CO885-24 — Page 105

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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TTTTT CO. 885

ستان سائل

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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war stage of the defence scheme. The Order in Council of 26th October, 1898, regard- ing emergency powers in time of war. was published, and the necessary Proclamations were issued. A Board consisting of the Chief Judge, the Colonial Secretary, the Receiver-General, the Honourable Dr. E. Laurent, and the Honourable G. Gebert was appointed, under Article 13 of the Order in Council, to determine the amount of any remuneration or compensation payable for articles of food seized under Clause 9 of the Order in Council and the prices at which the articles of food should be sold.

III.-Outbreak of War with Austria.

7. On the 13th August notification of the outbreak of war with Austria was received, and the necessary Proclamation was issued.

IV. Outbreak of War with Turkey.

8. A telegraphic statement from the Secretary of State as to the relations of His Majesty's Government with Turkey was received on 1st November, and was published, in accordance with instructions received, on the 2nd November. The statement was translated into Hindustani and Nagri, and copies in those languages were distributed throughout the island. Notification of the outbreak of war with Turkey was received on the 5th November, and the necessary Proclamation was issued.

9. On the 5th November a message from His Highness Aga Khan to Moslems in His Majesty's dominions was published, in accordance with instructions received.

Expressions of loyalty to the person of His Majesty the King were received from leading Moslems and from the Mohammedan societies in the island.

V.-Censorship of Submarine Cables,

10. On receipt of instructions the censorship of submarine cable communica- tions, as laid down in the defence scheme, was established on the 3rd August at 4.30 a.m.

11. The cables of the Eastern Telegraph Company were interrupted:

(a) Between Seychelles and Mauritius, from 17th August to the 22nd

November.

(b) Between Seychelles and Zanzibar, from the 19th to the 27th August. It is understood that the interruptions were not due to the action of the enemy.

VI.-Postal and Press Censorship.

12. Instructions were received on the 19th August that all letters and parcels posted in or addressed to Germany, including German colonies, and Austria- Hungary should be subjected to military censorship. A warrant was accordingly issued under Article 10 of Ordinance No. 20 of 1878, as amended by Article 6 of Ordinance No. 14 of 1911, empowering the Colonial Postmaster to take the neces- sary action. All postal matter detained by him is forwarded to the military authorities for examination.

13. At first the letters of no importance were destroyed after examination, but, in accordance with later instructions, letters which it may be undesirable to forward to their destinations are kept and not destroyed, and interference with legitimate correspondence is avoided as far as possible. The introduction into the Colony of seditious newspapers, printed in English and in Indian languages, numbers of which have been posted from America, Italy, and Switzerland, has been stopped.

On the outbreak of war the representatives of the various Press interests in Mauritius were instructed to withhold from publication naval and military information of a secret and confidential nature which it would be contrary to national interests to make generally known.

VII.—Treatment of Enemy Shipping.

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14. Instructions were received on the 5th August to put in force against Germany the Order in Council relative to the granting of "days of grace to enemy merchants ships, the 7th day of August being fixed as the date on which infor- mation should reach the Secretary of State as regards Germany's intentions to

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grant days of grace to British shipping, and the 14th August as the date up to which enemy ships would be allowed to unload cargoes and depart from British ports.

The Order in Council was published on 6th August.

15. On the 8th August instructions were received that German merchant ships should be detained permanently, but as no German ships were in the harbour no action was taken.

16. Instructions were received to apply the shipping Order in Council to Austria-Hungary, inserting 15th August for the date mentioned in Article 2, and 22nd August for the date mentioned in Article 3.

17. Subsequent instructions were received that granted to Austrian ships up to the 22nd August. harbour.

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days of grace" should be No Austrian ships were in

VIII. Treatment of Enemy Subjects.

18. Instructions were received to arrest and detain all German officers and reservists as prisoners of war, and to watch Austrian officers and reservists. As there were no German or Austrian officers or reservists in the Colony no action was required.

19. On the 11th October instructions were received from the Secretary of State that no enemy subjects should be allowed to remain on board any British merchant vessel, no matter what her occupation or voyage. The Collector of Customs was instructed to obtain from the masters of incoming vessels the names of any enemy subjects on board and to cause them to be landed. Hitherto no enemy subjects have been found on British ships arriving at Mauritius.

20. In view of a strong suspicion that German firms in the Colonies were concerned in conveying information as to fuel and marine movements in eastern waters to the enemy, the Secretary of State issued instructions on the 18th October that German firms should be either confined to internal trade or closed down altogether.

There is only one German trading in Mauritius. whose imports come solely from the United Kingdom. It has been thought sufficient to censor his corre- spondence and stop his communications with neutral countries.

IX. Consular Officers of Enemy.

21. Instructions were received on the 7th August that German consular appointments held by British subjects were terminated by the outbreak of war, and that any German Consul who was a German subject should be required to leave the Colony forthwith. The German Consul in Mauritius was a British subject. He was informed that his appointment was terminated by the outbreak of war with Germany. A similar course was followed in the case of the Austrian Consul, who was also a British subject.

X-Movements of Shipping.

22. The instructions received for special sailing directions to be issued to British shipping on leaving port, with a view to minimizing the risks of encountering hostile commerce destroyers, have been observed and shipping has not been detained. The policy of His Majesty's Government with regard to shipping was explained to the representatives of the principal shipping interests, and the necessity for continuing the shipping services and not detaining vessels in port was impressed

upon them.

28. On the 8th August information was received that the Messageries Mari- times Company's ships in the Indian Ocean were taking refuge in the nearest French and British ports, and on the 17th news was received that all sailings had been stopped until further orders. On the 22nd August it was announced that the mail services would be resumed at once, but service continued to be irregular for some time after that date.

24. The monthly service of the British India Steam Navigation Company between Calcutta, Colombo, and Mauritius has been considerably interrupted. The London mails of 4th August sent by this route reached Mauritius on the 14th November.

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