spirit of the inhabitants, to the influx of foreign capital, to free trade, and to a free and abundant supply of labour. These are the main causes of our prosperity.
Neither am I willing to grudge this Council its share in the causes of the general welfare. The Council has done good service to the country, but do my honourable friends think that the Council would not have been more successful still if it had been inade more powerful by an increase of members and the adjunction of a popular element?
I think that it would have prevented many mistakes of which we still bear and will for some time bear the consequences. I maintain that if we had a more direct and influential voice in the management of our affairs, measures would not have been taken such as those which have upset the administration of justice, and substituted a motley, intricate, and confused legislation, a mixture of English, Scotch, and French laws, to the homogeneous system which existed and which only required the changes which time and experience would have pointed out. I maintain that such an egregious blunder as that which was committed when the use of the English language was suddenly made compulsory in the courts of justice, and when men of the stamp of our senior unofficial member were driven from the bar, a measure which had made the institution of the jury a heavy burden on a few hundred members of the community, ordinances would have been spared us. I maintain that we should not have had to pass
of the nature of Ordinances 1 and 10 of 1881, Ordinances which the direst necessity alone could make acceptable, if we had had the means of compelling Government to stop, before it was too late, the wanton destruction of our forests, and employ our own money to the great work of reforestation, an enterprise which will now entail the heaviest sacrifices. I maintain that we should not have been obliged to pass certain parts of the labour law which are prejudicial to the Indians themselves, because they drive them from honest and regular labour, and that most objectionable article public meeting, and, though mitigated, stands which has provoked the inhabitants to a
as a permanent and offensive threat.
As to the fact that the Mauritians are satisfied and want no change, I emphatically deny it. I do not mean to question one instant their loyality to the English Govern- ment and their deep respect for the good Queen who graces the throne of Great Britain with all the virtues of the woman and the sovereign. They acknowledge that the government of this Colony, although a despotism, has generally been a mild one, and they believe that many of the mistakes from which they have had to suffer are due to the incorrect statements made to the Secretaries of State and their ignorance of the truth. But alive though they are to the advantages of belonging to the great English nation, they keenly feel that they have not met at the hands of the Government the treatment which they were entitled to. Sir, this is a solemn day for our dear little Mauritius, a day on which one of the most important, one of the most momentous questions which have ever been brought before this House, is being discussed. I owe it to you and to the Government which you represent to day, the truth and the whole truth. We, Mauritians, complain that although we are British subjects, we have not been treated as English men; we complain that the liberal and high policy which has been inaugurated with so much success by the first English Governor, which had so success- fully soothed the regrets, the legitimate regrets of a people who had suddenly passed from one rule to another, and had brought about the most complete harmony, has been gradually abandoned to make room for a cold, narrow, selfish and haughty policy: the policy of the Surtess and the Bayleys, instead of that of the Farquhars and the Colvilles, which has barred the Mauritians from the best and highest situations in Government, and has drawn a line between the conquering and the conquered races. I am not uttering my personal opinion, I shall support it by that of a gentleman enjoying the confidence of the Colonial Office, who has been struck by the injustice and the impolicy of the local Government in their relations with the Mauritians and has given vent to his impressions in these words which are full of meaning. ·
Sir Penrose Julyan in his report says:
"It is generally considered, and with too much reason not only by the departmental employés, but by the educated portion of the Creole population at large, that the prizes of the Civil Service are not intended for "Colonials," however assiduous and observing they may be, and that the most fortunate of them cannot hope to reach anything higher It is also alleged that some of the chief than a clerkship of Rs. 500 or Rs. 600 a year. offices are barred even against Englishmen sent out from home, if they happen to form matrimonial alliances in the Colony, however unexceptionable such alliances may be in themselves. I need hardly say how prejudicial are these circumstances to the best interests of the public service.
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