CO885-24 — Page 31

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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CEYLON.

(i.) On this I confine myself for the present to stating :-

(1) That no member of this firm exercises consular functions either for

Brazil or for Peru.

(2) That since the outbreak of war no code telegrams have been allowed except this Government's own and British naval and military tele- grams, and except for a single code word in each telegram forwarded by the five banks to whom this special privilege was granted in accordance with home instructions.

(3) That, while the total number of regular employees stands at about 2,300, about 1,700 remain in the direct employment of this firm. (4) That, as was indicated in enclosure 5 (vide paragraph 13) of my Confidential despatch of the 20th August,* parole is by no means the measure of the trading restrictions imposed on German firms.

(ii.) I am in communication with the Chamber of Commerce with a view to deciding whether, in the interests of the Ceylon producer and British trade, it may not be well to take over Messrs. Freudenberg's coco-nut mills, which (it is rumoured) are coveted by the London firm mentioned in para- graph 9 of my Confidential despatch of the 3rd instant.†

(iii) In this connexion I enclose, for your information, a copy of a petition of the 21st ultimo from influential Ceylonese merchants, and desire only to add that, while the burden of that petition accords with the universal represen tations made to me by all Ceylonese and Indian traders, I cannot but feel that, of late years, at any rate, there has been a marked shrinkage of busi- ness relations between British merchants here and Ceylonese producers, etc., and that of this opportunity German firms have not been slow to avail

themselves.

(7) Your cipher telegram of 7th September, asking me to telegraph the name and details of the ships clearing under certain circumstances.

I take this Your request will be complied with as the circumstances arise. opportunity of stating that I anticipate from recent market transactions here that considerable shipments of copra may be made, when tonnage is available, by a local Russian firm (Molchanoff Pechatnoff & Company) to the port of Rotterdam (to Van den Berg & Company, through Messrs. Slater & Johnson, of London).

(k) Your cipher telegram of 8th September, prohibiting the export of raw rubber to certain places.

The necessary action will be taken in due course.

(2) Your telegram of 8th September, regarding the legal position of ships captured on the high seas.

I have noted your instructions that such ships are "prizes," and that those only are droits of Admiralty which are described in your telegram.

I have instructed the Honourable the Attorney-General to bring this to the notice

of the Prize Court.

2. With reference to paragraph 1 (f) of my despatch of 3rd September, f Fürth," I have to inform you that regarding zinc and lead concentrate on the 8.8.

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I have despatched to you the following telegram dated 7th September:-

·With reference to your telegram of 29th August, zinc and lead concen-

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trate cargo, Fürth" unloading finished, awaiting requisition. Every effort

is being made to secure space homeward bound vessels."

I regret to find that I was incorrect in stating that the unloading was finished. The material was found to be very difficult to handle, and space in homeward bound vessels was found almost unprocurable.

In this connexion I have to-day sent you the following telegram :-

"My telegram of 7th September, with regard to zinc and lead con- centrate cargo of "Fürth." No available accommodation in English bottoms till the end of this month; can ship portion, if not the whole 1,286, tons zinc, 266 tons lead, by Dutch vessels about the 20th September; do you approve?

3. The position as regards the German prize ships captured in, or brought into, Colombo is as follows:--

* No. 27.

+ No. 29.

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CEYLON.

The "Reichenfels," with her cargo of coal, has already left for Bombay to the orders of the Director, Royal Indian Marine.

The cargo of the "Trifels" has been unloaded here, and the vessel leaves to-morrow for Bombay.

The "Rappenfels" will leave for Calcutta as soon as engineers can be procured (vide paragraph 1 (g) supra).

"

The cargo of the "Fürth is being landed in Colombo, but no claims for the cargo have yet been received.

Subject to adequate guarantees, the present intention is that the cargo of the "Steinturm" and Moltkefels" for Madras should be transhipped here when released, and that the vessels should be allowed to proceed to Calcutta with cargo for that port after orders have been made by the Prize Court.

As regards the remaining vessel, the "Australia," it is impossible to discharge her cargo into the Customs warehouses, owing to want of room at present, but arrangements are contemplated for warehousing the goods elsewhere.

4. Finding that the Government of India had suspended all mail communi- cation from India to Germany, Austria, and their possessions, I telegraphed on 5th September as follows:-

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Please inform me whether Government of Ceylon, following precedent of Government of India, should refuse to accept all postal matter for enemy territories."

Information has now been received from the Postmaster-General in England that postal communication with Germany, Austria, and their possessions has been entirely suspended.

5. I have at present received no instructions regarding the despatch of a contingent of Ceylon volunteers for service at the front-to which I referred in ** Meanwhile the training of paragraph 2 of my despatch of 3rd September." selected applicants for places in the contingent (infantry only) has commenced at Diyatalawa.

6. The Town Guard, to which I referred in paragraph 4 of my despatch of 3rd September, has now been successfully inaugurated, and the training of some 320 members has already commenced.

There are

7. There is practically no change to record in the position as regards the prisoners of war.

now 85 local German residents on parole, 147 passengers and sailors interned at Ragama, 64 on board ships in the harbour, awaiting transfer to Ragama, and 13 still in prison. The new quarters at Ragama will, I expect. be ready this week.

8. I enclose copy of Gazette Extraordinary No. 6658, of 5th September, 1914,† containing the Proclamation issued in pursuance of instructions contained in your telegram of 27th August, referred to in paragraph 1 (c) of my despatch of 3rd September.*

9. With regard to the last paragraph of my despatch of 3rd September,* I have to inform you that there has been this week a welcome rise in the price of copra, which should go far towards obviating possible future distress among that large portion of the native population which depends for its livelihood on the sale of coco-nut produce.

10. The whole Colony continues to be in a state of complete tranquillity.

I have, &c.,

ROBERT CHALMERS,

To His Excellency

Enclosure in No. 30.

Governor.

Sir Robert Chalmers, K.C.B., Hon. LL.D., Governor and Commander-in-Chief

in and over the island of Ceylon and the dependencies thereof, &c., &c. The humble petition of the native and import and export merchants in Ceylon, Humbly sheweth.

YOUR EXCELLENCY's humble petitioners, who are interested in the import trade, are a large community, including almost every native race in the island. They are in the distributing trade, and a large proportion of the piece goods trade

↑ Not reprinted.

* No. 29.

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