GERMANY'S CLAIMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 70, 19 September 1936, Page 10

GERMANY'S CLAIMS

COLONIAL EXPANSION SETTLERS AND MATERIALS THE LIGHT OF FACTS In the annihilation of France, Germany sees merely the means • by which our nation will obtain full development In another direction. Our foreign policy will be. recognised as correct when there are not 80,000,000 Germans, but 250,000,000 Germans, in ' Europe, not crowded like coolies In a factory, but free peasants and workers. Almighty God, bless our weapons I Judge it we have merited freedom. Lord bless our combat!—Herr Hitler in his famous book, "Jlein Kampf."

While all responsible students of foreign affairs realise that Hitler's Germany is preparing for war, there is a conflict of opinion as to where "the full development in another direction" will take place (says a writer in the Melbourne "Age"). The main theory.in Britain is that Germany will expand into British colonial territory either before or after a European war. It is this theory which has caused some people; to imagine that Germany should be placated with certain strips of African territory. This school of thought is in the habit of dividing the Great Powers intc what is termed the "Haves" and the "Have-nots," the former, comprising France, Russia, and the United States, and the latter Germany, Italy, and Japan. There is a great deal of propaganda favouring the extension of the mandate system whereby.: the "Have-nots" would be admitted .to trusteeship over some of the territories now under French or British mandate. But there are grave objections to this argument, and there is a great deal to be said in favour of the view' that Germany would be no better "off with colonies than without them. It is in fact questionable whether Germany's demand for colonies is not prompted by vanity and the desire to "live up to the Joneses next door" rather than by any valid economic consideration. It is, moreover,: certain that the present pulers of Germany, Italy, or Japan would regard the handing over of British territory as a sign of weakness, and the demand would soon ba made for more.

THE TWO CLASSIFICATIONS. If we examine the reasons given for colonial expansion they invariably fall into two claims or demands:—Firstly, "the need'for finding an outlet for surplus population"; and secondly, "the need for access to raw materials." These: arguments can be made extremely plausible and only too widely accepted in some quarters. Let us examine the facts, : Japan'has held Korea for forty yet there are not as many Japanese settled there as would equal one year's increase of Japan's population, and since Japan seized Manchuria, Japanese settlement has been infinitesimal compared with the huge influx of .Chinese, who can work better and for less wages than the Japanese. All Germany's pre-war African colonies never supported more than a paltry 15,000 German,s-*less than the number of German residents in Paris in 1913. , Italy has held Eritrea for forty years and the number of permanent Italian settlers :is less,-than a hundred. All the Europeans living in the colonies of all European Powers in central tropical Africa;. during the last quarter of a century do not amount to more than the population of a small European town. •

Some illuminating statistics - relating td.-these facts may be obtained from a careful and impartial survey made by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. It will be seen that the only countries, offering any real outlet for expanding populations are either sovereign States, or (what amounts to the same thing) self-govern-ing Dominions. - ' ■ ■'

IN THE FASCIST COUNTRIES. If this question of. pressure of population about which Hitler is so eloquent is examined without passion it will Be found that it is only in the Fascist controlled nations (in other words, the "Have-Nots" of our friends who would be so generous with British territory), which can least afford the luxury of large families that Government campaigns are instituted to increase the already large- numbers, of povertystricken inhabitants., And these inspired campaigns are made quite i regardless of whether there are any colonies or not. Sir Arthur Salter has pointed out that what turns populations into surplus populations is the .difficulty of finding markets; yet this difficulty is as urgent with nations which have colonies as it is with those who have none. And it is just at this point that, the second argument is advanced by the so-called "Have-Nots," viz-, "lack of colonies prevents us .from obtaining raw materials or exploiting markets.'-'. ■• If we investigate this matter it will be found that the argument, although plausible, is also. fraudulent. In 1911 Germany imported £2,000,000 worth of raw materials from her - African colonies out of her total imports of raw materials and foodstuffs from all other pountries amounting to no less than £270,000,000. In 1930 British Nigeria alone exported £4,000,000 worth of raw materials to Germany at a price considerably less than was paid by Germany before the war for similar goods from her own colonies. But a year after Hitler's accession to power Germany's imports from Nigeria were reduced to £1,000,000. DUE TO EXCHANGE SHORTAGE. This decrease was just as injurious to Nigeria as it was to Germany, and was hardly a matter of indifference to Britain. It was due almost entirely to the fact that Hitler's re-armament policy leaves Germany without sufficient exchange with which to trade with -Nigeria. This Nigerian example can of course be multiplied fifty times in its relaton to Germany's trade wiHi other countries.

I; Hand in hand with the re-armament programme Hitler's advisers are making Germany as self-sufficient as possible in raw materials and foodstuffs, so that, despite the fact that the produce of every British colony in Africa is available to all nations on an equal basis, it is Germany's own policy which is preventing her from obtaining the produce of African colonies. As the prices of these products are entirely dependent upon the ordinary law of supply and demand they would be no cheaper in German colonie's than in British colonies. As there is a world glut of colonial raw materials at present, Hitler's demand for colonies in order to obtain access to raw materials becomes ridiculous, even if we disregard the fact that he is doing all he can to produce synthetic raw materials in Germany at a higher price, but with the ulterior object of being self-suffi-cient when the time arrives for him to declare war.

Incidentally it will be seen that the so-called "Have-Nots" will have a great advantage in war time over the "Haves" (such as Britain) with their huge colonial empires and vulnerable lines of communication carrying huge imports of food and raw material.

EUROPE'S TREASURE CHAMBER. As for the mandated territories, they are- all more or less poverty-stricken as far .as the supply of essential and basic raw materials is concerned. According to the German Government there are six basic materials necessary in peace and imperative in war. These are coal, iron, oil, cotton, rubber, and copper. Except for one of these ma-

te'i-ials, rubber (which is almost a British colonial monopoly), the remaining basic materials are mainly produced in sovereign States and not in colonies. As for the self-governing Dominions, Canada has a virtual monopoly .of nickel, Australia of wool, while South Africa produces half the world's supply of gold. The great basic materials which Germany's rulers are so covetous of exist, according to Professor ..Ernst Horwitz (a prominent Nazi "specialist"), in great abundance in Russia. Professor Horwitz grows, lyrical on this subject. "To Siberia," he says, "the land of gold, the treasure chamber of Europe, are the eyes of all Germans directed. Here, is the world's greatest producer of timber, flax, manganese, chrome ore, and the second greatest world's producer of oil and other raw materials. It will soon rival South Africa as the world's greatest producer of gold." All these considerations •■ tend to show that the "full development in another direction" which Hitler speaks about is more,likely to take place in -Europe, and that the demand for colonies may be only a screen to mask his intentions. If he can obtain what he wants without war- he will, of course, do so, but economists predict that Germany's economic policy of forced loans and top-heavV expenditure on arms must soon break-down. Hitler and thpse around him do not intend to relinquish control, so that it would appear that a breakdown will mean a break out; and that that break will be in an easterly direction. In these circumstances any colonial concession to Germany oh the part of Britain would appear to be a useless gesture which would earn the distrust of potential allies and the ill-concealed contempt of those who are envious of all the British race has fought and died for. ■