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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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C.O. 882/10

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

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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The Secretary OF STATE: The Tamils have no wish for a separate electorate,

have they?

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM : No. A few of them have said so, but not the vast majority.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Territorially they are very concentrated.

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: And things have worked so harmoniously that one area has voted for a Tamil member at the last two elections. I do not anticipate that there will be any difficulty.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: I see you have expressed your wish to have an elected majority. Nothing has been said in any of the Memorials I have got about the distribution of seats or the franchise. Once you have a majority it does not matter about the size of it. You might have an elected majority with a small council or a large council.

MR. PEIRIS: We have suggested about 50 in Ceylon.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: That makes a big house.

MR. SANDRASAGRA: Burmah had only 19 before the new Ordinance was passed,

and now they have 93.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: How many provinces have you?

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: Nine.

MR. PEIRIS And there are the municipalities-Kandy, Colombo, and Galle. THE SECRETARY of State: What about the franchise!

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: We want it as wide as possible.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Including illiterates?

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: Not necessarily either literates or persons who have a

property qualification.

THE SECRETAry of State; And residence.

SIR P. ARUNAchalam: Yes.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Property and residence qualification.

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: Yes.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Are you also in favour of a residence qualification

for the member?

MR. PEIRIS: We are not, because there are certain districts where the choice

is not left to the electors.

The Secretary OF STATE: It is preferable to have a local man.

MR. PEIRIS: Yes. If they found a good local man they would have him.

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: Naturally they would have him.

The Secretary OF STATE: Are there any other points of importance in con. nexion with this?

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: The question of division of subjects.

THE SECRETAry of State: You do not want it.

MR. PEIRIS: No.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: To change the subject for a moment, what are the objects which are closest to your heart? After all a Legislative Council is only machinery. The object is some measure for the good of the country.

MR. PEIRIS: Yes.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: What are the things you want?

MR. PEIRIS: What we say is that although Ceylon has made very great pro- gress, that progress has contributed more to the well-being of the upper classes, and that the interests of the lower classes, the masses, have been to a large extent not intentionally-neglected; and we say that this system of territorial representation and an elected majority in the Council would enable the masses to bring their wants before the Council, and to have legislation; and that on a large number of subjects the members could speak with greater authority than they do now.

At present they are nominated from certain places scattered throughout the Island. They have not an opportunity and you cannot expect them to go round and find out the wants of the different localities. Under this system their wants will be known.

THE SECRETAry of State: Their wants being-more education? MR. PEIRIB: Education and the encouragement of agriculture.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: How about land. Is the land mostly held by small owners!

MR. PEIRIS: The general rule is peasant proprietorship in Ceylon. Even the poorest own land. A large number of people own land in Ceylon, but to some extent they are losing their land.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Are they selling it?

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MR. PEIRIS: Our contention is under the present system they are obliged to sell their land. The taxation of the country really falls upon the poor-all the indirect taxation.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: It is all indirect taxation, is it?

MR. PEIRIS: Yes, except the poll tax, two rupees for everybody. THE SECRETARY OF STATE: That is low.

MR. PEIRIS: Yes. I think these peasant proprietors should be protected in some way, and that their conditions should be better. In many countries they speak about going back to the land. Here we have the system of peasant proprietorship, and everything should be done to encourage them, especially in the matter of grow- ing paddy, food products, and so on.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Ceylon does not feed itself.

MR. PEIRIS No. It has not. It has depended on India for rice. The fact was that everybody turned their attention to planting-tea, coffee, rubber, and other products, even the Sinhalese.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: And made much more money thereby. MR. PEIRIS: Yes, and depended upon India for rice.

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: The people who made the money were the upper classes. They were the people who prospered; that is our complaint. They have not been subjected to taxation, and that is the reason we have asked for a Commission to inquire into the distribution of taxation. There is no income tax there; there is no land tax.

MR. PEIRIS: We want to have a broad franchise so that the peasantry, who are a very intelligent class, should make their wants known.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Are the majority in the country peasants? MR. PEIRIS: Yes.

THE SECRETAry of State: Small landowners or tenants ?

MR. PEIRIS Small landowners. Tenantry is not known really in the rural

districts except in the matter of large estates.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Is much land held by Europeans?

MR. PEIRIS: Yes, by companies, tea and rubber specially. The natives of the Island have the larger proportion of the coconut properties; they have also tea and rubber land, but only a fraction.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: I suppose tea means plantation on a large scale for successful cultivation.

MR. PEIRIS: Yes, tea. Rubber can be grown on a small scale.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: You think the effect of having an elected majority would be to lead to a revision of taxation in the interest of the masses?

MR. PEIRIS: Yes, and that there would be more attention paid to education and to food supply.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: Everybody is in favour of more education. As I understand a great deal is being done for education now.

MR. PEIRIS: Yes. There are new Ordinances.

SIR P. ARUNACHAlam: But 60 per cent. of the people are illiterate, and in a small country like Ceylon that ought not to be.

MR. PEIRIS: At the last Census it was 40 per cent.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: In this country when I was a boy I do not think more than 50 per cent. were literate. It is not so bad. It compares rather favour- ably with most Asiatic countries.

SIR P. ARUNACHALAM: In Japan there is no illiteracy.

MR. SANDRASAGRA: There is an agitation by the people for more money to be spent on education. There is a demand for a university. An association was formed as far back as 20 years ago. which has been pressing its work upon the Government, but things have got into such routine that all we succeeded in securing was a promise of a university college.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: I suppose the island is prosperous, it can afford all these things, can it?

MR. PEIRIS: Yes. What we say is that if the peasant does not pay taxation in the shape of income tax, or something similar, there will be a certain amount which can be got for the purposes of education. Then there is the question of combating disease like malaria, which wants a lot of money. We are always ready to encourage expenditure in those directions.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE: What happens about drink?

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