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Ladies and gentlemen, ignorant men who have no idea of our local history or of the needs and wishes of the Ceylonese in respect to the various communities which form that body have asked "who are these men who are figuring here and what are the ideals that they are propounding to the public?" I should I have an answer
say ready for them. They ought to know that they are the leaders of the several Ceylonese communities in this Island and I can assure them that this is not a move- ment inaugurated for the nonce and a movement started by adventurers irresponsible men. I declare to them in all sincerity that the movement which has been inaugurated is a natural movement as natural as the movement in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales wherein the leaders of those respective communities have insisted upon and preach on different platforms for the extension of the franchise. It is a movement which ought to have the sympathy of all.sincere well- wishers of the country, and I do not know if England can by such a movement during the course of several years produce a House of Commons like that we have to-day. Why should not our leaders in this country follow in their footsteps and produce for this country a legislature as great and powerful for good as the House of Commons itself? Continuing, Mr. Ramanathan said that it was utterly vain for people to decry leaders of a country. They seem to fancy that nobody could be a leader unless he bore the stamp of Government. That was downright ignorance of history and of the course of human nature. Leaders were not to be artificially created. In Ceylon leaders were often called "mischief makers." If that were so there were "mischief-makers" in that sense in beautiful enlightened England. Continuing
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he said that the first part of the resolution dealt with the better Government of the Island. They were all agreed that the Legislative Council should consist of about 50 members and that four-fifths should be elected on the Territorial Basis. tinuing, he said that the other point was that Council should elect a speaker as President. On this subject Mr. Ramanathan said :-
At one time I was rather inclined to think that the Governor ought to be the person to preside. But I have had some strange experience in Council, which I am told was referred to also in the last meeting of the Ladies' League, which was held in the Council Chamber in connexion with dairies and bakeries. It appears our good Governor told the ladies--I have not read the report of it, but the fact was communicated to me that it was a pleasant occasion and did not necessitate the asking of members to sit down at once. That shows that he is very proud of his act instead of being thoroughly ashamed of it, because he was so, hopelessly, when he said "sit down at once!" If I stood up there would have been a terrible battle. I was not going to set a bad example to my countrymen. I will stoop to conquer as I have done before. I will get the right decision upon that point-a most unconstitu- tional proceeding in view of the experience I have had. Continuing, the speaker said that he agreed that the President should be elected.
APPENDIX H.
Extracts from the interview published in the Daily News of 23rd August, 1922. MR. H. J. C. Pereira on THE SECRET Memorial,
A representative of the Ceylon Daily News called on Mr. H. J. C. Pereira, K.C., President of the Ceylon National Congress, to ascertain from him his views on the subject.
Mr. Pereira, in reply to a question, said that at the very outset he must say that he doubted very much that he would be able to deal with all the misrepresentations and falsehoods in that document in the course of one interview.
The Congress Vindicated.
That the Congress is not a representative body is one of the main arguments of the die-hard memorial. Our representative, therefore, asked Mr. Pereira, "Do you maintain that the Congress is the most representative body in Ceylon?"
"I not only say so," he replied with emphasis, “without the slightest hesitation, but I go further and say that it is the only political organization which can be truth- fully said to represent the country as a whole. As the representative character of the Congress has been challenged by the authors of the memorial in question, it is necessary that I should place before the public, and especially before the Govern ment, the facts and figures in support of my contention. To begin with I may say at once that if I thought that the Congress as it exists at present is representative of
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a section of the population only, even though it be the largest section of the com- munity, namely, the Singhalese. I personally would have nothing to do with it. those circumstances I would be the first to denounce it as a fraud and a sham. The In Congress is, comparatively speaking, of recent growth. It came to existence at a time when I was absent from the country and I have no personal knowledge of its earlier activities beyond the fact that I was one of the delegates appointed by it to interview Lord Milner on the question of reforms.
Since my return," continued Mr. Pereira, "I have been more or less in constant touch with it. Since December last as its President. I have carefully studied its constitution and its work during the past three or four years, and I feel that I am in a position to speak with some degree of authority in regard to it. Membership in the Congress was from its very inception thrown open to every Ceylonese as well as European, Indian, and other British subjects resident in Ceylon. were, therefore, kept wide open for the admission of all sections of the Communities Its portals resident in Ceylon and that representative members of these different communities with the exception only of Europeans, availed themselves of the invitation is borne out by the names of the numerous members on its roll. There are to be found in it the names of prominent members of the Burgher, Singhalese, Tamil, Moor, Malay, Indian and other communities which claim Ceylon as their home either permanently or temporarily. Apart from individual membership, numerous political bodies in Ceylon have been affiliated with the Congress and they have hitherto been fully represented at the Congress Sessions by delegates appointed by them.
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The Various Societies.
Among the Societies that have been so affiliated with the Congress are: (a) the Ceylon National Association, the oldest of the Political Associations in Ceylon and which has on its roll of members some of the most prominent names in the Burgher, Singhalese, Tamil, and Mohammedan communities. The Hon. Mr. Drieberg was at one time, to my knowledge, one of its most prominent and active members. Mr. Dornhorst, K.C., the recognized leader of the Burgher community in Ceylon: So was the late Sir Hector Van Cuylenburg and the late Honourable Mr. Arthur Alwis. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan was himself for a long time its President. That the Association has done and is doing much good work in the cause of Reform is a fact but too well known to everyone in Ceylon. (b) The Lanka Mahajana Sabhu, which counts thousands of members in all parts of Ceylon, and may be said to be truly representative of the village interests in Ceylon, is another such Association. The Sabha holds its own meetings which are very largely attended in Colombo, and its President is Mr. F. R. Senanayake, a Sinhalese gentleman of wide culture and one of the largest landed proprietors in the country. (c) The Ceylon Workers' Federation, another Association within the Congress, is the largest, if not the only labour organization in Ceylon, and counts amongst its members representative workers from practically all the permanent communities in Ceylon. (d) Then there
are the Mahajana Sabhas of Kegalle and Kandy, all formed and worked more or less on the lines of what may be described as the parent Mahajana Sabha in Colombo. The Kandy Mahajana Sabha represents both the Kandyans and the Low-country Singhalese resident in the Kandyan Provinces. (e) The Galle Association is com- posed of representative members of all communities in the Southern Province, including the Burghers. Then there are (f) the Chilaw Association, similarly constituted and one of the oldest political Associations in the Island; (g) the Ceylon Muslim Association; (h) the Muslim Progressive Association; (5) Galle Muslim Literary Club; (j) the Matale Association: () the Ambalangoda Association; (4) Negombo Ratepayers Association: () the Negombo Association; (n) the Kalutara Association; (0) the Panadure Association; (p) the Indian Association: (4) the Sabaragamuwa Association; (r) the Kurunegala Association; (s) the Workers Welfare League; and (t) the Matara Association of which Mr. Keuneman is President and in which the Burgher community is strongly represented by some of its most prominent members in the respective districts to which they belong. All these Associations are represented at the Sessions of the Congress by delegates appointed by them.
The Jaffna Associàtion.
It is true," said Mr. Pereira, “that the Jaffna Association, which at one time was affiliated to the Congress, has seceded from it, and it is the only Association which has so far severed ita connexion with the Congress. It does not, however,
Reference :-
C.O. 882/10
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