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Enclosure 1 in No. 32.

THE CEYLON TAMIL LEAGUE ON MR. H. J. C. PEREIRA'S PROPOSAL REGARDING THE SEAT ALLOTTED TO THE TAMILS OF Colombo and the WESTERN PROVINCE.

THE Committee of the Ceylon Tamil League understands that there is before the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies a proposal from Mr. H. J. C. Pereira on behalf of the Congress delegates in England that the seat to be allotted in the new Legislative Council to the Tamil inhabitants of Colombo and the Western Province be abolished, and that in lieu thereof be granted an additional territorial seat for the Northern Province to be held by a Tamil or, alternatively, a Tamil seat for the whole Island by election or by nomination of the Governor.

2. The Committee desires to record its emphatic objection to the proposal and to invite the attention of His Excellency the Governor and the Right Honourable the Secretary of State to the Resolution submitted by the League on 4th May last. urging the vital importance of the seat to the Tamil Community for the safeguarding of their interests. This view has been pressed on Government by resolutions of all other representative Tamil associations and by memorials signed by large numbers of Tamil electors throughout the Island.

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3. The delegates, in declaring their readiness to give the Ceylon Tamils a communal seat outside the Western Province, on condition of the abolition of the communal seat in Colombo, have shown little regard for considerations of principle or the public interest and betray their real motive to be to shatter the political position and influence of the Tamils.

See

4. It is not, as alleged, a question of numbers, though even on this ground the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of the metropolitan city and province would be entitled to special representation. They are more numerous than the Europeans or Burghers who have been granted it. The percentage, also, of qualified electors among the Tamils is far higher than among the Sinhalese in the area. Sessional Paper IV of 1923, page 9, enclosure No. 1, and page 16, enclosure No. 2.

5. The paramount considerations are that by education, wealth, energy and enterprise in commerce and industry, distinction in the learned professions, by accession of vigorous and progressive elements from all parts of the Island and from Tamil colonies in the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States, etc., the Tamil inhabitants of this metropolitan area have a marked individuality and vigour of life and constitute a special and important interest of their own. They have, moreover, always played a prominent part in the political, social and economic life of the country and are looked to by their brethren in the provinces and colonies for help, advice and guidance in all public matters. They may be said to be, as it were, nerve centres of the Tamil population of the Island and the Colonies. The proposal of the Congress delegates seeks not only to deprive a most important interest of the boon of representation, but to impair the nerve centres and to paralyse the energies of the Tamil Community. The suggested compensation for the loss of this Beat is futile. The loss cannot be compensated by the addition of one or even more Tamil seats elsewhere.

6. Impartial leaders of all communities-European, Burgher, Sinhalese, Mohammedan, Indian-have recognized the need and the value of this Tamil seat, as may be seen, for example, from the Joint Memorandum of 21st February, 1922, submitted to His Excellency the Governor by members of the Legislative Council. Mr. Harry Creasy, late member of the Legislative Council and one of the oldest and most honoured of European residents, is of opinion that the Tamil interests of Colombo are such as to justify the grant of even two seats. The Vice-President of the Ceylon National Congress, Honourable Mr. C. E. Cores, M.L.C., than whom there is no more strenuous and unflinching champion of the Sinhalese, has declared himself most strongly in favour of the seat. These important expressions of opinion have been studiously kept from the knowledge of the Secretary of State by the Congress delegates, who have in season and out of season tried to make out that the Tamils in asking for this seat are reactionary and narrow-minded, and are not supported by public opinion.

7. Honourable Mr. Corea's words are:- .

"The Tamils only asked for equal treatment in that common family of equal brotherhood. They said that, though their territory was small and their numbers few they should not be rated below their brothers. They were absolutely and

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indisputably right. They also said that, if there were to be given safeguards to minorities, the Tamil minority in Colombo which was, in the words of the despatch, a community considerable in numbers which played an important part in the political, economic and social life in Colombo should be safeguarded. If Europeans in many towns needed to be safeguarded, they said, so did the Tamils in Colombo. Again they were absolutely and indisputably right. There was a lot of talk about principles. No principle was involved. To give extra members to the North no more violated any principle than did allotting to the Parliament of the United Kingdom more Irish members than the proportion of their population to the English justified. And the Colombo Tamil seat was beyond doubt a minority safeguard."

8. His Excellency the Governor, who is intimately acquainted with local feelings, conditions and needs, arrived at the same conclusion and strongly recommended the granting of the seat (Sessional Paper IV of 1923, Page 14, paragraph 6 (9)). The Right Honourable the Secretary of State after full consideration accepted the recommendation and conveyed his decision in the despatch of 11th January, 1923 (ibid., page 18, paragraph 11, suggestion VIII), that there shall be one member elected to represent them by Tamils resident in Colombo Town," and added in paragraph 22, "it should be clearly understood that, while I may be able to accept amendments in detail, the general principles of revision must be regarded as settled by this despatch" subject to the consideration of further amendments after the experience of five years. It was clearly meant by the Secretary of State, and was understood by His Excellency the Governor and the general public to mean, that the question of the Tamil seat, was finally settled and not open to review.

9. In view of these facts, the Tamil community considered it quite unnecessary to send delegates to England to counteract the representations of the Sinhalese delegates of the so-called Ceylon National Congress: Honourable Ormaby-Gore's speech in the House of Commons on the 25th of last From a cabled report of month, he would appear to have stated that Mr. Pereira's proposal would be telegraphed to the Governor to ascertain if the Tamils would concur in it. impossible for the Tamils to concur in this proposal, which is a most ungenerous It is attempt to deprive them of a seat of vital importance recognized by other communities and granted by the British Government after full consideration.

10. The League is confident that the pretensions and sophistry of the Congress delegates will not deceive the Right Honourable the Secretary of State, and that His Lordship will adhere to the ruling in his despatch of January last, solemnly announced in the Legislative Council.

By order of the Committee of the Ceylon Tamil League,

H. T. RAMACHANDRA,

Honourable Secretary.

Colombo, 8th August, 1923.

Enclosure 2 in No. 32.

SIR,

I AM directed by the Committee of the Ceylon Tamil League to forward in

Colombo, 8th August, 1923. triplicate the statement referred to in my letter of the 5th instant, and to request that you will be good enough to submit it to His Excellency the Governor for the favour of transmission to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

I have, &c.,

The Private Secretary to

His Excellency the Governor, Colombo.

H. T. RAMACHANDRA,

Hon. Secretary.

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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