CO882-(3-4) — Page 557

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

19

[ ། ། ། miniminiu

Reference :-

C.O. 882

4PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

| ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

26

cry, and, in short, I can see nothing in prospect but continual trouble. One of the most influential and able members of the unofficial side of the council has assured me that he and others of his colleagues would resign rather than submit to such a state of things. There can be no doubt that it is most essential to arrange the constitution of a legislative body on a plan as simple and unified as possible. The council now consists of two elements, and this duality, however necessary and advantageous for general is in itself an inherent source of difficulty. But any present difficulty would be as nothing compared with that arising out of the triple discord of official. nominated, and elected members.

reasons,

19. There would be a further consequence of granting the petition. Can it be supposed that the ten elected members, and the electors and newspapers at their back, This would be unnatural and contrary to all political would "rest and be thankful"?

..

44

history. The report annexed to the petition is not silent on this head. I find in it "Sachons nous contenter de peu au début pour être surs de ne the following words:

rencontrer plus tard aucun échec, ni aucun désenchantement; ce peu, nous pourrons l'aggrandir sans secousse, si nous sommes sages." If ten members are to be elected, why not 20, especially if it were seen that trouble arose between the elected members and the nominees? Would Her Majesty's Government be prepared to consider further changes? If not, would a state of turmoil and trouble, en permanence, be a satis factory solution of the problem? Such a Council as is proposed can, I submit, only be justified, if at all, as paving the way for representative institutions and responsible government. But representative institutions and responsible government, are, as far as human discernment can foresee, things wholly impossible, and to be put out of mind in Mauritius.

20. Then again, is there any reason to suppose that the Colony would be better legislated for by this composite tripartite assembly than by the present Council? As it is, the laws of the country are made by its most eminent men, by men of the stamp of Mr. Pellereau, Mr. Antelme, Sir Virgile Naz, Mr. Raoul, Mr. Fraser, and Mr. Stein. No less than 43 measures, many of them important, and all of them useful, were last year added to the statute book. Such a fact as this, is the best evidence of the good work done by the present Council; and I make bold to say that the body of Mauritius legislation of the past twenty or thirty years would be creditable to any colonial assembly.

21. I believe that the elections to the new Council would at first result in the return of some good men. But, as time went on, men of the second rank would be returned, and in ten years the ten elected members would probably be a very different body to those chosen while the enthusiasm of the first elections lasted. This change has been observed in the history of the only elective institution of the island, the Port Louis municipality. It is to be noticed also, that the constituency under the proposed high franchise would be extremely limited in at least two of the districts of the island, namely the districts of Black River and Rivière du Rempart, where the elections would have little or no value as far as any representation in Council of the inhabitants of those districts was concerned. I am not reporting minutely upon the franchise proposed in the petition, partly because I am not in a position to do so, and partly because I conceive such report to be unnecessary at the present stage.

22. Having regard to the above considerations, and after mature and deliberate reflection on the whole subject, I am compelled to say that, however gratifying it might be to introduce a representative element into the constitution of Mauritius, it would, in my opinion, be unwise, and be fraught with much evil to the Colony, to constitute the council of government as prayed in this petition, for the following

reasons:-

A. Some of the coolest headed and most patriotic Mauritians are entirely opposed to

the petition. B. Influentially as it has been supported, the petition cannot be taken as more than an expression of the views and ambitions of a portion of the upper classes of the community.

C. To grant the petition, would, at first, give the government of the colony into the

hands of an oligarchy of planters, lawyers, journalists, &c.

D. If, as it might, the vote of the lower Creole and Indian population became predominant, the electoral power would pass to an ignorant class, easily preyed upon by demagogues.

E. The request made involves a large surrender of power on the part of Her Majesty's Government, and this would probably be considered inexpedient in s Colony in which labour questions between employers and an Indian immigrant population working under indenture and special laws, have arisen, and may

27

again arise; though here I must bear my testimony to the fair, just, and liberal spirit in which questions affecting the Indian labourers are invariably treated by the present unofficial members of council.

F. To add a third element of elected members to the Council of Government would introduce into it an element of discord and difficulty, occasioning continual agitation for further changes.

G. Except the abstract superiority of representative institutions, as to which there can be no difference of opinion, no cogent argument in favour of the change asked for is advanced by the petitioners.

H. As a matter of fact, the Colony has prospered amazingly under its present form

of Government, which has been well suited to its peculiar circumstances. 23. The final point for consideration is: should any change other than that prayed for in the petition be made in the constitution of the Council? The following appear to be the modifications which may be discussed.

A. The nominated members to be replaced by an equal number of elected members.

B. The strength of the Council to be increased by the addition of two official and two nominated members, or by the addition of two nominated members only.

C. The nominated members to retire annually by seniority; or to be entirely re-

appointed every five or seven years.

24. Were the unofficial half of the Council composed of elected instead of nominated members, the voting power would remain as at present. Were such a change generally desired by the intelligent classes of the Colony, it might be considered, though I think, that the more it were considered, the more clearly disadvantageous it would appear. But I do not believe that such a change would be generally desired. I think it would be opposed by many even of those who have signed the present petition. Mr. Raoul, the chief promoters of the petition, has informed me that neither he nor others would accept auch a constitution. I see much objection to it, and I believe that it would speedily convert the Council of Government into a body less respected, less trusted, and less useful than the present assembly.

25. The obstacle to adding to the Council two more official and two more nominated members, lies in the great difficulty of finding two more desirable official members who could serve on the Council without undue detriment being caused to their departments by their frequent absence at weekly meetings of the Council, and at the almost daily meetings of the committees. I agree with the petitioners (see Report), in thinking that the Chief Medical Officer and the Rector of the Royal College, as representing health and education, would be the proper officers to appoint. But I must point out that much of the Chief Medical Officer's time is already occupied by his duties at the General Board of Health, in addition to those of his own office, and that the public service would suffer prejudice were he further withdrawn froin his department. The Royal College is also in peculiar need of the daily and hourly presence of its Rector; and, to place that officer on the Council of Government would interfere with the efficiency of the institution. Besides, the Council of Government of Mauritius is already a larger body than the Legislative Council of Ceylon, and it seems scarcely necessary to increase it by four members. It is true that the business of the last two years has heavily taxed the time and strength of the Council, but it has to be remem- bered that the last two years have been an exceptionally laborious period, in which many dropped and new subjects have been taken up and dealt with, and that such a stress of work may not soon recur.

26. Whether it would be wise to appoint to the Council merely two additional unofficial members (which could easily be done, which would strengthen the Council, and which would satisfy, as I believe, very many of the present petitioners) depends entirely upon the policy of Her Majesty's Government. Such appointments would involve a surrender of power, to some extent. But I think that any Governor would undertake to conduct the public business of the Colony to the satisfaction of the community and of Her Majesty's Government, with a Council composed of ten nominated and eight official members. I would myself feel entire confidence in such ■ Council.

27. I now come to the last of those I have named as possible changes in the constitution, namely, the renovation of the unofficial side of the Council, by the retire- ment and renomination of the members, en masse, every five or seven years, or at the rate of one or two a year. Some arguments may be advanced against this step, but after careful consideration, I am of opinion that, if no further change be sanctioned, this should at least be made; and I beg respectfully to recommend it. I think it would be better that the unofficial side of the Council should be entirely renominated (existing members being eligible for re-appointment) every five or seven years, rather than that D 2

}