2 9 



In other places, Sinhalese ladies, including unmarried girls, 

 were collected together and made to stand in a row under the 

 charge of a soldier, or of the police, while the house was being 

 searched. 



32. Among others, the houses of the following gentlemen 

 were searched in June last : 



1. Dr. W. Arthur de Silva, J.P., some time veterinary 

 surgeon to the Colombo Municipal Council, and a wealthy 

 landowner. His ability and resources were for many years 

 at the disposal of the Colony in the furtherance of social 

 and philanthropic work. He was a member of the deputa- 

 tion that waited on the Secretary of State for the Colonies 

 a few years ago, for an inquiry into the excise policy of the 

 Local Government, and for a reduction of arrack and toddy 

 taverns. 



2. Mr. John de Silva, a Proctor of the Supreme Court, 

 previously a master in Government schools, an Oriental 

 scholar and the most prominent Sinhalese dramatic writer. 

 His plays for many years have drawn large houses, which 

 included the Chief Justice, Sir Alexander Wood-Renton, and 

 His Excellency Sir Robert Chalmers. When the war broke 

 out he gave two benefit performances in aid of the Prince 

 of Wales' Fund and the Indian Soldiers' Fund. He pub- 

 lished Sinhalese odes on the death of Queen Victoria and on 

 the accession of King Edward VII. As armed Town 

 Guardsmen entered his house to search his papers, one of 

 them threatened to shoot him if he moved. Mr. Silva is 

 about 59 years of age. 



3. Mr. D. B. Jayatilaka, B.A., Jesus College, Oxford, 

 barrister-at-law of Lincoln's Inn, and an advocate of the 

 Supreme Court, was for many years headmaster of Ananda 

 College and member of the Committee of Education. He is 

 editor of the English newspaper, " The Buddhist," the 

 organ of the Buddhists of Ceylon. He is an Oriental 

 scholar, and a member of the Council of the Royal Asiatic 

 Society of Ceylon. He formed a member of the deputation 

 to the Secretary of State for the Colonies to secure the 

 reform of the excise policy of the Local Government, notably 

 with regard to the increase of arrack and toddy taverns. 



