GERMAN COLONIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22389, 8 April 1936, Page 12

GERMAN COLONIES

It is not surprising that questions should be asked in the House of Commons about Germany's demand for the return of colonies, seeing that it has become louder and louder with the rise of her military power. If, as may be suspected, such questions sometimes l'eflect a readiness on the part of a section of the community to surrender territory and the responsibilities attaching thereto, they indicate a craven fear of being great foreipn to the spirit of the greatest colonising nation the world has ever known. Mr. Neville Chamberlain has stated that a suggestion that the Empire should give up any of its colonies could not be entertained for a moment, and has made it clear that no mandated territory could be handed back to Germany at will. Germany thinks of the lost colonies in terms of property and power. The mandatory nations, if they are true to their trust, must think of them in terms of duty toward peoples not yet fit to govern themselves. What those who advocate their surrender think is not at all clear, but it is evident that their airy notions of transferring sovereignty, or what is implied by mandate occupation, pay scant regard to the deeper issues involved. They would appease Germany without a thought for the future of native peoples inhabiting these lands. Germany has always placed most emphasis upon the economic factor. She clamours for access to colonial raw materials. But the British Government has indicated that it is perfectly willing at any time to examine that subject at Geneva. Whether this would satisfy Germany is doubtful. Mr. Eden has told the Commons that it would be a mistake to imagine that they would discover a magic touchstone for all their ills. The international situation, he said, was much more complex than that. Nevertheless the way to agreement is open.