CO882-(4-5) — Page 165

2

subject of the grants to be made under Ordinance 54 of 1844 for the stipends of ministers of churches, and recommending that the vote for 1889 be divided in the saine manner as in 1888; and further recommending that the Bishop of the Church of England and the Reverend G. McIrvine be warned that next year they must be prepared for a more equitable distribution of the grant.

on.

The Council advise that the Report of the Financial Officers be approved and acted

His Excellency the Governor concurs and orders accordingly.

The Council further advise, and his Excellency the Governor concurs, that the Financial Officers do submit to his Excellency a confidential report indicating what, in their opinion, would be a more equitable distribution of the grant, for communication to the Secretary of State.

(This report has not been received yet from the Financial Officers.)

2. I have also to thank your Excellency for the copy of the statement of the Financial Officers appended to that letter. I propose shortly to address your Excellency upon the question thus brought forward; at present I will only remark that it is unfortunate that the frequent changes in appointments seem to necessitate the frequent troubling of the Government with an explanation of those circumstances which, when duly considered, remove (as I venture respectfully to submit) all just objection to the amount and pro- portion of the ecclesiastical grants now made to the Anglican Communion in this Colony and its dependencies.

I have, &c. (Signed) P. S. MAURITIUS.

His Excellency Sir J. Pope Hennessy,

&c.

&c.

Governor of Mauritius.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

गय

Reference :-

C.O. 882

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

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

Enclosure 2 in No. 1.

氰

His Excellency the GOVERNOR to the Right Reverend Dr. P. S. ROYSTON. Bishop of Mauritius.

Government House, May 1, 1899.

(G. 381.) MY LORD,

Is continuation of my letter, No. G. 355, of the 26th March, I have the honour to inform your Lordship that I have approved, in Executive Council, of the following distribution of the grants in aid of the stipends of ministers under Ordinance, No. 54, of 1844-

•

Church of England Roman Catholic Church Church of Scotland

·

Re.

3,200

3,200

1,600

Rs. 8,000

I also enclose, for your Lordship's information, a statement from the Financial Officers of the Government, which has been unanimously approved by my Executive Council, that a more equitable distribution of this vote might be made in future.

I have, &c. (Signed)

J. POPE HENNESSY.

STATEMENT of FINANCE OFFICERS approved in EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.

The Financial Officers think that a more equitable distribution of the vote might be made, but as the two Protestant churches may, in anticipation of the usual grants, have inade arrangements for ministerial duties for 1889 which it might prove somewhat harsh, without notice, to upset, they recommend that the vote for 1889 be divided in the same manner as in 1888.

They further recommend that the Bishop of the Church of England and the Reverend G. MeIrvine be warned that next year they must be prepared for a more equitable distribution of the grant.

SIR,

Enclosure 3 in No. I.

Bishopthorpe, May 3, 1889,

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter, G. 381,

of the lat instant, renewing for the current year the grant of Rs. 8,200 to clergymen of the Church of England under Ordinance 54 of 1844.

(No. 325 of 1889.) EXCELLENCY,

Enclosure 4 in No. 1.

Port Louis, February 12, 1889. BEFORE your Excellency proceeds to the usual apportionment between the Roman Catholic and the Protestant communities of the annual Government grants for ecclesiastical buildings, ministers, and missionaries, I beg to be allowed to make a few remarks regard- ing the equity of such division.

2. The annual grant for buildings, which by Ordinance 54 of 1844 amounted to Rs. 20,000, was subsequently reduced to Rs. 10,000. Of this sum the Catholic community received in 1888 Rs. 7,000, the Protestant community Rs. 3,000. If we have to believe the figures given in the Blue Book for 1887, the number of persons usually attending divine worship on Sundays amounts to 50,550 Catholics and 2,888 Protestants. The sum granted to the Catholics amounts, therefore to, Rs. 0.14 cents per head, that to the Protestants to Rs. 1.04 cents, i.e., between seven and eight times the grant to the Catholics.

3. The grant of stipends to ministers is annually Rs. 8,000. Of this sum the Catholic community received fast year Rs. 3,200, the Protestant community Rs. 4,800. If we compare the total numbers of adherents namely, 108,000 Catholics and 8,000 Protestants, the said stipends amount for the Catholics to about 3 cents per head, for the Protestants to 60 cents per head, i.e., 20 times more. But if we compare only the persons usually attending, namely, 50,550 Catholica and 2,888 Protestants, the proportion is about 6 cents for each Catholic and Rs. 1. 66 cents for each Protestant, i.e., 28 times more.

4. The annual grant for missionaries and catechists is Rs. 10,000. In a meeting of the Executive Council of Government, held on the 14th March 1876, it was ordered to divide this sum equally between the Catholic and the Protestant communities; but in 1881 Sir Napier Broome reduced the Catholic portion to Rs. 4,910, and in 1886 Major General Hawley still further to Rs. 4,730, granting to the Protestants Rs. 5,270.

5. The Blue Book does not furnish the number of adherents belonging to each of the ministers in receipt of a stipend under Ordinance No. 54, of 1844, but I find (Blue Book, S. p. 1-9) that one of the Protestant recipients of Rs. 1,000 numbers only 130 adherents, another 116, another 70, and the reverend gentleman receiving Rs. 750 counts only 41 hearers. This gives an allowance of more than 7 Rs., more than 8, more than 14, and more that 18 Rs. per head respectively. The thought struck me that the Colony which can afford to be so exorbitantly liberal towards the Protestants, ought surely to be in a position to grant to the Catholics at least the strict necessary for providing spiritual assistance to the thousands of poor Catholics who, in the districts, die without clerical assistance on account of the paucity of our priests, there being no funds for providing a larger number of them. The principle of Government (see letter of Sir Henry Barkly, A/1874, of the 13th September 1865) of allowing one priest for every 4,000 Roman Catholics is very far from being liberal.

6. May I be allowed to request your Excellency kindly to take the exposed ill-propor- tioned division of the three grants in question into consideration, and to apportion to the Catholic community the amount which plain justice demands. As soon as I shall have

A 2