The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1945 COLONIAL RESPONSIBILITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25157, 21 March 1945, Page 6

The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 1945 COLONIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The declaration by the Secretary of f State for the Colonies, Mr Oliver - Stanley, that Britain cannot share ® responsibility for the administration e of her colonial territories, is a 0 straight answer to those American organisations and individuals, lome 1 of them highly placed, who have j been consistently pressing for the ) introduction of some form of inter- ■ national or other outside control over all colonies. This control, in the minds of its advocates, is a . stepping-stone to political independ- • ence for the territories as soon as i may be possible. Mr Stanley's ■ utterance is well timed, now that the San Francisco Conference is drawing nearer. While the most urgent concern of that meeting will be security, the man in the street is rather apt to forget that its i formal purpose is to inaugurate a | General International Organisation - which will succeed the League of Nations and will inherit most "of the i latters minor functions and duties. ' It is practically certain that the United States, and possibly other members of the conference, will endeavour to have incorporated in the new organisation some subsidiary body equivalent to the existing Permanent Mandates Commission. It may be proposed that this body shall • have supervisory powers over the colonies of all nations, and not merely over the mandates inherited from the last war. There may even be an attempt to give it executive functions which the commission never possessed. While these are only conjectures at present, the whole question of colonies is so much in the air that if not raised at San Francisco it will certainly come up later. One reason for this is that either the Great Powers or the new organ--1 isat.ion will have to decide what is to be done with the former Italian possessions in North and East Africa. It is generally agreed that the Japanese mandated islands will be placed in the charge of the United States, either as possessions or as mandated territories. Formosa will be returned to China, but the disposal of Manchuria will not be so simple, nor will that of Tripolitania, Eritrea and the other remnants of Mussolini's cardboard empire. Since consideration of these territories cannot be avoided, it is unlikely that colonies in general will escape discussion. Many Americans feel entitled to claim a substantial interest in the future of certain territories which they have won back, or are in process of winning back, from the Japanese. These include New Guinea, the Netherlands Indies, Malaya and French Indo-China, The feeling in regard to such lands appears to resemble that about many of the bases which America has established on foreign soil in both hemispheres. It is also broadly true that, while much American sentiment is traditionally suspicious of "British imperialism" and ignorant of its achievements, and aims to abolish .the political dependence of native peoples, there is a less altruistic desire in some quarters to find new openings for American trade and capital and to do away with such preferences and ofber advantages as colonial Powers may now enjoy. Although Mr Stanley has t stated in unmistakable terms Britain's determination to go on governing her colonies without outside interference, his declaration does not mean that the door is closed to collaboration with other colonial Powers, or to "accountability" in the sense of reporting fully and freely, to a responsible international organisation. The Anglo - United States Caribbean Council is doing excellent work ,on the acute economic problems of the West Indies and the Middle East Supply Council has developed important political functions in its area. Field-Marshal Smuts some time ago suggested an American or other independent chairman for a proposed Central African Board of Control, and Australia and New Zealand made definite provision for the inclusion of the United States in the South \ Seas Regional Commission which they approved in principle at Can- 1 berra early last year. But actual j power must be exercised by the < existing colonial authority. Mr Stan- , ley is on sound ground in making his < statement, for the Conservative, ! Labour and National-Liberal Parties in Britain have all declared against 1 sharing colonial responsibilities. More than that, a number of native \ peoples have expressed themselves < just as firmly against the substitu- ; tion of international for British 1 rule. They prefer the known and trusted to the unknown quantity j represented by a many-headed, im- ] personal organisation which would 1 wholly or in part supplant King J George VI. and his Ministers. I i REGIONAL PLANNING ! r Regional planning makes such | good sense that the idea needs no I recommendation. Difficulties begin » when the attempt is made to apply . the idea. Local interest often seems to conflict with regional interest, r Yet when the experience of the depression years is remembered —the v spending of large sums for little re- I' turn —the warning is clear against ? proceeding a second time in that ] local and piecemeal fashion. The period of reconstruction offers an (l opportunity and throws down a J challenge to manage public projects c ] more wisely and in a larger spirit, t Out of its demands the community *' should obtain a real access of economic and social equipment. With !, this object in view, the representa- rl tive conference which met yesterday v decided on the establishment of a ' regional planning organisation for v Auckland. Nowhere else is such an !■ overall body more needed, with the 1 bewildering fragmentation of local | authority that obtains here. | Nowhere else, by the same token, will regional organisation encounter 1 so many obstacles to planning. Yet ' the conference was right in resolving o to make the attempt. As a Times 1: correspondent remarked at the New ' Year, it matters far less that a v man's resolves should fail than that 3

he should fail to resolve. Much will depend at the outset on the form of f the organisation and probably still more on the personnel. It will have no poVers. As Mr Mawson, director : of town-planning, pointed out, it 1 will be a consultative and advisory t body. The schemes it recommends t are to serve as no more . than a i guide. If, then, its guidance is to prove influential and effective, the organisation will have, to establish its prestige by enlisting public opinion in order to prevail against ' possible manifestations of petty local prejudice and to enforce the larger and wider view against narrow parochialism. FEW AIRCRAFT NEEDED Viscount Swinton's statement at the Capetown Empire Air Conference on the size of the aircraft needed for the transatlantic and Dominions services gives emphasis to the conclusions of the Times aeronautical correspondent on the very small numbers of aircraft which will be required for the postwar airlines. For what is expected to be the busiest route after the war, the North Atlantic, various independent authorities are quoted that 40 to s SO aircraft carrying about 50 passengers each will be sufficient. This traffic must be shared by Britain, Canada and the United States. The needs of a British-con-trolled world wide network of services would be fully met by 400 to 500 aircraft of the specifications expected to be available when hostilities cease. On this basis, and giving the aircraft a life of five years, the maximum British requirements would be only 100 new aircraft a year. Another estimate is that the aircraft needs for the air services of the whole world would be no more than 2000. Since the Allied Nations are producing now up to 15,000 machines of all types a month, it is plain there will have to be a severe curtailment in the number and size of the aircraft industries which have been built up. If so few aircraft will meet the traffic needs of the more densely populated countries, it is obvious how small will be New Zealand's requirements for payable internal services. The fear that the Onited States will enter the civil aviation field with an overwhelming lead as a result of concentration on passenger and cargo aircraft for war purposes is diminished by Lord Swinton's somewhat casual announcement that Britain is now building a 250,0001b machine capable of "carrying 100 passengers for the Atlantic route. That is convincing evidence of Britain's intention to hold her own.