CO885-6 — Page 262

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PC.O. 882

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

6PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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16. I avail myself of this opportunity to annex to my despatch an extract from a letter of Sir William Stevenson to the Duke of Newcastle, of the 4th February, 1860. This letter is marked " private,” but is bound up with the confidential and secret des- patches of the year.

17. I refer to this extract the more willingly because Sir John l'ope Hennessy frequently referred to it, distorting the language so as to make it appear that the party in which Sir William Stevenson hoped to find such a loyalty as I have indicated was the party of the French families of unmixed descent, in fact, the party represented by the newspaper "Le Cornéen."

18. In the year 1855 I, myself, reported to the Colonial Office, and the then Secretary of State, that Sir John Pope Hennessy had, in my hearing, urged an influ- ential member of this party to combine with the black and coloured population to get rid of all English influence in the administration of Mauritian affairs, adding that, once the English disposed of, the French descendants would easily rid themselves of the influence of the black and coloured people, and dominate the Colony. This was one of the reasons which directly forced me to take leave to England and ask to be transferred from my then office of Colonial Secretary of Mauritius.

19. Sir William Stevenson's letter was written nearly forty years ago, but the years that have since clapsed not only confirm his views, but make them perfectly appropriate to the present day.

20. The policy of Sir William Stevenson, the policy of so administering the Government as to secure the loyalty of the class he referred to, was followed by his successors, more or less consistently, up to the time of the administration of Sir John Pope Hennessy. He appreciated the wisdom of Sir William Stevenson's views to the full, but having no desire to secure Sir William Stevenson's object, he professed to believe that such a loyalty to British rule as was contemplated by Sir William could be secured by making the old French party dominant in the Colony. One of the principal agencies to which he looked to establish and maintain this domination was the appointment of a French Roman Catholic Bishop and French Jesuits throughout the Colony. I will not, at present, add anything on this theme to what I have said in my confidential despatch of the 10th November,* on the subject of the happy influ ence of the appointment of Bishop O'Neill.

21. Sir John Pope Hennessy's determined efforts to make the old French party dominant in the Colony undoubtedly served to interrupt the policy advocated by Sir William Stevenson. Of the loyalty to England of Sir John's successors there can be no doubt, and none of my predecessors has laid before the Colonial Office his views as to the real nature and scope of the loyalty professed towards British rule more minutely than Sir Hubert Jerningham.

22. His secret despatches showed very clearly that he distrusted the loyalty of all classes of the community, and the fact that one of his despatches is published annually in the Scheme of Defence, seems to prove that his opinions have been adopted by Her Majesty's Government.

23. Mr. Leclézio told me that Sir Hubert Jerningham lived as one of themselves, among the old French party, and he was under the impression that Sir Hubert entirely sympathised with them, and was perfectly satisfied with the sufficiency of their loyalty in the sense he himself understands it a loyalty which he is certain would prevent the community from resisting a French invasion, and which would, he believes, restrain it from active resistance to British troops engaged in the defence of the Colony.

24. It seems to me obvious, from Sir Hubert Jerningham's despatches, that his position as regards the “Cernéen" and the party it represents, have been misunder- stood, but the universal opinion in the Colony has been that ever since the time of Sir John Pope Hennessy's administration, the old French party has been distinctly the dominant party, not only in the control of legislation, but in the distribution of public appointments. As regards the control of legislation, the testimony of the official members of the Executive Council is unanimous, that it was controlled by Mr. Lecłézio, and as regards the distribution of patronage, Dr. Edwards and others have assured me that although they supported Sir John Pope Hennessy's policy of Home Rule for Mauritius, the control of patronages by the heads of departments of the old French community, has made it hopeless for them to expect fair play for the section of the community they represent. Dr. Edwards assured me that he had himself written to the Colonial Office on the subject.

• 35030; not printed.

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25. For my own part, concurring in the views of Sir William Stevenson on the subject of the class I believe to be represented by Sir Virgile Naz and Dr. Edwards, it has been my constant endeavour, both in matters of legislation and the distribution of patronage, to encourage their influence and engage and maintain their loyalty.

scope and 26. It remains for me now to sum up briefly my views as to the real sincerity of the sentiments of loyalty professed by the various sections of the commu- nity in connection with events in South Africa.

27. As regards the resident English community and the descendants of English parents, numerically few, there is probably no more loyal and patriotic a body in any part of the empire.

28. In perfect sympathy and close social relations with the English community are a small number of descendants of French families, but these also are numerically few. Their sentiments are, I believe, in unison with those of the great body of Canadians of French descent. I believe them to be absolutely loyal.

29. As for the old French party represented by the "Cernéen," I agree with Sir Hubert Jerningham in the opinions expressed in his secret dispatches. It would be an egregious error to suppose that they have become loyal members of a British Colony in the sense in which loyalty is understood by Englishmen. In attachment to Her Majesty's person, and in the limited sense of Mr. Leclézio's assurances to me, I believe they are generally loyal. The extract I have translated from Sir Célicourt Antelme's letter, proves conclusively that their party is numerically small, and seems to indicate that it is losing its strength and consistency. Including, as it does, a large proportion of proprietors of estates and merchants, and controlling largely the operations of the Commercial Bank, its influence is great, and it appears to exercise a dominant autho- rity over what Sir Hubert Jerningham justly designated "the dangerous and inflam- mable material of the press."

30. There remain to be considered the general Creole population of mixed or pure African descent, and the Asiatic population.

31. In common parlance, the descendants of the old French settlers, of pure blood, are spoken of as French Creoles, the descendants of Asiatic immigrants as Creole Indians, and the population of pure or mixed African descent, simply as Creoles.

32. The Creoles in this sense are divided into two parties, those in whom Euro- pean blood largely predominates, and those who arc of pure, or nearly pure, African descent.

33. I have dealt so fully with the former class, as represented by Sir Virgile Naz and Dr. Edwards, that I will only declare my belief that they are not only loyal in their attachment to the Queen's person but to a desire to associate this Colony in every- thing that may contribute to the consolidation of British Imperial interests.

34. As regards the Creole population of pure, or nearly pure, African descent, it is certain that they have no sympathy with the old French party. In fact, their principal grievance at present seems to be the domination of members of the French party in the administration and in judicial appointments. They are, I believe, fairly represented by a little sheet called the "Vrai Progrès Colonial." Of all the parties represented by the press they have been most outspoken in their sympathy with Imperial interests in South Africa. I understand from the proprietor and editor that copies of the "Vrai Progrès Mauricien," are from time to time sent to the Colonial Ollice. They are certainly never unmindful of the obligations of their class to British rule, and I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of their loyalty. What they now look forward to with most interest is the reorganisation of the educational system of the Colony, under a Director of Public Instruction.

35. There can be no doubt of the truth of Sir Hubert Jerningham's assertion, in his despatch of the 5th January, 1895,* that "the force of circumstances ia turumg this island into a province of India," and the tendency is now much more marked than it was in 1895. I have informed you in several despatches of the rapid transfer of immovable property into the hands of the Indian population, and this is, to my mind, a material guarantee, annually fortified, of the loyalty of the Indian popula- tion to British rule. All the reasons that are tending to make Mauritius an Indian dependency, the monopoly of the rice trade, and to a very large extent of the sugar trade, in the hands of Bombay merchants; the monopoly of small retail trade among the Chinese; the acquisition of land in the rural districts and of immovable property in urban districts by Asiatics, and the causes undermining the vitality and energy

• 638,95: not printed.

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