257
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
I, KIKEL
8
The gradual breach which commenced from the Portuguese period widened from time to time, so that in 1815 we find the two communities absolutely estranged from each other by antagonistic interests, and conflicting civilisations.
In 1815, the Kandyan kingdom was ceded to the British, and a solemn convention-which is the charter of our liberties was entered into between His Majesty King George III. and his successors on the one hand, and the chiefs and people of the Kandyan Provinces on the other. It has been urged by certain present day politicians that the Convention applied to the whole of Ceylon and not to the Kandyane alone. To give colour to this astounding proposition the Convention is called the Kandy Convention, the suggestion being that in so far as the Convention was entered into at Kandy, it applied to the whole Island.
This is a fallacy which is refuted by a cursory glance at the Convention itself. In order further to establish that the Kandyans have always been regarded as a distinct national unit, we would refer your lordship to the earlier Enactments, vide pages 64 and 65, Vol 1, Ceylon Ordinances.
Whilst admitting that the Kandyans have made progress in certain directions during the period of British rule, it must also be stated that the introduction of wholly foreign institutions in their midst without being afforded facilities for meeting other communities in open competition has given the Sinhalese of the Maritime Provinces and the Tamils of North Ceylon, who had adapted themselves to Western conditions in the earlier régimes, a distinct advantage over the Kandyan people.
The result has been that the trade and agriculture in the Kandyan Provinces are being exploited by outsiders.
I now propose to touch upon certain causes which led to an economic revolution
in the country, and precipitated the demand for political reforms.
Excise. The first indication of the substitution of a regularly organised system of excise replacing the vicious system which existed up to that date, viz., the renting system, came about when, on the 24th April, 1911, His Excellency the Governor announced in his address to the Council that a reform of the Excise system was contemplated, and would come into operation as soon as arrangements were complete. This statement was made no doubt as a result of the debate which took place in open Council on the 7th April, 1909, and it is to be noted that Mr., now Sir, Ponnambulam Anurachalam, in accepting the proposal of the Hon. the Controller of Revenue used the following words: "I think, sir, that members will on all grounds do well to accept the proposal now before the Council, and I hope that in course of time it may be possible to take a further step on some such linee as the systems in force in Sweden and Russia, where the elimination of private profit from the drink traffic will be effected," and I give the reference, page 437 of Hansard,
1908-1909.
On the 15th April, 1912, the new Excise Ordinance was brought up to its second reading by the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Sir Hugh Clifford. The Ordinance was duly enacted after a prolonged discussion, and came into force soon after. (No. 8 of 1912.)
It must here be noted that the Ordinance hit the renter hard and took away from him a tremendous profit which steadily for a long period found its way into his pockets.
The intention of Government was clearly stated by the Hon. the Colonial Secretary in the following words: "Our eventual object is to secure a complete control over the importation, manufacture, distribution, sale and eventually the consumption of intoxicating liquors in the Colony."
Directly after the new system came into operation an organised opposition came into being, and the Government has been countered in every move which was intended to secure the complete control aimed at. The manufacture of country spirit is still in the hands of the renter, and will so continue as long as this opposition exists.
The plumbago industry had quietly retired into an insignificant position, owing to the competition in the world's market of plumbago from Madagascar.
These various circumstances had created an economic revolution, which turned
the thoughts of the Sinhalese of the Maritime Provinces to other enterprises, where- with to create a supremacy in the Island.
Temperance societies were started and carried on by these very leaders, and a combined Buddhistic campaign with the object of establishing a pan-Buddhistic platform inaugurated.
To show your lordship that all these movements were closely watched, and their developments anticipated by me, I beg, with the permission of His Excellency the Governor, to submit to your lordship a confidential memorandum I wrote in the year 1917 to the Hon. Mr. R. E. Stubbs (the then Colonial Secretary), now Sir Reginald Stubbs (Governor of Hong Kong) on the subject of amending the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance.
I would ask your lordship to read that memorandum in connextion with our case for special recognition as a community, as I feel sure that many points which might be obscure for the want of definite information will soon appear in a clear light.
(1) The right of the Kandyans to administer the temporalities within the
Kandyan Provinces was reserved to them by the Convention.
(2) These rights have been uninterruptedly enjoyed by the Kandyans up
to this day.
(3) The Ordinances relating to the temporalities have not clearly defined this position, in that the right to control and administer the temporalities aforesaid has been vested in the Buddhists generally.
(4) There is now a definite movement to take advantage of the opening provided by the law on the part of the low-country Buddhists to oust the Kandyans from the position which they uninterruptedly held to this date.
(5) In view of this circumstance it seems to us imperative that the position of the Kandyans in regard to this important matter be clearly defined, and their rights scoured for the future. There is a Commission now sitting which might consistently take upon itself this duty. The riots of 1915 suddenly disillusioned the Government and the country, and the glamour of the various enterprises inaugurated by the extreme political party emerged into their true significance.
Many Sinhalese leaders and a few Kandyana who had made common cause with them came under suspicion and were detained in custody till full investigation was made and the country settled once again.
After the censorship was withdrawn, the papers in combination with the leaders who fell under suspicion, again started an organised clamour for reform. The Ceylon National Congress crystallised the aspirations and principles which the Reform Party stood for. We are compelled to refer to these circumstances not because we are unfavourable to reform. Far from that being the case, we as a people are willing to join in any movement which has for its object the reform of the constitution in several important details.
Our object in making reference to these circumstances is to explain to your lordship why some of our Kandyan brethren have forsaken the fold, and cast in their lot with the extreme Reform Party, as also to show your lordship that the aim of this Party is to conserve the whole of the administrative power in their hand, and to dominate the weaker minorities.
It is also competent to us, I feel, that we should refer to the Ceylon Press. The newspapers in Ceylon in the majority of cases are the property of private individuals. The personal aspirations and ambitions of the proprietors are supreme. The claims of the distinct community to which the proprietor belongs come next. In no instance can a newspaper suffering from this handicap be expected to espouse the cause of the millions who are uneducated and illiterate.
The editors have no intimate touch with the people. Hence it is that repu- tations are cheap in Ceylon. Men who have pledged themselves to serve their people with unswerving fidelity are misrepresented and abused in language which is often times coarse and vulgar.
Fortunately these newspapers are never taken seriously.
We come before your lordship with a definite prayer for special treatment for the following reasons.
The customs, manners and institutions and the laws of the Kandyan people are the same to-day as they were centuries ago, and are distinct and separate from those of the other races.
It was for this reason that the Kandyans in 1889 were for the first time accorded a seat in the Legislative Council.
Mr. Modder, the author of a work on Kandyan law, in page 18 of the introduction, says:-"Sir Arthur Gordon, afterwards Lord Stanmore, considered it necessary that the Kandyans should have their own representative in the Legislative Council
Reference :-
C.O. 882
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH--NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON