§ SIR EDWARD WATKINasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether information has reached the Colonial Office that a Memorial is now being circulated for signature in Ceylon, praying for an extension of the term of office as Governor of Sir Arthur Gordon; whether that Memorial was circulated with the knowledge of Sir Arthur Gordon and under the influence of his confidential native aide-de-camp, the Maha Mudliyar; whether the Memorial has been forwarded to the native headmen, officers of Government, with the request that they will cause it to be signed by the people of the districts under their control; and, whether the Secretary of State will cause Sir A. Gordon to take steps to recall the Memorial from circulation, as having been issued by an 1390 officer under his immediate control to Native officers of his Government?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSThe Secretary of State has seen a statement in a Ceylon newspaper that such a Memorial was being circulated by "anonymous individuals calling themselves a Committee to the Mudliyars of the different districts to obtain the signatures of the natives under their influence." It was also stated by an anonymous correspondent that the author of the Memorial was the Maha Mudliyar; but the Secretary of State has no reason for believing that the Governor has any knowledge of the matter, and does not propose to issue any instructions to him on the subject.