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ing in a cyclone of considerable force and duration which occurred on the night and morning of the 1st and 2nd of March. Further correspondence ensued, and, as Honourable Members are doubtless aware, a renewed request for assistance to the staple industry was submitted to the Secretary of State at the instance of the Chamber of Agriculture, and on resolutions passed at a meeting held on the 11th of that month, which were supported by a large and representative gathering of those interested and concerned in the industry.
Upon receipt of His Lordship's reply to this latest request, a communication was made to Honourable Members forming the unofficial section of the Council on the 6th current, who favoured me with an interview on that date and who subse- These views have quently furnished their views on the questions therein raised. been duly transmitted to the Secretary of State, who, whilst unable to add anything to his previous communications, has now desired that the matter should be brought before the Legislature.
For that purpose it has been deemed necessary to ask your attendance at an early meeting and in anticipation of the annual session which stands convened for the 5th day of May next.
Such of the correspondence as had not already been presented to the Council is appended for the information of Honourable Members, and I propose to invite an expression of opinion by the Council on the questions contained in the commu- nication already made to the Unofficial Members of the Legislature, and reproduced in the papers issued herewith.
Government House,
Port Louis, 18 April, 1908.
Enclosure 2 in No. 57.
COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT
CAVENDISH BOYLE.
The Council of Government met pursuant to Proclamation No. 23, on Thursday. 23rd April.
Was read the message from the Governor to the Honourable Members of the Council.
His Excellency then addressed the Council.
The Order of the Day being the consideration of the above message-the Honourable H. Leclézio, Č.M.G., moved, seconded by the Honourable Sir W. Newton, K.C.:-
The Council of Government of Mauritius having considered the offer of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to appoint a Commission of Enquiry contained in His Excellency the Governor's communication of the 6th April does not feel justified in inviting the appointment of a Commission at the present time.
The Honourable A. Duclos proposed as an amendment, seconded by the Honourable G. Gébert :--
Considering that it is absolutely necessary in the public interest that the Secretary of State should sanction the loan applied for at the meeting of the Chamber of Agriculture on the 11th March last, the Council are desirous as they have always been of giving all information which will tend to achieve that end:
Considering that such information as has been forwarded to the Secretary of State is by him deemed insufficient for the purpose the community has in view, the Council, asserting their full confidence and belief in the future of the sugar cane industry provided it be given cheap money, have no objection to the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry whose main object will be to enquire into and report upon the possibility of granting assistance to a Colony that has always faced its liabilities with regularity and punctuality; and although they are most anxious of saving any unnecessary expenditure to an already impoverished exchequer, yet with the fond hope that the Commission will confer a considerable boon upon this Colony, will vote any reason- able amount towards that purpose.
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The Honourable A. Duclos's amendment was put to the vote first, with the following result: three members voting for and twenty-three members voting against. The Honourable H. Leclézio's motion was then put to the vote and carried: twenty-three members voting for it and three against it.
(The minority of three members consisting of the Honourables A. Duclos, G. Gébert, and Dr. Laurent in both divisions.)
The Council stood adjourned to Tuesday, the 5th day of May, as already proclaimed.
Enclosure 3 in No. 57
REMARKS ADDRESSED TO THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR.
HONOURABLE GENTLEMEN OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT,
BEFORE proceeding with the orders of the day, I wish to refer, as briefly as possible, to the object of our present meeting, and to the events which have occurred in that connexion since the close of the Annual Session of 1907.
It will be in the memory of Honourable Members that, on the unanimous repre- sentation of the unofficial section voiced here on the 5th of November last, the sanction of His Majesty's Government was sought for a scheme to raise a loan of £200,000 in aid of the sugar industry.
The telegraphic correspondence which ensued was communicated to the Council on the 19th of that month, and further representations were made to the Secretary of State in support of the proposal.
No subsequent communication was presented to the Council before prorogation on the 30th of December last, but on the 9th of January in the present year a tele. graphic despatch was received in which the Secretary of State expressed his regret that he could not find in the case which had been submitted to him sufficient justifi- cation of sanctioning the proposed loan, and this communication has been made public, as also a written despatch under date the 23rd of January in which was given the explanation of His Lordship's reasons for arriving at such a conclusion.
The last-mentioned communication was received on the 25th of February, the publication of it was made on the 28th of that month, and during that and the succeeding days, atmospheric disturbances occurred, culminating in a cyclone on the night and morning of the 1st and 2nd of March.
Whilst we may rejoice in our escape from the general devastation usually result- ing from such an occurrence, and whilst the damage done to permanent buildings in the towns and country districts was comparatively slight, there is, I fear, no reason to doubt that the growing crops have been largely affected, that the previous promise of an abundant harvest can no longer be relied upon, and that the already existing distress amongst the labouring classes has been intensified.
Steps were taken to ascertain and estimate as closely as possible the actual effects of the storm, and I may here observe that, whatever the trend of other reports in the information willingly furnished by the majority of those principally affected, I refer to the majority of the planting community, to the majority of the owners of sugar estates, there has been a marked desire to avoid emotional exaggeration, and a calm and business-like description of the present position of their crops, and of the prospects of the coming harvest.
In the generally accepted view, however, of the results of the storm, an occur- rence undoubtedly beyond human control, there seemed to a large and influential section of the community, there seemed, I may say without exaggeration, to the Colony as a whole, occasion for a further consideration of the position of the staple industry.
Accordingly, on the 11th of March a meeting of the Chamber of Agriculture in the presence of a large and influentially representative gathering of those interested in that industry, interested and concerned in what is the backbone of the Colony, was held in this House; and renewed, but distinct, resolutions were passed, praying for permission to afford assistance by means of a loan of £600,000 to be advanced to the owners of sugar estates who might need, and who might be in a position to avail themselves of, the aid under the conditions proposed.
Those resolutions were communicated to the Secretary of State, and His Lord- ship's reply was made known to the unofficial section of this Chamber on the #th current.
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