420
28
that any member of such Council may initiate debate upon any subject, subject only to the veto of the Governor; that Minutes only of the proceedings of such Council, and decisions arrived at, shall be kept, and that no verbatim records of such proceedings shall be kept; in other words that the proceedings will closely follow those of the Executive Council. I would further suggest that in order to give the Elected Members of the Legislative Council that education in dealing with Departments of Government possibly as Ministers in a further development of the Constitution of the Colony, that of those Elected Members who may be appointed to this Council, a certain number may be nominated to answer for certain Departments of Government; that they should hold this capacity not only in the Council of Government, but also in the Legislative Council; that they should have access to such papers in a Department in connexion with matters which might come before the Council of Government to enable them to deal with complete knowledge with such a matter, and to enable them to initiate by means of a resolution in the Legislative Council or to support a Government resolution in the Legislative Council, with complete knowledge of the facts of the case. Such members, answerable for such Departments, should not, in any circumstances, be empowered to deal with the interior economy of a Department, nor to suggest or influence promotion or dismissal in such a Department, though, of course, in a discussion of the Estimates of that Department, they would interest themselves. The relationship between such Elected Members of the Legislative Council appointed to the Council of Government and Heads of Departments, I recognize will require the most careful consideration. In the first instance, it may be desirable to limit the Departments which would be dealt with in the Council of Government to possibly local Government, agriculture and education; the latter, however, it must be remembered, is advised already by the Board of Education; but it might be possible that the member answerable for the Department of Education might likewise be a member of the Board of Education. In outlining this scheme, I wish it to be understood that Government is anxious to make a beginning in the education of the Elected Members of the Legislative Council in the art of Government; and that though this scheme may be, and probably is, imperfect as set out, it will be possible to develop it as experience is gained from its working. Though I do not think the Secretary of State, as at present advised, appeared to be in accord with these proposals, I hope it may be possible to place before him a scheme to which he may give his tentative approval for a period of a year or so and to be subject to a report on its working after the completion of that period. It differentiates between the functions of the Executive Council to which a demand has been made that Elected Members should be nominated and a Council which, if this outline is accepted, will leave to the Executive Council functions which would have little or no interest to the Unofficial Member, though of extreme importance to the proper Government of the country-- functions which, though in some cases of a formal nature, are nevertheless matters of importance which would not, in ordinary circumstances, come up for discussion in the Legislative Council. On the other hand, as regards the functions of the proposed Council of Government, though certain of the matters which might be placed before it are likewise those which might as a preliminary be discussed in Executive Council, and later referred to the Council of Government, there will be matters generally of a very important nature with which the Council of Government would be concerned, dealing more directly with subjects which, in due course, would have to be fully debated in the Legislative Council; and I cannot help feeling that the Council of Government would in time develop into a very valuable and important body, and one which would be regarded as occupying a very high status in the scheme of Government.
41883
No. 26.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 1.21 p.m., 21st August, 1923.)
(Paraphrase.)
21ST AUGUST.
TELEGRAM.
Leader of the Tamil Community has requested me to ask what your views would be on the following arrangement :-The Colombo Western
29
Province Communal Tamil Seat to be substituted by a Tamil Communal Seat for the whole Island eliminating the Northern and Eastern Provinces which under present proposals are considered already to be adequately represented.--MANNING.
41883
DEAR MR. PEIRIS,
No. 27.
SIR. G. GRINDLE to MR. PEIRIS. [Answered by No. 29.]
Downing Street, 28th August, 1923.
In connexion with the Ceylon constitutional reforms, the suggestion has been made on behalf of the Tamil community that, in substitution for the Colombo Western Province Communal Tamil seat, there should be a Tamil Communal seat for the whole Island, eliminating the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Mr. Ormsby-Gore is away from the Office at present, but when on his return he has this suggestion before him, I think he would also like to know how it would be regarded by you and your colleagues of the deputation.
43244
No. 28.
Yours sincerely.
G. GRINDLE.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 10.30 a.m., 30th August, 1923.)
(Paraphrase.)
30TH AUGUST,
TELEGRAM.
Tamil leader now withdraws request referred to in my
telegram of 21st August.*-MANNING.
43933
DEAR SIR,
No. 29.
MR. PEIRIS to SIR G. GRINDLE. (Received 4th September, 1923.)
Park Hall, Park Road, Buxton, 2nd September, 1923. YOUR letter of the 28th August,† has been forwarded to me here. If the Tamil Commercial seat is to be retained, I am in favour of it being given to the Tamils residing in the provinces other than the Northern and Eastern. however, say that the substitution of such a seat for the Western Province seat will I may, not be acceptable to the Sinhalese unless it is clearly indicated that the seat is to be a temporary one, and additional seats are given at least to the Southern and Central Provinces, which will be most inadequately represented under the scheme proposed by Government.
In this connexion, I would draw your attention to a statement which Mr. T. Villiers, the Chairman of the European Association, is reported to have made in a speech which he delivered at a meeting of the Association in London on the 30th July last, to the effect that the Europeans might possibly win two or more territorial seats. As it would be impossible for them to capture any seat in the Tamil Provinces, it is to be presumed that Mr. Villiers referred to the seats which Sir William Manning labelled Sinhalese. In the event of any of these seats being won by the Europeans, which it is not at all unlikely, the disproportion between the seats allotted to the majority community and the minority communities will become greater. I have not yet been able to get a copy of Mr. Villiers' speech, but I have no doubt you will be able to procure one from Mr. Temple, who convened the meeting.
Yours, &c..
JAS. PEIRIS.
* No. 26. + No. 27.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
CO. 882/10
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON,
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO