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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON |
C. 53429/28 [No. 3].
22
No. 5.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Received 6.30 p.m., 23rd July, 1928.)
TELEGRAM.
[Answered by No. 7.]
23RD JULY. Special Commission. Report has been received here in friendly though slightly bewildered spirit. Public opinion has not yet crystallised sufficiently to warrant forecast of whether and how far recommendations will be generally accept- able. Congress Committee is to meet 28th July. and will then probably formulate attitude which may be expected to have important influence. At the moment it seems unlikely that Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council will wish to commit them- selves by formal discussion of resolution until at any rate His Majesty's Government has shown its hand, but local Government may probably be asked what it proposes to do in respect of such preliminary action as is recommended on pages 58, 61, 62, 77, and 102 of Report. Such action would seem premature until we know whether His Presume you Majesty's Government is prepared to accept main principle of Report. would wish any open comments or recommendations of local Government upon Report to be held over until public feeling here can be gauged, but it would be helpful to me to have some indication of your views generally, and particularly as to what move(s), if any, should be made by local Government.--STANLEY.
C. 53429/28 [No. 2].
DEAR
No. 6.
MR. AMERY to LORD DONOUGHMORE.
Downing Street, 24th July, 1928. Now that the Report of the Special Commission on the Constitution of Ceylon has been published, I take the opportunity of conveying to you, and through you to the other Commissioners, an expression of my sincere thanks for the great industry and anxious consideration which have obviously been devoted to the preparation of this exceedingly interesting document.
You may be assured that it will be my aim to give the fullest consideration to the proposals which you have explained with such clarity and supported with so much ability and erudition.
It is yet too early to appreciate the extent to which these novel proposals will be welcomed or criticised in Ceylon; but I have no doubt that you will be willing, in case of necessity, to allow me to seek your advice on any points of difficulty which may arise in considering the action to be taken on the Report.
C. 53429/28 [No. 4].
No. 7.
Yours, &c.,
L. S. AMERY.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. (Sent 2 p.m., 28th July, 1928.)
TELEGRAM.
YOUR telegram of 23rd July.* Special Commission. Shall be glad to receive by mail full expression of your personal views on the Report of the Commission, so soon as you are in a position to gauge popular opinion in Ceylon. The Commission's proposals are receiving my careful consideration, but I do not propose to make any public announcement of my views at the moment or until I have had your views. For your own information I may state that unless you see insuperable objections to any of the proposals I should be prepared to consider adoption of the main principles of the Report subject to consideration of details as the necessary steps for putting proposals into operation come under consideration.
It would seem logical to postpone preliminary action until decision of His Majesty's Government has been announced.-AMERY.
No. 5.
C. 53454/28 [No. 1].
SIR,
23
No 8.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Confidential.)
(Received 27th August, 1928.) [Answered by No. 27.]
Queen's House, Colombo, 3rd August, 1928. I HAVE the honour to address you on a question of some importance and com- plexity which has arisen in the interpretation of section XVII of the Ceylon (Legislative Council) Order in Council, 1923. Under that section if an elected member of the Council" shall have any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any contract with the his seat in the Government of the Island for or on account of the public service. Council shall thereupon become vacant.'
2. A difficulty has arisen in the application of these words in two instances. The first instance refers to
and Crown Advocates" which ex- "Crown Proctors " pressions are used in section III (1). There are several Crown Proctors and one Crown Advocate in the Legislative Council who are under definite contracts with this Govern- ment to appear in certain Crown cases on a fee. I attach to this despatch specimen copies of their letters of appointment* marked (A).
3 The intention of the Government was to allow them to sit and vote in the Legislative Council in spite of their contracts with Government. It will be observed that by section III (1) Crown Proctors and Crown Advocates are excluded from the expression persons holding public office under the Crown in the Island." This enables them under section XV to be elected members of the Council, und, having been elected, --- to sit and vote in the Council. They will not, therefore, come within the penal provision of the first three lines of section XVI. But it will be observed that penalties are "who shall sit or vote in the Council after incurred under that section by every person
his seat has become vacant.
any
4. By the next section, namely section XVII, if any elected member has “ direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any contract with the Government of the Island for or on account of the public service "his seat in the Council becomes imme- diately vacant. It appears as if the intention to allow Crown Proctors and Crown Advocates to sit and vote in the Legislative Council had not been carried out in its full implication. No one has so far raised this question, but it was noticed when I was considering the case mentioned below.
5. The Acting Attorney-General is of opinion that Crown Proctors and Crown Advocates are liable to the penalty indicated in section XVI although the intention of the draftsman was to exempt them.
6. It may be possible for the Governor in Executive Council under section LXVI to rule that the intention of the Order in Council was to allow Crown Proctors and Crown Advocates to sit in the Legislative Council and to vote, and I shall be glad of vour advice whether the difficulty could be met by the decision of the Executive Council in this way. If this is not possible, the only alternative will be to exempt Crown Proctors and Crown Advocates from the penal provisions of sections XVI and XVII by amendment of the Order in Council. I would, however, prefer to proceed under section LXVI rather than to amend the Order in Council, if that is possible.
7. The other difficulty which has arisen is due to the fact that one of the elected members of the Legislative Council, namely Mr. D. B. Jayatilaka, the Member for the Colombo District, has been appointed to be the Chief Editor in the compilation of an Etymological Sinhalese Dictionary, the expenses of which are borne by this Government.
8. Mr. Jayatilaka was appointed in the circumstances detailed in the annexure* attached hereto marked (B). As stated in the annexure an action has been filed against him in the District Court of Colombo for the recovery of the full penalty for every day on which he sat and voted in the Council. It is of course possible to urge on behalf of Mr. Jayatilaka that the grant is made as a gift to the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) and that there is no contract between this Government and the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) for the production of the Dictionary. It may also be further urged that the compilation of the Etymological Sinhalese Dictionary has nothing to do with the public service. But both the Attorney-General and the Acting Attorney-
* Not printed.
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