7 1 

 APPENDIX " C." 



Editorial, " Ceylonese," June gth, 1915. 

 (Censored.) 



"In its comments on the events of the last few days through- 

 out the Island, an evening paper in its Monday issue, takes 

 upon itself to assume that the riots were the outcome of a con- 

 spiracy, thereby creating an impression in the minds of the 

 authorities which may do a great deal of unnecessary harm 

 where the people of the country are concerned. 



" The article is so mischievous in its import that we doubt 

 whether any level-headed European could be so ungenerous as 

 to suggest what it does. The harm it could do is enormous, as 

 it may mislead the authorities, for one thing, and in the second 

 place give an opportunity to those who are not too well-disposed 

 .owards the permanent population to make capital of it, and 

 :ast undeserved aspersions on the richer and more influential 

 classes. 



' The least the Press can do at this juncture is to preserve 

 i discreet silence on the matters that are now under close 

 nvestigation, instead of helping to fix a stigma on the whole 

 3eople, which it may take generations to efface, by means of 

 lints and insinuations utterly uncalled-for. 



" If anything is plain to an unprejudiced onlooker, it is 

 hat there has been no organisation nor anything that suggests 

 a widespread conspiracy. 



" In a country like Ceylon, where there are so many dis- 

 cordant elements, secrecy in such a case would have been an 

 absolute impossibility. And where are the elements that go to 

 Drove a prearranged scheme? 



" A Wesak incident occurs at Kandy, the like of which is 

 nothing new in the history of the Island, as a dozen such dis- 

 turbances have already occurred at various places in past years. 



"In Colombo a trifling incident takes place by the custodians 



jf the public peace, and the mob composed of the riff-raff of the 



own took the upper hand, and, reinforced by habitual and 



similar undesirables, committed mischief which could even then 



iave been put a stop to if greater firmness had been used. 



