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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

CILIIIT]

CO. 882/10

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO.

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10. By the proposed Constitution there would be a majority of one for the Government on a division, but it is always possible that on the Government side there might be the defection on reserved subjects of the Ceylonese members on a division, while at the same time a defection on the elected side of the Europeans might be expected in the same division. The result would be: For the Government- Government side, 17; elected side, 3; total, 20. Against the Government-Govern- ment side, 3; elected side, 18; total, 19. Majority for Government, 1.

11. I draw attention to this because after full discussion in the Executive Council on this point, it was decided that it would be expedient to give nominated unofficial members on the Government side freedom of speech and vote, except when Government otherwise directs, and the point then arises, if, after the Governor has directed that nominated unofficial members shall vote for Government and they fail to do so, what steps are necessary, it being first set out that in the letters of appoint- ment to such nominated unofficial members the condition as above is laid down, and that in such a letter the provision is made that, failure to observe this condition will necessitate that the Governor shall be empowered to call upon the defaulting member to resign his seat, or to remove him from his seat. I do not think that as regards the European unofficial members the contingency is likely to arise, but in the case of the Ceylonese it is always possible. To enforce the condition of removal in the case of a Ceylonese might result in an awkward position of affairs, since no Ceylonese might care to accept nomination to the Government side, and unless an unfettered power of appointment were reserved the Government side would conse- quently be three under strength; in order, in a measure, to give these members an opportunity of not actually voting against Government, I propose to include in the orders governing the conduct of business in the Legislative Council the proviso that any member may "decline to vote on both sides of the Council, and this may be taken advantage of, but, though I should endeavour to persuade the Ceylonese members as to their proper course, still the contingency has to be faced, and the resignation or removal of defaulters must be provided for. I have consequently used the word "usually" in my open despatch in regard to the composition of members of the official and unofficial part of the Government side, to enable me, firstly, to vary the official members if desirable, and also, in case of necessity, to fill up nominated unofficial seats, both European and Ceylonese, by officials or unofficials not Ceylonese, if necessity should unfortunately arise.

12. As regards the seats reserved for Kandyans on the elected side, I antici- pate some possible delay in getting the registration of voters completed in time for an election. The qualifications to enable a Ceylonese to be registered as a Kandyan are none too precise, and it has been decided that in order to ensure that Kandyans only are to be placed upon the register, there shall be appointed by the Governor committees consisting of Kandyans, who shall scrutinize such registers with a view to securing that Kandyans only are included in such registers, and in case of names omitted from or wrongly included in such registers, there shall be a right of appeal to the Government Agent, or Assistant Government Agent, whose decision shall be final. These operations, it is considered, will take some considerable time, and hence it may be necessary to provide for possible nomination of two Kandyans to the elected side of the first Reformed Council.

The areas to be considered as Kandyan have been taken to be those as laid down in Ordinance No. 3, of 1870, in B in the schedule to the ordinance.

18. In regard to the composition of the Executive Council, as will be 'observed on reference to pages 4 and 9 of the report of the Ceylon European Association, the Ceylon National Association and the Ceylon Reform League suggest five members, including the Governor. The Ceylon European Association suggest seven, including the Governor. The numbers I propose are ten, including the Governor. That is to say, the present Executive Council, with the addition of two members not being Government officials, but usually one European and one Ceylonese, would be nominated by the Governor from among the nominated unofficial members on the Government side of the Legislative Council.

"

I have designedly inserted the word usually" to cover such contingencies in regard to defection, as I have outlined in paragraph 11 of this despatch, and I am of opinion that, though the numbers of the Executive Council are considerable, it would be desirable to retain the official members as set out.

14. Suggestion has been made by the European Association of Ceylon that there should be established Standing Committees of the Legislative Council of an advisory nature, as set out on page 11, paragraph 3. of the report of the European

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Association of Ceylon. After discussion of this proposal in Executive Council, it was decided that such a course was not advisable, but in any case that the matter might be left for consideration when amending the Standing Orders for the Reformed Council.

15. Though, perhaps, not germane to this despatch, I should mention that it will be necessary to alter the present practice of sitting one day per week for the conduct of the business of the Legislative Council,, and on the contrary to provide for regular sittings of the Council for four days per week.

16. I think that it is very desirable that all these proposals should be desig- nated as a step in advance," and that it should be intimated that after, say, a period of five years, the life of the first Council, there should be a report submitted upon the working of the Constitution, which should suggest any amendments which experience may have shown to be desirable.

17. The method of bringing my proposals into operation has been carefully considered by me, and I have formed the opinion, after consultation with the Attorney-General, that this should be effected by means of an Order in Council. dealing not only with the constitution and powers of the new Council, and with the limitations to be placed on such powers, but also, if it is possible, with the franchise and qualifications of candidates provided for in the proposed Reformed Constitution. I think that if the legislative measures required to bring my pro- posals into operation were submitted to the Legislative Council for consideration and enactment, occasion would be given for the creation of an undesirable political situation. Amendments drafted under the influence of extremist opinions, both inside and outside of the Council, are certain to be proposed, and their discussion and inevitable rejection would give rise to controversy in the Council, and there might ensue considerable excitement in the general public mind, which it would be very desirable to avoid.

18.

After consideration of this despatch and my open despatch, and in view of the importance of the subject, if you should deem it advisable, I should like to suggest that both myself and the Attorney-General should proceed to England at the earliest possible moment after the sitting of the Legislative Council, in August of this year. This would enable us to amplify certain points that may require amplification, and to discuss with you generally the scheme for reform which I have endeavoured to outline.

I have, &c..

Enclosure in No. 31.

W. H. MANNING,

Governor, &c.

THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CEYLON-CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN CEYLON. The Report of the Committee appointed by the Council of the European Association on the 15th of October, 1918, to collect information and to formulate a scheme for submission to the Council.

1. The Proceedings of the Committee. In accordance with suggestions made at the meeting of the Council which appointed the Committee, we originally con- templated the ascertainment of the opinions of Europeans in general, and possibly of leading members of other communities, by personal interviews. We soon realized, however, from the amount of time required for our own deliberations, that such a course would greatly delay the completion of this report and thereby diminish its usefulness in the present circumstances. We considered it preferable, therefore, to content ourselves with the information afforded by published reports of speeches, newspaper articles, memorials, and conversations which individual members had chanced to have with persons interested in the subject of reform. The views expressed in this report are accordingly those of the Committee alone. They may, however, be taken as representative of several different lines of thought, not only because our conclusions are the result of long argument and interchange of ideas, but also because individual members held, at the outset, considerably divergent opinions, and the concurrence of all was not obtained without a careful examination of different points of view. A bare statement of our proposals would be of compara tively little value without an explanation of the reasoning which led us to adopt them; we have, therefore, indicated the chief difficulties which we encountered in

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