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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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4 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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(d.) If he is entitled to a salary of Rs. 960 per annum, or Rs. 80 a month; The question whether the elector should be able to read and write, and if so, in what language, and whether the voting should be secret or not, should be left to be settled by the electoral law;

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5. That the Colony should be divided into as many electoral colleges as there are

districts;

6. That the district of Port Louis should have two representatives, and each of the

other districts one representative in the Legislative Council;

7. That any elector who is qualified to vote in more than one district should have

the right to vote in each such district;

8. That the qualification required to be elected should be the same as that required

of electors.

Wherefore, your petitioners pray that Your Majesty will be pleased to give Her assent to the reform which they seek for, and which, they have no doubt, will produce the most beneficial consequences. They feel confident that Your Majesty will have the satisfaction of witnessing, as the result of Her gracious and liberal concession to this Colony, its continued advance and steady progress in wealth and social and moral improvement, and the permanent happiness and contentment of Her loyal people.

And as in duty bound Your Petitioners will ever pray.

(Translation.)

REPORT of the Sub-Committee appointed, on the 7th July 1882, to study the question of the reform of the present constitution of the Council of Government.

Members of the Sub-Committee:

The Honourable L. Kaoul, President.

The Honourable H. Adam,}

P. Ambrose,

Vice-Presidents.

L. Rouillard, Esq., Secretaries.

G. Guibert, Esq.,

W. Newton. Esq., Reporter.

The Honourable Sir V. Naz,

The Honourable H. Pitot,

J. B. Guimbeau, Esq.,

Dr. Edwards,

J. A. Ferguson, Esq.,

H. Leclézio, Esq.,

E. Elias, Esq.,

Em. Sandapa, Esq.,

J. Guibert, Esq.,

Dr. Allas,

G. Robinson, Esq.,

S. Pelte, Esq.,

Eugène Bazire, Esq.,

Dr. Poupinel de Valencé,

Dr. Drouin,

Dr. O. Beaugeard,

Dr. Sakir,

The Editor of the Cernéen,

Evenor de Chazal, Esq., Alphonse Geffroy, Esq.,

W. Hewetson, Esq.,

H. Portal, Esq.,

G. Aubin, Esq.,

G. Arlanda, Esq.,

T. L. Jenkins, Esq.,

J. Mercier, Esq.,

Em. Basset, Esq.,

R. M. Brown, Esq.,

A. Lavoquer, Esq.,

Eugène Laurent, Esq.,

Aristide Régnard, Esq.,

G. de Coriolis, Esq.,

Ch. Durand Deslongrais, Esq.,

C. Baschet, Esq.,

Fabien Rault, Esq., senior.

the Mercantile Record and Commercial Gazette,

Do.

Do.

the Sentinelle de Maurice,

Do.

the Journal de Maurice,

Do.

the Mauritius Argus,

Do.

the Nouveau Mauricien,

Do.

the Progressiste,

Do.

the Merchants and Planters Gazette,

Do.

the Progrès Colonial,

Do.

the Ile de France.

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REPORT.

The sub-committee, appointed at the public meeting held at the Town Hall of Port Louis on the 7th July last, set to work almost immediately, and, in less than a fortnight, had completed its examination of the various questions it had been requested to study; it is thanks to the persevering zeal of all ite members, and especially to the harmony which never ceased to prevail throughout it deliberations, that it has been able to accomplish its task so rapidly. The sub-committee now lays before you the results of its labours.

In submitting to you the conclusions it has thought proper to adopt, and which it asks you to sanction, the sub-committee trust that you will receive and discuss them in the same spirit of conciliation by which its members were always animated; it is scarcely necessary to observe that it is only by maintaining concord in our ranks to the end, that we shall be able to bring to a successful close the important work we have undertaken together.

Exercising a right conferred upon it by the resolution in virtue of which it was constituted, the sub-committee began by adding to its number several new members, and further decided that all the unofficial members of the Council of Government without distinction, should be invited to attend its sittings.

The gentlemen selected as additional members all accepted, saving one; their assistance proved most valuable. As for the members of the Council of Government, whose co-operation we solicited, they did not formally refuse to give it; but they did not attend our sittings and have not afforded us any clue to their future attitude.

I.

Is it not expedient and even urgent to apply for a reform of our political

constitution?

Should not such reform consist in the introduction of an elective element into the

Council of Government?

These two questions, which are so closely connected the one with the other, were naturally the first to command our attention.

Your sub-committee unhesitatingly solved them in the affirmative.

Much as opinions may differ as to certain of the questions we shall have to refer to hereafter, the point we are now dealing with appears to us to be beyond serious con- troversy. The system of Government now in force in Mauritius may have been suited to our requirements when it was first introduced into this Island; but it has served its time; it is no longer in keeping with the circumstances and the aspirations of the Colony, nor with its material, moral and intellectual condition.

The Council of Government consists of an equal number of official and unofficial members. The former are compelled, by the ties which connect them with the Government, to vote invariably in favor of its views, and the latter, being nominated by the Government and being removable at its pleasure, are on that account, so situated that they cannot exercise a sufficient control over its acts. Supposing, however, they were to show a rare spirit of independence towards the Government, notwithstanding the false and delicate position they occupy in respect to it, and even supposing they were to be always united, it is in no case possible for them to make their opinions prevail against those of the Government, which, by the casting vote of the Governor, is always assured of a majority.

Struck more particularly by the disadvantages we have just pointed out and con- vinced that, but for them, the Council of Government would work properly, some persons, whose opinions are entitled to the greatest respect, but who form only a very small minority, deem that it would perhaps be better to leave undisturbed the consti- tution of the Council, and to make only a few changes of comparatively secondary importance. They are inclined to think that we should be satisfied with asking that the official members be allowed to vote according to their own individual views, and that there should be a majority of unofficial members, the power which the Government possesses of revoking the latter members being, at the same time, abolished.

We do not think such a modification either practicable or sufficient.

In the first place, how can we reasonably expect the Government, which forms, 80 to speak, a collective being, comprising all the public functionaries from the summit down to the base of the public service, and which cannot possibly act if deprived of its unity, how can we expect the Government, we say, to split itself up and tear itself to pieces, by introducing anarchy into its body?

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