{"id":4721,"date":"2016-12-26T19:12:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T19:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/2016\/12\/26\/mt-60-yrs-23-dec-16\/"},"modified":"2017-07-18T10:44:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T06:44:12","slug":"mt-60-yrs-23-dec-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/mt-60-yrs-23-dec-16\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Editorials"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

2nd Year No 73<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday \u2013 30th December 1955
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I\u2019m beginning to believe it. \u2013 C. Darrow <\/em>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

From the Editorials<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As the year began, we asked: \u2018Why a fiscal committee?\u2019 His Excellency the Governor has appointed the Committee for the purpose of reviewing all forms of taxation, both direct and indirect. Followed: \u2018Tax Evasion \u2013 A Social Menace\u2019. And then we presented our \u2018Memorandum\u2019 to Sir Christopher Cox, KCMG, Education Adviser to the Secretary of States for the Colonies. In that memorandum we drew the attention of Sir Christopher to Government\u2019s new policy (the curtailing of school leaving age and automatic promotion), private secondary schools, state aided primary schools, French language, primary scholarship examination and the Training College. <\/span><\/p>\n

The article of Peter Ibbotson entitled \u2018Religion and Communism\u2019 gave rise to a violent controversy and we had to comment on it to make our stand clear. Leaving religion aside, we came again to education and regarding the teaching of French we asked: \u2018Is it communalism to refuse French being imposed?\u2019 We had to emphasize that \u201cwe requested Sir Christopher to consider recommending the suppression of French as a subject for any competitive examination\u201d. Another important question we answered was: \u2018Should the Civil Service be Mauritianized? Then we denounced Le Cerneen\u2019s shocking criticism of \u201cun inspecteur des douanes d\u2019assez mauvaise apparence\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were signs that secondary education was in an alarming state and we prescribed some remedies. We welcomed Major General B. Chatterjee, the new Commissioner of India. The resignation of Mr Koenig as Mayor of Port Louis gave us the opportunity of speaking about the 1953 municipal elections. While we were writing \u2018Live and let live \u2013 reflection on a recent controversy\u2019, Maj, Gen. Chatterjee was being vilified elsewhere. At the same time parliamentary privilege was undergoing a test.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contempt of the Council was also the topic of the day and the Supreme Court had to rule that there was a difference between an ordinary and extraordinary member. When the Education Department started arranging film shows for children we were a little perturbed and asked: \u201cAre there enough films suitable for children to be recommended by the Director of Education?\u201d Writing on the illegal search of some nurses, we said: \u201cShould any high-handed officer feel inclined to tamper with the person or character of anybody, let him remember that even the man in the street has civil rights to whose enjoyment he is fully entitled.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Following the Chemin Grenier communal riot, we wrote \u2018Subversive propaganda has borne fruits\u2019. To give a fillip to production we claimed \u2018More land for more production\u2019, and to welcome the government\u2019s 10-year electricity plan we echoed: \u2018Let there be more light\u2019. And under \u2018More about The Parti Mauricien\u2019, we observed: \u201cFirst of all we prefer to call the new political party \u2018The League of Minorities\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

When May Day approached we published our \u2018Reflections on and Reminiscences of the Labour Party\u2019. We had to ask whether it was due to Labour apathy that nothing was done in connection with Hindu names given to Muslim children in Mauritius Oxford English Course Book II. We alluded to Labour\u2019s apathy again when we found that the objectionable \u201cShort History of Mauritius\u201d by Barnwell and Toussaint was still a textbook. We praised Hon. Chadien, who after an analysis accused the Bassin Sugar Estate for having poisoned its fodder. And later we asked: \u2018Should we export molasses?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Priests on Soap-Boxes\u2019 has become a landmark in the history of our paper. It was in that editorial that we asked: \u201cCan a priest be a politician over here?\u201d That editorial roused the wrath of many, including NMU. And to answer NMU, we had to write \u2018NMU and Our Small Self\u2019. It was then that we said: \u201cOne day NMU will perhaps tell his readers what the soundness of an opinion has to do with the size of the paper which publishes it. \u2018Our Red Letter Day\u2019 followed. We started appearing in a larger and we asked: \u201cNow will people who are obsessed by our size and our circulation keep at least half their mouths shut?\u201d Then came the time to speak of \u2018Constitutional Reforms\u2019.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

* * *
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Wishing \u2018Bon Voyage\u2019 to our delegation going to London to discuss constitutional reforms, we said: \u201cDemocracy being the government of the people, by the people and for the people, the representatives of the people leaving in the delegation must take good care that politics in our island finds a place henceforth for every adult citizen in its fold\u201d. Then the Report of the Population Committee drew our attention to the \u2018Problem of Population\u2019, and the \u2018Problem of Production\u2019. In \u2018Religious Co-Existence\u2019 we emphasized: \u201cSpires and domes and minarets have to stand side by side and adorn the Mauritian landscape.\u201d \u2018Sizing up NMU \u2013 The Propagandist\u2019, we wrote: \u201cPolitical propaganda based on fear, myths and lies will simply not work. Truth will be out and prevail in the end.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When our Constitution had been discussed in London, we remarked: \u201cWe cannot help to get a Constitution that will be in accord with the present stage of constitutional progress of Mauritius. If it is not, the Colonial Office must be ready to receive some other delegation in the near future.\u201d We then completed our first year and published a special number in which we wrote: \u201cFortified in the thought that we can contribute to the solution of some of our problems facing Mauritius, we continue our onward march.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And subsequently we had to speak as \u2018An ex-teacher to NMU\u2019: \u201cYou have travelled a long way from those treacherous lamps you had put your destiny in once and we, on our part, have left behind impish brats and hissing black-boards. Let us forget our shameful past.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Then there was talk of \u2018Proportional Representation\u2019, and we wrote: \u201cIn a plural community like the Mauritian community some clash is bound to arise. But is that a reason why we should not have ideological parties rather than communal ones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Public Service Commission started functioning we said: \u201cThe members of the Commission must never forget that they are the guardians of justice in the Civil Service.\u201d Shortly after, Mr Broackway stole the show. We asked our readers to meet Mr Fenner Brockway, MP, and outlining his activities in Mauritius we wrote: \u201cMr Brockway\u2019s visit to Mauritius has brought the English Parliament nearer to us more within earshot.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2nd Year No 73 Friday \u2013 30th December 1955 \u2022 When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I\u2019m beginning to believe it. \u2013 C. Darrow From the Editorials As the year began, we asked: \u2018Why a fiscal committee?\u2019 His Excellency the Governor has appointed the Committee for the purpose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[1589,36],"class_list":["post-4721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorials","tag-editorials-60-years-ago","tag-mauritius-times"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QzSF-1e9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}