THE MANDATES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 97, 21 October 1936, Page 12

THE MANDATES

GERMAN REQUESTS

SURVEY BY LORD ELIBANK

A DIFFICULT PROBLEM

The problem of the mandated territories was surveyed by Lord Elibank at a luncheon given by the Wellington branch of the ' Royal Empire Society today to the delegates to the British Empire Chambers of Commerce Congress. Mr. L. O. H.,Tripp said that it was a happy coincidence that they should be- entertaining a number of distinguished visitors from Great Britain on' Trafalgar Day. New Zealand was absolutely dependent on the Mother Country for defence and for her market. The Domjnion sent 86 per cent, of her exports to the United Kingdom, and was the highest importer per capita of British goods. The Ottawa Agreement had been of great value to Empire trade, and they should be careful to keep the spirit of that agreement. , The Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates said that New Zealand was inseparably linked to Great Britain by ties of kinship— the little thin red line—and it did not require any statutes to make those ties. It was a privilege to New Zea- ■ land to be able to entertain the members of the British Chambers of Commerce delegation. The Royal Empire Society could do good work by studying the problems of the Empire and cleaning up misunderstandings. DELIGHTED AND CHARMED. Lady Elibank said that they had been simply delighted with the beauty of New Zealand. The peqple had been most' charming, and the' visitors had met with most generous hospitality, and they'air hoped that there would be &- big influx of New .Zealanders to London for the Coronation festivities. Lord Elibank said that they had been touched by the warmth of the hos- • pitality which had been extended' to them. He had been a member of the Hoyal Empire Society., for 36 years, and during that time there had been many changes in the Empire. The Empire was now called the British Commonwealth of Nations, but he hoped that it would always be toasted not as a'Commonwealth but as an .Empire. In business one always tried io deal with-those whom one liked, and to avoid those whom one disliked, and that was why it was such a great pleasure for different parts of the Empire to trade , with one another. They were doing business .with their own kith and kin. " THE GERMAN COLONIES. One of -the big problems, facing the Empire was the demand by Germany for, a, return of her colonies and mandated territories on the ground that she desired to produce her own raw materials. The question has aroused interest, and in some instances indignation in the Mother Country, arid it had been discussed intimately at many gatherings. . Sir Samuel Hoare,' when speaking at Geneva as Foreign Secre-; tary, had suggested that the question of colonies a.nd raw materials might be examined," and his remarks had intensified the feeling in Germany. : . The British .Empire did not exercise the. control over the trade "of the colonies to the extent some people thought. Under the Congo Basin Treaty, which was signed by most of the major Powers, Great Britain undertook, not to impose any differential duties on goods going into any of her African colonies to the disadvantage of any other signatory to the ' Treaty, and thus Germany had the same trad«ing rights with these counti'ies as Great Britain. Germany also had trading access to the "mandated territories under, the Treaty of Versailles. Some pf the mandated territories, were held ' by the Dominions and others had been placed under foreign Powers, and it was for those to whom the mandated territories had-been entrusted to say v/hat should be done with them. Since the African mandates had been given to Great Britain, she had developed an all-red air route from one end of the country to the other, and in view of the re-arming of Germany, the problem of giving back' those mandates was one that required most careful consideration. In dealing with the' problem they should take the long viewand consider what might be the result in two or three generations if the mandates were surrendered.