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BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY, LOCAL POLITICS, AND THE ORIGINS OF THE MAURITIAN WELFARE STATE, 1936–50*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2011

JEREMY SEEKINGS
JEREMY SEEKINGS
Affiliation:
University of Cape Town
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Abstract

Mauritius's unusual welfare state dates back to the introduction of non-contributory old-age pensions in 1950. This article examines the origins of this reform, focusing on the interactions between political actors in both Mauritius (local planters, political activists, and the colonial government) and London (the Colonial Office and Labour Party). Faced with riots among unorganised sugar estate workers in 1937, the colonial administration considered welfare reforms as part of a package intended to substitute for political change. The nascent Mauritian Labour Party used its links to the British Labour Party to apply additional pressure on the Colonial Office and, hence, the Governor in Mauritius. Welfare reform was stalled, however, by resistance from, initially, the governor and, later, the Colonial Office. It took partial democratisation in 1948 to push the local administration towards reluctant reform. The choice of tax-financed old-age pensions reflected the combination of a small and open economy, the absence of surplus land, poorly organised workers, and an effective state.

Keywords

Mauritiuscolonial policywelfaredevelopmentlabourcomparative
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , July 2011 , pp. 157 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

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13 Allen, R. B., ‘The slender, sweet thread: sugar, capital and dependency in Mauritius, 1860–1936’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 16:2 (1988), 177–200CrossRefGoogle Scholar; North-Coombs, M. D., ‘Struggles in the cane fields: small cane growers, millers and the colonial state in Mauritius, 1921–1937’, Journal of Mauritian Studies, 2:1 (1987), 1–44Google Scholar; Houbert, J., ‘Mauritius: independence and dependence’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 19:1 (1981), 75–105CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Meisenhelder, T., ‘The developmental state in Mauritius’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 35:2 (1997), 283CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Lange emphasises the ‘virtuous circle’ between increased bureaucratic state capacity and the dense associational networks based in, initially, villages, and later in cooperatives, trade unions, and related organisations. See Lange, M., ‘Embedding the colonial state: a comparative-historical analysis of state building and broad-based development in Mauritius’, Social Science History, 27:3 (2003), 397–423Google Scholar; Lange, , ‘Structural holes and structural synergies: A comparative-historical analysis of state-society relations and developments in colonial Sierra Leone and Mauritius’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 44:3 (2003), 372–407CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lange, Lineages of Despotism and Development: British Colonialism and State Power (Chicago, 2009).

15 Coombes-North, ‘Struggles in the cane fields’, 17.

16 R. Titmuss and B. Abel-Smith, with T. Lynes, Social Policies and Population Growth in Mauritius (London, 1961), 9.

17 British National Archives, London, (NA) CO 167/900/4: Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Unrest on Sugar Estates in Mauritius, 1937 (Port Louis, 1938), henceforth Hooper Report, 66.

18 Coombes-North, ‘Struggles in the cane fields’; Allen, ‘Sugar, capital and dependency’.

19 Lange, Lineages of Despotism.

20 The Council of Government served as a legislature. It comprised ten elected representatives, elected on the basis of a very restricted franchise, together with nine members appointed by the governor and eight colonial officials (Lange, ‘Embedding the colonial state’, 405–6). Curé was briefly an elected member in 1934–5; his defeat in an election in January 1934 seems to have prompted his radicalisation and the subsequent formation of the Labour Party.

21 NA CO 167/897/4, 167/894/2 and 167/898/1; Hooper Report, paras. 155, 162 and 194; Arthur Creech-Jones (ACJ) papers, Rhodes House, Oxford, MSS Brit Emp. S332, Box 28, file 1; L. R. Quenette, Emmanuel Anquetil (Moka, 1985), 24; A. S. Simmons, Modern Mauritius: The Politics of Decolonization (Bloomington, 1982); M. N. Varma, Profiles of Great Mauritians: Curé, Anquetil, Rozemont, Seeneevassen (Port Louis, 1981), 2–8.

22 NA CO 167/897/4: Jackson (Governor) to Colonial Office, Despatch no. 153, 27 May 1937.

23 NA CO 167/897/4: minute by Bevir, 27 Aug. 1937.

24 Ibid. minute by Rogers, 16 Jul. 1937.

25 Ibid. minute by Dawe, 30 Aug. 1937.

26 Ibid. minute by Ormsby-Gore, 15 Sep. 1937

27 Ibid. letter from Clifford to Ormsby-Gore, 9 Sep. 1937.

28 Ibid. draft letter, Ormsby-Gore to Clifford, 1 Nov. 1937.

29 Ibid. minute by Dawe, 26 Oct. 1937.

30 NA CO 167/897/15: memorandum, Clifford to Colonial Office, 9 Nov. 1937; NA CO 167/900/4: Letter, Clifford to Ormsby-Gore, 13 Apr. 1938.

31 NA CO 167/897/15: memorandum, Clifford to Colonial Office, 9 Nov. 1937; letter, Clifford to Ormsby-Gore, 23 Nov. 1937.

32 Ibid. NA CO 167/900/1: Clifford, ‘Speech of His Excellency the Governor on Opening the Third Session of the Council of Government, 12 April 1938’.

33 NA CO 167/900/4: letter, Clifford to Ormsby-Gore, 13 Apr. 1938.

34 NA CO 167/906/8: Clifford to Colonial Office, Despatch no. 154, 12 May 1939.

35 Quenette, Emmanuel Anquetil, 72–3.

36 NA CO 167/ 908/7: minutes by Barmby, 30 Jun.; Bevir, 3 Jul.; Shuckburgh, 4 Jul.; Parkinson, 12 Jul., and Dufferin and Ava, 12 Jul. 1939.

37 NA CO 167/913/2: ‘Representations by Labour Party’: letter, Creech-Jones to Hall, 13 Dec.; minutes by Acheson, 28 Nov.; Hibbert, 2 Dec.; Hall, 31 Dec. 1940; Orde-Browne, 3 Jan. 1941.

38 Simmons, Modern Mauritius, 76.

39 NA CO 167/906/8: Mauritius Labour Party, ‘Resolutions passed at the meeting of the 1st of May 1939’, enclosed in Clifford to Colonial Office, Despatch no. 154, 12 May 1939.

40 Ramgoolam, Our Struggle, 54–6.

41 North-Coombs, ‘Struggles in the cane fields’. See also Sir B.Clifford, Proconsul: Being incidents in the life and career of the Honourable Sir Bede Clifford (London, 1964), and Quenette, Emmanuel Anquetil.

42 Hooper Report, 168 and 199.

43 NA CO 167/901/17.

44 See J. M. Lee and M. Petter, The Colonial Office, War, and Development Policy (London, 1982); J. Seekings, ‘Distinguishing between Development and Welfare in British Colonial Policy, 1940–44’, unpublished paper.

45 NA CO 167/914/20; NA CO 167/914/22.

46 NA CO 859/78/3; Titmuss and Abel-Smith, Social Policies, 85–6; Simmons, Modern Mauritius, 77–8.

47 NA CO 859/78/3.

48 Ibid. minuted comments by Hibbert.

49 Ibid. Hibbert, typed minute, 23 May 1941.

50 Ibid. hand-written minute, 7 June 1941.

51 Ibid. Orde-Browne, typed minute, 26 Dec, 1941. Orde-Browne's full report, dated April 1942, is in NA CO 167/920/3.

52 Ramgoolam, Our Struggle, 56–7.

53 NA CO 859/78/4; Titmuss and Abel-Smith, Social Policies, 72–3.

54 Simmons, Modern Mauritius, 77–81.

55 Clifford, Proconsul, chaps. 19 to 23.

56 Varma, Profiles, 47.

57 NA CO 859/78/4; Seekings, ‘The Beveridge Report, the Colonial Office and welfare reform in British colonies’, unpublished paper (2010). Whilst they do not discuss changing policy on welfare reforms, the shift to production-oriented ‘development’ is examined in D. J. Morgan, The Origins of British Aid Policy, 1924–1945, Official History of Colonial Development, I (London, 1980); Lee and Petter, The Colonial Office; and Cooper, Decolonization.

58 CP 859/78/4: minutes by T. K. Lloyd, 20 Sep. 1943.

59 NA CO 859/78/4: letter, Secretary of State (Stanley) to Governor (Mackenzie-Kennedy), 31 Oct. 1944.

60 Lee and Petter, Colonial Office, 217; Morgan, Origins, chap. 16.

61 NA CO 859/78/4: Despatch no.36, 3 Mar. 1943.

62 NA CO 859/78/4: draft despatch, Secretary of State to Mackenzie-Kennedy, 6 Oct. 1943.

63 Quoted in J. Addison and K. Hazareesingh, New History of Mauritius (London, 1984), 85; see further Simmons, Modern Mauritius, 77–81.

64 For example, NA CO 167/924/10.

65 NA CO 167/920/4: letter, Rita Hinden to Colonial Office, 21 Oct. 1943.

66 Including in the House of Lords, 19 Apr. 1944.

67 ‘Activities of the Labour Department, 1942–46’, Annexure to Minute no. 24 of 1947, in ‘Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of Government 1947–48’ (Port Louis, 1949); Titmuss and Abel-Smith, Social Policies, 125.

68 NA CO 167/927/12.

69 Quoted in Titmuss and Abel-Smith, Social Policies, 88.

70 NA CO 167/930/2.

71 NA CO 167/927/13.

72 NA CO 167/927/13: telegram, Governor to Colonial Office, 25 Oct. 1946.

73 Colonial Office Report on Mauritius for the Year 1950 (London, 1952), 20–1.

74 Lewis, Empire State-Building.

75 Colonial Office Report on Mauritius for the Year 1950 (London, 1952), 20–1.

76 Ibid. 64.

77 Ramgoolam, Our Struggle, 184.

78 Varma, Profiles, 47.

79 Simmons, Modern Mauritius, chaps. 6 and 7.

80 Ibid. chaps. 5 and 6.

81 Ibid. chap. 7.

82 Simmons, Modern Mauritius, 112.

83 NA CO 167/934/5: Governor to CO, Despatch no. 290, 24 Dec. 1949, and telegram, 23 Mar. 1950.

84 NA CO 167/934/5: minute by Palmer, 23 Mar.; Grossmith, 25 Mar.; Bourdillon, 27 Mar. 1950; telegram, Colonial Office to Governor, 27 Mar. 1950.

85 NA CO 167/948/2: minute, by unidentifiable official, 9 Sep. 1950.

86 Willmore, ‘Universal age pensions’, 70.

87 Mauritius Legislative Council, meeting no. 4 of 1950, 21 Mar. 1950.

88 NA CO 167/958/3.

89 NA CO 167/958/3: Public Assistance Department, ‘Old Age Pension Scheme in Mauritius’, 10 Jan. 1951.

90 NA CO 167/948/2: transcript of part of Legislative Council debate on 4 Jul. 1950, attached to Despatch no. 181, 10 Aug. 1950.

91 Colonial Report, 1950, 1, 68–71. See also Colonial Office Report on Mauritius for the Year 1952 (London, 1954), 2.

92 Seekings, ‘Pa's pension’.

93 D. A. Low and J. Lonsdale, ‘Introduction’, Oxford History of East Africa, vol. III (Oxford, 1976); Lewis, Empire State-Building.

94 Governor of Gambia to Colonial Office, Despatch no. 18, 6 Feb. 1945 (CO 859/124/4); Governor, Gold Coast, to Colonial Office, 23 May 1946 (CO 859/124/6).

95 Fourchard, ‘Lagos and the invention of juvenile delinquency’, 130.

96 Governor of Gambia to Colonial Office, Despatch no. 18, 6 Feb. 1945 (NA CO 859/124/4); Governor, Gold Coast, to Colonial Office, 23 May 1946 (NA CO 859/124/6); Governor, Sierra Leone, to Colonial Office, 31 May 1945 (NA CO 859/124/7).

97 Cooper, Decolonisation.

98 F. T. Russell, Social Security in Southern Rhodesia (Salisbury, 1944). See also Burton, African Underclass, on Dar es Salaam.

99 Seekings, ‘Visions and hopes and views’.

100 Seekings, ‘Pa's pension’.