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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

mmmimumilm TILLICO. 882

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Their views on the question arising from that reply, or rather from the sugges tion therein conveyed, and I may here briefly state the question and suggestion, namely, if the Colony desires to press its application for a loan, the Council of Government should, by resolution, invite the appointment of a Commission of investigation into the circumstances of the estates requiring assistance, into the necessity or otherwise of improvements or additions to the existing machinery, and generally into the economic condition of the sugar industry, to which duties of enquiry would be added, as the Secretary of State desired, enquiry into the Adminis trative condition of the Colony; the views, I say, of the Unofficial Members were duly communicated to the Secretary of State, and his reply being that he was unable to add anything to his previous communications, the question connected with and- arising from the above-mentioned suggestion is now to be brought before the Council as a whole.

As some misconception may have arisen on the course which has been pursued in this matter. I wish to say that the act of consulting the Unofficial Members of this Council before inviting the Council as a whole to meet and express an opinion thereon, was not only a natural, and to my mind logical, consequence of what had gone before, but it was in accordance with the procedure which seemed desirable and proper to the Secretary of State.

Honourable Members will have it in mind that the initial application for per- mission to raise a loan, 5th of November last, was the outcome of the unanimous expression of opinion of the unofficial section.

Then came the new and distinct application of the 11th of March, during the prorogation of the Council, the Secretary of State's reply, and an expressed indica- tion that before proceeding to formal legislative discussion of the matter, it would be advisable to learn the views of those Honourable Members on whose motion the original application had been made.

Now there was full reason to believe, in the opinion of my Executive Advisers and myself, that assistance to the sugar industry was needed, urgently needed, after the occurrence of the storm and cyclone at the beginning of March, and in submit ting the resolutions passed on the 11th of that month I expressed that opinion.

Then followed the reply with the question and suggestion which I have already indicated, the views of the Unofficial Members, the final decision of the Secretary of State after receipt of them, and now the necessary consequence, namely, the procedure of laying the matter before you to-day in constitutional assembly, and in the latter connexion, I would observe that on receipt of the views of the Unofficial Members, the Secretary of State was informed of the action which I proposed to take, namely, thus to place the matter before you as an open question without further delay.

I have endeavoured to furnish you with the correspondence in sequent order. so as to enable you to be clearly in possession of the facts and occurrences and of the several steps which have been taken since my last communication on the subject was made to you in Assembly on the 19th of November last, but if there be anything that is not clear, I shall be happy to supply such information on the subject as may be needed to make it so.

The question which is now before you is one of serious importance to the whole Colony, and I feel sure that you join with me in recognising that fact.

Equally sure am I that in your deliberation of it, and in the conclusion at which you may arrive, the well-being of the community, the present position, and the future prospects of the Colony, will be the dominant, the only, consideration which will actuate every Member of this Council now assembled.

I hold no doubts as to the productive powers of the land; I entertain no fears as to the innate ability of Mauritius to emerge eventually from her troubles; and should it be determined to hold it I cannot believe that the outcome of any such enquiry as has been suggested would be other than a full corroboration of those conclusions.

If, however, it be necessary to abstain from raising a loan for the purposes under reference, we should not be devoid of hope that united effort will enable the Colony to face its present critical position and to overcome the difficulties with which it is now beset.

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(Secret.) MY LORD,

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No. 58.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE

(Received 23 May, 1908.)

Answered by No. 76.]

Government House, Le Réduit, 27 April, 1908. As reported in the postscript to my despatch, Secret, of the 13th current,* the Council of Government was summoned to meet on the 23rd of this month, in order that the question of the appointment of a Commission of-Enquiry, suggested in Lord Elgin's telegram of the 30th ultimo, should be brought before the Legislature as a whole.

2.

In a separate despatch,t numbered and dated as in the margin, and also by telegram, I have had the honour of inform- ing you of the result of that reference, namely, a resolution, carried by 23 votes to 3, to the

No. 130, 25 April, 1908. Telegram, 24 April, 1908.

effect that "the Council does not feel justified in inviting the appointment of a Commission at the present time.”

3. Twelve Official and 11 Unofficial Members formed the majority; the minority was composed of three Unofficial (Elected) Members. The officials were allowed full discretion in voting on the question, and I have not attempted in any way to influence them in the matter.

4. The chief arguments urged against the invitation to appoint a Commission were: (1) expense, and (2) the length of time which must elapse before the Commis- sioners could report, and before any action could be taken in the matter of raising a loan to aid the sugar industry should they advocate that step.

5. I regret that it is impossible for me to furnish herewith an official record

of the discussion, which occupied the whole of the sitting, and, as the newspaper reports are both inadequate and lacking in accuracy, any extract from them would, in my opinion, be misleading. The authorised report of the debate will be trans- mitted as soon as possible.

6. The Council accepted the conclusion that on the action taken there could be no further question of raising a loan for the purposes indicated, and whilst the minority strongly urged the subsisting necessity for such aid, the vote of the majority was in favour of forgoing the possible chance of obtaining it through the advocacy of the Commissioners. In addressing the Council I expressed the hope that united effort may enable the Colony to face the present financial crisis, and to overcome the difficulties with which it is beset, but whilst I maintain that hope I cannot but view the general situation with considerable anxiety.

7. It is true that under the exceptionally favourable conditions of weather which have obtained since the recent storms, the prospects of this season's crop have considerably improved, and that there is at present a demand for sugar at advancing prices; but nevertheless, the originally estimated output of over 200,000 tons will not, I fear, be realised, and there is nothing to show that present market prices will be maintained during the remainder of the year.

8. Considerable difficulty is still experienced by the planters in obtaining the funds necessary to carry on the cultivation of their estates, and at least four months must elapse before the local money market can commence to realise on the product of the new crop. During that period there can be but little improvement in the public finances, and, as I have already stated, it is by no means certain that the Estimates now in the course of preparation can be framed to show a sufficiency of revenue to meet the ordinary services for the coming financial year.

9. In addition to such services there are the requirements of the railway (upon which question it will be my duty to address your Lordship as soon as the recently received report of the Consulting Engineers has been considered), and other extraordinary services, such as provision for new college buildings, and for measures to successfully combat the continuance and spread of malaria; entailing expenditure which cannot be met from revenue under existing conditions.

10. From the final paragraph of Lord Elgin's despatch of the 23rd of January,§

j No. 29.

• No. 54.

↑ No. 57.

+ No. 49.

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