PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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2. It would have been more satisfactory to have had Mr. Leclézio's explanations of the words used by him at the meeting of the Chamber of Agriculture. I would also point out that the figures which Sir C. Boyle forwarded do not include those for which I asked, viz., the variations in the deposits in the Commercial Bank. A decrease in the cash balance may be due to causes other than the widespread with- drawal of deposits which constitutes a run upon a bank.
3. It is, however, hardly worth while to pursue this matter further; but, as regards the transaction as a whole, I would remark that this is the second time within a few years that the bank has obtained financial assistance from the Govern- ment by representing the institution as upon the verge of disaster unless the Govern ment lent it a considerable sum of money. The Directors must understand that this is not a mode of doing business which can be allowed to continue, and I have accord- ingly to request that you will inform them confidentially that, if they again permit the affairs of the bank to fall into a similar condition, they must not expect Govern- ment assistance; or, if the public interests make it absolutely necessary to give such assistance, it will have to be accompanied by action which will put it out of the power of the Directors to bring about a further repetition of the situation.
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(No. 281.)
MY LORD,
No. 84.
I have, &c.,
CREWE.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received November 14, 1908.)
Government House, Port Louis, 26th September, 1908. In continuation of my despatch, No. 266, of the 5th current, and with refer- ence to previous correspondence on the subject of Mr. H. Leclézio's remarks at the meeting of the Chamber of Agriculture on the 8th of April last, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of "Remarks" on your Lordship's despatch, No. 134, of the 23rd of July,t which Mr. Leclézio laid on the Table of the Council of Govern- ment on the 22nd current.
2.
These "Remarks were neither read nor discussed in the Council.
3. I also transmit a copy of the recorded minutes of the meeting of the Chamber of Agriculture on the occasion above mentioned, with which I have now been supplied by that body.
I have, &c.,
CAVENDISH BOYLE.
Enclosure 1 in No. 84.
REMARKS on Lord Crewe's despatch, No. 134, of the 23rd July, 1908, presented to the Council of Government on the 27th August, 1908.
Paper laid on the table of the Council of Government at the Meeting of the 22nd September, 1908, by the Honourable H. Leclézio, C.M.G.
His Lordship in the 4th paragraph of the despatch says that he cannot find that the Governor has furnished him with an account of the proceedings of the Chamber of Agriculture of the 8th April, 1908, but that, from the newspaper reports, it appears that Mr. H. Leclézio made the following statements :-" D'abord ce ne sera pas une Commission animée de sentiments bienveillants qui nous sera envoyée. Les Commissaires ne viendraient pas ici dans un but utile; c'est mon impression; je le dis de la façon la plus catégorique. C'est fait de mauvaise grâce. Le Ministre veut nous envoyer une Commission d'enquête sur l'administra- tion en vue de diminuer nos dépenses. Savez-vous ce qu'il comprend par là? C'est de nous rattacher à l'Inde. Voilà ce qu'il nous proposef Vous aurez alors Mr. Maintel (sic) comme Juge à la Cour Suprême. Vous aurez des professeurs venant de Ceylan."
And the Secretary of State adds: "I need bardly observe that there is not the slightest foundation for these allegations and, if Mr. Leclézio has been correctly.
† No. 65,
• No. 82.
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reported, I am greatly surprised that they should have been made by a gentleman who, as a member of the Executive Council of the Legislature (sic) occupies such a responsible position in the Colony."
This opinion is based upon the supposition that the newspaper report is correct, but it seems to me that the least I could have expected was that, before characterising my conduct in such disparaging terms, His Lordship should have called for the Minutes of the Chamber of Agriculture. He would thus have found that the newspaper report from which he quotes was inaccurate and incomplete.
The following is an extract from those Minutes:-
44
Non, le Ministre ne nous répond pas de bonne grâce, ne se montre bienveillant ni pour le Gouverneur qui a fait son devoir, qui a assumé toutes les responsabilités, ni pour la population.
N'oubliez pas non plus le péril asiatique que nous déchaînerions en provoquant l'envoi ici d'une Commission Royale qui opinerait sans doute que le rattachement de notre Colonie à l'Inde serait le plus sûr moyen d'effectuer les économies administratives qui tiennent à cœur à Lord Elgin. Si vous voulez ce rattachement à l'Inde, votez la Commission! Vous aurez Mr. Manilal comme Juge à la Cour Suprême, il nous viendra de Bombay ou de Poona des magistrats indiens, des fonctionnaires indiens à vil prix. Vous aurez des pro- fesseurs venus de Ceylan; Sir Charles Bruce, tandis qu'il faisait sa fameuse réforme de l'Instruction publique 'ne signalait-il pas qu'à Ceylan l'on trouvait d'excellents maîtres d'école pour Rs. 20 par mois? Par le rattachement on réduirait d'un coup plus de la moitié du budget, et cette seule considération pourrait peser bien dangereusement sur l'opinion des gens à qui nous serions peu sympathiques. Notre administration serait envahie
" à 20 et ayas par des 30 roupies par mois: petit à petit vous seriez submergés. Voilà sans doute ce que le Ministre entend par une enquête sur notre administration. Nous aurions un lieutenant gouverneur dépendant de la Présidence de Bombay pour Rs. 20,000 par an."
It will be seen at a glance that the newspaper report quoted by the Secretary of State differs materially from the Minutes of the Chamber of Agriculture. spoke there to a body of fellow planters whose interests were identified with mine and I conveyed to them my apprehensions respecting the appointment of a Commis- sion at what I considered a most critical and inopportune moment.
I maintain that, considering that for some time past, the annexation of this Colony to India had been more than once spoken of as a desirable measure, it cannot he said that there was no ground for the fears entertained on the subject. Nor do I believe that my surmises concerning the intentions of the Secretary of State were irrelevant and objectionable.
At all events I may congratulate myself upon having raised the question as this has elicited from the Secretary of State for the Colonies the very important and satisfactory statement that there is not the slightest foundation for my "allega- tions."
With respect to the reference made to my position as a member "of the Execu- tive Council of the Legislature," I must say that it is not easy to understand its meaning. I cannot admit for one moment that it was meant as a censure upon my conduct as a member of the Legislature, and if it were intended to imply that, as a member of the Executive Council, I am precluded from criticizing the Secretary of State, I would demur to the proposition: When I accepted a seat in the Execu- tive Council in my capacity as an elected member of the Council of Government, it did not occur to me for a single instant that I was abdicating my freedom of thought and of speech.
In paragraph 7 of his despatch Lord Crewe says that the information supplied to his predecessor has, in the light of subsequent events, been shown to be inaccurate. This is very often the case with respect to crops of every description both in Mauritius and elsewhere. Surely His Lordship does not mean that the Chamber of Agriculture, the Council of Government and the Governor himself purposely exaggerated their estimate of the deficiency of the crop and of the money difficulties arising therefrom with a view of obtaining the Secretary of State's assent to the loan.
I am extremely sorry that the Secretary of State should have thought fit to censure those who looked to the future with apprehension and who tried to impress upon him the absolute necessity of assisting the planters. I do not think that our forebodings were exaggerated. It was then almost universally believed in Mauritius that the Colony was on the eve of a disaster and, but for the unexpected increase of
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