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Enclosure 2 in No. 3.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SIR WILLIAM HENRY Manning, Knight Grand Cross of the MOST DISTINGUISHED ORDER OF SAINT MICHAEL AND SAINT GEORGE, Knight COMMANDER OF THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, COMPANION OF THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN AND OVER THE ISLAND OF CEYLON WITH THE DEPENDENCIES THEREOF,

The Humble Memorial of the Tamil Mahajana Sabhai

MOST respectfully sheweth :-

1. The Tamils of Ceylon have formed themselves into an Association called the Tamil Mahajana Sabhai, at a public meeting held in Jaffna on the 15th August, 1921, presided over by the Hon. Sir Ambalavanar Kanakasabai and attended 'by leading and representative Tamils from all parts of the Jaffna District, as well as from various other parts of the Island. Sir A. Kanakasabai was elected President of the Sabhai, and the Honourable Messrs. W. Duraiswamy and E. R. Tambimuttu elected Members of the Legislative Council for the Northern and Eastern Provinces respectively, and Mr. A. Sapapathy, late Second Tamil Member of the Legislative Council, who were present at the meeting and took part in its proceedings were elected Vice-Presidents. The other office-bearers of the Sabhai and the members of the Standing Committee are also representative leading Tamil gentlemen from various parts of Ceylon.

2. One of the Resolutions unanimously passed at that meeting was as follows: "This meeting declares that no electoral scheme will be acceptable to the Tamils unless provision is made for Tamil seats in the Legislative Council equal in number to two-thirds of the Singhalese seats (including reserved seats in Provinces where the Tamils form important minorities) and that independent action be taken to secure such provision."

3. It is in pursuance of this Resolution the Tamil Mahajana Sabhai approaches Your Excellency in the full hope that the claims of the Tamils as set forth in the above Resolution will receive the favourable and sympathetic considera- tion of Your Excellency's Government.

4. As is well known to Your Excellency, of the nine Provinces of Ceylon," seven contain a preponderance of Singhalese population, and the population of the Northern and Eastern Provinces is mainly Tamil. The Sinhalese population of the Island is a little more than double the Tamil population, including the Indian Tamila who are not permanent residents. The Tamil population of Ceylon is about 1,300,000, of whom nearly half are Ceylon Tamils. Although the Northern and the Eastern Provinces contain the bulk of the Ceylon Tamil population, yet a good portion of it is to be found in other Provinces also, especially in the Western, Central, North-Western, and North-Central Provinces.

5. The Ceylon Tamils are descendants of the Tamils who settled in this Island more than twenty-five centuries ago. They had Kingdoms of their own which continued to exist, especially the Kingdom of Jaffna, till the advent of the Portuguese. From the earliest times, Singhalese Kings sought their Queens from the Tamil dynasties in South India, and were largely of Tamil extraction, and so were their courtiers and nobles who administered the country. An English writer (Still) on the ancient Capitals of Ceylon, speaking of Anuradhapura in the 6th to the 9th centuries, says: "The impress of the Tamils on the (Sinhalese) race must have been so great as to alter the national character. As Singhalese the nation

never again saw prosperity. The great Parakrama Bahu's brilliant reign at Polunnawara (1104-1197) is no exception to this statement, for analysis of his ancestry shows that he was 42/64 Tamil." The Tamil influence continued until in the early part of the 18th century the ruling dynasty at Kandy became wholly Tamil and lasted until the British occupation in 1814.

6. From early times to the present, the Tamils have played an important and prominent part in the history of Ceylon. The part played by them in the develop- ment of the Island's resources under British rule is well known. Under that benign rule the Ceylon Tamils have maintained their progress in every direction, and in spite of their numerical inferiority they have held and still hold an almost equal position with the Sinhalese in official and unofficial life and social advancement. 7. In most of the Departments of Government and in the learned professions the number of Singhalese and Tamils is almost equal. Graduates and Under- graduates of Universities are found among the Tamils in much larger proportion

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than among any other Ceylonese community. Another test of the high literacy of the indigenous Tamils is to be found in the number of voters for the "Ceylonese' seat in the Legislative Council, which was recently abolished, a good knowledge of the English language being required of those voters in addition to other high qualifications. According to a list of those voters published in the Government Gazette about three years ago, there were 1,748 voters contributed by the Singhalese community, which numbered 2,800,000, as against 1,346 voters contributed by the permanent Tamil population of about 600,000.

8. Again, under the new Constitution, the Northern Province, with a popula- tion of 375,000, has registered 18,937 territorial voters composed almost entirely of Tamils, while the Western Province, with a population of 1,253,000, including the City of Colombo, registered 20,822 voters, among whom there is not an insignificant number of Tamils.

9. The Memorialists beg leave in this connexion to mention that the importance of the Ceylon Tamil community is also shown by the great political eminence attained by some Members of the community under British rule and the Imperial honours conferred on them in recognizing the distinguished services rendered by them to this Island. The first Ceylonese knight was a Ceylon Tamil-the late Sir M. Coomaraswamy. Of the five Ceylonese knights now living three are Tamils. The "

Ceylonese" Member of the Legislative Council from the time the seat was created in 1910 up to its abolition this year was a Tamil in the person of the Honourable Sir P. Ramanathan, who was twice elected to the seat by overwhelming majorities by an electorate composed of Singhalese, Tamils, and Mohammedans.

10. It was in recognition of the importance of the Tamil community that the Government provided for adequate racial representation of the interests of the Tamils in the Legislative Council. In the last Council, which was dissolved on the 14th March last, the Sinhalese were represented by three nominated Members and the Tamils by two Members. And the "Ceylonese" Member happening to be a Tamil there were in that Council three Singhalese and three Tamil Members.

11. The Tamil Mahajana Sabhai respectfully brings to Your Excellency's kind notice that the introduction of the new constitution has given a grievous set- back to the Tamils and that there existe, in consequence, a general feeling of dissatisfaction among them. Instead of an equal number of Singhalese and Tamil members, as was the case in the old Council, there are now 13 Sinhalese Members --10 elected and 3 nominated—as against 3 Tamil Members-2 elected and one nominated. There are also in the new Council 3 European Unofficial Members as against 2. 2 Burghers as against 1, and 2 Mohammedans (one of whom is an Indian) as against 1, in the old Council. It will thus be seen that, while the number of Tamils remains the same the number of Singhalese has more than quadrupled and every other community also has gained.

12. The Tamil Mahajana Sabhai begs to bring to Your Excellency's special notice that experience of pure territorial elections under the new constitution has shown that with the low franchise now granted, Sinhalese will ordinarily be elected in the Singhalese Provinces and Tamils in the Tamil Provinces and that even outstanding men of eminence who have rendered public services belonging to another race would have little chance of being elected in a Province where their race does not form predominant population. The Memorialists accept the principle of territorial representation as a sound one, but submit that it has to be evolved gradually in a place like Ceylon, which is inhabited by people of diverse races hitherto represented in Council on a racial basis. It is quite feasible to adjust territorial representation in its initial stages so as to avoid the transition from racial to territorial representation being abrupt. This may be done by a suitable arrangement of electoral areas and allotment of seats, and in special areas by the reservation of seats to safeguard the interests of important minorities, who, under the general territorial system, cannot be expected to secure representation in those

areas.

13. It need hardly be pointed out, this Sabhai respectfully submits, that the proportion of representation in the Legislature is not determined by the British Government or by other civilized Governments by the mere numerical strength of the communities which are represented, but by so many other considerations of political expediency and necessity. The representation of Ireland in the British House of Commons by a larger proportion of Members than the Irish are entitled to by their numerical strength is a case in point. A more striking instance is the Mohammedan representation in the adjoining Continent of India, under the far-

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