PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
5
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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adopt this resolution, in order that the petition which appears on the back of the paper in your hands may be forwarded to his Excellency the President and the Hon. the Members of the Legislative Council, and the Hon. the Sinhalese Representative be asked to presont it. have no doubt that the resolution will be cordially adopted and passed by you. It seems to me singularly appropriate that this meeting should be presided over by one bearing a name that is closely and intimately connected with the moral and material progress of the country for the last 30 or 40 years. there was a wrong to be righted or a public evil to be removed, the late Mr. A. M. Whenever Ferguson was always to the front, and in the present chairman we find one whose sympathies are as warm and as large as his. The success of a meeting like this, I need hardly say, depends upon the character of the chairman, and we must all consider ourselves peculiarly fortunate in having Mr. John Ferguson in the chair on this occasion. I will not touch upon the subject of the opium traffic. It has already been fully and exhaustively discussed, but there is one aspect of the question which struck me very forcibly when reading the papers which were placed in my hands by Miss Leitch. That question is one which affects the morality and well-being of our different communities, and, in this connexion, I cannot but emphasise the principle upon which all good government should proceed, and that is that the first duty of the State is to foster and encourage true morality. I would use the word morality in its largest and most comprehensive sense. I would not confine its meaning to any code of morality accepted or recognised by any particular creed or sect. embrace the morality which permeates and pervades almost all intelligent systems of would extend it so as to religion, and the best proof of the existence of such an element is to be found in the presence here to-day, on this platform, of so many representatives of the different religions prevailing in Ceylon and of the different nationalities in it. the representatives of religious systems which date so much further back than even We have here our own Christianity. However conflicting and diverse, therefore, our opinions may be on points of essential faith and doctrine, however antagonistic, perhaps, our views may be in matters of ritual, we have met here upon common ground, clearly indicating that beneath the crust, the mere crust, so to speak, of race and creed and sect and denomi- nation there beats the great heart of the brotherhood of man. and dictates of, that heart have brought this large assembly together to protest against And the promptings an evil which threatens in its ultimate consequences to ruin the youth and manhood of the country, Ladies and gentlemen, I bave very great pleasure in moving this resolution. (Applause.)
The resolution was as follows:-
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That the following be nominated a committee to promote the petition now adopted to his Excellency the President and the Hon. the Members of the Legislative Council, to secure signatures to the same, and to request the Hon. the Sinhalese Representative to present this petition, and to endeavour to secure the support of the other members, official and unofficial, to its prayer:-
"Convener: J. Ferguson, Esq. Committee: E. Aitken, Esq., J. P.; Philip Brito, Esq., M.B., C.M., M.R.C.S.; Peter de Abrew; K. Dhammarama Terunnanse, Pellygoda; Rev. A. E. Dibben; Rev. R. T. Dewbiggin: Solomon Fernando, Esq., M.B., C.M.; Rev. G. T. Fleming; J. N. Grant, Esq.; Joseph R. Grenier, Esq., advocate; Rev. T. C. Hillard; Major Jaya Vera (Salvation Army); S. G. Lee, Esq.; L. F. E. A. Lisboa Pinto, Esq., L.M.8.; M. I. Mohamado Ally, Esq., J.P.; S. C. Obeyesekere, Esq., proctor; J. Ĉ. Walter Pereira, Esq., M.M.C., barrister-at-law; J. H. Renton. Esq.; Rev. W. H. Rigby; Tambiah Sanmugam, Esq.; A. T. Shamsedeen, Esq., editor of " Muslim Friend"; E. W.S. Senatha Raja, Esq., barrister-at-law; High Priest Sumangala; N. Teyagaraja, Esq., barrister-at-law; Rev. F. D. Waldock; H. L. Wendt, Esq., advocate; Waskaduwe Subuthiy Terunnanse, Kalutara; Weligama Sri Sumangala Terunnanse, Kalutara.
"Secretaries: Rev. W. Hankinson and the Misses M. and M. W. Leitch."
Mr. 8. G. Lee seconded the resolution. He said that he lived some time in Malwa, where the poppy is greatly cultivated. He saw the tiny plant developing into its full size. He saw opium being collected, and persons using opium in India, and there were some teachers using it and were half sleepy in their classes. In Malwa, mothers get some pills prepared of opium and give to children that they might not ory and disturb when they go to work. Cases are reported of the death of children by the causes of these pills. In Ceylon, when this question was first mooted, it was contended by persons who consider themselves as the best authorities on these and similar questions that the use of opium is confined to the Malays, and was not spreading Among the Sinhalese and Tamils. But he wanted to satisfy himself with his own
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personal observations, and he went to the four dens within the municipal limits several times, and spent sufficient time in observing what takes place actually. The result of his own observation is that more than 60 per cent. of the buyers are Sinhalese, and since some of them bought more than 2 lbs. at a time, it must be inferred that the consumers are more than that rate. It was proved that opium will ruin the consumer. Then if the spread of opium be allowed in Ceylon, one day (we cannot say when) Ceylon will be ruined. Even if the Government wishes to have revenue, when the country is ruined where will they get the revenue? The prosperity of the Government depends upon the prosperity of the people. Whatever ruins the people will ruin the Government. As Ceylon forms the central point of the eastern possessions of the British Empire, and is calculated to play an important part in future naval engage- ments in the Eastern seas, ruining Ceylon is, to some degree, ruining the British Empire. The use of opium is against the direct teachings of the Surutis and Smirthis and the Vedas and Shastras of the Hindus. It is diametrically opposed to the Koran of the Muhammadans, and the scriptures of the Buddhists condemn it. Of course the religion of Christ demands its total abolition. Therefore the present position of Government is against their neutral policy. As the sale of licenses, according to the recent law passed in Ceylon, will greatly tend to stimulate the consumption of this fatal and deadly drug, it is high time to take action on this point. The Sinhalese being the greater number of consumers, it is but natural that we ask the Hon. the Sinhalese Representative to present this petition, &c. It is contrary to the promises and pledges of the Queen, in so far as this is an indirect interference with the religion of the people.
The motion, with the words "with power to add to their number" at the end of the list of names, was then put to the meeting, and was unanimously adopted.
EIGHTH RESOLUTION.
Dr. Solomon Fernando said that he had very great pleasure in moving the last resolution: "That in the event of this memorial failing of its object, the same com- "mittee be empowered to draft another petition to the Honourable the Commons of "the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, and that Mr. Schwann, M.P., "asked to present the same."
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Dr. Lisboa Pinto, in seconding the resolution, said that some persons might think that this resolution was something like a threat against the Government, but it was no such thing. If the local Government did not accede to the request of the people, they would have to go to the British Parliament to prevent the multiplying of the opium shrines by the local Government. Simply restricting the sale would not be enough, he said, The sale ought to be altogether prohibited, and it was the duty of the Govern ment, which was Christian, to suppress the evil altogether, just as the golden calf of the Israelites was altogether destroyed. It was not, the doctor said, allowed to be worshipped at intervals or at certain hours, or even once a week, but God ordered it to be destroyed altogether, as it was a great evil. In the same way, regulating and restricting the sale would not do; it should be destroyed, suppressed and annihilated altogether. The sale was against all morality. All the different communities condemned it, and what was morally wrong could not be politically right, and a Christian Government should entirely do away with it to prevent the people contracting a moral and social evil. (Applause.)
The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.
THANKS TO THE CHAIR.
Rev. W. Welchman then moved a hearty vote of thanks to the chair. He said he was prepared only to second the motion, which was to have been moved by Rev. A.. Paton, but in the absence of that gentleman, he had pleasure in moving the resolution. A previous speaker had said all that he might have said about the chairman, and he boped that all present would unanimously agree to his motion. (Applause.)
The Chairman, in reply, said that that was a vote which required very few words of acknowledgment. He thanked them heartily; but he must say he preferred dealing with public questions of the kind from his desk, where, unfortunately, it was his daily work, but he was told on this occasion there was no one quite ready to fill the breach, and so, thinking it was his duty, he had consented to sot as chairman. But their
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