Britain’s Colonial Empire In Tree Perspective

Northern Advocate, 3 June 1939, Page 7

Britain’s Colonial Empire In Tree Perspective

(Received 11.0 a.m.) LONDON. June 2

In conformity with the practice, begun last year, of presenting to Parliament, with the Colonial and Middle Eastern Estimates, a review of the year’s work in the Colonial Empire, a Blue Book has been issued, which records developments up to the end of last March.

It gives a description of peaceful and fruitful progress in many spheres of activities over vast areas of the colonial dependencies—effective services to put in their true perspective events of a less happy nature which marred last year’s chronicles in certain places, and which received disproportionate publicity on account of their cui’rent new interests.

The review deals faithfully with the disturbances in Palestine and the unrest in the West Indian colonies, but it is amply justified in pointing out that if the population of all the territories in which disturbances occurred are added together they amount to about 3,000,000. while populations totalling 56,000,000 enjoyed undisturbed public security in the rest of the Colonial Empire.

Striking Contrasts.

The review says: “In contrast with the disturbances which have taken place in so many parts of the world, the history of the colonial dependencies as a whole in the British Empire has, in the main, been one of constructive and peaceful developments. Indeed, in several instances the security and peacefulness of British colonies have attracted great numbers of refugees from neighbouring countries harassed by war or disturbance.” Social Improvements.

What is brought out by this discussion on last year's events in the Colonial Empire which runs to nearly 100 pages and deals with each group of dependencies separately as well as each main aspect of colonial administration in more than a dozen chapters is that the major tendency in all the dependencies has been greatly increased concern for the welfare of the peoples. This has been manifest not only in the attention given to the improvement of labour conditions, but in work for the welfare of women and in connection with health and nutrition.