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whatever form could be borne by the population in the circumstances now obtaining. Moreover, new taxation would be unnecessary were proposal already indicated by them accepted. The Bureau points out with all deference that their proposal has not been answered. That, in their anxiety to prevent discontent which would inevitably, have been caused by mere suggestion of new taxation at the present juncture, the Bureau has refrained from disclosing any part of the communication made to them. They are now being pressed with insistent ques- tions from members of the Chamber and planters at large and would accordingly beg His Honour to be so good as to expedite the Government decision on proposal put forward by the Bureau. The urgency of a prompt decision is further accen- tuated by continued decline of the world's sugar markets.
The position of the Improvement and Development Fund is given in my telegram 22nd [? 21st] July, No. 65. Confidential.* Unappropriated balance mentioned therein includes the sum of Rupees 84,000 for Creve Coeur mentioned in my telegram 1st July, No. 52.†
C. 74550/30 '[No. 18].
No. 29.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Colonial Development Advisory Committee, Colonial Office,
Downing Street, S.W.1, 28th July, 1930.
SIR,
I AM directed by the Colonial Development Advisory Committee to request you to inform Lord Passfield that, at their twenty-sixth meeting on 24th July, they had before them a despatch‡ from the Acting Governor of Mauritius applying for a loan from the Fund of £200,000 for the assistance of the local sugar industry (C.D.A.C. 344).
2. From the Colonial Office memorandum appended to Mr. Grannum's despatch, the Committee observe that this application is not accompanied by a favourable endorse- ment by the Secretary of State. For the reasons set out at length in their letters of 24th February, § 2nd May,|| and 26th June, the Committee find themselves unable to regard this proposal as a suitable object for assistance from the Fund.
3. A similar letter is being sent to the Treasury, and a copy is being sent to the Office of the Lord Privy Seal.
No. 30.
I am, &c.,
L. B. FREESTON, Secretary to the Committee.
C. 74567/30 [No. 21].
COLONIAL OFFICE to SIR FRANCIS WATTS.
(Confidential.)
SIR.
[Answered by No. 31.]
Downing Street, 29th July, 1930. I AM directed by Lord Passfield to transmit to you a copy of telegraphic corre- spondence** with the Officer Administering the Government of Mauritius regarding a proposal that temporary assistance, at the rate of £1 per ton of the crop for 1929-30 or 1930-31, should be granted to the sugar manufacturers of Mauritius.
Lord Passfield would be glad to have, as early as possible, an expression of your views on the proposal, and any observations you may be so good as to offer.
* No. 27.
† No. 23. ↑ No. 12. * C. 74550/30 [No. 23]: not printed.
I am, &c.,
G. JONES.
§ No. 4. || C. 74550/30 [No. 21]: not printed. ** C. 74567/30 [No. 19]: not printed, and No. 27.
C. 74567/30 [No. 22].
SIR,
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No. 31.
SIR FRANCIS WATTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Eversleigh Court Hotel,
107-109, Cromwell Road, S.W.7, 30th July, 1930.
I AM in receipt of the copies of the telegraphic correspondence with the Officer Administering the Government of Mauritius transmitted to me in your letter of 29th July, 1930, Confidential.*
fully support the
2. In view of the serious situation existing in Mauritius, proposal that a grant of £1 (one pound) per ton should be made to the producers of sugar, the
payments being made through the factories; the money to be derived from the balance at the disposal of the Mauritius Improvement and Development Fund.
3. I think it would be well to make the payment on the basis of the 1929-1930 crop, i.e., on 238,000 tons. I beg to support the proposal that no interest be charged and that arrangements be made by means of an Ordinance for repayment as suggested in Sir Allan Grannum's telegram of 21st July, 1930.†
4. This assistance should, I feel, be granted in addition to the remission of the
export duties on sugar, which I understand has already been sanctioned.
5. I feel strongly that it will be a far less costly matter to apply such money as may be available to measures calculated to keep the sugar industry going, rather than to envisage the provision of money to support a destitute labouring population if the sugar industry collapses. The administration of relief through the sugar industry would appear to be the soundest and cheapest policy.
6. Seeing that considerable anxiety exists in Mauritius with regard to the imme- diate future and that this is exerting a very prejudicial influence, I feel that it is very desirable that the Government of the Colony should take the earliest possible steps to let the community know that some form of financial relief is forthcoming, and that the Officer Administering the Government should be authorized to make some statement as early as possible. I should like to suggest that he might be instructed by cable to do so; the details as to the actual manner in which the relief would he given might, I respectfully submit, be furnished later.
C. 74567/30 [No. 24].
鲁
No. 32.
I am, &c..
FRANCIS WATTS.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE OFFICER ADMINISTERING THE GOVERNMENT.
(Sent 5.50 p.m., 7th August, 1930.) TELEGRAM.
[Answered by No. 33.]
I shall be
No. 47. CONFIDENTIAL. Your telegram of 21st July, No. 65.† glad to consider sympathetically any proposals for assisting the sugar industry out of the Improvement and Development Fund, but I am impressed by the fact that your proposals would completely exhaust the unappropriated balance of the fund within the next year and leave no money available either for similar assistance subsequently or for any permanent development of value to the industry. I should be glad, therefore, if you would state fully the reasons why you consider the present situation justifies such assistance. The object of the Government is the maintenance of the industry, and as no further funds are at present available, I should be glad to know what is the latest date when such assistance as you have recommended should be forthcoming to prevent a complete or partial collapse. It may, of course, be desirable to make an immediate announcement that help will be forthcoming even if the money is not actually paid until later.
you
If fis-established that immediate assistance is required, I should be glad if would consider possibility of adapting Trinidad scheme, details of which are being telegraphed separately.‡
?
If and when detailed proposals are framed, you will no doubt consider how and where payments to the factories can best be made in view of exchange difficulties. Payments in sterling would occasion no exchange difficulties.-PASSFIELD.
* No. 30.
† No. 27.
1 No. 35.
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