GERMANY'S COLONIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20363, 18 September 1929, Page 8

GERMANY'S COLONIES.

DEMAND FOR KETUBN, PACIFIC NOT INCLUDED* |§ REASONING OF DR. SCHNEE, ~i 4. . BY G. H. MOBISON, PARIS. ■Whatever may be the full truth about the course of the discussions that took place behind closed doors at the recent j conference of experts in Tans on the revision of the Dawes Reparation Plan, one thing remains certain. The German delegates based their rejected offers on what they considered Germany capable of paying with such resources as were lefU her by the Treaty of Versailles, and went on to say—and insist —that Germany could p;iy such sums as the creditor nations demanded only if Germany were given more resources than she possesses at present. In other words, to pay £100,000,000 a year for 60 years, Germany must be reinstated in some of her former colonies. > What the German delegates said after their return from Paris was in effect: "If we are not economically strong enough to pay the sums fixed, then no power in the universe will alter the fact, and, sooner or later, some new plan will have to be devised to replace the Young Plan also. We shall do our utm6f>t, but in order to be able to pay £100,000,000 every year for 60 years, we must hav« , more territory—in a word, colonies." To obtain the official view on this mat* ter the German Government was asked to nominate an expert to explain the, claims, and Dr. Heinrich Schnec was named. Dr. Schnee was District Administrator of New Guinea and Deputy-Gov-ernor of Samoa in 1900, and from 1912 to 1919 Governor of German East Africa. Dr. Sclmce bases the German claim on three distinct lines of argument—economic, moral and political. Most weighty of all, because most capable of impartial 'criticism, is the economic line of reasoning. "Germany," he says, "is a country that has long ceased to be able to support its' population on home-grown food. For over 20 millions/if our 64, millions of population we must import food. We have dona everything known to science to increase the yield of food from our own agriculture. Our population is increasing rapidly. In 1880 we had only 84 inhabitants to the square kilometre, in 1910 we had 120, while this year there are 135. r Hence the food problem must become more acuta every year as' time goes on. Handicaps on Germany. "This import of food must be paid for, Wc have no surplus raw materials to ex- - port in exchange except coal, of which, however, there is at present an excess on the world's market. We-bavs no investments in foreign countries, bringing in an annual income in foreign currencies. These were confiscated by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. We do not earn vast sums through services rendered to other countries, for instance, by transport of foreign goods in German ships. All such services are more than balanced by services performed for us by other nations, for which we have to pay. The only, source of wealth wo have is our highlyskilled technically-trained labour. But to be able, to employ our workers so as to buy food for the nation, wo must be able to import raw materials from abroad. We need iron ore, wool, cotton, silk, rubber, petroleum, wood, metals of all kinds, especially copper, in fact, everything except coal and potash." Products of the Colonies. "Had we still our former colonies, tha problem would be far simpler to solve. We should then pay for many of our raw materials in German marks. German colonies before the war produced cotton, coffee, cocoa, rubber, sisal, hemp, woods, metals, gums, oils, palm-kernels and many other things. Those in which there was an excess were exchanged for raw materials from other countries. The German colonies were then just beginning to become an outlet for our surplus population. And, sentiment being the powerful bond it is, our colonies bought 85 per cent, of what they needed, in manufactured goods from Germany, even though they were quite free to buy anywhere they chose. --To-day we supply thesa same colonies with less than 30 per cent, of what they need." Dr. Schnee then turned to the moral aspects of the question. "Germany's prewar colonies," he said, "were no-man's land before Germany annexed them. In no single case did Germany obtain them by conquest or even by infringing the rights of another white nation. On the contrary, Britain, France, Spain, Portu- 1 gal and the United States all received from Germany valuable compensation for the recognition of Germany's colonial claims. The world war was fought for the avowed object of re-establishing the sanctity of international agreements. Nevertheless, tho colonies for which Germany had already paid an equivalent jvere taken away and, under the Young Agreement, Germany was not even credited with the estimated value of these territories as part payment of reparations. This, too, in spite of the fact that, at tho beginning of tho war—and often enough while it was. going'on—it. was solemnly declared that there were to be no annexations. Mr. Philip Snowden Quoted. "And what has been done with those colonies ? While they were administered by Germany, they were open to the trade of the whole world. Since then France has not only closed her African colonies to the import of foreign goods, but lias militarised the native population in defiance of the covenant of the League* of Nations. "Finally, as to tho political aspects or the matter, I draw your attention to what Sir. Philip Snowden, Ihe Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote in tho Nation on July 21, 1926: 'lf Germany enters the League of Nations with a permanent seat on the Council,' he wrote, 'she will ho entitled to all the rights of a great Power. She cannot then he regarded as disqualified from exercising mandatory rights over backward areas, such as arc enjoyed by other members of the League. ... If the legitimate economic aspirations of a great commercial nation like Germany are suppressed, and if her trade rivals are permitted to monopolise wide areas which supply raw materials and provide an outlet for surplus population, an economic conflict will arise which will sooner or later inevitably lead to war.' "And, answering' the argument that Germany has never shown herself capable of managing colonies.tMr. Snowden in the same article quotes Mr. Winston Churchill's speech at tfio Imperial Conference, June 21, 1921: 'We have endeavoured to 'equip German East Africa with a Government not inferior to the German administration which it replaced. ... I am afraid that, for a year or two, this territory will comparo unfavourably m progress and prosperity with what it <JBjoyed at tho hands of our lato opponents.' " Answering the question, "What particular colonies lias the German Government tho intention to claim again ?" Sehnoo said: "We think only of the African colonies—German East Africa, Cameroons and Togoland. These are not too far distant from the Fatherland and can suppoit a white population. We have no intention of asking for tr.« return of New Guinea or any former colony in South SeasJi