THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1922. AN IMPERIAL DEVELOPMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18021, 21 February 1922, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1922. AN IMPERIAL DEVELOPMENT.

: An Imperial development of some j consequence is foreshadowed by the | announcement made to the South I African Parliament that the Govcrn- ; mont is negotiating for the admission of Southern Rhodesia into the Union. ! The settlement of Rhodesia is a fascinating story, highly typical of the ups and downs which have marked British pioneering the world over. That Rhodesia is British today is due to the genius of Cecil Rhodes and the enterprise of the South Africa Company. The first years of settlement were crowded with incideut. Native troubles, the Raid, rebellion, rinderpest, transport difficulties and successive and delusive gold booms retarded healthy development. By 1898 the worst was past. The territory still had to face the South African War and the prolonged slump which followed it, but though there were lean years from 1899 to 1907 Rhodesia was steadily living down her hectic past and laying the foundations of her present prosperity. The outlook is now so good as to justify the description of Rhodesia as one of the most promising territories in British Africa. Southern Rhodesia is rich in gold reefs and other minerals, and is well adapted for agriculture and European settlement. Irrigation is playing an important part in the development of the country, particularly in the cultivation of tobacco and citrus fruit. Northern Rhodesia, which is totally distinct from Southern Rhodesia except that both are administered by the same company and both belong to the South African Customs Union, is but little developed; nevertheless it possesses valuable minerals and its high plateau contains large areas of good arable and grazing land. Both territories, but particularly the northern, suffer from lack of railways and roads, but their natural wealth justifies a large programme of public works. There has for many years been a very strong demand in Southern Rhodesia for responsible government. The company has met this by abandoning a purely paternal atti--1 tude and sharing the administration with the settlers to the extent of granting them a majority of elected ' members in the Legislative Council, which may pass ordinances subject to the approval of the High Commissioner. This small measure of self-government is obviously unsuitable for a growing community of British settlers, and nearly two years ago Lord Milner placed a memorandum on record recognising the desire of a majority of the elected members of the Council to take over the administration and the willingness of the South Africa Company to be relieved of it. A few months later Mr.' Winston Churchill set up a committee under Lord Buxton, late Governor-General of South Africa, to consider when, and with what limitations, responsible government should be granted to Southern Rhodesia. It was a defect of the order of reference that it excluded consideration of the alternative course of union with South Africa, but the committee was careful to stipulate that nothing in its report was intended to prejudice such union if in the opinion of the electorate this appeared at any time to be the more desirable course. The committee, indeed, preferred to make the white settlers the arbiters of their own fate and recommended that a Constitution should be drawn up and placed before the electors for acceptance or rejection at a referendum. The draft Constitution was published a few weeks ago and provides for a Legislature of two Houses. With certain reservations protecting native rights and the . interests of the British South Africa j Company full self-government is proposed. The clause referring to the ■ native question is that Imperial t consent shall be required for any restrictions imposed on the natives 1 which do not apply to Europeans, except in respect of arms, ammunition, and liquor. The reservation in favour of the company arises out of the circumstance that in administering and developing the territory the company has incurred deficits which it hoped to extinguish by the sale ' of land. The Privy Council dashed that hope in 1918 by deciding that \ the unalienated lands belonged to ;. the Crown, but a commission subi sequently awarded the company '■ £4,400,000, subject to adjustment, for i losses on administration. Till this I sum is paid by whatever Government I may be established it is proposed ; that the unalienated lands should be controlled by a board on which the company will have representation.

While the establishment of a Southern Rhodesian Government was thus being explored, negotiations were entered into for union with South Africa. General Smuts accorded a delegation which visited Capetown in September a very flattering reception, and, while declining to lay down specific terms of union at the moment, explained the attitude of the Union Government. j He promised generous Parliamentary representation to Rhodesia, beyond what she was strictly entitled to receive on the score of population. He also promised the vigorous development of the territory by public works, and proposed the purchase of the land and railway "ghts of the Chartered Company. [The company'a interest in various

railways is valued at about £5,000,000 and its mineral rights are set down at £2,500,000. These sums are in addition to the award in respect to administrative deficits. The present negotiations between the Union and Rhodesia ate intended to lead to the preparation of a detailed offe! from the Union Government which will go to the vote with the draft Constitution. The electors* will therefore bo faced with three options, a continuance of the present system, full self-government, and union with South Africa. That a change will be made is practically certain, but the decision as between the second and third options is f doubtful. From an Imperial point of view the ideal is union, which would not only consolidate British interests in South Africa, but would establish a closer numerical balance between the English and Dutch populations of the Union. . This would more particularly be the result if Northern Rhodesia also joined the Union. At present she is disinclined to do so and may even prefer to link herself to Nyasaland in a Central African Protectorate, but her ultimate adhesion to the Union is by no fleans improbable.