Returning to Ceylon as Governor

by Sir. Henry Monck-Mason Moore

Last British Governor of then Ceylon
The writer outlines his career prior to his return to Ceylon

Sir. Henry began his career in the Ceylon Civil Service and attained high office in the Colonial Civil Service serving in several territories in the Caribbean and Africa before returning to Ceylon as the last British Governor of this country. He, for health reasons, declined Prime Minister DS Senanayake’s offer to stay on as Independent Ceylon’s first Governor General and Lord Soulbury was instead appointed.

(Continued from last week)

Of the latest developments in Ceylon I knew nothing but I remembered that the last time I saw D.S. Senanayake was when he was arrested during the riots. Though he was soon released and I had nothing whatever to do with his case, I was doubtful as to the wisdom of my appointment. So I pointed this out in a telegram to the Secretary of State, but added that I would naturally accept if that was still his wish.It was, and I went. My wife and 1 were flown hurriedly to London and it was only on arrival there that I learnt that the urgency was due to the decision to send a constitutional commission to Ceylon, of which Lord Soulbury was eventually appointed Chairman.

I only had a short talk with Sir Andrew Caldecott, primarily on the question of a successor to Admiral Layton as Chairman of the War Council. I finally secured the appointment of General Wetherall, whom I had known in Kenya, and for a year till the post was abolished we worked together without any friction. In fact as he was the official channel through which I communicated with Admiral Mountbatten and his headquarters, he proved of the greatest service to me and studiously abstained from interfering in civilian questions.

Another surprise for me in London was to attend a lunch at Claridges given by the Secretary of State, Oliver Stanley, in honour of Oliver Goonetilleke. I ascertained that during the war he was given the temporary post of Civil Defence Commissioner, in which though still a member of the Ceylon public service, he had acquired for himself a quasi-ministerial status on his visits abroad. I was destined to have to work closely with him in Ceylon. He was in many ways indispensable in keeping me informed of the gyrations of the political wheel, as he had a foot in most camps. He was, I believe, a sincere supporter of D. S. and served his interests well.

My original suspicion that my appointment would be received at best with mixed feelings was confirmed when I was sworn in as Governor in the Council Chamber. In accordance with the courtesy which has always been a delightful characteristic of the Ceylonese, it had always been customary in the past to present an address to a new Governor, to which he made a suitably prepared reply.

I was informed by Mr. Drayton, the acting Governor, that as it was war time there would be no address or speeches at all. I was a little surprised, but was again assured by Mr. Drayton on arrival that there would be nothing for me to do, but take the oath and then leave the Chamber. I was about to do so, when to my astonishment Mr. Senanayake got up and read me a brief address of welcome. On the spur of the moment I made the best reply I could in which I said that I relied on Mr. Senanayake and his Ministers to assist me in the difficult task that lay ahead.

Next morning I was pilloried in the Times of Ceylon for using the phrase his instead of my Ministers with the implication that I was ignorant of the Governor’s constitutional position vis-a-vis the Board of Ministers. To this day I don’t know what induced Mr. Senanayake to make this unexpected move, but I presume he was told by his advisers that his failure to speak might be considered too discourteous. I mention this incident because it reflects the confused political atmosphere I found awaiting me. In due course my wife and I got to know Mr. and Mrs. Senanayake well and occasional crises did not affect the friendliness of our social relations.

We had hardly settled into Queen’s House when we had to entertain the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their suite en route to Australia, as Admiral Mountbatten was unable to accommodate them in Kandy as originally arranged. Soon after Lord Soulbury and his two colleagues arrived, but it was considered politically undesirable that they should make their headquarters at Queen’s House though we played our part in their entertainment. By the time their Report was reaching finality I had time to form my own appreciation of the constitutional position.

The Donoughmore Constitution had been a departure from the established form of constitutional advance from Crown Colony Government to representative Government. It had been devised to meet the special problems of Ceylon created by the conflicting interests of a population of different races, castes, and creeds. It was not intended, I believe, as a permanent solution but to pave the way to further advance. How far it was successful at first I have no means of judging as I had had no practical experience of its operation. But by 1944 it had clearly ceased to be an effective instrument of orderly government.

The different Executive Committees elected their own Chairman, and as he became automatically a member of the Board of Ministers there was constant jockeying for the coveted post. In the Board of Ministers, each Minister for reasons of personal prestige or for other more legitimate reasons competed for approval of his own policies, and as the official members of the Board had no vote, the Governor’s position became almost impossible.

In theory he had the powers of approval or disallowance and quite trivial matters required his rubber stamp. In practice it had become increasingly difficult for him to intervene without raising an outcry out of all proportion to the importance of the points at issue. The Governor had certain powers for use only in an emergency, but apart from these he had to rely on his powers of persuasion to secure the approval of policies sponsored by His Majesty’s Government.

In peace time, it had not had the same significance, as Ceylon had long secured a large measure of independence in the conduct of its domestic affairs. But in war time the position was radically different, as local considerations had to be coordinated, and if necessary subordinated, to South East Asia strategy as a whole.

Apart from the equivocal position of the Governor the major weakness of the Donoughmore Constitution to my mind was its failure to foster a sense of “Cabinet responsibility” as an integral part of parliamentary government on the accepted Whitehall pattern. ‘The Board of Ministers of course was not a Cabinet, and so perhaps cannot be blamed for often refusing to accept corporate responsibility for Government policy as a whole. It was almost entirely due to the personality of Mr. D. S. Senanayake that he was able to obtain the measure of unanimity that he did, but personal jealousies were rife behind the scenes.

The Soulbury Constitution provided a two-chamber Parliamentary Government on the Whitehall model. It provided for full internal self-government but on certain reserved subjects such as defence, trade and safeguards for the minority communities the Governor could exercise his discretion after consultation with the Ministers concerned. On all other matters he could only act on the advice of his Ministers.

A Public Service Commission was to be set up to protect the Civil Service from political pressures, and an independent Auditor-General was to be appointed. I regarded the latter two provisions of particular importance if existing bribery and corruption was to be suppressed. Provision was also made to secure the independence of the Judiciary.

I supported the recommendations though I expressed some doubts as to whether the minority safeguards would be effective in practice. Also the Commission made no attempt to tackle the problem of the status of Indian Tamil labourers on the estates. In the end the Soulbury Commission was overtaken by events.

Mr. Senanayake had shown great courage and determination in accepting the Soulbury Constitution and resisting the demands of his opponents for full Dominion status, and on at least one occasion he had very nearly succumbed to their onslaught. In the. meantime Canada had objected to the term Dominion status as derogatory, and independence within the Commonwealth became the accepted term.

In 1946 an attempt was made by the Clerical Service to engineer a general strike in preparation for the general election to be held under the Soulbury Constitution after the re-demarcation of the constituencies which was being done by a commission under the chairmanship of Mr L. M. D. de Silva, Q.C. It illustrated the unwillingness of the Board of Ministers to face up to their responsibilities.

Despite the threatening situation, they were conspicuous by their absence. I was in Kandy at the time and Mr. George de Silva urged me to take immediate action. I went to Colombo and met the Ministers, who all urged me to, declare a state of emergency and exercise dictatorial powers. Somehow or other they had come to know of the existence of such an instrument, though it was highly secret.

I then pointed out to them that they had full powers to pass legislation of the same character in the State Council and that if they considered the time had come to take such action it was their plain duty and responsibility to take the necessary legislative action themselves. If they did so I would of course support them in every possible way and they could base their legislation on the draft in my possession.

Eventually they did so, and indeed provided more severe penalties than in the original draft. It was quite obviously an attempt to leave me holding the baby if such strong action was criticized. Actually the strikers went back to work unconditionally and the only fatal casualty was a clerical supporter struck by a ricochet bullet in a side street.

After this I went on leave for a few months, and it was in December 1946 that I heard Mr. Attlee on the BBC offering Burma full independence whether within or outside the Commonwealth. Frankly I was aghast. I knew that Ceylon was much better equipped to make a success of Independence than was Burma at that time, and that it was grossly unfair on Mr. Senanayake who had accepted the Soulbury Constitution in the teeth of much local opposition. I told my wife that I was sure Mr. Senanayake would approach me immediately on my return to ask for my support for Ceylon’s claim to full independence, and that if he did so I should strongly support him.

This happened exactly as I had foretold, and Mr. Senanayake and I worked together most harmoniously. We were working against time and the quick and most obvious procedure was simply to amend those provisions of the Soulbury Constitution which gave the Governor the right to act on his discretion in the case of reserved subjects.

This meant, of course, that the Prime Minister now had the sole right of nomination to the five “appointed” seats in the House of Representatives, to half the seats in the Senate, and to the membership of the Public Service Commission. It, of course, added greatly to the Prime Minister’s powers, and was indeed of assistance to Mr. Senanayake whose position was by no means secure at the time.

On the longer view it obviously provided cold comfort for the minorities if a Prime Minister were swept into power on a wave of religious and racial emotionalism. That is what appears to have happened after the untimely death of Mr. D. S. Senanayake.I was asked by Mr. Senanayake to stay on as Ceylon’s first Governor-General. I had originally been appointed For five years, and I said I would be happy to see my original term out, but for reasons of health – the arthritis which has since crippled me was already giving me much discomfort- I should like to retire then.

So Lord Soulbury accepted the invitation to succeed me, and arrangements were made for my departure on leave. Ceylon was justifiably proud to have been the first Crown Colony to attain independence within the Commonwealth and an atmosphere of general euphoria prevailed.

These biographical notes were originally prepared somewhat hurriedly to provide some background material for the book which Mr. Hulugalle is writing on Ceylon’s Colonial Governors. Since I have now agreed to their reproduction substantially in their original form they would be manifestly incomplete without a reference to the part played by my wife throughout my period of service.

She sacrificed her career as a painter for the more humdrum life of the wife of a Civil Servant which to a woman of her intelligent penetrating wit and personal charm, won her a host of friends everywhere. Later from 1940 onwards when Government House, Nairobi, became a port of call, for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and other VIPs, she contrived to be the ideal hostess despite the fact that she was in her Nairobi office presiding over organizations for the comforts and medical wants of the troops.  It was the same in Ceylon, and she is largely responsible for any measure of success that I have had in my career.