§ 6. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will specify the law under which Sir Robert Chalmers allowed amnesties to be purchased for large sums of money by persons against some of whom no charge had been made and others of whom had been acquitted of charges made in connection with the disturbances in Ceylon last summer; what aggregate amount was received in this way from innocent men; and what has been done with the money?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Bonar Law)The system of voluntary contributions in payment of compensation for damage done by rioters is fully explained in the correspondence which has been presented to Parliament. The total amount received has been or will be employed in the payment of compensation in respect of property destroyed by the rioters.
§ Mr. GINNELLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the entire Cingalese population deny that these contributions were voluntary?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI am not aware of that.
§ Sir J. D. REESCan anyone answer for the entire Cingalese population?
§ 7. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Sir Robert Chalmers, then Governor of Ceylon, now Under-Secretary for Ireland, authorised the arrest on the 7th June, 1915, of Mark Leo Fernando, a Catholic, aged twenty-two, the rejection of his protests of innocence of preceding disturbances, the refusal to receive evidence tendered, the refusal of any form of trial or inquiry, and the shooting of him in front of his own house on the 8th June; and under what law was this young man shot without trial after all disturbance had ceased?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI have no reason to suppose that there is any truth in this allegation.
§ Mr. GINNELLHow is it that the Committee of Cingalese gentlemen, some of whom are barristers and reside at present in this country, were not prosecuted for their allegations supported by oath?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWI see no reason for a prosecution. The statements are simply not believed.
§ 8. Mr. GINNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any inquiry has been held into the conduct of the young English clerks and other civil employés in Ceylon who last summer were suddenly and without preparation or qualification appointed as officers in control of military and volunteers for ten weeks under martial law, and in that capacity had men and women shot, outraged, and flogged without any form of trial; if there be any legal ground for that treatment of British subjects will he say 884 what it is; and, if Sir Robert Chalmers, now Under-Secretary for Ireland, disavows responsibility for it, what course will he or the Government take to exonerate him?
§ Mr. BONAR LAWThere is no foundation for the allegation that excesses were committed by the local forces in the suppression of disorder in Ceylon.