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(c) Will Government be pleased to state whether they have addressed the Govern- ment of Ceylon or the Secretary of State for the Colonies or for India on any of the matters arising out of the position and disabilities sought to be imposed on Ceylon Indians by means of the proposals under discussion in the Ceylon Legislative Council, and what action they propose to take with a view to the protection of the status and rights of Indians in Ceylon in these respects?

Mr. G. S. Bajpai: (a) Yes.

(b) So far as the Government of India are aware, their Agent in Ceylon has taken no part in the deliberations of the Government of Ceylon, the Ceylon Legislative Council or the representative bodies of Indians in Ceylon on the recommendations of the He has, however, been watching the developments Ceylon Reforms Commission. which have any bearing on Indian interests in the Colony. Government regret that it is not possible to lay on the table of the House correspondence which may have passed between him and them on this subject.

(c) The Government of India are in touch with His Majesty's Secretary of State for India and the Honourable Member may rest assured that should the necessity arise, they will do whatever lies in their power to safeguard Indian interests in the Colony,

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Port from the control of the Legislative Council applies in a lesser degree only; but to my mind the main objection to the establishment of a Port Trust for Colombo is the danger inseparable from such an arrangement of its resulting in the control of the Port being monopolised by individual shipping interests.

4. The suggestion was also considered that the Port should be commercialised in the sense in which the railway has recently been commercialised, and that a separate Budget should be instituted. I was, however, advised that owing to the intimate financial relations existing between the Port Commission and Customs Depart- ments such a suggestion would be extremely difficult to put into operation, and that in view of the extent to which it would be necessary to make arbitrary divisions and approximate calculations the result would be of doubtful value. It was accordingly decided not to recommend the adoption of this suggestion.

5. Complaints have been made that under the present system the fact that the holder of the combined posts of Principal Collector of Customs and Chairman Colombo Port Commission is a Civil Servant and liable to transfer has led to changes being made with undue frequency in the occupancy of these posts, and that as a result There has been a lack of continuity in the administration. There has been some justification for such complaints, and it is proposed to take such steps as may be possible to ensure reasonable continuity of tenure.

I have, &c.,

. PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

LPC.O.882/11

C. 63230/29 [No. 3].

No. 47.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 6.30 p.m.. 24th February, 1929.) TELEGRAM.

I

24TH FEBRUARY. Confidential. I observe that you are being pressed in the House of Commons for definition of the attitude on the Donoughmore Report. much regret that I have not yet been able to complete my despatch partly owing to pressure of other work but mainly owing to grave doubts which I feel increasingly as to the wisdom of sudden change from present franchise to manhood suffrage. I have been endeavouring to think of some reasonably serviceable intermediate stage. I will do my utmost to complete and despatch my report by the middle of March.

C. 63230/29/4 [No. 1].

SIR,

No. 48.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Confidential.)

(Received 4th March, 1929.)

[Answered by No. 50.]

Queen's Cottage, Nuwara Eliya,

9th February, 1929. WITH reference to your Confidential despatch of the 2nd January, 1929,* on the subject of the control over ports, harbours and shipping under the proposals of the Special Commission on the Constitution, I have the honour to inform you that in November, 1928, representations on this subject were received from the Colombo I enclose a copy of the letter received from the Chairman, Port Commission.

together with the memorandum therein referred to.

2. The matter was discussed at a meeting of my Executive Council held on the 22nd January, 1929, when it was decided that this Government should not propose any alteration of the recommendations made in the report of the Special Commission as regards the future control of the Port. It was felt that to do so might be taken as implying such a lack of confidence in the future administration of the country under the reforms that the success of the new Constitution would be seriously pre- judiced at the outset.

3. It was also decided that the Government should not recommend the estab lishment of a Port Trust in place of the present Port Commission. In regard to this proposal the objection mentioned in the previous paragraph to removing the

* No. 43.

(No. 184.)

Enclosure in No. 48.

H. J. STANLEY.

Governor.

Report of Special Commission on the Ceylon Constitution in its relation to the Administration of the Port of Colombo.

SIR,

Colombo, 14th November, 1928.

I HAVE the honour to state that the members of the Port Commission desired

to consider how the position of the Port Commission and the administration of the Port of Colombo would be affected by the recommendations of the Special Commission on the Ceylon Constitution. The matter was brought up at a recent meeting of the Port Commission by one of the members, and it was resolved that the question should be considered confidentially, and that a memorandum on the subject should be drawn up. This was accordingly done, and I forward herewith three copies of the memorandum, together with three copies of a dissent thereto by the Honourable Mr. C. H. Z. Fernando, and three copies of an extract from the issue of the English "Municipal Journal dated the 21st September, 1928, with regard to the working of the Port of London Authority to illustrate the successful working of a body con- stituted as suggested in the memorandum.

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2. Captain E. C. Stubbs, R.N. (Retd.), Master Attendant, has signed the memorandum subject to the following condition :--

"I agree, but consider that Master Attendant should be er officio a member of this body, and sign subject to this proviso. Concur with Harbour Engineer's remark re title."

Mr. G. W. Dodds, Harbour Engineer, has signed subject to the following condition :-

"The suggested title does not seem appropriate and I would suggest a change to a better title. I sign with this condition."

"

3. The Unofficial Members of the Port Commission desire that the contents of the memorandum and connected documents may be forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The Honourable

The Colonial Secretary.

I am, &c.,

W. E. WAIT,

Chairman, Colombo Port Commission.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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