CO882-10 — Page 192

No. of

17006

Members.

19

No. 9.

192

Elected members. North Ceylon (comprising the Districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Mullaitivu,

Batticaloa, and Trincomalie)

4

SIR,

5

Low-Country Districts (comprising the Districts of Colombo, Negombo, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Hambantota. Chillaw, and Puttalam (one of whom to be elected by the City of Colombo) Up-Country Districts (comprising the Districts of Kandy, Matale, Badulla,

Newara Eliya, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kurunegalla. and Anuradhapura... 2

Sinhalese Tamils

Nominated members.

3 2

13. The memorialists also desire to submit that the Government of Ceylon has not been generous in the employment of the sons of the soil in offices of trust and responsibility, and it has systematically withheld high revenue and administrative appointments even from Ceylonese civil servants of proved ability, administrative capacity, and unimpeachable honesty. They, therefore, urge the necessity of a more liberal and sympathetic policy being pursued in this respect, as is being done in India.

14.

It is also submitted that, though Ceylon has been more than a century under British rule, the Government has not been liberal in its expenditure on education, and more especially on higher education. Although the want of a local university has been long felt by the Ceylonese, it has not been established. memorialists respectfully submit the urgent need for the establishment of a Ceylon university for the development of higher education.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE ACTING GOVERNOR. (No. 205.)

Downing Street, 8th May, 1918. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the late Sir J. Anderson's despatch No. 81, of the 12th February, transmitting a memorial from the Jaffna Association as to the reform of the Constitution of Ceylon.

2. I request that you will inform the memorialists that I have received their memorial, and that, while I shall give the views of the Jaffna Association my careful consideration, I do not propose to form any conclusions until the time is more oppor- tune for a full examination of all the difficult questions involved.

I have, &c.,

22668

(No. 129.)

The

SIR,

15. The memorialists beg to point out that the permanent Tamil inhabitants of Ceylon are the descendants of those who settled down more than twenty centuries ago in the northern and eastern parts of this island. The northern Province of Ceylon, the chief town of which is Jaffna, which was also the capital of the ancient Tamil Kingdom of that name, contains about half the permanent Tamil population of the island. The Tamils of this Province are now resident also in other parts of the island occupying responsible positions under Government, besides being engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits.

16. The memorialists submit that the Indian Tamils who form nearly half the Tamil population of the island, and the permanent Tamil population resident in the other Provinces, will not be properly represented in the Legislative Council under the scheme of territorial representation suggested by the National Association and the Reform League, in view of the fact that the western and central Provinces where they chiefly reside will ordinarily return Sinhalese members, who would not be com- petent to represent the interests of these classes. The Indian Tamils are composed of the immigrant labourers engaged in tea, rubber, and other plantations, and traders, who carry on extensive business in all parts of the island, especially in Colombo.

17. In conclusion, the memorialists assure you of their deep sense of loyalty to His Majesty the King, under whose protection they not only live and enjoy various privileges, but have to develop their future progress. They earnestly pray that' the horrible War which is devastating the world, and threatening mankind at large, may soon terminate in a glorious victory to the British and Allied arms, and the complete defeat of the unscrupulous enemy, so that every part of the British Empire, with renovated energy, and in a spirit of brotherhood, may enter on a career of self- development, not only, for its individual benefit, but for the common cause of the Empire.

And your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

Jaffna.

2nd January, 1918.

A. KANAGABABIN,

President.

G. C. JHAMBYNS,

C. ARULAMBALAM,

Honorary Secretaries,

Jaffna Association.

No. 10.

WALTER H. LONG.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Received 9th May, 1918.)

[Answered by No. 11.]

Ceylon, 18th March, 1918. I HAVE the honour to transmit a memorial, dated 19th February, 1918, which has been addressed to you by the Indian Association in Ceylon, praying that the claims of the Indian residents in this island to adequate representation in the Legislative Council may receive consideration.

2. The statement made by the memorialists that there are nearly 700,000 Indians in the island can scarcely be correct. At the census of 1911 the total number of Indian-born persons in Ceylon was ascertained to be 470,651, and of these 465,529 were born in Madras. This sufficiently disposes of the claims of the various races alluded to in paragraph 10 of the memorial, even apart from the fact that no person belonging to any one of these races could represent the remainder any better than such races would be. represented by a Sinhalese or a Tamil.

3. As regards the allusion made by the memorialists to the disadvantages of a scheme of territorial representation, would observe that the introduction of such a scheme would give the trading classes such representation as is practicable, i.e., there would be a member for the constituency in which they had a vote. It seems to me, therefore, that the only question that need be considered in connexion with the present memorial is that of the special representation in Council of the imported labouring classes.

4. If it were possible to include in the Council an Indian-born gentleman who could be regarded as a real representative of estate labour I should be disposed to say that such an appointment would have distinct advantages. But it is obvious that no representative could be found among the ranks of the labouring classes themselves, and a person of sufficient education and standing to be a suitable member of Council could only be selected from among the professional classes, or possibly in rare instances from the trading community, which, however, as a rule confines itself strictly to its own commercial affairs. A professional man, such as a lawyer, or a doctor, might be a suitable representative of the small professional class of Indians, and might perhaps also represent the interests of Indian traders, though it does not seem likely that the Chetty, Borah, or Memon merchants would have much regard for a representative who would probably be a South Indian Tamil, but it seems to me beyond question that such a person would have no qualifications to represent the views or interests of the immigrant labourers on estates who form the vast majority of the Indians resident in Ceylon.

*No. 8.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

b. Is I k k b

Reference :-

C.O.

882/10

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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