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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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follow that the Tamil community is not even now represented in the Congress. As a matter of fact it is still, comparatively speaking, very largely represented. One of the Joint Secretaries of the Congress is one of Jaffna's most progressive sons, and is held in high esteem by members of all communities in Ceylon. On the Executive Committee of the Congress are some of the most talented and progressive Tamils in Ceylon, amongst them being Mr. Rajaratnam, the brilliant and popular Advocate of Kandy, Mr. Sandrasagara, an equally brilliant son of Jaffna, who is an Unofficial Member of the local Government Board, but recently appointed as such by the Government, Dr. Ratnam, M.M.C., the well-known medical practitioner of Colombo, Mr. Ariyanayagam, Vice-President of the Matale Association, one of the most distinguished Tamils in that province, Mr. Sathasivam, Proctor of Colombo and a near relation of Sir P. Ramanathan, Mr. A. S. John, the Honorary Secretary of the Indian, Association of Ceylon, Mr. Mahadeva, son of Sir P. Arunachalam, Barrister-at-Law and Principal of the Ramanathan College in Jaffna, Mr. Peri- Sundram, M.A.. LL.B., Vice-President of the Ceylon Indian Association, Mr. Tambirajah, member of the Local Board of Kurunegalle, and Mr. Vethavanam. M.A.. Honorary Secretary of the Kandy Mahajana Sabha. The majority of these gentlemen still take an active interest in the affairs of the Congress and are some of the most earnest workers on the Executive Committee.
A Deliberate Falsehood.
To say, therefore," emphasized Mr. Pereira, that the Congress at its last Sessions represented only the views of the Singhalese and even of them the views of those Singhalese only who had consented to be politically organized is a deliberate falsehood. It was surely well within the recollection of Sir P. Ramanathan and some of the other authors of the Secret Memorial that at the last Session of the Congress, some of the principal speakers to the resolutions before the Congress were of Sir P. Ramanathan's race, and as well, if not better, able to represent the views of their countrymen than Sir Ponnambalam himself. It is also suggested in this memorial that "the Kandayn Singhalese, represented by such men as the Hon. Mr. Meedeniya, the Adigar, and the influential section of the Low-Country Singhalese, at the head of which stand Sir Christoffel Obeyesekere, and Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, stood aloof, even as the Tamils, Mohammedans and Indians did. Here again there is a deliberate misrepresentation of facts. The Kandyans were represented at the last Congress by such men as Mr. A. F. Molamure, Advocate, son- in-law of the Adigar named, who is on the Executive Committee of the Congress, and Mr. Wickremasinghe, the well-known proctor of Kegalle, not to mention several other prominent Kandyang who were present. Mr. Forrester Obeyesekere, Barrister- at-Law, only son of Sir Christoffel Obeyesekere, and brother-in-law of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, was present at the last Session of the Congress and was one of its most enthusiastic supporters. He is also one of the most active workers of the Congress Committee and has been of the greatest assistance to that Committee at some of the recent meetings. The Tamils, as I have already pointed out, are well represented and so are the Indians and Mohammedans, among the Mohammedan gentlemen present being Mr. T. B. Jayah, Principal of the Zahira College, Mr. Saldin. Messrs. Kamar Cassim and Magdon Ismail, Proctor of Galle. All these gentlemen are on the Executive Committee of the Congress and some of them are active members of this Committee. In order to form a correct estimate of the representative character of the Congress, I need only refer the public and the Government to the list of members of the Executive Committee of the Congress, which I shall thank you to publish along with this interview. You will see there every community in the Island, including the Burghers, excepting the Europeans, well represented, and so is every profession, trade, and occupation in the country. To suggest, as the memorialists have deliberately done, that the continued use of the words "Ceylon National Congress" is wholly unjustifiable and misleading, is to suggest what is palpably untrue.
A Challenge.
I would challenge," declared the President of the National Congress," these gentlemen if they can put before the public a more representative and more influential body of men than those whose names appear on the Executive Com- mittee's list of members. One can now understand why the contents of this memorial were so jealously guarded from publicity by its authors till it was unearthed by the enterprise of the Daily News. In view of the facts I have now
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placed before the public, the Congress is entitled to ask and to receive from these gentlemen an ample apology for the gross libel they have, under the privilege of a semi-official document, sought to publish. them. I leave it, however, to their own sense of fairness and justice to make such Perhaps it is too much to ask this of amends as the situation demands. We have had enough of false accusations and malignant attacks on the Congress from various sources more or less traceable to that venerable body of ancient diehards who are conscious that their work, whether for good or for evil, is fast coming to an end. The democratic wave will swamp them sooner or later, as it has swamped their comrades in other parts of the world."
52438
(No. 697.)
No. 46.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.
SIR,
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir W. Manning's despatch,
Downing Street, 24th November, 1922. No. 557, of the 3rd of October, forwarding a Memorial addressed to my predecessor by the Executive Committee of the Ceylon National Congress on the subject of Constitutional Reform.
A great part of this Memorial is taken up with an attempt to show that the Joint Memorandum of the Minority Communities dated the 21st February† has not, in fact, been widely supported by the members of those Communities. glad to receive your observations on this point. You may think it desirable to give I shall be the signatories of the Joint Memorandum an opportunity of replying to the state- ments made in the Memorial of the National Congress.
At the end of that Memorial reference is made to the position in India, where it is stated that the principle of territorial representation has been adopted. I understand that this statement is not borne out by the facts. Indian Provincial Legislative Councils two broad classes of constituencies called There are in the respectively "General" and "Special." three kinds, Landholders, University and Commerce. Of these three the Land- The Special Constituencies are usually of holders' Constituencies are only territorial in the sense that they consist of all the Landholders in a given area. non-territorial, as they consist of all persons qualified to vote as members of the The University and Commerce Constituencies are University or of certain Commercial Chambers or Associations wherever in the Province they may live. stituencies are communal in the sense that although they cover a defined area of The other broad class of constituency-the General Con- country, they include the qualified voters of a particular community only living in that area, e.g., Mohammedan, non-Mohammedan, Indian-Christian, and so on. Such constituencies are not territorial in the sense in which the term is used in the dis- cussions on the Ceylon Constitution.
I have, &c.,
DEVONSHIRE.
58044
No. 47.
HOUSE OF COMMONS. (28th November, 1922.) Ceylon (Constitution).
COLONEL WEDGWOOD asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any stops have yet been taken to revise the constitution of Ceylon, as promised; and will be scrutinize the scheme, when drafted, so as to eliminate the communal system of representation.
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (MR. ORMSBY-GORE) : Certain proposals discussed in the Legislative Council of Ceylon were submitted some time ago to the late Secretary of State by the Governor, and are now under consideration. Representations have been received urging the continuance of
B
* No. 45.
+ Enclosure in No. 8.