11
411
38497
No. 16.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Received 5.40 p.m., 31st July, 1923.) TELEGRAM.
31ST JULY. At the request of Jaffna Association I am asked to forward the following Resolution unanimously resolved by their committee on 30th July:-
*
Begins: Jaffna Association representing Tamils of Northern Province having considered communications said to have been forwarded at the request of a Sinhalese delegation by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency the Governor concerning the reserved Tamil seat in. the Western Province respectfully declines to accept instead of that seat either a territorial seat in the Tamil area or a communal elected or nominated seat for Tamils of the Island in view of importance of the Tamil interests in the Western Province emphasized by the Tamils and recognized by the Govern- ment. In the opinion of the Association withdrawal of the seat would not only prove detrimental to the interests of the Tamils but would be grievous disappointment to them after it had been conceded by the Secretary of State in two despatches laid before the Ceylon Legislative Council and had practically become settled fact. Ends.
-MANNING,
38636
No. 17.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 10 a.m., 2nd August, 1923.) TELEGRAM.
2ND AUGUST. No. 179. At the request of Ceylon Tamil Mahajana Sabai I am forwarding copy of Resolution unanimously resolved at meeting of committee of 31st July.
Begins: In view of following facts: (a) the cleavage between certain Sinhalese leaders Congress and Tamil leaders occurred only because former would not concede claims of latter in regard to Tamil seat in Colombo violating written pledge given to Tamils in regard to seat by the Honourable James Peiris who is now head of Sinhalese deputation in England; (b) the justice of the claim of the Tamils was conceded by all other communities, including (1)Kandian Sinhalese except section of the low country Sinhalese who run (ran) Congress after secession of the Tamils. His Excellency the Governor recognized the claim and recommended to the Secretary of State who confirmed it by despatches which have been laid before the Legislative Council. Final decision of the Duke of Devonshire was that that. seat must he retained subject to revision at the end of five years; (c) the interference of Mr. N. J. C. Pereira in England at this stage offering to accept reform(s) only on condition of Western Province Tamil seat being suppressed and substitution of an additional territorial seat for Jaffna or a communal seat for the whole Island either elected or nominated is really insulting to all other communities working together in the interests of harmony and political safety and his statement to the effect that if his proposal is accepted he would support the working of the reformed constitution and look upon it as sufficient advance for the next five years is highly presumptuous since he and his associates represent only a small section of the low country Sinhalese. Acceptance of the proposal(a) would have effect of intensifying the cleavage and lowering the prestige of the local Government. Resolved that it be submitted to His Excellency the Governor that Cevlon Mahajana Sabai repre- senting the Tamils of the whole Island respectfully begs to point out that it cannot see its way to accept the proposal made by the Sinhalese delegates in England: Ends.
-MANNING.
35820
(No. 468.)
No. 18.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.
[Answered by No. 40.]
SIR,
Downing Street, 3rd August, 1923. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 437 of the 26th June* and to express my satisfaction at learning that you do not now foresee any difficulty in arranging for the election of Mohammedan representatives in the new Council.
2. In this connexion I would invite consideration of the question of the representation of the Malays which was dealt with in the correspondence noted in the margin. Since I wrote my despatch of Governor. No. 274. 27th April, 1923.†
the 31st May I have had the opportunity of Secretary of State. No. 331. 31st May, 1923.‡ learning at more length the views of Mr. James Peiris on this question. Mr. Peiris,
I understand, supports the arguments set out in the memorial which accompanied your despatch of the 27th April. I should be glad to learn to what extent, in your opinion, the interests of the Malays differ from those of the general Mohammedan community and how far their claims would be likely to receive support from repre- sentatives of other communities in Ceylon. While it. would obviously be a great disadvantage if the communal principle were carried to such lengths as to involve separate representation for every section of the community, yet if there exists any general feeling in Ceylon in favour of one of the three Mohammedan seats being allotted to the Malay community, I should be prepared to reconsider the matter.
I have, &c.,
37955
No. 19.
DEVONSHIRE,
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Answered by No. 38.]
(Confidential.)
SAR,
Secretary of State, 20th July.
Governor, 21st July.
Downing Street, 6th August, 1923.
WITH reference to the telegraphic cofrespondence§ noted in the margin, I think it desirable to explain to you briefly, the reasons which led me to suggest some modification of the proposals contained in my despatch of the 18th June, on the subject of the reform of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.
Secretary of State, 94th July
Governor, 25th July.
Gevamor, 28th July,
2. As you are aware, a deputation from the Ceylon National Congress, headed
by Mr. James Peiris, has been in this country to present to me their views on constitutional reform. Mr. Ormsby-Gore, who has also discussed personally the constitutional question The deputation has been granted several interviews by with Sir Marcus Fernando and with several European gentlemen, official and unofficial, interested in Ceylon. As a result of these interviews, I have been more impressed with the strength of the Sinhalese case than I had previously been.
3. The members of the deputation presented their views reasonably and with moderation; and though it is possible that some of them might on public platforms in the Colony hold language less moderate than that in which they presented their case to Mr. Ormsby-Gore, yet this is not an unusual feature in a political agitation, and too much importance should not in my opinion be attached to it.
4.
I was impressed from the beginning with the fact that the representation given to the Sinhalese Provinces in your proposals was inadequate to the population of those Provinces. I recognized that in order to secure the proper representation of minorities, it is impossible to accord to the majority community a representation strictly in accord with their numerical supremacy, and further that the special
* No. B. § No. 9 in Cmnd. 1906.
↑ 25900/28: not printed. No. 8, 9, 11, 12 and 14.
No. 1 in Cmd. 2002.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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