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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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TILLICO. 882

التسليبيا

9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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SCHEDULE OF ENCLOSURES.

1. Sessional paper communicated to the Council of Government, 19th November, 1907, giving the purport of certain telegraphic correspondence between the Secretary

of State and the Governor.

2. Remarks in Council of Mr. G. Antelme.

3.

19th November, 1907.

Bank of Mauritius to Governor. 20th November, 1907.

4. Commercial Bank to Colonial Secretary. 20th Noyember, 1907.

5. Chamber of Commerce to Colonial Secretary. 20th November, 1907.

Chamber of Agriculture to Colonial Secretary. 20th November, 1907.

6.

7. Comparative statement of Revenue, 1st July to 1st October, 1907.

Enclosure 1 in No. 18.

CORRESPONDENCE respecting the proposed Loan to assist Owners of Sugar Estates.

On the 30th of October, the Governor informed the Secretary of State by tele- graph that the Member for Black River had given notice of a motion for raising a loan of £400,000 to provide advances-in-aid to owners of sugar estates, repayable in ten annual instalments. The Governor had held out no hope that such a scheme would be sanctioned, but he feared that a crisis such as was foreshadowed in his despatch of the 31st of May is imminent, and if the request for aid is pressed he would strongly recommend that a loan of £200,000 should he approved, to be raised and dealt with on the lines of Ordinance 43 of 1902, repayable in five yearly instalments.

On the 2nd of November, the Secretary of State replied that before assenting to the above proposal he would in any case require full information, which is now wanting, as to the purpose to which the loan would be applied, and the financial position of those whom it is proposed to assist. He feared, however, that the objec- tions were insuperable. The policy of making the Government a moneylender to a certain class of the community, except in special circumstances, such as obtained in the cases of the Hurricane and Transport Loan, but which do not now exist, is one which could not be defended. The planters are already heavily in debt to the Government. On the 9th of November the Governor telegraphed in full the text of Mr. Antelme's motion as unanimously agreed to by the unofficial members. He added that both Banks and the Chambers of Commerce and Agriculture strongly recommended the loan as urgently required, and with that recommendation the Governor agreed. The Governor was further of opinion that the repayment of the loan could be as fully secured as in 1902, that it is necessary in order to avert a crisis which is imminent, and which must have a serious effect on the public finances; and he applied for permission to introduce an Ordinance on the lines of No. 43 of 1902, leaving the rate of interest payable by those receiving advances to be fixed when the terms upon which the amount can be raised are known. It was added that an unprecedented drought had reduced this year's sugar crop by at least 50,000 tons, and that the revenue of the Colony was already feeling the effect; and that further financial difficulties might be avoided if such assistance as had been proposed were promptly available.

On the 15th of November the Secretary of State replied that the intention of his previous message was to make it clear that assent could not be given to the intro- duction of an Ordinance. That as he was at present advised, he could hold [out] no hope that it will be possible for him to agree to the course proposed, but that he was prepared to await the full explanations for which he had asked before giving a final decision; and on the 18th of November the Governor telegraphed that when the loan of 1902 was sanctioned, the debt due by planters and house owners to the Government under the Hurricane Loan amounted to Rs. 4,405,000 and that under the Transport Loan the debt was Rs. 2,778,000. That these items now stood respec- tively at Rs. 3,187,000 and Rs. 1,761,000, and that even adding the loan of Rs. 3,000,000 now asked for the total of such indebtedness to the Government would be less than it was in 1902 by Rs. 2,185,000. That the financial position of intending borrowers would be fully investigated when applications were received for advances, but that it would not be practicable to obtain such information until power had been created to entertain the applications. The purposes of the loan and to which the

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advances would be applied are similar to those obtaining in 1902. The Governor added his opinion that a case for granting the loan stronger than in 1902 had been made out.

Enclosure 2 in No. 18.

EXTRACT from the Debates of the Council of Government.

(Meeting of Tuesday, 19th November, 1907.)

Mr. G. ANTELME: Excellence, avant de procéder à la continuation de l'ordre du jour, je crois être l'interprête de tous mes collègues en vous remerciant sin- cèrement d'avoir bien voulu déposer sur la table du Conseil la correspondance échangée entre le Ministre et vous, et en vous disant combien le Conseil a apprécié votre façon de faire dans la circonstance; et désirerait voir continuer vos efforts pour obtenir une assistance indispensable dans l'intérêt général de la Colonie.

Nes pensons, nous espérons tous que, mieux renseigné par vous, le Secrétaire d'Etat sanctionnera cet emprunt qui seul pourrait empêcher un bouleversement financier qui aurait les conséquences les plus graves pour la Colonie et le Gouverne- ment lui-même.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

Enclosure 3 in No. 18.

Bank of Mauritius, Limited,

Port Louis, Mauritius, 20 November, 1907. My Board have read with much satisfaction the particulars of the correspon- dence which has taken place between Your Excellency and the Secretary of State for the Colonies with regard to the loan of £200,000, asked for the assistance of planters, and I am desired to convey to Your Excellency the high appreciation of the prompt action which you have taken with respect thereto; and it is their earnest desire that you will not relax your efforts to impress upon the Secretary of State the urgent necessity for the required assistance in order to avert what threatens to be an acute and serious crisis should such assistance not be obtainable, not only to the sugar industry, but to the trade and commerce of the Island.

I have, &c.,

To His Excellency

Sir Cavendish Boyle, K.C.M.G.,

&c.,

&c.,

SIR,

&c.

Enclosure 4 in No. 18.

C. MCIRVINE,

Acting Manager.

The Mauritius Commercial Bank,

Port Louis, Mauritius, 20 November, 1907 THE messages exchanged between His Excellency the Governor and the Right Honourable the Secretary of State, in respect of the advance-in-aid applied for by this Colony, affords the bank the opportunity of again approaching His Excellency on this most important subject.

In the first instance, the bank wishes to convey to His Excellency its very high appreciation of the prompt action taken by him in laying before the Secretary of State the resolution of the Council of Government, and for the very warm and cordial support His Excellency has given to it.

It is with concern that the messages from the Secretary of State have been received in the Colony, and we feel we are acting in its best interests in bringing to His Excellency's notice that the possibility of the refusal of the assistance prayed for creates an intense feeling of anxiety in the Colony; and, being given the importance of the assistance required by agriculture, we venture to ask that His Excellency, convinced as he is that this advance-in-aid is absolutely and promptly needed in the agricultural interest and, as a consequence, by the whole

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