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Mauritius.

No. 1.

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR F. NAPIER BROOME, C.M.G., to the RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY. (Received August 8, 1882.)

No. 307.

MY LORD,

Government House, Mauritius, July 10, 1882. I HAVE the honour to report that the question of possible changes in the constitution of this Colony in a representative direction has lately occupied a good deal of attention here, and has now reached the point of the formation of a committee, nominated at an orderly and influential public meeting, held, by my permission (which I saw no reason for refusing), at the Hôtel de Ville, on the 7th inst.

2. The modification of the present Crown Council by the addition to it, in some shape or other, of a representative or popular element, is a topic naturally congenial to the Colonial press, and one which has taken possession of the newspapers, at intervals, for a long time past, in this as in other Crown Colonies. It had lately again appeared among the seven daily journals of Port Louis; but it would perhaps have died away as

on former occasions, had it not been for the notice excited by your Lordship's disinclination to any increase to the Messageries subsidy (as to which I address in another Despatch* by this mail), and for the delay (the reason and necessity for which I fully explained to the Council of Government) in settling the scheme of forest finance.

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3. With regard to the former cause, it may be measured by the writing of the press, to which your Lordship will be in a position to refer; while as to the latter I enclose a report of the remarks made in the Council of Government by the Honourable Lois Raoul, on the 27th ult., when the ordinance renewing the forest proclamation was brought forward and passed unanimously through all its stages.

In case your Lordship should read the debate, I may observe that the few words attributed to me in the report do not in the least resemble what I said. A speaker, in Mauritius, must be his own reporter, and on this occasion I was unable to write out my speech for the papers. I have since had my remarks reprinted more or less correctly as they were spoken, and annex a copy of them.*

4. I forward a newspaper account of the public meeting above alluded to, and a report of the speeches made, so far as they have been published. It will be seen that a committee has been formed for the purpose of drawing up a report upon the question of "reforms in the system of Government, and in the constitution of the Legislative "Council."

5. In the present stage of the movement, it is scarcely necessary that I should discuss the general question of the possibility of representative institutions in any form in this island. I look forward to the report of the committee with curiosity and interest. I have not taken, and do not mean to take, any part, directly or indirectly, in what is going on. So long as the proceedings of the committee and its supporters are conducted in the irreproachable manner that has hitherto marked them, it would be wrong for me to oppose or discourage them-and I certainly do not intend to throw myself into the arms of the popular party." I shall stand quite aloof and neutral, merely letting it be known that accounts of what is taking place, and any documents I may be asked to forward, will be laid fairly and fully before your Lordship.

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I regard the movement which has been set on foot as quite devoid of any trouble and difficulty, and I would leave it to run its natural course.

The Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley,

&c.

&c.

&c.

I have, &c.

(Signed) F. NAPIER BROOME.

E lis.

• Not printed.

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C.O. 882

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