CO885-11 — Page 355

352

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

78

The Colombo Port Executive Committee might consist of a Chairman and the follow- ing members:—

Members elected by the State Council, one of whom

should represent Labour

Principal Collector of Customs

5

1

Director of Medical and Sanitary Services

1

General Manager of the Railway

1

Representative of the Naval Authorities

1

Member elected by the Municipal Council

]

Representatives of Shipping Agents

9

Representative of Importing firins

1

Representative of Exporting firms

1

1

Representative of Retail firms Representative of Coaling firms Representative of Oiling firms Representative of Indian traders

Representative of Landing Agents

1

17

If and when means for the purpose are forthcoming, these representatives should be elected by their relative associations.

13. To sum up, it is recommended :—

(a) That a Colombo Port Executive Committee be at once constituted with executive responsibility, and with a whole-time Chairman, as soon as it can be conveniently arranged.

(b) That under the new Constitution the ultimate control of the Port should be exercised by an Officer of State, preferably by the same Officer of State who will be in charge of the Customs Department.

W. E. WMT.

V. VAN LANGENBERG.

T. E. DUTTON.

H. E. NEWNHAM,

A. N. STRONG.

E. C. STUBRS.

G. W. Dopos,

Colombo,

16th October, 1928.

DISSEST.

GEO. BROWN, 28/10/28.

M. J. CARY, 28/10/28.

W. DUNCAN, 25/10/28. R. W. FOWKE.

T. W. HOCKLY.

A. D. SKRINE.

I regret it is not possible for me to accept any of the recommendations in the Memorandum of the Port Commission on the subject of the Donoughmore Report At this juncture it is sure in relation to the administration of the Port of Colombo. Lo he stated that the reason which has prompted the Commission to oppose the control of the Port by a Minister and a Committee of the State Council is distrust of the Ceylonese. It is argued that owing to the Imperial importance of the Port of Colombo and the fortifications surrounding the Port its administration should be in the hands of a Civil Servant Officer of State. In case of a threat to Ceylon by a hostile power the fact that the Port is managed by an Officer of State and not by an elected Minister will not make the slightest difference. A small squadron will easily be able to demolish The Imperial the Port and its fortifications irrespective of who controls them. Government in 1906 handed over the defence of South Africa to the Boers with whom they were in bloody conflict a few years previous to that. Since the War England has fought for and obtained self-determination for nomadic tribes in Arabia and bloodthirsty savages of the Slavonic States of Europe, men who are far less capable of administering their own affairs than the people of this country. I consider the proviso by which the Governor is debarred from giving his assent to any Bill affect- ing the trade and shipping of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies or matters of naval, aerial, or Imperial concern quite sufficient to meet any eventuality which may arise. As for the proposal to appoint an Executive Committee I fail to see how a Committee as proposed would be more capable of conserving Imperial interests than a Committee of the State Council. Besides, such an Executive Committee would not necessarily be composed of experts in matters of defence or port administration.

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The three members of the State Council, the member of Municipal Council, the repre- sentatives of the Railway, Indian traders, importing firms, exporting firms and retail firms are surely not experts in such matters as defence. A knowledge of imports or exports or the retailing of goods would make those representatives experts in their own lines, but will not give them a knowledge of harbour administration or infuse into them a double dose of loyalty. On the subject of Imperial interests and defence it is admitted that the present Port Commission which has executive functions has not been found wanting in any way. The Commission has always had on it a confidential Ceylonese who has been given all access to whatever information of nature was available. The Members of the State Council will, I am certain, be as loyal to the trust imposed on them as the Ceylonese members of the Port Commission have been.

Besides the reason for the appointment of the Donoughmore Commission was the desire on the part of the Imperial Government to give further and more extensive powers to the Legislative Council. As a member of the Legislative Council and as one who was nominated to this Commission at the express wish of the members of the Finance Committee. I regret I cannot be a party to a recommendation to take away the powers the Legislative Council now enjoys over the administration of the

Port.

I feel that the supporters of a Port Authority are rather confused in their ideas as evinced by their memorandum. Much could be said for an independent authority such as the Port of London Authority, but a Port Authority controlled by a Minister (an Officer of State is a Minister) and subject to the general control by the Board of Ministers or a Cabinet is a novel idea indeed, and is an unhealthy hybrid between a Port Trust and a Ministerial Department. I expressed my views at the Commission before the Report of the Sub-Committee was read. I stated that I did not wish to butt in while each individual section was being discussed as the report of the Sub- Committee which was subsequently adopted as the memorandum of the Port Com- mission should be taken as one whole, and it was not possible in fairness to the Sub- Committee to tinker with it. As my views and those of the other members of the Commission are poles apart, I feel l'have no alternative but to append this dissent to the memorandum and to request the Chairman to forward the same with the memo- randum to Government to be despatched to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

C. H. Z. FERNANDO.

M.L.C.

EXTRACT FROM MUNICIPAL JOURNAL OF 21ST SEPTEMBER, 1928. Page 1,469.

Considerations of this order may arise in the minds of many persons who will turn the pages of the Report of the Port of London Authority for the year ended 31st March, 1928. That Report is the nineteenth of its kind, a fact that recalls the stormy passage of the proposals for the Port's improvement before the Authority was established by an Act of 1908. Thirty years ago the London dock companies, by systematic failure to develop the accommodation which the modern cargo vessel requires, combined with insistence on the need for casual labour and a positive pre- dilection for disputes with their employees, had succeeded in exciting the community's hostility. In an atmosphere of passion the question was debated whether the control of the Port should be transferred to the London County Council, imposed upon the That uneasy City Corporation, or be vested in the Thames Conservancy Board. subject was laid to rest by the Government's legislation of 1908. Now the manage- ment of the Port of London, as a matter for debate, is encountered almost as seldom as that rare bird, the black swan.

That fact is not devoid of significance. The Port of London Authority, it should be borne in mind, is a huge experiment in State ownership with management by a Committee representing the several interests that use the Port, and some members drawn from local authorities by indirect election. In many respects the Authority is the expression of a form of ownership and management which appeals strongly to the expert mind. While the broadening and deepening of the channel is a matter of vital concern to those whose livelihood is affected by the condition of the river, and, for that reason, is freely discussed among them, it is a question on which the democracy, instructed neither by engineering nor by life on the water, cannot express an intelligent opinion. Concerned with the control of the Thanes and the develop- ment of London's water-borne traffic, political divisions that elsewhere divide the