§ MR. ASHLEYI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the determination of His Majesty's Government to employ natives in preference to Englishmen in Ceylon is confined to that island, or whether this policy is to be extended to all Crown Colonies.
§ COLONEL SEELYWhat I stated on Tuesday in reply to the question of my hon. friend the Member for East Nottingham, was that it was the policy of the Ceylon Government and of successive Secretaries of State to pay every consideration to the claims of well-qualified Ceylonese to appointments in the Public Works Department of that Colony, and to give them a certain preference over Europeans with equal but not better 82 qualifications. Similar questions in respect of other Colonies must, of couse, be decided in accordance with the particular circumstances of each Colony.
§ MR. ASHLEYIs the same principle of giving preference to natives to be extended to all the Crown Colonies?
§ COLONEL SEELYI cannot add anything to what I have said. I believe it is the view that the natives of our Colonies should have some share in the administration, and this has been the policy of successive Secretaries of State.
§ MAJOR ANSTRUTHER-GRAYIs the proper term to use "Cingalese" or "Ceylonese?"
§ [No Answer was returned.]