PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
8 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
110
I observe that the cost of this extension is now estimated at 100,000 rupees, instead of the sum stated in your Speech at the opening of the Council of Govern- ment, viz., 60,000 rupees, but that sufficient provision for the cost is included in the Appropriation Ordinance, and that no loan will be required.
I shall no doubt receive by mail a full statement of this proposal. In the meantime, having regard to the critical state of affairs reported in your telegram, I approve of your action in ordering the commencement of the work in anticipation of my approval.
have also received your telegram of the 4th instant, *and have authorized the Crown Agents to supply the materials requested for the railway in the Black River district.
27749
(No. 216.) SIR,
No. 93.
I have, &c.,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
GOVERNOR SIR C. BRUCE to MR. CHAMBERLAIN.
(Received July 27, 1903.)
[Answered by No. 95.]
Government House, Mauritius, June 19, 1903. I HAVE the honour to transmit, for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure. Ordinance, No. of 1903, † entitled an Ordinance "To amend Ordinance No. 34 of 1902 (The Mechanical Transport Loan Ordinance, 1902)."
2. I also enclose a copy of the Procureur-General's explanatory report on the Ordinance, together with a copy of a Minute by Sir Graham Bower, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, explaining the care with which the Board have acted on the power given to them by paragraph 2 of Article 14 of Ordinance No. 34 of 1902.
Enclosure 2 in No. 93.
I have, &c.,
CHAS. BRUCE,
Governor.
EXPLANATORY REPORT ON ORDINANCE No. 4 of 1903.
June 13, 1903.
When the Mechanical Transport Loan Ordinance, No. 34 of 1902, was passed, there were three classes of applicants who had to be considered:-
(a) Those who would order tramways, &c., on the strength of the advances
made to them under the Ordinance. Article 13.
(b) Those who had already imported tramways and to whom a refund might
be granted. Article 14 (1) and (2).
(c) An intermediate class who had already ordered before the Ordinance was passed, but whose tramways had not then been delivered. Article 14 (3).
By Article 13 iii. (a) the payment of the advances to class (a) was coupled with the condition that the manufacturer's invoice, duly receipted, should be produced.
By Article 14 (2) the same formality was not insisted on with regard to class (b). It was pointed out in Council that where tramways had already been delivered, it would probably be impossible to produce the manufacturer's invoice duly receipted, as it is not usual for the shipper to forward this document: in default, therefore, power was given to the Loan Board to accept such other documents as they might consider necessary to establish the cost and payment.
• Not printed.
Not reprinted.
111
With regard to class (c), it was not thought that they would be numerous, or that any difficulty would arise with respect to them; they were therefore dealt with in Article 14 (3). The conditions attached to advances to class (a) were, therefore, extended to them.
When, however, about two months ago, the documents came to be examined after or pending delivery of their tramways, the difficulty which had been foreseen with regard to class (b) was found to exist with regard to class (c).
The question was therefore submitted to the Board of Commissioners, and after a full discussion of the question, the following recommendation was made to His Excellency the Governor :-
"The Procureur-General having pointed out the difficulties that have arisen in the case of contracts for tramways which have been entered into but not executed, under paragraph 3 of Article 14 of Ordinance No. 34 of 1902, the Board, after full discussion, advise that the law be amended so as to give them the said discretion as is given in para- graphs 1 and 2 of the same article."
The approval of this recommendation led to the amendment of Article 14 (3), introduced by Article 2 of the Ordinance under report, by which the same power is given to the Board, as in the case of class (b), to accept other documents in lieu of the manufacturer's invoice duly receipted.
The Board, however, went further, and recommended that the same power be given to them in respect of class (a) with regard to whose documents it was thought that difficulties might arise, and as the Ordinance was to be amended, that it would be as well to anticipate those difficulties and amend Article 13. The recommenda- tion of the Board was as follows:-
'As similar difficulties are apprehended in regard to paragraphs (a) and (b) of Article 13, the Board are of opinion that the powers conferred on them under Article 14 be also conferred on them in respect of para- graphs (a) and (b) of Article 13."
There is no doubt that difficulties may arise, my experience being that the condi- tions of purchase in no two cases resemble one another. But at the same time it seemed to me too great a departure from the principle laid down in Article 13 (iii) (a), and that it would be unwise now to sweep it away altogether. Recognizing, however, the possibility of difficulties which might entail hardship, I advised that the Board should have the power asked for, but only after reference from His Excellency the Governor. The effect of this will be that the case of difficulty or hardship will be first examined by His Excellency, and the question of accepting other documents will only arise if, in His Excellency's opinion, the case is one in which such question should be considered.
Enclosure 3 in No. 93.
F. T. PIGGOTT,
MINUTE by Sir GRAHAM BOWER.
Procureur-General
June 15, 1903,
I can only add that the documents submitted to the Loan Board are most care- fully scrutinized and examined, both from the legal and commercial point of view, and I need hardly say that the care which has been exercised in the past will equally be exercised in regard to the powers conferred by this Ordinance.
Each case has its own distinct character, and it is impossible to generalise, but I may say that the manufacturers' prices are perfectly well known, and that it is easy to see whether the price paid in the market, and without the production of a manufacturer's invoice, is or is not the same as that which would be charged by the manufacturers.
GRAHAM BOWER.
112