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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

27494

228

No. 191.

ACTING GOVERNOR SIR G. BOWER to MR. LYTTELTON.

(No. 236.) SIR,

(Received August 5, 1904.)

[Answered by Nos. 211, 212, and 213.]

Government House, Mauritius, July 1, 1904.

I HAVE the honour to enclose, for your information, a copy of the estimates* for the year 1904-5, as passed by the Council of Government. These estimates show a deficit of Rs. 418,251.60.

2. I enclose also the following papers :-

1st. Report of a debate in the Council of Government on a motion by Mr. Leclézio proposing to meet the deficit by a loan which would be raised for the purpose of defraying the cost of certain public works of an extraordinary or unusual character.

2nd. Minutes of Proceedings of the Council of Government for the dates.

22nd, 28th, and 30th June.

3rd. Newspapers reports of the debates. (These summaries do not profess to be accurate, but, as the official reports cannot be ready for some weeks, I send them for what they may be worth.)

4th. The Appropriation Ordinance* as passed.

5th. Draft Ordinances* submitted to the Council of Government for the

purpose of providing additional ways and means to meet the deficit.

These Ordinances were estimated to produce Rs. 500,000 in all.

3. In my speech at the opening of the Council of Government which, for the convenience of reference, I enclose, I drew attention to the financial position of the Colony and pointed to the necessity for extra taxation.

4. For the past two years the Colony has had to face deficits which have been met by drawing on the reserve fund. These deficits were not caused by any falling off in revenue, on the contrary the revenue, despite the low price of sugar, showed a satisfactory elasticity. This elasticity has, however, now come to an end. The small Indian planters who were cultivating the cheap lands remote from railway stations are now abandoning their cane lands. They can no longer defray the cost of transport which has become prohibitive consequent on the scarcity of animals and the low price of sugar. This results in a diminished production caused by the abandonment of cane fields and must produce a shrinkage in the revenue. is now doubtful whether the estimate of revenue made by me two months ago when the estimates were prepared will be realised.

It

5. But if the revenue has hitherto been elastic, the expenditure has been more elastic still.

6. The epidemic of plague which began in December, 1898, has continued ever since and has been supplemented by an epidemic of surra. Plague and surra have cost the Colony Rs. 1,704,512 since 1898, and last year the direct expenditure was Rs. 315,233 on these diseases alone.

7. They have also been the cause of indirect expenditure due to a rise in various charges due to scarcity and dearness of transport.

8. In addition to the expenditure on plague and surra, the reorganisation of the public departments has caused an increase of establishment charges. Com- plaints had been made by the public and by unofficial members of the unsatisfactory working of various Departments and Commissions, on which the unofficial element was fully represented, were appointed to enquire and advise. The advice of these Commissions which was based on the most voluminous evidence, was adopted by the Government and Council of Government with the result that the charges for establishments have been increased.

9. Of late years too, a change has taken place in the character of mari-

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time trade which had to be met. For economical reasons ships are now larger than they were some years ago, and the tendency is towards an increase of size.

10. This required an expenditure on harbour and quay improvements. The harbour has to be dredged to provide berthing for large ships, larger and stronger moorings must be provided and as the demurrage on large ships is necessarily heavy, greater facilities have to be provided at the quays for quick discharge.

11. But it is unnecessary for me to dwell on the deficiencies of the harbour, they have frequently been made the subject of correspondence with shipping com- panies and shipmasters.

12. It will be apparent, therefore, that three separate causes of increased expenditure have been operating at the same time, and, whilst all three can be held to justify the increased expenditure to which I have referred as unavoidable, it must be admitted that there have been other items of expenditure which could have been dispensed with, amongst these I may mention the subsidy to the theatre, the Bacteriological Institute and the new Disinfecting Station, the latter institution has only been used twice in the last twelve months, then only for outgoing vessels.

13. But whatever may be said about the events which have led up to the pre- sent financial difficulties, the Colony is now in presence of the fact that on an estimate which has been reduced to the limits of prudence there is an estimated deficit of Rs. 418,251, and that this estimated deficit may even be exceeded.

14. In view of those facts, I deemed it my duty to press the case for extra taxation from the outset of the session, beginning with the Speech from the Throne. 15. But I have been quite unable to convince the unofficial members or the outside public that the time had come to submit to extra taxation.

16. Mr. Leclézio's motion for a loan was only defeated by my casting vote and the Appropriation Ordinance was only passed by the unofficial members on the condition that they were to be allowed to make a declaration against increased taxa- tion. This declaration was accompanied by a demand for economy and I am now taking steps to stop all expenditure and all indents that are not matters of imme- diate urgency. This may compromise further efficiency, but the action of the Council of Government leaves me no choice.

17. But with every desire to cut the expenditure down to the barest and most urgent necessaries, I foresee that a deficit is inevitable, for many items of expen- diture, such, for instance, as plague, are, in my opinion, greatly under-estimated.

18. I must leave the responsibility for the deficit on the Council of Govern- ment. I will do my utmost to economise on necessaries, but I can hold out no hope that the Colony will be able to pay its way for the whole of the financial year that has now begun.

19. Such a condition of affairs must produce an impairment of credit for which I cannot accept any responsibility, and I can only express my regret that the deliberations of the Council of Government should not have produced another result.

20. I must now leave the matter in your hands.

(Extract.)

(No. 6.)

I have, &c.,

GRAHAM BOWER,

Administering the Government.

Enclosure 2 in No. 191.

MAURITIUS.

COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENT Debates.

MEETING held on Wednesday, June 22, 1904. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

THE ESTIMATES FOR 1904-05.

On the motion of the Honourable the Acting Colonial Secretary the Council went into Committee to resume the consideration of the draft estimates for 1904-05.

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