122. Mr. Baldwinasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies for what reason all shops in the Seychelles closed for two days in December; whether any notification of the shopkeepers' intentions was made to the Government or to the public; and to what extent hardship was caused, especially amongst the poorer classes, by their action.
Mr. Creech JonesI understand that no notification of the intention to close shops in Seychelles for two days last December was given either to the local Government or to the public. The reason subsequently given by the Chamber of Commerce was to emphasise the need for reduction in the cost of living and the removal of certain taxation. The Governor, however, has reported that there is no doubt that the closing of the shops was an attempt to embarrass the local Government in the hope that it would rescind its decision to recover from various wholesale merchants the revised assessment of Income and Excess Profit Taxes in respect of the year 1943 which it has been found were grossly underdeclared. It is impossible to assess the extent of the hardship which was caused by this sudden and unexpected closing of the shops, but I am informed that many consumers had already previously purchased their supplies of rationed food for the month and there was no restriction on the sale of bread.