7
We Kandyans, representing all parts of the Kandyan territory, assembled at the Town Hall of Kandy on this 3rd day of April, 1920, do appoint Dr. Kobbekaduwe Tikiri Banda, of Kandy, to represent our political needs to His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, with a view to obtain a substantial measure of Responsible Government.
L. B. RANARAGE
(Chairman)
(and 12 others.)
We Kandyans, representing all parts of the Kandyan territory, assembled at the Town Hall of Kegalle on this 25th day of February, 1920, do appoint Advocate A. F. Molamure. of Kegalle, to represent our political needs to His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, with a view to obtain a substantial -measure of Responsible Government.
Kobbekaduwe Tikiri Banda
23827
(Chairman),
(And seven others).
No. 6.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MR. D. B. JAYATILAKA AND
MR. T. B. L. MOONEMALLE.
Downing Street, 28th May, 1920.
SIR,
I AM directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the [13th May]* [12th May], and to inform you that Lord Milner is at present in consultation with the Governor of Ceylon on the question of the Ceylon Constitution, and that he hopes soon to be able to appoint a definite date for an interview with your deputation.
I am, &c.,
31802
No. 7.
G. GRINDLE.
MINUTES OF DEPUTATION TO THE RT. HON. VISCOUNT MILNER, G.C.B. G.C.M.G. (SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES) FROM THE KANDYAN ASSOCIATION.
Colonial Office, Whitehall, S.W.1, Tuesday, 22nd June, 1920.
VISCOUNT MILNER was accompanied by :—
Mr. H. C. GOLLAN, K.C.
Mr. G. E. A. GRINDLE, C.B., C.M.G.
The Deputation consisted of :—
Mr. T. B. L. MoonemallE.
Mr. G. E. MADAWELA.
Mr. J. A. HALANGODE.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Will you be spokesman, Mr. Moonemalle ?
MR. MOONHMALLE: Yes, my lord. In order to save time I have committed what I have to say to a memorandum which I shall ask permission to read.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, you had better read it.
Mr. MoonEMALLE: My lord, in the first place allow me to thank your lordship for so graciously consenting to receive us to-day. We come from the Kandyan Provinces in Ceylon.
Before I proceed to my subject, permit me to introduce in a few words the members of the Kandyan Deputation.
Mr. G. E. Madawela is the President for this year of the Kandyan Association, which has its headquarters at Kandy, the capital of the Kandyan Provinces. He is also by profession a lawyer practising at Kurunegala, and when in Ceylon occasion- ally acts for the Police Magistrate of that Station.
Mr. J. A. Halangode is also a practising lawyer at Kandy and was Hon. Secretary of the Kandyan Association for last year.
I am loth to speak of myself, but in view of the importance of our quest, and the necessity for placing clearly before your lordship our whole case, I may say that from July, 1906, to January, 1917, I was a member of the Legislative Council repre- senting during that period the Kandyan interest. My work in Council is well known to all the administrators with whom I worked. I am a lawyer of nearly thirty years' standing and am still on the Rolls, although I retired from an active practice about five years ago.
What we all share in common is an interest in agriculture. All of us derive the greater part of our income from the land, and are therefore in intimate touch with the peasantry, who form the entire community and whose hopes and aspirations we naturally share.
It has been stated by some political enthusiasts, who do not and cannot share our views, that we have come all the way from Ceylon to press upon your lordship's attention the claims of an aristocracy which so long has dominated the country. I cannot repudiate this suggestion too emphatically.
There is no aristocracy in the Kandyan Provinces.
The King was the head of a highly organised democracy, and fulfilled the functions of a centre round which all the activities and enterprises in the country revolved. The community itself was a congeries of peasant proprietorships.
The King for purposes of administration selected whom he chose to high office and thus set up leaders for the people.
The hereditary principle never applied to these leaders, and in no instance can
it be pointed out that a father was succeeded for two generations by his son in any of the leading offices of the State. In fact the appointments made by the King lasted one year only, and were renewable at his will." Once the King was dethroned, His Majesty the King of Great Britain to all intents and purposes took the place of the Kandy King.
His Excellency the Governor himself will tell you that in appointing Kandyan Chiefs the earlier principles have almost invariably been followed.
I have been at some pains to mark out the boundaries of the Kandyan Provinces
in the map attached to the Ceylon Census Report of 1911.
Your lordship will, I think, realise that, in point of territory alone, we form roughly about two-thirds of the area within the map of the Island.
The necessity for the Deputation I shall clearly place before your lordship,
as soon as I have been able to show your lordship what exactly we stand for, and the circumstances which led to the decision by the Kandyans that a Deputation should wait on your lordship.
Anterior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the Island in the year 1505 A.D. the Sinhalese kingdom consisted of several principalities, each presided over by a prince, who within his own territory exercised supreme powers, subject to the suzerainty of the Emperor.
Since the arrival of the Portuguese, the Maritime Provinces were conquered, and the population of that part of Ceylon came under their rule, and adopted the customs and laws of the conquerors.
As the Portuguese began to decline in power, the Dutch conquered and took over the Maritime Provinces, and imposed their will on the people.
The British in turn took over the Maritime Provinces from the Dutch in the year 1796 A.D. at the Capitulation.
The Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British whilst exercising away over the Maritime Provinces always acknowledged the independence of the Kandyan kingdom and its people.
For nearly four centuries the Sinhalese of the Maritime Provinces, having adopted the customs, lawa, manners and institutions of their Western rulers, became total strangers to those which prevailed in the Kandyan kingdom.
The Kandyan people have therefore during this long period been recognised
as a separate and distinot political entity, following their own laws and customs and bound together by an indissoluble tie of kinship and common interest.
• No. 4.
+ No. 8.
256
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
CO. 882/10
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH--NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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