In inaugurating the two-day annual sessions of the Sabha, Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, President of the Sinhala Maha Sabha, delivered an address in the course of which he ex­plained the ideals of the Maha Sabha movement. After re­tracing the origin and development of the Sabha, Mr. Bandaranaike said their purpose was two-fold-to unite the Sinhalese and to work in co-operation with other communi­ties. In both these objects they had achieved a reasonable measure of success.  In the political sphere they were con­vinced that their own conception of nationalism alone could bring about true unity and progress in the country. In the economic sphere their chief problem was the problem of poverty of the vast majority of the people. Every step neces­sary must be taken to ensure for all a proper standard of living, and it was probably on socialistic lines that it would be possible to achieve that object.

The next ingredient in their movement was that of reli­gion, not one particular religion but all religions. They realized the value of the religious idea in the long march of human progress, particularly amongst Eastern peoples like themselves. Many of their normal activities, he con­tinued, had to be cut short during the last year. Their chief work was in connection with the propdced Indo-Ceylon Pact. The Sabha, which clearly saw the defects of that Pact, organized meetings throughout the country to explain its true. implications to the people. Consideration of the Pact had been postponed till the conclusion of the war, which was surely the wisest course.

Speaking of the resolutions to be moved, Mr. Bandaranaike said the first resolution was an important one. They had for a number of years been passing resolutions asking for Dominion Status, and, after the war started, they had been requesting the Secretary of State to make a declaration that that status would be granted to Ceylon after the war. The present position was that in view of the various conflict­ing opinions expressed in the State Council in the discussion on the Governor's Memorandum on Reforms just before the outbreak of the war, the Secretary of State was not pre­pared to make any declaration for the moment, but would go into the whole question of Reforms as soon after the war as possible.

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