'Territorial changes. Memorandum by the India Office' [‎78r] (9/10)

imported, emissaries instructed and youths depraved with absolute imwmitu
Other places might have their seditious organisations ; but they were at
least amenable to British law, whereas at Chandernagore our police and
magistracy were quite impotent, and even if the French Government were to
send out instructions for more rigorous action, the local authorities were too
weak to carry them out . 1 In view of the growing danger of the situation
Fold I laidmge stiongly piessed upon His Alajestv's Government the
necessity of coming to some arrangement with France for the transfer of
Chandernagore, whether by cession or lease, to British jurisdiction. He threw
out the suggestion ol a 2 (> years lease, failing a more satisfactory arrange
ment. As a result of the Viceroy’s representations, the matter was brought
informally m the notne of the French Government j and Sir H. Grey, during
his visit to Paris in April 1914, spoke very plainly on the subject to
M. Doumergue in the course of a conversation at the Quai d’Orsay. But so
lai as is know n at the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , no progress has been made towards an
agreement.
i . It is now understood that an opportunity may arise of dealing with the Prospects of
question of the French settlements as part of a wider arrangement with the Settlement.
French Government. From the Indian point, of view, the most satisfactory
solution would undoubtedly be the complete extinction of French territorial
rights of every description throughout India. Liter alia, this would get rid
of the difficulties which have arisen in regard to cable and wireless rights in
French India—a matter to which the Indian military authorities attach
considerable importance from the point of view of censorship requirements
in war time. Such a solution—involving as it would the final disappearance
of the French Empire in India—would doubtless be distasteful to French
national sentiment. But it might possibly be accepted as part of a general
settlement at the conclusion of a victorious war, particularly if France,
largely owing to British assistance, had made important acquisitions of
territory nearer home. At all events,, we might aim at this in the first
instance. If the French decline to entertain the proposal, our main energies
must be directed towards securing the cession of Chandernagore. This
is a matter of really vital importance, in comparison with which nothing
else counts for very much. But it is also very desirable that French rights
in the Luges should be extinguished, both on account of the practical
inconveniences mentioned above, and because the continued existence of
these small enclaves is an anomaly which contains a certain element of
danger—however slight it may be—to the good relations between ourselves
and our allies. It ought to be possible to secure these two desiderata
without territorial compensation in India, which is undesirable both in
principle and in practice. But if this proves impossible, an arrangement
might be concluded on the lines recommended by the Government of India
in 1910 (see paragraph o), viz.:—cession to France of territory round
Pondicherry in return for the surrender of all the other settlements and of
all French rights in the Luges. In negotiating regarding the Jjoges it will
be desirable to avoid the use of language which may be construed
hereafter—in the event of the negotiations failing—as an admission of
French jurisdictional rights (e.g.,at Patna. Cazimbazar, Jugdea and Dacca),
the existence of which we have always denied.
Political Department, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ,
20 th April 1915.
i Besides its connection with sedition, Cliandernagoie is the home of a consider!*hie
contraband trade.
[P.T.O.