MAURITIUS.
1901.
D
Governor
Bruce.
Bir C.
Secret September 26 (Rec. Oct. 28.)
10
To Governor Sir C.
Bruce.
Secret
November 5
11
Governor
Bruce.
Bir
ඒ
C.
Secret
October 12 (Rec. Nov. 15.)
12
Ditto
...
385
October 14 (Rec. Nov. 15.)
13
Ditto
392
October 21 (Rec. Nov. 18.)
Reports opposition to the appointment 13
of Mr. M. Atchia, an Indian merchant, to the Board of Commissioners for Beau-Bassin and Rose Hill, and states that in the event of the present mem- bers of the Board resigning and of others refusing to accept seats, the Board will be constituted by the appointment of official members.
Approves action taken in nominating 15
Mr. M. Atchia to the Board of Com- missioners for Beau-Bassin and Rose Hill.
Points out the necessity of keeping 15
promises made as to Indian repre sentation in the Council of Govern- ment and on Boards and Committees.
Reports circumstances connected with the nomination of Mr. M. Atchia to the Board of Commissioners for Beau- Bassin and Rose Hill, and transmits memorandum by Mr. Trotter, and newspaper extracts protesting against the action taken.
16
Transmita article from "Le Vrai Mauri- 28
cien" proving that the cause of objection to the appointments of Dr. Nalletamby and Mr. Atchia is that they are of Asiatic descent.
1-1
To Governor Sir C.
Bruce.
298
December 4
15
Governor
Sir C.
446
Bruce.
November 19 (Reo, Dec. 23.)
Approves the appointments of Dr. M. F. X. Nalletamby and Mr. M. Atchia.
Transmits copy of a letter from Goolam Mahomed, published in the "Journal de Maurice" in reply to the attacks against Indian representation on the Town Board of Beau-Bassin and Rose Hill.
29
30
16
To Governor Sir C.
Bruce.
1
1902.
January 1
Refers, in reply to No. 15, to No. 14.
31
17
Governor
Bruce.
Sir C.
482
December 26, 1901 (Rec. Jan, 27 1902.)
18
Ditto
Coni-
dential.
December 27, 1901 (Rec. Jan. 27, 1902.)
Transmits extracts from "Le Cernéen " and "Le Radical,' recommending Mr. C. Piperdy and Mr. M. Gopal- samy (Indian or of Indian descent) for membership as Municipal Coun- cillors.
Attaches no great importance to the sincerity of the professions made by the newspaper "Le Cernéen," but con- siders that it shows the press are beginning to realize that the Indian community has claims that cannot be ignored.
31
33
CORRESPONDENCE
[January 9, 1900 to January 27, 1902]
RESPECTING
INDIAN REPRESENTATION IN MAURITIUS.
1065
SIR,
(Secret.)
No. 1.
GOVERNOR SIR C. BRUCE to MR. CHAMBERLAIN. (Received January 9, 1900.) [Answered by No. 2.]
Government House, Mauritius, December 7, 1899. In accordance with the promise contained in my secret despatch of the 13th November, I have the honor to submit to you my views on the subject of the reality and scope of the loyalty to British rule of the various classes of the community of this Colony.
2. Two events, since I assumed the administration of the Government of this Colony, have given particular occasion to the press and to those who exercise a pre- ponderating influence in the public life of the Colony to express more or less directly their own opinions and the opinions of the classes they represent. I mean the Fashoda affair and events in South Africa.
3.
As regards the Fashoda affair, I will not add anything to what I said in my secret despatch of the 13th November, except that it gave rise to a recrudescence of French sentiment similar to that which accompanied the occupation of Madagascar, as described by my predecessor in several despatches.
4. Recent events in South Africa have a distinct importance, because they are certainly not directly concerned with the rival interests of England and France, and yet it is impossible to disguise the fact that they have called forth repeated evidences of hostility to England in many organs of the local press. In my despatch of the 13th November, I referred to a brutally frank expression of disloyalty published in one of the local papers, and although that declaration of disloyalty has since been repu- diated, the fact remains that it did, at the time, correctly express the published opinions of most of the local newspapers.
b. The most convenient way for me to deal with the matter will be to submit to you, in the first place, briefly, the opinions I have elicited during the last few months from some of the persons who may be taken as representing the principal sections into which the community may be broadly divided.
Mr. LECLÉZIO, C.M.G.
6. I will commence with Mr. Leclézio, C.M.G., a member of the Executive Council and senior elected member of the Council of Government. On the 6th November I had a long confidential conversation with him, originating in my proposal that he should introduce in the Council of Government & resolution on the subject of current events in South Africa. I need not repeat what I said in my despatch of the 13th November* on this subject, or what I have said in other despatches dealing with
• 35082: not printed.
10482
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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