Inside Areas Sought for South Africa

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 106, 7 May 1938, Page 11

Inside Areas Sought for South Africa

LONDON. —A demand upon the British Government to expedite transfer of the Protectorates of Basutoland and Swaziland to the South African Administration, is made by Lionel Curtis, colonial expert and founder of the Boyal Institute of International Affairs. Mr. Curtis develops his argument in an address, which was given before the Royal Empire Society here. Looking back a little, he bases hia contention on the independence conferred upon the Union of South Africa by legislation passed in the British Parliament in 1926. Then, too, he contends that tho Protectorates are essentially a part of the Union, in that 50 per cent, of their men are normally resident there and would starve if they were cut off from South African territory. “Undoubtedly,” he says, “we agreed in 1926 to the principle that in future the Government of the Union should control their own domestic affairs from first to last. Unquestionably, the continued exclusion of the Protectorates from their jurisdiction limits their power to control the domestic conditions which affect them most.” Furthermore, he maintains that the Africans themselves would be better off in the long run, if they were transferred. This i 3 because, in his opinion, restrictions imposed from London, so far from helping anybody, only exasperates public opinion in South Africa; and the only factor that would operate to improve the opinion, would be “full and unfettered responsibility." An element that enters into the case is the attitude of the natives. The policy of the British Government, which Mr. Curtis challenges, was laid down as lately as November 11, 1937, when Lord Harrington, Dominions Under Secretary, gave an assurance in the House of Commons that the acquiescence of the natives would have to bo obtained before transference took place. Worse Than Ever. The newspaper man was appointed movie critic. He didn’t want tho job, but was told to take it, or else. So he would drift in to see pictures and when he came out would rush across the street to tho chemist’s and order an aspirin and a glass of water. The assistant came to know this unwilling movie critic, and as soon as he saw him crossing the street on his reviewing days, would fill a glass of water and place an aspirin beside it. The critic never talked much; just swallowed the aspirin, paid, and walked out. Came the day, however, when the critic dashed in before the assistant had a chance to act. “Quick!” cried tho critic. “Two aspirins and a glass of water.” “Two aspirins?” asked the assistant in surprise. “You heard me. They showed a double feature.”