7
C. 93986/32 [No. 35].
No. 6.
COLONIAL OFFICE to DR. E. LAURENT.
[Answered by No. 7.]
SIB,
Downing Street, 28th November, 1932. I AM directed by Secretary Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to inform you that he has had under his consideration the memorandum on the Constitution of Mauritius which was submitted with your letter of the 7th of November.*
While the Secretary of State is unable to accept all the arguments contained in the memorandum, he would be prepared to consider proposals for the redistribution of seats within the constituencies which elect members of the Mauritius Council of Government, if it appeared to him that there was a general desire in Mauritius that such redistribution should be made.
If therefore you should see your way to raise this question by resolution in the Council of Government on your return to Mauritius, and if the resolution were sup- ported by the Council and transmitted to him by the Government, the Secretary of State would be glad to give any such proposals his most serious consideration.
I am, &c.,
H. R. COWELL.
C. 93986/32 [No. 39].
SIR,
No. 8.
COLONIAL OFFICE to DR. E. LAURENT.
[Answered by No. 9.]
Downing Street, 7th December, 1932. I AM directed by Secretary Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th November,* on the subject of your proposals for a redistribu- tion of seats in the Council of Government of Mauritius.
2. I am to inform you that the Secretary of State would see no advantage in a further Conference in this country of the nature which you propose. He understands that the members of the Deputation from Mauritius are not in agreement on this ques- tion, and that they cannot be regarded as having any mandate from the other members of the Council of Government to discuss the proposals which you have put forward. In the circumstances the Secretary of State must adhere to the decision communicated to you in the letter from this Department of the 28th of November,† namely, that he could only consider proposals for redistribution after the question had been fully discussed on a resolution in the Council of Government.
I am, &c.,
H. R. COWELL.
578
C. 93986/32 [No. 88].
SIB,
No. 7.
DR. E. LAURENT to COLONIAL OFFICE.
[Answered by No. 8.]
France, Paris, Amstel Hotel, 30, Rue de le Bienfergand,
30th November, 1932.
In continuation of my letter of yesterday† in reply to yours of the 28th Novem- ber, which I have only just time to write before leaving London, may I be allowed to submit the following:-
The deputation having for one of its main objects to pray for a revision of the Constitution which I understand the Secretary of State is quite willing to consider, and the delegates, with the exception of Mr. R. Gujadhur, who is sailing on the 2nd of December on his way back, being within easy reach of the Colonial Office, would it not be possible to arrange for a meeting of the official delegates, and if convenient of Mr. G. M. D Atchia, the delegate of the Muslim community, and Mr. R. Pezzani, the elected member for Plaines Wilhems (both now in London), with representatives of the Secretary of State, if His Lordship is unable to grant us a second reception.
The suggestions which form the basis of the memorandum submitted by the Senior Member for Port Louis, could be fully discussed, and the Secretary of State would be in [?] possession of the arguments expressed on all sides.
In case a conference is not possible, I beg to suggest that Mr. Raffray and Mr. Leclezio might be invited to submit their views on this question of the redistribution
of seats. I have stated in the covering letter to the memorandum that a copy of it has been given to the other members of the official deputation.
I am, and I have said in my previous letter, ready to take up this matter when I am back in my country, but such a course would not only involve some delay but it will add no fresh material, and with due deference to the Secretary of State I think that His Lordship will not be then placed in a better position to arrive at a decision on this question.
I am, &c.,
EDGAR LAURENT.
:
* No 5
+ C. 93986/32 [No. 37]: not printed.
I No. 6.
C. 93986/32 [No. 42].
SIR,
No. 9.
DR. E. LAURENT to COLONIAL OFFICE. [Answered by No. 10.]
20 Rue de Berne, Paris, 12th December, 1932.
I AM in receipt of your letter of the 7th December, 1932,‡ informing me that the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies must adhere to the decision communicated to me" in a previous letter, as His Lordship
<< understands that the members of the deputation are not in agreement on this question of a redis- tribution of seats in the Mauritius Council of Government.
I beg to apologize to have troubled the Colonial Office and the Secretary of State on this subject; had I known that no consideration would be given to whatever suggestions--however reasonable-made by any one of us, if they were not supported by all the members of the deputation, I certainly would not have asked to submit a memorandum, which memorandum does not merely reflect my personal views, but what is more important, it represents also the views of several unofficial members of the Council and of a great majority of the inhabitants of Mauritius. I must, however, say that I made it clear, at the reception which His Lordship was pleased to grant to the deputation, that the suggestions that I would make did not meet with the approval of the other members of the deputation, and I find in the Official Minutes of Proceed- ings of the reception that "the Secretary of State undertook to have such a statement examined," notwithstanding the fact that the views which I had expressed shared by the rest of the deputation."
45 were not
Mr. Raffray has informed me that he has made representations to the Colonial Office to the effect that he considers that he has no " mandate from the other members of the Council of Government to discuss the proposals " which I have put forward," and I see that the Secretary of State takes the same view on this question. I have expressed to Mr. Raffray my surprise for the attitude taken by him in this connexion every unofficial member of the Council of Government and I should say every one in Mauritius knew that the question of an increase in the number of elected members for Port Louis and for Plaines Wilhems would be raised by me; it has been impossible to us to reach an agreement on this point, some of the unofficial members, thinking it undesirable to agree to such a proposal, as they feared such a change might bring about an enlargement of the franchise which they considered inadvisable, and we had thought that the matter should be left to the Secretary of State for a decision.
* No. 7.
+ No. 6.
‡ No. 8.
}
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RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/12
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO PY REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-Page 661
9
573
8
of my fellow- The present constitution does not, in the mind of a good many countrymen, give an equal opportunity for all the interests and for all the com- munities to be represented by the elected members of the Council; the coloured popu- lation which numbers more than 100,000, has never met with an adequate representa- tion in Council, and the Indo-Mauritians of a population of 260,000 out of a total of 405,000 has no representative as elected member. I regret to note, that now that it is proposed to give to the unofficial body as a whole more powers, no attempt is made to secure a fair representation of all the interests and of all the communities, especially when, for the guidance of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies much valuable information could be obtained from so many of the members of the Council at present in London and from the presence of His Excellency the Governor now on leave.
The Secretary of State states that he could only consider proposals for redis- tribution after the question had been freely discussed on a resolution in the Council of Government.” I beg again to submit that such an expression of views from the members of the Council will not give an exact idea of the true feeling of the general public on this question. Further, if on the one hand, it is suggested by this that the unofficial members must all agree to a definite scheme, I am afraid that is next to impossible, as it is hardly conceivable that those who find themselves in a privileged position will readily give it up for the benefit of others; if on the other hand the Secre- tary of State desires to be more fully informed, I beg to say, with all due deference to His Lordship, that all that could be said on this question has been done.
C. 93986/32 [No. 43].
SIR,
No. 10.
I am,
&c.,
EDGAR LAURENT.
COLONIAL OFFICE to DR. E. LAURENT.
Downing Street, 19th December, 1932.
I AM directed by Secretary Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th December,* on the subject of your proposals for a redistribu- tion of seats in the Council of Government of Mauritius.
The Secretary of State cannot alter the decision communicated to you in the previous letters from this Department; but as you would appear to be under some mis- apprehension in the matter, he directs me to make the following further observations.
The Secretary of State would not necessarily require, as a condition precedent to his considering proposals for redistribution, that any such proposals should be adopted unanimously by the Council of Government. If any resolution on the subject is introduced and fully debated in the Council, the Secretary of State would not feel debarred from considering proposals for redistribution even if the resolution failed to secure a majority, provided that full opportunity for discussion had been given, and that there was evidence of strong popular opinion in favour of any definite scheme. He is not, however, prepared to entertain proposals which have not been fully discussed in the Colony; and it was because he is not satisfied that all interests have had an opportunity of making their views known to him that he has been unwilling to discuss such proposals with the deputation in this country.
I am, &c.,
H. R. COWELL.
C. 93986/32 [No. 49].
ment.
No. 11.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
to
THE OFFICER ADMINISTERING THE GOVERNMENT. (Confidential.)
SIR,
Downing Street, 5th April, 1933. I HAVE the honour to refer to my confidential despatch of the 8th of November, 1932, with which I transmitted to you copies of Reports of the proceedings at the reception of the Deputation of Unofficial Members of the Mauritius Council of Govern- The matters raised by the Deputation were not all fully dealt with in their discussions with me, but they and other matters affecting the Colony have since been discussed with my technical advisers and members of the Colonial Office. As these discussions are now completed it appears desirable that you should have some record of the more important of them.
2. The details of the amendments of the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions necessary to carry out the constitutional changes to which, as you have already been informed, I agreed when receiving the Deputation, have since been discussed with them and with Sir Wilfred Jackson. I hope shortly to be able to send you the amending instruments and shall then deal with certain other points arising out of these changes. You have also already been informed of the receipt of a memorandum by Dr. E. Laurent, with which the other members of the Deputation did not concur, on the subject of the redistribution of seats. Copies of correspondence with Dr. Laurent regarding this have been sent to you with my confidential despatchest of the 29th of December, 1932, and the 9th of January, 1933.
3.
4. Apart from the constitutional proposals, the matters to which the Deputation appear to have attached 'most importance were the currency and medical questions. As regards the former, Mr. J. Leclezio, as Chairman of the Mauritius Commercial Bank, was asked to discuss the matter with Sir John Campbell, my Economic and Financial Adviser, together with Mr. R. V. Vernon and Mr. S. Caine, of the Colonial Office on the 31st of October. There have also been further informal discussions with Mr. Leclezio and some members of the Deputation, from time to time, in which Sir J. Campbell, Mr. Vernon and Mr. Caine again participated. Subsequently, as indicated in the Report on the reception of the Deputation, I referred the question to the Colonial Office Currency Committee, to whom a supplementary memorandum prepared by the Deputation was circulated and who held two meetings to consider the question, at the second of which the Deputation were present to express their views. Mr. G. M. D. Atchia, and representatives of the Mercantile Bank of India, and of Barclays. Bank (Dominions, Colonial and Overseas) were also present at that meeting, and I enclose, for your information, a copy of the record of the proceedings at which these gentlemen were present. Copies have been supplied to the Deputation and to Mr. Atchia. As a result of these meetings the Committee made certain recommendations as to the policy to be pursued in Mauritius. These were conveyed to the Deputation, for such further observations as they might have to make, on the 29th of December. Their observations, when received, were referred to the Currency Committee, which considered the matter again on the 9th of March. I have been in communication with you separately as to the action to be taken in this matter.
5. The questions affecting the medical administration and public health of the Colony were discussed with the Deputation by Dr. A. T. Stanton, my Chief Medical Adviser, and Dr. A. J. R. O'Brien, Medical Secretary to the Colonial Advisory Medical Committee, on the 9th of November, and Dr. Stanton subsequently reported the views of the Deputation to the Colonial Advisory Medical Committee. The matter was again discussed at a further meeting with the Deputation, at which Dr. J. B. Kirk, Director of the Medical and Health Department, Mauritius, was also present. A copy letters on this subject which has been sent to Dr. Laurent as representative of the Deputation, is enclosed.
of a
6. Arrangements were also made for the Deputation to discuss with Sir John Campbell and Mr. A. H. Poynton, Secretary of the Colonial Development Advisory Committee, the possibility of obtaining assistance for development schemes from the Colonial Development Fund. The probable attitude of the Committee towards various
* C. 93986/32 [No. 36] not printed.
‡ Not printed.
+ C. 93986/32 [Nos. 40 and 47]: not printed.
§ C. 94018/32 [No. 11]: not printed.
* No. 9.