Governorship of Ceylon and The Bracegirdle Incident
In 1933 Stubbs was appointed to his last position in the Colonial Service: Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
In 1937, he was prevailed upon by the White planters to became involved in an illegal attempt to deport Mark Anthony Bracegirdle, an Australian planter who had gone over to the side of the workers and joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). Bracegirdle was served with the order of deportation on 22 April and given 48 hours to leave, but he defied the order, going into hiding instead. The Colonial Government began a man-hunt, but was unsuccessful. The LSSP started a campaign to defend him. At that year's May Day rally at Price Park, Colombo placards declaring 'We want Bracegirdle – Deport Stubbs' were displayed, and a resolution was passed condemning Stubbs, demanding his removal and the withdrawal of the deportation order.
On 5 May, in the State Council, the LSSP members Dr N.M. Perera and Philip Gunawardena moved a vote of censure on the Governor for having ordered the deportation of Bracegirdle without the advice of the acting Home Minister. Even the Board of Ministers had started feeling the heat of public opinion and the vote was passed by 34 votes to 7.
On the same day there was a 50,000-strong rally at Galle Face Green, which was addressed by Dr N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, condemning Stubbs. Bracegirdle made a dramatic appearance on the platform at this rally, but the police were powerless to arrest him. They managed to arrest him a couple of days later, but a writ of habeas corpus was served and the case was called before a bench of three Supreme Court judges presided over by Chief Justice Sir Sidney Abrahams. The brilliant H.V. Perera, the county's leading civil lawyer, volunteered his services free on behalf of Bracegirdle; he was made a Queens Counsel (QC) on the day that Bracegirdle appeared in court. On 18 May order was made that he could not be deported for exercising his right to free speech, and Bracegirdle was a free man.
Stubbs retired shortly afterwards.
Read more about this topic: Reginald Edward Stubbs
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