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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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not be further increased, and that, in terms of Sir P. Arunachalam's letter, dated 7th December, 1918 (see Appendix to the Memorial of this Sabhai) as President of the Ceylon National Conference, when the constitution is revised, the Eastern Province would be given two seats, the Tamils of the Western Province a reserved seat, "in addition to the chances of Tamils in other Provinces and the Colombo Municipality being elected for some territorial seats. The Jaffna Association, therefore, confined itself to the wants of the Northern Province, and believed that when the pledge given to the Jaffna Association by Messrs. James Peiris and E. J. Samarawickrene, and by Sir P. Arunachalam in his covering letter (annexed to the Memorial of this Sabhai) is carried out, the Tamils would be able to maintain a reasonable proportion in the Council, much in excess of the proportion of their population. But the elections under the new constitution have shown that there is not the remotest chance of a Tamil being elected for any of the territorial seats in any of the seven Singhalese Provinces, or any Singhalese in the two Tamil Provinces, and their result was that 10 Singhalese were elected, two Kandyan Singhalese nominated, and one Low-Country Singhalese nominated, making in all 13 Singhalese Members, as against three Members of that race in the old Council, while the Tamils elected and nominated are three in number, as was the case in regard to numbers in the Council dissolved in March, 1921.
20. It may also be mentioned in this connexion that neither at the Sessions of the Congress, held on the 15th and 16th October, 1920, nor at the meeting held on the 18th December of that year was there any specific and separate Resolution passed reiterating Resolution No. 1 of the Congress of December, 1919, which demanded a Council of 50 Members, of whom four-fifths were to be territorially- elected Members; and most people, except those intimately and closely connected with the working of the Congress, lost sight of that Resolution. This accounts for the Jaffna Association, having been satisfied with the Resolution of December, 1920, quoted in paragraph 18 of this Memorandum, recommending three seats for the Northern Province, which, as shown above, would be entitled to not less than that number of seats, even on the strength of its population, not to speak of its admitted special claims. Now that the Congress has revised its demand for 40 territorial- elected seats, the Tamil Mahajana Sabhai, representing the Tamils of the whole of Ceylon, humbly submits to His Excellency the Governor, the claims of the Tamils for increased number of seats in the Legislative Council, to restore the proportion of Tamil to Singhalese representation in the old Council, by a combination of territorial and communal system of representation.
21. Mr. James Peiris in moving the Reform Resolution in the Legislative Council on the 1st December, 1921, referred as follows to the inadequate represen- tation of the Tamils in the present Council:-
I feel
"I have been always of the opinion that the distribution of seats should be made on the recommendation of a Commission. I put that opinion before the Members of the Congress Committee. But there seems to be some dis- agreement. I ask that it be done by a Commission for this reason. that the Tamil Community is not sufficiently represented." 22. Mr. H. J. C. Pereira's pronouncement, in summing up the debate on the first Resolution of the last Congress is more emphatic on this point. He said :-
"Take the case of Jaffna. In these matters it is desirable to have con crete instances. Take the case of Jaffna. So far as Jaffna is concerned, having this principle in view, and having also in view the requirements of the country and the manner in which seats should be allotted, I would say that for an important Province such as Jaffna, with its great commercial ventures, its educational institutions, its industries, its population, and various other circumstances, which I have no doubt you yourselves are per- fectly well aware, it is ridiculous to say that Jaffna as a Province, as an electoral district, could be sufficiently represented in our Council by one man. (Hear, hear.) To that extent we are ever ready to help our friends. gress as Congress will bind itself to do all they can to secure for Jaffna Con- her rights, not because Jaffna is inhabited by the Tamils, but because of the importance of Jaffna in the manner in which I indicated as important. We would advocate the cause of Jaffna for a larger number of representatives for the Province on these grounds, without any hesitation or without in any degree compromising our rights. Our principle will still remain. advocate the cause of Jaffna as a Province, and tell the Government that in If we
23.
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our opinion Jaffna should have larger representation, two, or three, or five, or even more; not because we want to give seats to the people of Jaffna because they are Tamils-that is entirely absent from our minds.
We want
to do justice to the territorial district, and we want Government to feel that we, Congress, think the territorial division of members allotted to each division under our present constitution works unjustly and unfairly towards Jaffna."
The Ceylon Observer in its leading article of the 28th November, 1921, referred thus to the inadequate representation of the Tamils in the Legislative Council:-
**-
"In the meanwhile, by imperceptible though sure stages, the whole island has returned to the knowledge that the vast majority of men desire to act in concert with those of their own race. We make bold to say that there is not a single community which (camouflage and propaganda apart) does not desire representation as a community. The Europeans, Burghers, Mohammedans and Kandyans have always demanded it. The Tamils have formed a separate association in order to attain it. The Low-country Members of Congress alone profess to take a higher and a loftier view, but, as any arrangement of the constituencies is bound to provide the Sinhalese with a larger number of representatives than any other community, we find it difficult to place great faith in their professions. Mr. Peiris puts the matter beyond dispute by creating a number of constituencies, many of which will probably be unable to return members, unless they are sent out from Colombo.
"So far as the proportionate representation is concerned, the present Council has only one defect, namely, the inadequacy in the number of Tamils. That can be remedied by the addition of two or three seats for them to fill. The other communities have not asked for additional members. The various quarters of the island, from the point of view of territorial interests, are quite sufficiently represented. Mr. Peiris's proposals can have but one result-to upset the balance of power, and hand over the Government of the country to one section of the community.”
24. It should also be noted, that in view of the importance and special claims of the Northern Province referred to by Mr. H. J. C. Pereira, the Congress and its leaders were always prepared to place the Northern Province, in regard to the number of territorial seats, on a par with the Western Province, whose greater importance will not be affected by that arrangement, as it will have, in addition to territorial seats, other seats filled by communal representatives, elected and nominated members, representing the Europeans, the Burghers, the Mohammedans and the Indians, not to mention the Chamber of Commerce and Low Country Products Association Seats, which may be retained or abolished, besides the official members, most of whom will be residents of the Metropolis.
25.
Mr. E. J. Samarawickreme, Chairman of the Reception Committee of the last Congress, in a scheme of 40 territorial electorates suggested by him, which was circulated among the members of the Congress Committee in August last, and published by some of the Colombo daily newspapers, provided for equal number of seats for the Northern and Western Provinces, viz., 7 and 7. A copy of this scheme is hereto annexed, marked E.*
26. At a Conference known as the "Sravasti Conference." held in Colombo on the 16th and 17th November, 1921, under the presidency of Mr. St. Nihal Singh, the principle regard to the equality of territorial seats for the two provinces A memorandum on that Conference signed by Mr. St. Nihal Singh
was recognized.
is annexed, marked F.* It will be seen from that memorandum that it was agreed that there should be six territorial electorates for the Western Province, three for the City of Colombo, and three for the rest of the Province, and that the Northern Province should have the same number of electorates.
27.
At that Conference it was on a distinct assurance and understanding that by special arrangement one of the proposed three seats for the City of Colombo would practically be a reserved Tamil seat, without specially providing for and calling it a reserved seat, the Tamil leaders of the Conference, in their individual capacity, accepted the arrangement come to at the Conference. Moreover, the Puttalam electorate was added on the second day of the Conference as one which * Not printed.
C