سلسليا
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
C.O. 882
4PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT. PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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"Irrespective of the baneful effects of this state of things as bearing on the Civil Service of the Colony the maintenance of such unmistakeable signs of inequality has, it is to be feared, tended to foster the anti-English sentiment that was said to prevail among some members of the Creole community in times past. I believe that if the Government were to avail itself of this opportune moment to abolish all invidious dis- tinctions, the act would be thoroughly appreciated by the people, and would tend to increase their love of British rule."
We witness an attempt at a return to A new era appears to be dawning upon us. that good, sound, and liberal policy which had won the regard and the heart of the Mauritians. Sir, it would be bad taste on my part to tell you here to your face what my countrymen and myself feel for your person and your character; but I can speak of the policy of which you have already given us numerous tokens. It is the policy which has been so successful in a Colony much larger than ours, but which offers with ours many analogies. It is the policy of Lord Dufferin and of the Marquis of Lorne which had made the Canadians the most devoted and the most affectionate of Her Majesty's subjects. I pray God that you may be spared the strength, the means, and the time necessary to carry it out to its completion. (Applause).
I These are the general grounds on which rests the first part of my resolution; do not enter into minor reasons lest I should tire the patience of my honourable friends. But I think I have brought abundant evidence of the insufficiency of our system and of the necessity of reforming it.
I submit that the reform ought to consist in the introduction of the elective element in the Council. My reasons I have already partly given when commenting on the position and relations with Government of the unofficial members who are nominees of the Crown; do what they like they can represent no opinion but their own, and will always be more or less hampered by their origin. Another reason is that we are as much, if not more advanced in civilisation, general progress, and wealth than most of the Colonies which enjoy representative institutions. Many of the Colonies of the West Indies have them; although they are inferior to oure in all respects. We see, not far from us, a Colony which offers the greatest analogy with ours; it is Natal. Do you know what the Constitution of Natal is? It consists of a Governor, an Executive Council, and a Legislative Council composed of five official members and twelve members elected by the countries and boroughs. It will not be contended, I hope, that Natal is more advanced than Mauritius, and that its population of English, Dutch, Zulus, and Indians, is more homogenious than ours.
And yet his Lordship, the Secretary of State, deprecates the elective system for Mauritius, and he does so on three grounds.
First, that the Indian population of Mauritius has immigrated into the island in reliance that protection which is secured to it under the existing Constitution.
the upon Secon ly, that a very small number of Indians could properly be included among electors.
I confess that I cannot understand how Lord Derby can have seriously penned that first argument. What! we shall be condemned to perpetual immobility, and political incapacity because we have introduced thousands of starving men from India and raised them to the dignity of citizens after the completion of their industrial evidence! The benefits which we shall have conferred on those men shall be shackles which we shall have riveted to our hands and feet; and we shall have to wait until they are as educated and enlightened as ourselves, and have risen to our level! If I did not fear to be disrespectful to his Lordship, I should say that the reason is so poor, that it carries with it its own refutation, and falls to the ground through its own weakness.
As to the second argument that a very small number of Indians could be included among the electors, it is exactly the reverse of the argument of the honourable the senior member. Mr. Broome and Lord Derby apprehend an oligarchy of landowners, lawyers, and journalists; the honourable the senior member apprehends an invasion of Indians. Who is right? Neither the one nor the other. Because they both neglect a most important factor: the middle class composed of small landowners, employés, traders, and artisans which holds the intermediate place between the two extremes and balances them. Of course the bulk of the immigrant population will not rank among But a not insignificant number will; I allude to those the electors at the outset.
among them who have earned money and bought land or started some trade, and I assure you that they will not be the worst electore, for they are conservatives by instinot. That number will gradually increase as time and education do their work, and it will only be just and fair that those men who will have toiled for us, and contributed to the
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general welfare, should have their share in our political life when they are worthy of their new duties.
Now we come to the third ground.
Lord Derby assimilates us to Ceylon, which had prayed for a reform in 1866 and whose prayer met with a refusal because "it was impossible to establish a Legislature
which would really represent the population of the country."
In the first place I deny that there is any similarity between Mauritius and Ceylon. The population of Ceylon is composed of the upper classes which have no deep roots in the country, and of the lower classes, which constitute the true people of Ceylon, but are still shrouded in their prejudices of caste and their heathenish ignorance. Not so in Mauritius, where, discarding the European population, which has no roots in the country, and the coolies, who have not yet acquired their citizenship, there is a large class of men advanced in civilisation which forms the real Mauritian people. His Lordship would have been nearer the truth if he had compared us to the Colonies of the Cape and Natal.
Here comes the argument that we cannot be granted an elective element in the Constitution because it would not really represent the population of the country. If this means anything it means that so long as the coolies are not represented by one of them in the Council we shall be deprived of an elective system. Sir, I had no idea that Lord Derby was a partisan of universal suffrage. Would his doctrine be that in countries where all classes are not directly represented no representative institutions should exist? I submit then that the great Parliament of England ought not to have existed before the Reform of 1832, when the real electors were a few hundred powerful landowners; that it ought not to exist now because all the classes of the English population are certainly not represented in the House of Commons, especially that class of country labourere and workmen which occupy there the same position as our coolies here. do not think that I can oppose a better answer to the above objection, which Lord Derby himself knocks on the head by suggesting a system of election which would only represent three categories of electors, and with which the honourable knight who is going to move the second resolution will have to deal.
Now, Sir, I have done, and it is with confidence that I request you to put my resolu- tion to the vote after it has been seconded, trusting that, whatever may be the opinion of some of my honourable friends as to the future composition of the Council, they can have no objection to acknowledge, as I beg them to do, that our present Constitution is insufficient and defective, and that an elective element should be introduced therein. (Applause.)
The Hon. H. ADAM said :—
I second this resolution.
After the speech which has just been delivered the matter seems exhausted, and I do not see that anything could be said which would add to the strength of the arguments which have been brought forward.
My honourable friend has shown that the institution which has been granted to the Colony some 50 years ago does not meet in any way the present requirements of our community, and upon this point it is not necessary for me to dwell, for it must now stand uncontested.
Even when this institution was first established it was an insufficient concession; but it could then be considered as a first step, as the embryo of future concessions and improvemente, and it was thus thankfully accepted; it has, however, never since been effectively altered in the sense of progress and freedom, and it now stands like one of those monuments of past ages which represent a state of things which has for ever disappeared.
The aspirations to a reform in the constitution of this Council are not newly born, they have existed for many years, and have always been increasing, opinions have varied as to the extent and mode of action, but there has been only one voice in favour of the necessity of some change. Now at last those general aspirations have been put into shape, and a large number of the inhabitants of this Colony have adopted the principle of the introduction of the elective element.
Although confined within very narrow limits, this principle, whilst accepted by an influential majority, has met with opposition in certain quarters, and this Board has now to give an opinion on the subject. This opposition we certainly regret, but unanimity could hardly have been expected, for all novelties, even the most beneficial, have had to fight their way in the world.
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