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No. 71.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 26th November, 1915)

[Published, except portions here printed, as No. 24 in [Cd. 8167], January, 1916.]

(No. 718.)

13.

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The Queen's House, Colombo, Ceylon, 4th November, 1915.

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generally. I enclose in this connexion a copy of a memorandum by the Inspector-General of Police on Buddhist schools, in which you will find several of their names, and which, incidentally, throws an interesting light on the character of Mr. Charles-Batuwantudawa.

(Confidential.)

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Enclosure 3 in No. 71.

BUDDHIST SCHOOLS.

THE HONOURable the Colonial Secretary,

In the course of inquiries made into the causes of the recent disturbances one point is very clearly established, viz., that the whole responsibility for them rests with persons who have written and preached in such a manner as to foster contempt for authority and to stir up feelings of ill-will between classes. Promi- nent among them have been persons connected with Buddhist and theosophical societies.

2. The Theosophical Society publish and print a daily Sinhalese news- paper styled the Sarasavi Sandaresa, in which articles directly inciting feelings of hostility between the Sinhalese and the Moors had appeared, one such article being published on the 1st June, the day on which serious rioting started in Colombo. The manager of the paper is on the committee of the society, the paper is printed and published in the same building in which the society meets, and the paper is, by the rules of the society, the official organ of the society. The president of the Ceylon branch of the Theosophical Society is Mr. Charles Batuwantudawa.

3. The Maha Bodhi Society prints and publishes two papers, viz., the Sinhala Bauddhaya,

a daily Sinhalese newspaper, and the Maha Bodhi Journal, a monthly magazine printed in English. Dharmapala is the president of the society and Dr. C. A. Hewavitarne (his brother) is the secretary. The trustees of the society are Dr. C. A. Hewavitarne, Arthur V. Dias, and W. H. W. Perera. Dharmapala is the principal contributor to both papers, and since the year 1912 a direct attack on, and abuse of, other religions, contempt for authority, and feelings of hostility towards the Moors have been raised in the papers published by this Bociety.

4. The Young Men's Buddhist Association, which holds its meetings in a room exactly opposite the gates of the railway workshops, is presided over by Mr. D. B. Jayatilleke. The latter gentleman is connected with the Dina Mina Sinhalese newspaper, which also published seditious articles. The Young Men's Buddhist Association is, from the result of my inquiry, not one to be encouraged by Government. It is a political rather than a religious society.

5. These agitators have not only busied themselves in attacking the Moors, but have preached a doctrine in which foreign" and "foreigner is a favoured method of describing persons other than Buddhist Sinhalese as against "national " and "Nationalist." Now in the year 1912 the workmen of the boiler and loco- motive shops of the railway (than whom there are no worse ruffians in Colombo) complained that Cochins should not be employed in the shops; they argued that Sinhalese should be employed. Cochins were classed as aliens." The truth was that Cochins were employed because Sinhalese would not do the work the Cochina did. Now these men formed themselves into an association called the Workmen's Provident Association, which was, in fact, a "strike committee." The associa- tion was formed at the time of the railway strike. It is significant that the office- bearers of this association are

President: C. Batuwantudawa. Vice-President: Arthur V. Dias Treasurer: D. C. Senanayake.

6. Now C. Batuwantudawa is the manager of Buddhist schools established under the auspices of the Theosophical Society; Arthur V. Dias is under arrest at Panadure awaiting trial by court-martial, and, it will be remembered, is a trustee of the Maha Bodhi Society. The manager of the Maha Bodhi Society schools is Dr. C. A. Hewavitarne. The question is, what influence do these societies exercise over Buddhist schools which receive a grant from Government for the education of the youth of the Colony?

7. At a meeting of the Hapitigam Temperance Union, which it had been proved was distinctly political," a report was read which spoke of the work done amongst the schools in the Hapitigam Korale. The teacher of the Buddhist Boys' School at Udispattu, writing on 3rd June, 1915, to the editor of the Sinhala Bauddhaya, describes how the trade and influence of the Mohammedans in the Kandy District has been successfully destroyed. In the month of May the Maha Bodhi College published a magazine for the first time. On the front page appears the photograph of Dr. C. A. Hewavitarne as the manager of the Maha Bodhi Schools. In the editorial note the editors state: "We as editors shall do our duty conscientiously and fearlessly, shall advocate what is right, and maintain it with our lives, and, if it needs be, with our deaths." On the first page is printed "Soots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," the last verse of which runs

"Lay the proud usurpers low,

Tyrants fall in every foe; Liberty's in every blow,

Let us do or die.

On the second page appears a historical survey," which directs the reader to foous his attention not on the war in the West, but on a matter of interest to "ourselves alone.". The writer proceeds to describe the "land (Ceylon) in which for twenty-five centuries our noble sires lived, and fought, and died."

"Never before has this island of ours been under a foreign sway for one hundred consecutive years, as she has done during the century which elapsed on the 2nd of March.'

The readers are asked to focus their minds on our "struggle for existence." "Nothing is permanent and everything is transient."

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Hardly suitable matter for schoolboys. In the house of the principal of the

Scots wha hae Maha Bodhi College, who admitted that he had published the front page, was found a postcard, dated 27th May, headed "Wesak Greetings." On this is written: "The blessed one sacrificed everything for our sake, let us therefore sacrifice ours unto his sake.”

In the Dharmarajah College Magazine is printed: It is a duty peculiarly our own to work for the future glory of this ancient land of ours. And I trust that the old boys of Dharmarajah will not be found wanting when the time comes.

"The prosperity and security which they as a nation enjoyed before their national existence was threatened and finally destroyed by the foreign invader is also referred to. The Dharmarajah College was also the scene of a meeting at which Victor Cores spoke on the Kandyan Convention on the 27th February, 1915. The lecture was hardly suitable for schoolboys, and was not delivered in a manner likely to do schoolboys any good. The same speaker repeated his speech in the Pettah Library, Colombo, on the 2nd March, at which one speaker said: We will await the decision of the appeal and then give medicine according to the sickness": the appeal was that of the Gampola perahera case.

In the Royal College there is a branch of the Young Men's Buddhist Associa tion, and in this college, I understand, certain of the boys were mourning for the prisoner Pedris who was executed for treason. Now if this happens in a Govern ment institution in Colombo, what is the tone of the Buddhist schools generally? What, for instance, is taught in the school managed by Mrs. Musaeus Higgins, in Rosemead Place? Mrs. Musaeus Higgins is a Theosophist, and the school is one for Buddhist girls. Mrs. Musaeus Higgins is a German who married an American; there is evidence that she was in touch with the German Buddhist priests at Dodanduwa, and I imagine that feelings of loyalty to Great Britain find no place in the education she imparts. God Save the King" is never sung, and Govern- ment holidays, including the King's birthday, are not observed. The history taught in this and other Buddhist schools is, I am informed, the history of Ceylon, and I am given to understand the history in the vernacular is not one which teaches loyalty to Great Britain, but rather dwells on the glorious past of the Buddhists. In Ceylon it is necessary for the prosperity and maintenance of the Colony

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