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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference →

TITTTICO.

882

2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC. COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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of verbiage-it is far more valuable to the Colony than the pursuit of an obscure pamphleteer.

I have now answered the question of the honourable gentleman, but before I con- clude I must add one word more.

I have not the very smallest apprehension as to the effects which any such pamphlet is likely to produce in India. It is incredible that the Government of India should take any action on it without reference here. But I am, I own, very apprehen- sive as to the results which may attend the injudicious acts and language of some hot- licaded and shortsighted members of the community. No matter how unjust and undeserved the charge may be, should it even gain any degree of credence that the expression of opinion in this Colony is not perfectly free,--that a man who criticizes the Institutions of the Colony is liable to be met by similar weapons to those which used to be employed in defence of the peculiar Institutions of the Southern States,— that the Press may not be freely used in opposition to the Labour Laws,--that personal violence and arbitrary deportation are deemed, by persons of respectable position, the right and proper punishment of those who have given offence to one por- tion of the population, then indeed a feeling might be expected, which no protesta- tions of mine would be able to allay, and suspicions raised, which even the most salutary measures you could pass might be insufficient to dissipate.

Placed by the will of the Sovereign at the head of this community,-sworn to regard impartially all her subjects committed to my charge,-it is my duty and my pride to repel with indignation all unjust assaults upon its honour.

I have denied, and I deny, that the Agricultural body have used, or use, the large powers they possess with cruelty and injustice. I have denied, and I deny, that Her Majesty's Indian subjects, who form the majority of the population, are discontented, turbulent, or unindustrious. I deny with decision that those who would have resort to acts of lawless violence and arbitrary tyranny are in any manner entitled to speak on behalf of the people of Mauritius-a people whom I shall ever believe, unless the con- trary be proved to me, to be peaceable in disposition, obedient to the law, and averse to acts of arbitrary power.

I hope and believe that the honourable gentleman and other Members of the Board will hear with satisfaction the answer I have given; if not, I shall regret the fact, but shall not allow my natural desire to do that which is agreeable to them to influence my course.

I have too strong a sense of the judicial impartiality which my responsibilities impose upon me of the absolute necessity for refraining from identifying myself with any one interest, however numerous or however powerful, among the many interests of this mixed community-to swerve from the line I have laid down.

As I have already observed on another occasion, a resolute adherence to this line of conduct will not improbably often prevent my being in full harmony with some one section of the community at some particular time.

By adherence to it I may sacrifice some fleeting popularity; but I shall, I am sure, best discharge my duty to the Queen and to yourselves.

By these principles I mean to be guided,-in this manner I am resolved to act; and for support in doing so I appeal, first, Gentlemen of the Council, to you, and through you to the good feeling and good sense of the community.

That appeal, I am confident, will not be made in vain.

Inclosure 5 in No. 21.

THE following Petition, which embodies the opinion of the public generally, has already obtained the signatures of many highly respectable members of our com- munity-

To his Excellency Arthur Hamilton Gordon, K.C.M.G., Governor and Commander-in-

chief in and over the Island of Mauritius and its dependencies, &c.

The Petition of the undersigned, all British subjects, and Members of the Com- munity,

Respectfully showeth→→

That in the month of August last one De Plévitz, an alien residing in this island, published a pamphlet which is nothing more than a wholesale libel upon the Colony at

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large. The author not only insults and holds up to ridicule and contempt the whole Creole population, but profers the most outrageous accusations against the Council of Government, the Magistracy, and some of our highest public functionaries;-ho does not even spare your predecessor, Sir Henry Barkly, some of whose acts are most grossly misrepresented by him, and whom he actually charges with having caused an Ordinance to be passed with the ostensible object of suppressing vagrancy, while, in reality, it was designed to favour unduly the interests of the Planters. All these calumnious statements could not be left unnoticed; for, although they proceeded from a man possessing very little moral authority, and of an equivocal character, yet they might, by being spread among the Indian immigrants here, and by being disseminated abroad, produce serious mischief, and occasion grave disorders among us. All the news- papers of this town were but the true exponents of public feeling when they asked that some step, either judicial or administrative, be taken against De Plévitz." How- ever, in spite of their unanimous and repeated appeals, the libeller was allowed to move about unchecked, and to continue circulating his criminal publication without the slightest let or hindrance.

The consequence was inevitable: the people of Mauritius have too much self- respect, and entertain too high a sense of their dignity, not to have felt the affront thus offered to them. They had shown, at first, the greatest forbearance, confident in the justice of the laws and of those whose duty it is to set them in motion; but when they perceived the indifference with which the public authorities received the representations made through the Press, they became impatient and excited, and it is not surprising that, under such circumstances, some among them should have thought that they had, if not in strict legality, at least morally, the right of inflicting a chastisement upon

De Plévitz.

Your Petitioners cannot dissemble from your Excellency that there is not one of them who blames the conduct of Mr. Jules Lavoquer, and that it was with the deepest regret that they saw the police take in hand against him the cause of De Plévitz. The inference which they draw from this attitude of the police is to them painfully clear : De Plévitz, the foreigner and calumniator, appears to have secured the assistance and protection of the public authorities, while the just grievances of the people of Mauritius remain disregarded. In this state of things the undersigned believe they may say, without any exaggeration, that De Plévitz has become a permanent cause of public irritation, and that it is to be feared that his presence in our midst may give rise to more serious disturbances than those of which he has already been the cause.

Your Petitioners beg leave to recall to your Excellency's mind that, according to the laws of this place, the first obligation incumbent upon aliens is to abstain from any act which may interfere with the safety of the inhabitants of the island; from the moment a foreigner does not show becoming respect towards the Colonial Institutions, and his conduct and principles become contrary to good order and public tranquillity, the Governor has the power to force him to quit the Colony. (We refer your Excel- lency more particularly to the Proclamations of the 14th of September, 1815, 5th of December, 1817, and lastly, to Regulations published on 27th of June, 1862.) This power the Governors of Mauritius have exercised more than once, and under circum- stances much less serious than the present. At all events, your Petitioners submit that the alien, De Plóvitz, has interfered with the safety of the inhabitants of the island, that his conduct and principles are contrary to good order and public tranquillity, and that he has not shown becoming respect towards the Colonial Institutions.

Wherefore your Petitioners, not acting in any spirit of revenge, nor under the influence of passion, but sincerely and conscientiously believing they are only demanding what is due to the inhabitants of Mauritius, and what is required in the interest of public order and tranquillity, pray that your Excellency may be pleased to order the immediate expulsion of the alien, De Plévitz, from the Colony.

And, as in duty bound, your Petitioners will ever pray. Port Louis, October 80, 1871.

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