571
PUBLIC
IT T T T T T T T T I Y
PECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON |
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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till August, 1932, when the opposition to the Prime Minister at length succeeded in persuading the Sultan to accept their point of view and to bring in the new Constitution. Abdul Majid Didi was invited to continue as Prime Minister but he refused to accept the position, and finding that he could not avoid the change he resigned office on 15th October, 1932. In his place. the Sultan appointed Muhammad Farid Didi as Chief Treasurer and Hassan Farid Didi, A. Mohaminad Didi, and A. Ahmad Kamil Didi as Assistant Treasurers. The first two are sons of the late Prime Minister, and all four had been among the leading advocates of the new Constitution.
3. I enclose a copy of the letter of the Maldivian Government Representative in Colombo, dated 9th December, 1932, reporting the names of the Ministers under the new Constitution and the salaries attached to the chief posts in the administration. 4. I am informed that the late Prime Minister is working to upset the Constitution and is likely to have the support of the Indian merchant community. This will not render the task of the new Government more easy.
5. The new Government has expressed the intention of recalling to the Maldives those members of the family of the late ex-Sultan and other royal princes who are now residing in Egypt and Colombo as pensioners of the Maldive Government. understand that the object of this is to avoid the expense of their pensions.
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The Government is also contemplating making the export of Maldive fish and the import of rice Government monopolies in order to increase their revenues. These measures will be unwelcome to the Indian merchants who have hitherto controlled the trade of the Island.
I have, &c.,
SIR,
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Enclosure in No. 12.
GRAEME THOMSON,
Governor.
Colombo, 9th December, 1932.
I HAVE the honour to inform you that His Highness the Sultan of the Maldives has been pleased to appoint Mr. Mohomed Farid Didi as Prime Minister with power
to select other Ministers. He has now completed the selection of other Ministers.
and the Council of Ministers now consists of the following members :-
Names.
1. Mohomed Farid Didi.
2. Hasan Farid Didi.
3. Husein Didi.
4. Ahmad Kamil Didi.
5. A. Mohomed Didi.
6. A. Mohiomed Amin Didi.
7. Ibrahim Ali Didi.
Designation of Ministers.
Prime Minister and Minister of Army. Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs. Minister of Justice.
Minister of Home Affairs and Education.
Minister of Agriculture and Industries.
Minister of Commerce.
Minister of Health and Trusts (Wagf).
The salaries of Ministers and other members of Government have been fixed as follows:-
Prime Minister
Other Ministers
Deputies to Seven Ministers
Private Secretary to H.H. the. Sultan and
Maldivian Ambassador in Colombo
Keeper of his Seal
Attorney-Genera!
Chief Chamberlain
Chief Justice
Chief Government Printer
Headman of each of the Four Wards of Malé
Rs.
1,000/- per month.
500/- each per month.
200/- each per month.
500/- per month.
1.000/- per month.
250/- per month.
400/- per month.
300/- per month.
250/- per month.
150/- each per month.
It is interesting to note that with the change of the Government, the cost of increase to the State of the expenses of the Government will only be about Rs.1,900/- but it is likely that heavy initial expenses will have to be incurred in the near future.
The Honourable
The Chief Secretary,
Colombo.
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am, &c.,
ABDUL HAMID DIDI,
Maldivian Government Representative.
!
14275/33 [No. 11].
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No. 13.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE,
(Confidential.)
(Received 9th October, 1933.)
SIR,
Ceylon, 19th September, 1933. I HAVE the honour to report, for your information, the following details of a dispute which has taken place between the Maldivian Government and the Indian Borah merchants of Colombo who trade with the Maldive Islands.
2. At the end of July last His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief visited the Maldive Islands in H.M.S. Hawkins and on reaching Malé, found that the Indian Borah merchants there had been engaged for the past four days in a trade strike, their boutiques being closed and the supply of rice to the inhabitants suspended. In justifi- cation of their action the traders alleged harassment and unfair treatment by the Maldivian Government. Their chief complaints were-
(a) the revival by the Maldivian Government of an obsolete curfew law which forbade the Indians to leave their houses after 6,30 p.m., except for the purpose of going to the Mosque;
(b) the raising of the export duty on the Maldive fish which the merchants
purchase in exchange for rice, and then export to Ceylon;
(c) the raising of the import duty on rice, all of which is imported by the Borah
merchants; and
(d) other alleged unfair discrimination against them.
His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief presided over a conference on board H.M.S. Hawkins at which representatives of both parties were present, as a result of which the Maldivian Ministers agreed to meet the merchants with a view to a settle- ment of their grievances, while the merchants on their part agreed to reopen their shops at once.
3. Intimation of this was conveyed to me by wireless on 30th July, 1933, and His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief reported full details to me on the arrival of H.M.S. Hawkins at Colombo on the 1st August, 1933.
4. I might explain at this point that at the present time the Maldive Islands are entirely dependent for their rice supply on the Indian Borah merchants of Colombo who own all the buggalows (native sailing vessels) which convey rice to the Maldives. At Malé the rice is traded for Maldive fish and other local produce by the traders resident there, the great majority of whom are representatives of the Colombo Borah firms. The Maldive fish is exported in the buggalows which bring the rice.
5. The Maldivian Government, since the introduction of their new Constitution, have been seriously considering the purchase of a steamer by means of which they would convert the trade in rice and Maldive fish into a Government monopoly. The merchants are uneasy as to the intention of the Government in this direction, and this consideration no doubt influenced them to bring pressure to bear by a trade strike before negotiations for the proposed purchase of a steamer had progressed too far.
6. The Maldivian Home Minister was brought to Colombo in H.M.S. Hawkins and, in company with the Maldivian Government Representative, sought an interview with me on the 1st August, 1933. They were anxious for this Government to intervene on their behalf, but I explained to them that His Majesty's Government has no wish to interfere in the internal affairs of the Maldives, and that only the existence of grave disorder or other circumstances of an entirely exceptional nature would justify a departure from this policy, and that such circumstances did not, in my opinion, exist at that time. I agreed, however, to instruct the Chief Secretary to see the leading Borah merchants in Colombo and to impress upon them the seriousness of precipitate action on their part and the possible consequences of such action. At the same time I impressed upon the Maldivian representatives the desirability of adopting a concilia- tory attitude towards the Borah merchants and of giving proper consideration to their grievances.
7. The Chief Secretary held independent interviews with the Maldivian represen- tatives and the Borah merchants on the 3rd of August and, on the following day, held a conference at which both parties were present. As a result the merchants agreed to maintain supplies to the Maldives. They expressed an intention of addressing & memorial to me setting out their grievances, but the Chief Secretary pointed out to them that the proper constitutional method of seeking redress of their grievances was by making representations in the first instance to the Maldivian Government.
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