CO885-24 — Page 45

سلسلسا

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

गय

› Reference :----

MC.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

SIR,

76

CEYLON.

Enclosure 2 in No. 38.

Military Headquarters, Colombo, Ceylon,

28th October, 1914. I HAVE the honour to request that you will kindly place before His Excellency the Governor the case of the Rev. Father L. M. V. Thomas, a German priest, for favour of His Excellency's instructions in the matter, which is as follows:--

Father Thomas, although a German by birth, was born in Lorraine of French parents, after the acquirement of that Department by the Germans in 1872. He maintains that in spirit he is more French than the French, that he detests Germany and everything German, and that life at Diyatalawa, with nothing but Germans, would be "hell."

I forward herewith a guarantee from M. Philippe, the French Consul in Colombo.

Taking the circumstances into consideration I am of opinion that no useful purpose would be served in interning this priest, and that, on the contrary, nothing but evil can result from such action.

I would therefore recommend that His Excellency may be pleased, as an act of clemency, to exempt this reverend father from the rigours of internment with his quasi-compatriots at Diyatalawa.

The Honourable

The Colonial Secretary,

Colombo.

SIB,

I have, &c.,

M. F. HALFORD, Major,

Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General, Ceylon.

I, the undersigned French Consul at Colombo, do hereby certify that the Reverend Father L. M. V. Thomas was born at Pierrevillers, near Metz (Lorraine). Although born in the territory annexed by Germany after the war of 1871, Father Thomas, who was educated in France, has no German sympathies at all, and I do absolutely guarantee that he is thoroughly French at heart.

A. PHILIPPE.

Colombo,

27th October, 1914.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo,

80th October, 1914.

WITH reference to your letter of the 28th October, 1914, I am directed to inform you that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to accept your recommendation, supported as it is by the certificate of the French Consul, that Reverend Father L. M. V. Thomas be exempted from internment as a prisoner of war.

2. I am to request you to be so good as to issue the necessary instractions for his releaJE.

3. His Excellency has requested the Archbishop of Colombo to give an under- taking to be responsible for Father Thomas on his liberation from Diyatalawa.

I have, &c., The Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General,

A. G. CLAYTON,

Your Grace,

Colombo.

for Colonial Secretary.

The Queen's House, Colombo,

30th/31st October, 1914.

WITH reference to our conversation of the 25th October, I am happy to be able to inform you that the Reverend Father Thomas, O.M.I., is being exempted from internment, and I would ask Your Grace to be so good as to give an under- taking to be responsible for Father Thomas on his liberation from Diyatalawa.

I am, &c.,

ROBERT CHALMERS,

The Right Reverend

Dr. A. Coudert, O.M.I.,

Governor.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

77

CEYLON

Archbishop's House, Colombo,

31st October, 1914. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your latter of the 30th/31st instant, and to thank you for the same. I beg to state that I gladly undertake to be responsible for Father Thomas on his liberation from Diyatalawa.

I am, o.,

A. A. COUDERT, O.M.I.,

Archbishop of Colombo.

His Excellency

The Governor of Ceylon,

Colombo.

Enclosure 3 in No. 38.

SMB,

Office of the Director of Irrigation, Ceylon,

Trincomalee, 17th September, 1914.

Mr. C. Zanetti, Irrigation Engineer.

I HAVE the honour to inform you that Mr. C. Zanetti, irrigation engineer, who is, presumably, an Austrian subject, is being compelled to report himself in writing to the police daily. He was also called upon to sign a bond of neutrality. 2. Mr. Zanetti was born in Trieste, but he informs me that he repudiates all allegiance to Austria, and he has never, nor will he under any circumstances report himself to the Austrian Consulates as an Austrian subject. Mr. Zanetti considers He has been for himself to be an Italian, and Italian is his native language. twenty-seven years an exile from Trieste, having been permitted to visit his relatives there for the first time in 1910 under a partial amnesty, and his personal property there has been forfeited. Mr. Zanetti has spent the whole of this time in British Colonies, his wife and children are British subjects, four of his sons having served in the Ceylon Volunteer Forces, and one is now doing war duty. He has served this Government devotedly for more than ten years. As explaining why he has not become a British subject, Mr. Zanetti writes as follows:-

"I did not take out papers of naturalization during all these years because I lived in the hope of a rupture between Italy and Austria, when, if the unredeemed Italy to which I belong to would be redeemed, a restora- tion of what belongs to me would, as an Italian subject, be more rightfully applied for than if a naturalized English subject. Though these hopes and probabilities have never been so strong as to-day and my prospects never so bright, rather than keep under the humiliation I am now subject to, I am willing, even at the prejudice of my chances of future claims, to take out papers of naturalization now, if such a step can be taken at this particular moment." These statements are in accord with what Mr. Zanetti has told me for many years, He has his intense dislike for Austrian rule having been frequently expressed. informed me of his desire to secure some of the Trieste property for his children. 9. Mr. Zanetti abould, at the present moment, be on leave, due to ill-health; but he is staying at his post at my request, owing to there being so many young engineers without experience of the country in the Department at the present

moment.

כן

4. Mr. Zanetti feels very much being looked upon as an enemy and an Austrian, and, although this feeling is, no doubt, exaggerated owing to the state of his health, I shall be glad if, in view of the peculiar circumstances of this case, His Excellency the Governor can see his way to allowing Mr. Zanetti's daily report to be dispensed with; or, if that cannot be done, to allow him to report to me privately, in which case I should be responsible for the reports being received daily.

I am, &c.,

J. A. BALFOUR,

Director of Irrigation.

The Honourable

The Colonial Secretary,

Colombo.

Archbishop of Colombo.

78

CEYLON.