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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

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

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

MY LORD,

my

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Enclosure 3 in No. 9.

Mauritius, May 10, 1886. IN letter of the 4th instant I had the honour to draw your Lordship's atten- tion to certain proceedings in connexion with the opening of the Council of Government at Port Louis on the 18th April 1886.

2. Upon the 7th instant an Executive Council was held at Réduit, at which it was proposed to confirm what the Governor represented to be a Minute of the hurried meeting held on the 18th April, and referred to by me in my letter of the 4th May. I annex an exact copy A. of the Minute as proposed, and as altered and confirmed in Executive Council on the 7th May. The document was not produced by the clerk, but by the Governor, who led us to believe that it had been drawn up by himself and the Procureur General.

The clerk of the Council had at the time taken a Minute of the proceedings,, which I had seen officially, but which the Governor in Council on the 7th for some time persisted in refusing to allow to be produced.

"3

3. On the 5th May I received an intimation that I should “fill up my view of what had taken place at the Executive Council held on the 18th April, and 8 paper, giving the Auditor General was personally called to Réduit and requested to draw up a state- ment embodying his view.

4. At the meeting of the Executive Council on the 7th instant the Auditor General proposed reading the statement he had drawn up and given to the secretary, but the Governor refused to permit the statement to be read. The Auditor General and the Governor differed as to the facts. The Procureur General stated that he could only remember the result arrived at. After some discussion the words "adopt " and " addi- tion in annex. A. were altered to " support " and "address" Minute, as altered, was confirmed.

respectively, and the

"

5. I voted against the confirmation on the ground that, though the Minute may technically he accurate, it requires explanation. This explanation I desire to now com- municate to your Lordship. The Governor seemingly desired to make it appear that he adopted the course he followed on the 18th April, regarding the reply to his address on the advice of his Executive Council. The fact is that his Excellency having decided that the introduction of a laudatory or complimentary paragraph was usual, and having personally directed me, as Chairman of the Committee, to accept it, I and other members of the Executive Council decided to support the address with the paragraph added, and also to support the Governor in the further decision he had come to, i.e., that all Government officers were bound to vote in support of the Governor, if so directed, I need not point out to your Lordship that acting upon any other principle would probably be attended with very inconvenient results, especially at present in this Colony.

6. It is right to inform your Lordship that holding the Executive Council on the 18th April was an after thought on the part of his Excellency. I had long since received the instructions of the Governor (as reported to your Lordship in my letter of the 4th May) regarding the course to be adopted and the directions I was to give to the official members. The whole house was assembled, and we were about to recommence proceedings when the Governor summoned the members of the Executive Council to his private room.

7. That we advised the Governor to adopt the extraordinary course he followed is quite inadmissible, though we decided to support his Excellency when, as chief of the Executive, he had resolved to follow it.

8. In Executive Council on the 7th instant the Governor directly asked the Auditor General whether, if free to vote as he thought fit, he would have voted for or against the paragraph, to which Mr. Elliott replied, "I would have voted against it." regards my own action, I had urged the Governor seriously and strongly not to act on As the 18th April as he seemed determined on doing. At the same time I informed the Governor, and have so informed him repeatedly, that so long as he remains Her Majesty's representative in this Colony I will support him in Council with my vote.

I have, &c. (Signed) CLIFFORD LLOYD.

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MINUTES OF MEETING of Executive Council held at Government House, Port Louis, on the 19th April 1886.

PRESENT:

His Excellency the Governor.

The Hon. the Lieutenant-Governor and Colonial Secretary.

The Acting Procureur General.

The Receiver General.

The Auditor General.

ABSENT:

The Officer in command of the Troops.

His Excellency the Governor said he desired to consult the Council as to the course they thought the Government ought to adopt about the address voted by the Com- mittee in answer to his speech, as he had just been told by the Lieutenant-Governor that an amendment was to be moved.

After discussion and consideration the Council unanimously agreed :

1. To support the address with the paragraph added on the motion of Sir V. Naz, K.C.M.G.

2. To treat the adoption of the address with that addition as a Government ineasure which members of the Council of Government being office holders should be requested to vote for.

Confirmed (by 4 votes to 1).

7th May 1886.

MY LORD,

Enclosure 4 in No. 9.

(Id.)

J. P. H.

Mauritius, May 10, 1886. On the 15th April 1886 his Excellency the Governor sent me a draft Despatch, of which a copy A. is enclosed, together with a note asking me if paragraph 2" fairly expressed what passed about the delay in sending the further charges to Mr. Stewart," alluding to a conversation I had had the previous day with his Excellency regarding certain charges about to be served by his orders upon that gentleman.

2. On reading the draft it appeared to me that paragraph 2 did not represent what I had told the Governor, and reflected unfavourably upon my action. I therefore informed his Excellency in writing that it did not fully convey what I had brought to his notice, but that the paragraph I endorsed upon the draft (marked herewith B.) would more accurately do so.

3. On the 22nd instant I addressed a note to the Governor asking him to give me a copy of the Despatch he forwarded to Lord Granville, and his Excellency furnished me with a copy, from which I learned that the Governor had forwarded the first Despatch with paragraph 2 as originally drafted, and without making any allusion to the fact that I had informed him that it was an inexact relation of the part I had taken in the trans- action under report, and without submitting to your Lordship the written statement I bad furnished on the subject, or in any manner referring to it.

4. Under these circumstances I take the first opportunity of rectifying this omission of his Excellency. Your Lordship will remark that on the 13th April I directed the Assistant Secretary (to fairly copy out the charges but not to forward them to Mr. Stewart, as I was informed by his medical attendant that he was in delirium and dan- gerously ill, and I informed the Governor of this on the 14th. His Excellency, however, remarked that "he knew Mr. Stewart better than I did," and directed the charges to be at once communicated to Mr. Stewart. On the following day, however, Mr. Stewart's medical attendant furnished a certificate regarding Mr. Stewart's health to the effect verbally communicated to me.

5. Your Lordship will observe a Minute initialed by the Governor recording his Excellency's opinion that I am mistaken in my statement that I had taken the earliest opportunity of informing him of my action. My recorded instruction not to serve the charges upon Mr. Stewart is dated the 13th April, and I informed the Governor of the fact on the 14th. The Governor's Minute shows that his instructions to serve these charges were dated the 7th April, but as, owing to the fact that his Excellency lives eight miles in the country and does not come to Port Louis for office duties, all papers have to pass E 4