PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
** Reference :----
TTILL CO. 885
24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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CEYLON.
received telegraphic information that shipments, though prohibited from Ceylon direct, are being allowed from the United Kingdom to neutral territories.
In this connexion I inquired from you by my telegram of 6th November, whether exportation was being allowed from the United Kingdom to the United States of America. I await your reply.
4. Adverting to paragraph 1 (c) of my despatch of 5th November,* I am addressing you in a separate despatch by to-day's mail on the financial situation. 5. The outbreak of war with Turkey, for which your earlier telegrams had prepared me, was known to me on the evening of 5th November.
The public meeting to which I made reference in paragraph 2 of my despatch of 5th November* was held that afternoon, and I received the same evening, through Mr. Abdul Rabeman, the Mohammedan Member of Council, a copy of the resolu- tion passed at the meeting. I caused this resolution, which I had already tele- graphed to you and to the Governments of India and the Straits Settlements, to be published. together with my reply, in the Government Gazette of 6th November (copy enclosed).t
I may add that many manifestations of Moslem loyalty have reached me from all parts of the island, and I have no reason to fear that the Mohammedan popula- tion is in any way disturbed in its loyalty by the outbreak of war with Turkey.
6. Adverting to my code telegram of the 5th November, and to paragraph 1 (d) of my despatch of the same date,* I enclose a copy of the letter of 8th November from the Bishop of Jaffna, in which he assumes responsibility for Father Jenn's conduct. I also enclose a copy of a letter from the Archbishop of Colombo, relative to the German and Austrian sisters resident in Ceylon.
I have been content to let the matter rest with the assurances contained in these letters without interning Father Jenn or the sisters referred to.
7. I take this opportunity to acknowledge your despatch No. 486, of 24th September, 1914, relative to the offer of Messrs. Swan and Finch, of New York, to work the oil mills of Messrs. Freudenberg & Company.
As you are aware, other arrangements have been made for the conduct of the business of Messrs. Freudenberg & Čompany.
8. So far I have received no reply either (1) to my cipher telegram of the 6th November, respecting a further contingent, or, (2) to my cipher telegram of 28th October, dealing with the question (raised on the 15th idem) regarding a consolidated payment to the War Office.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
I have, &c..
ROBERT CHALMERS,
Enclosure 4 in No. 39.
Governor.
Bishop's House, Jaffna, 6th November, 1914.
I HAVE the honour to state that His Grace the Archbishop of Colombo has requested me to inform Your Excellency that I hold myself responsible for the behaviour of Rev. Father Jenn during the course of the war. The priest referred to was born in Alsace four days before the signature of the treaty of Frankfort, All his sympathies are on the side and has lived in France from his early years. of the Allies, and I have no doubt that at the present juncture he will do nothing unbecoming in a French or English citizen.
I have, therefore, the honour to inform Your Excellency that I readily undertake to answer for Rev. Father Jenn's conduct during the present war.
I have, &c.,
H. JOULAIN, O.M.I.,
Bishop of Jaffna.
To His Excellency
Sir Robert Chalmers, K.C.B.,
Governor of Ceylon.
* No. 88. + Not reprinted.
↑ 85524: not printed.
Q
SIR,
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CEYLON.
-
Enclosure 5 in No. 39.
Archbishop's House, Colombo, 6th November, 1914. WITH reference to the conversation I had with Your Excellency on the 1st instant, I have the honour to inform you that, in the General Hospital of Colombo, out of 35 European sisters, there are one Alsatian, two Germans, one Hungarian, and nine Austrians; in the Leper Asylum, Hendala, out of ten European sisters there are three Germans and two Austrians; and in the Moratuwa Convent, out of fifteen European sisters, one is Alsatian, one Hungarian, and one Austrian. All the others are English, French, or Belgian.
I beg also to state that the Rev. Mother Superior of all these sisters and myself undertake, without the least hesitation, to be responsible for the German and Austrian sisters.
I have, &c.,
His Excellency
The Governor of Ceylon,
Colombo.
49504/8
No. 40.
A. COUDERT, O.M.I.,
Archbishop of Colombo.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 11th December, 1914.)
(Confidential.)
The Queen's House, Colombo, SIR,
Ceylon, 20th November, 1914. IN continuation of my Confidential despatch of 12th November,* I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of the following telegraphic despatches:-
(a) Your telegram of 11th November, asking for assistance in the selection of candidates for temporary commissions in the new army.
I hope to send you my recommendations shortly. Very few men remain in the Colony who (i) are suitable and (ii) can be spared from essential work in Ceylon.
(b) Your telegram of 12th November, in reply to mine of 9th November, regarding the prize ships "Steinturm" and "Moltkefels.”
I await the further communication promised in your telegram.
(c) Your cipher telegram of 12th November, in reply to mine of 6th November, on the subject of a contingent of the Ceylon Light Infantry for service in Egypt at the Colony's expense.
I enclose a copy of a communication which, on the 19th instant, I addressed to the Commandant of the Ceylon Volunteer Force accordingly, with regard to selection of the men. Some difficulties will arise as regards articles of equipment, etc., not procurable in the island; and it will be necessary to give some special com- pany training to the force before embarkation.
telegraphed on the 20th instant, I anticipate that the contingent will be ready to start from the island in the middle of January next.
As
(a) Your telegram of 12th November, informing me of the new Order, of 4th November, issued by the Board of Trade, modifying the Order of 25th September regarding patents, designs, and trade marks.
This has been communicated to the officers concerned.
(6) Your telegram of 12th November, informing me of a decision of the Admiralty Court on the Prize Court Rules, 1914.
I have caused the officers interested to be informed accordingly.
(Your telegram of 13th November, informing me that the monthly payment for the Ceylon contingent had been fixed at £1,000, the question of adjustment to be settled later.
I regret that the Army Council was unable to accept my proposal for a fixed and final payment monthly throughout the war, without the inconvenience, to
0 2
* No. 80.