CO882-(4-5) — Page 94

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

SPEC.O. 882

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

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

108

a Royal Commission to inquire into the alleged maladministration of the Government of Mauritius by Sir John Pope Hennessy, and to report upon the actual position of the Colony.

54. On the 7th July 1886,* Earl Granville replied that he had received the memorial, but that the general statements contained in it, unsupported as they were by particular instances, did not appear to furnish sufficient ground for such an inquiry as was suggested.

55. On the 23rd September 1886, the four memorialists before named, as well as Mr. Edgar Anteline, the elected member for the district of Rivière du Rempart, addressed & further memorial to the Secretary of State, specifying particular instances in support of the assertions contained in the former memorial of the 12th April. In forwarding this memorial to the Secretary of State, Sir John Pope Hennessy commented on it in his despatch of the 29th September 1886.†

56. After the arrival in Mauritius of the Royal Commission, the memorial of the five elected members of the 23rd September, and Sir John Pope Hennessy's reply to it of the 29th September, together with other correspondence which had passed relating to subjects connected with the inquiry, were laid on the table of the Legislative Council, and made public. Upon this being done Messrs. Beaugeard, De Coriolis, and C. Antelme, by letters and parole evidence, advanced before the Royal Commission further charges against Sir John Pope Hennessy, accusing him of misrepresenting facts in his published despatches to the Secretary of State, and of attempting to stir up religious antipathies in Mauritius.

57. The five memorialists were informed by me that they were at liberty to give evidence themselves, and to produce any witnesses they desired in support of their assertions. They accordingly appeared before the Commission, together with the witnesses they produced, and gave evidence on oath in support of the charges they had advanced against the Governor.

58. Before commenting on the evidence given under this head of the inquiry, it may be useful to examine the extent to which the five memorialists may be considered to represent the constituencies throughout the island.

59. The population of Mauritius by the last census was 359,874, which has been roughly estimated to be composed as follows:—

Whites

Coloured

Indians, Chinese, and Africans

Total

-

10,000

96,072

253,802

359,874

60. It will be seen by the accompanying returns that the total number of registered Voters for the Council of Government on the electoral rolls of the various districts throughout the island amounts to 4,056, being a little in excess of one per cent. of the population. Of these, 1,979 voters in Port Louis have two votes each, making the total number of votes in the island 6,035. Out of this total 5,505 votes were given at the last election, leaving only eight per cent. of unrecorded votes. Out of the votes recorded the five memorialists obtained 2,397 votes, as compared with 622 votes given for the remaining five elected members. The memorialists thus obtained 44 per cent. of the Votes given in all the districts, and nearly 40 per cent. of the votes possessed by the whole of the constituencies.

61. The accompanying further statement§ will show that 27 candidates stood at the late elections for the 10 seats, of whom 15 have been classed as being now in favour of the Governor, nine as opposed to him, and three as independent. Of the votes given for these 27 candidates, the opposition received 55'8 per cent., the Governor's party 41 6 per cent., and the independents 2.6 per cent.

62. It will thus be seen from the foregoing statements that, whilst the five opposition elected members obtained nearly four times as many votes as the other five elected members, the opposition candidates polled collectively nearly 56 per cent, of all the votes recorded at the late elections.

• No. 18.

↑ No. 31.

Dr. Beaugeard, December 11, 1886. Not printed. Not printed.

109

63. It appears unnecessary for me to go here in detail through the voluminous evidence given by the memorialists and their witnesses in support of their charges. It will, I think, be sufficient if I briefly summarize the allegations which, in my opinion, they have established.

(a.) That there has been of late years a revival of race animosities in Mauritius, and that, iu the opinion of many, this is mainly attributable to the Governor's policy aud utterances, and to his strong anti-English sympathies.

(b.) That religious antagonisms have during the same period been fomented, not only between Protestants and Catholics, but also between two sections of the Roman Catholics; and that, in the opinion of many, this is chiefly ascribable to Sir John Pope Hennessy's strong religious bias.

(c.) That the Governor has, in the opinion of many, allied himself to a party, and that, whilst unrelenting to those who oppose his policy, he rewards those who approve or defend it.

(d.) That Sir John Pope Hennessy is of an absolute and despotic disposition, owing to which differences have arisen between him and nearly all the leading English

officials.

(e.) That the Governor has interfered unwisely and vexatiously in ecclesiastical and magisterial matters.

(.) That Sir John Pope Hennessy's communications to the Secretary of State have contained numerous inaccuracies.

64. As to (a), a few witnesses have denied that there has been in the last three years any increase of antagonistic feeling between the different races of inhabitants. The great majority, however, have admitted that such a condition of affairs exists, but ascribe it to different causes, some attributing it to the introduction of the elective system into the machinery of government, whilst others, the larger number, consider it due to the action and utterances of the Governor. It is probable that there is a certain amount of truth in both contentions In a community comprising such diversities of race and colour the natural antipathies, although, perhaps, until lately more or less dormant, bave never been extinct, and were certain to be awakened afresh in a political struggle by those who saw in them a means for the advancement of their personal ends. The time was one calling for extreme circumspection on the part of the Governor. I do not think that this circumspection has been observed. The Governor seems to me to have constituted himself the champion of one section of the community against another. His policy of Mauritius for the Mauritians" has, in the abstract, much to commend it, but it has, I think, been proclaimed in a needlessly ostentatious manner and carried out with a want of judgment which has, at all events, helped to revive race animosities, and led many to believe that he is influenced by antipathy to the English race and rule.

65. With regard to (6) the attitude taken up by Sir John Pope Hennessy in the differences which have arisen between the Bishop and Roman Catholic clergy on one side, and the " Union Catholique" on the other, calls for some remarks. The "Union Catholique" is an Association which was incorporated some years ago, when it consisted of a considerable number of active and associated members. In 1885, in consequence of the attitude taken up by the "Union" towards Bishop Soarisbrick, 19 out of the 23 secular priests in the island withdrew in a body from the Society, which has since largely fallen off in numbers, there being now only about 80 active members on the list, of whom a few only take any prominent part in the work of the Society. The number of Roman Catholice in Mauritius is estimated at 108,000, and there is reason to doubt whether the "Union" enjoys the confidence of the majority of that number, or whether, indeed, it represents any, besides those who have enrolled themselves in the Society. The real objects of the Association are, as has been stated by witnesses before the Commission, to get rid of the present English Bishop and English priests, substituting for them persons of French nationality; and to secure the control of the educational establishments, with a view to giving greater prominence to French, as opposed to English, teaching. Sir John Pope Hennessy seems to have ranged himself in the dispute, as a strong partisan, on the side of the " Union Catholique." He is stated by the Bishop to have interfered with his work, and to have endeavoured to undermine his influence to an extent which he has characterised as persecution. The injurious insinuations thrown out by Sir John Pope Hennessy in a public despatch against Bishop Scarisbrick and his Vicar-General, of dishonest actions, without producing any evidence in support of such insinuations, and his recommendatian that both these ecclesiastics should be removed from Mauritius, appear to me to be very reprehensible. Sir John Pope Hennessy has been censured by the Secretary of State for these insinuations, and for his unprecedented interference in the affairs of the Roman Catholic 0 3