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No. 52.

INDIA OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

[Answered by No. 53.]

BIR,

India Office, Whitehall, London, S.W.1, 8th January, 1924. WITH reference to your memorandum of the 19th May, 1923, on the subject of a memorialt addressed to His Excellency the Governor of Ceylon by the Indian Association of Ceylon on the question of the representation of the Indian community in the Legislative Council, I am directed by the Secretary of State for India to transmit, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, copy of a letter received from the Government of India inquiring how matters now stand in regard to the political position of Indians under the new scheme of Constitutional reforms in Ceylon.

2. Should there be no objection, Viscount Peel would be glad to receive any further information available on the subject for communication to the Government of India.

I have, &c.,

71

Council was passed on the 18th of December, making certain changes in the consţi- tution of the Legislative Council. This Order in Council will come into operation on the date of its publication in the Ceylon Government Gazette,

44

2. Under this Order in Council the Legislative Council will consist of twelve official members and thirty-seven unofficial members, of whom twenty-three will be elected by territorial constituencies, while certain others will be either elected or nominated to represent various communities in the Island. Indian is defined as

Under the Order an any person who is a native of British India or of the territories of any native Prince or Chief under the suzerainty of His Majesty exercised through the Governor-General of India or through any Governor or other officer subordinate to the Governor-General of India, and is a resident of Ceylon, but is not domiciled therein." Any Indian not otherwise disqualified will be qualified to have his name entered on the register of voters for the territorial constituency in which he resides. In addition, there will be two Indian members of the Legislative Council, and it is intended that these members shall be elected by the Indian community in a manner to be decided by the Governor in Executive Council.

I am,

&c..

H, J. READ,

H. J. TOZER,

for Secretary, Industries and Overseas Department.

62838

No. 54.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :---

CO. 882/10

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

From

To

Enclosure in No. 52.

No. 404.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, HEALTH AND LANDS,

(Overseas.)

Delhi, the 13th December, 1923.

R. B. Ewbank, Esq., I.C.S.,

Deputy Secretary to the Government of India,

His Majesty's Under Secretary of State for India,

Industries and Overseas Department,

India Office, London.

Subject: Representation of the Indian community in the Legislative Council, Ceylon. SIR,

I AM directed to refer to the India Office letter No. I and O 1592-23, dated the 25th May, 1923, and to request that, if there is no objection, the Government of India may be informed how matters stand in regard to the political position of Indians under the new scheme of Constitutional Reforms in Ceylon., The Govern- iment of India would be glad to receive an early reply to this reference.

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SIR,

I have, &c.,

R. B. EWBANK,

Deputy Secretary.

No. 58.

COLONIAL OFFICE to INDIA OFFICE.

Downing Street, 14th January, 1924. I AM directed by the Duke of Devonshire to acknowledge the receipt of letter of the 8th of January on the question of the representation of the Indian your community in the Legislative Council of Ceylon, and to state that an Order in

* No. 22708/28: not printed.

Enclosure in No. 5 in Cmd, 1900, * No. 52..

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Answered by Nos, 56 and 61.]

(Miscellaneous.)

SIB,

WITH reference to my telegram of the 5th instantt I have the honour to

Downing Street, 22nd January, 1924, transmit to you the accompanying copies of the Ceylon (Legislative Council) Order in Council, 1923,* which was passed by His Majesty in Council on the 19th of December laat.

2.

In Article VIII of this Order relating to the appointment of Nominated Members of the Council, provision has been inserted for the appointment of such Members by the Governor by an Instrument under the Public Seal of the Island in pursuance of His Majesty's instructions through one of His Principal Secretaries of State. No provision is made elsewhere in the Order for the appointment, either permanent or provisional, of Nominated Members after a dissolution of the Council or on the occurrence of a vacancy arising from any cause not mentioned in Articles XIII or XIV. It will, therefore, be necessary in such cases for you to furnish me, by despatch or by telegram, with the names of the persons whom you would propose to appoint, together with any necessary information with regard to them, in order that His Majesty's instructions as to their appointment may be obtained and conveyed to you. It is important that persons provisionally appointed by the Governor under Article XIII of the Order to actual vacancies in the Council should, if it is intended that they are to be permanent members of the Council, also be appointed permanently under Article VIII of the Order, and in reporting such provisional appointments you should state whether they are to be permanent or temporary. If temporary, His Majesty's confirmation or disallowance, as the case may be, of the provisional appointment will be signified to you, but, if it is intended that the appointment shall be permanent, and should His Majesty approve, His instructions for the appointment will also be conveyed to you, and you should thereupon appoint the Member in question definitively to be a Member of the Council by an Instrument under the Public Seal. In the event of a Nominated Member, whose provisional appointment has not been made permanent as indicated above, wishing to leave the Island, it will be necessary to call upon him to resign his seat in the Council if it is desired to appoint provisionally another person to the vacancy in the Council.

3. A proviso has been added to Article X of the Order that, if a Nominated Official Member of the Council ceases to hold public office in the Island, his seat shall become 'vacant.

* Appendix 2. t No. 450/24: not printed.