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422

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Statement of figures of the Census of Ceylon, 1921, referred to in the Memorial.

Race.

Malo.

Female.

Baniya

16

5

**Barathar (South Indian Tamil)

82

11

Bengali

+

506

311

Bhattia

Borsb

262

100

*Brahman (South Indian Tamil)

40

24

*Canarese

460

455

**Chetty (other than Natta Kottai)

59

+18

·Cochinese (Malayali)

9,102

498.

Dakni or Daccani

2

*Goanese

49

25

Gujerati

168

18

Ghurka

Hindustani

Kantbri

Kabaterie

Khoja

Konkani

8

20

16

8

10

9

3

7

M.mon

*Kursvon

Mahrati

*Malabaries (Malayali)

*Malayali

***

*Moor (South Indian Tamil)

2

1

45

91

129

19

4,235

719

885

8

26,882

6,644

*Moplah (Malayali).....

6

*Nayakkar

1

2

*Parawa (South Indian Tamil,

115

28

Parsi

190

66

Pathan

90

5.5

Punjabi

54

26

Rajput

18

17

Sheik

18

4

Sindhi

99

8

"Tamil

184,088

268,652

*Telegu

1,042,

935

*Wadoga ...

Other nationalities of India

21

20

84

24

South Indians from the Madras Presidency.

Total

377,664

278,728

+ A large number of Barathara, Chetties and other races have been classed untler which is the language spoken by them.

Enclosure 2 in No. 30.

THE CEYLON INDIAN ELECTORATE ABSOCIATION.

Tamil

T

SIR,

Ridgeway Buildings, P.O. Box 187, Colombo, 2nd July, 1923. UNDER directions from the Committee of the above Association, I have the honour to forward herewith a Memorial to His Grace. the Duke of Devonshire, Ilis Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, by leading Indians in the Island in regard to the two Seats allocated to them under the New Scheme of Reforms and to request that you will be good enough to submit the same to His Excellency the Governor to be forwarded to the Secretary of State,

In view of the subject of reforms being disposed of early by the Secretary of State, it is hoped that His Excellency the Governor will be pleased to expedite the despatch of the Memorial and make it reach the Secretary of State in time.

As regards the signatories to the Memorial, I beg leave to say that, as the Indians who would be qualified voters are legion, the above Association have thought it fit to take to the Memorial mostly signatures of leading Indians in the Island to whon the rest of the Indian population in the Island look-for guidance.

33

Considering that in the Memorial is demanded nothing more than what has been recommended by the successive Secretaries of State, it is hoped that His Excellency will make favourable recommendations,

I am, &c.,

The Private Secretary

to His Excellency the Governor,

Queen's House, Colombo.

I. X. PEREIRA,

President.

HONOURABLE SIR,

Enclosure 3 in No. 30.

Colombo, 11th July, 1923.

I AM directed to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 18th ultimo, supplementing that of the 6th April last, and to state that the Association is exceedingly gratified that His Grace the Duke of Devonshire appreciates the weight of the considerations put forward by it in its Memorial regarding the representation of Indian interests in the Ceylon Legislative Council. Since the receipt of your letter, the Association has noticed in the local Press a cablegram summarizing a White Paper issued by the Colonial Office in which His Grace the Duke of Devonshire is reported to have said that he has under consideration the request of our Association for adopting the principle of election in respect of the two Indian seats. Obviously, there is here an error in the summarist's statement, and it is the desire of our Association to elucidate the point in doubt, so as to furnish the Government with an opportunity, before the Parliamentary Debate on Reforms announced for a date this month, to clarify the position as regards the attitude of our Association, as well as of other responsible agencies of opinion, towards the principle of election as compared with the principle of nomination in connexion with the representation of Indian interests in the new Council.

For convenience of reference, I attach a copy of our previous memorial, from which it will be seen that we suggested that the Government should adopt the principle of nomination for the first five years at least, and that efforts should be initiated during the period named for devising suitable elective machinery. This suggestion was based on the probability that, consequent on the improved condition of immigrant labourers under the recently enacted Ordinance, there would be a sufficiently settled force of Indian labour in Ceylon to warrant gradual enfranchise- ment; and we were, in fact, induced to make the suggestion after hearing the very sound and convincing objection advanced by His Excellency Sir William Manning, at á deputation of this Association which waited on His Excellency, against the extension of the elective principle except to sections of the permanent Indian population, and then only on the evidence among them of a substantial unity of character and sentiment to justify the conferment of such political responsibility. His Excellency instanced, by way of illustration, the cases of British Guiana, Mauritius, and other Colonies, and the Association fully concurs in His Excellency's opinion, based, as it is, on valued administrative experience and political far- sightedness. In the memorial submitted, therefore, the Association endeavoured to guide itself by the wisdom of His Excellency's utterance, and accordingly it is pleased to find its recommendations endorsed and its attitude strengthened by the growing volume of opinion in favour of nomination as opposed to the premature adoption of the system of election.

If the terms of the previous memorial were too general, the Association is now anxious to assert with definiteness the necessity for postponing the adoption of the elective principle in respect of both or either of the seats assigned to the Indian community until such time as there is a more sensible consolidation of the interests of the community.

In the existing state of things, the concession of the elective principle to the Indian community is bound to lead to the exploitation of ignorant masses by demagogues able, by specious and fantastic promises of "Swaraj" within a measured time, to make a powerful appeal to the popular imagination. It will mean the use of the plantation labourer as a pawn in the political game, and provide the agitator and the strike-leader with the opportunity to paralyse national

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