THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1936. GERMANY’S LOST COLONIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22907, 15 June 1936, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1936. GERMANY’S LOST COLONIES

Approval by Herr Hitler of a nationwide publicity campaign for the purpose of making the German people “ colony-conscious ” appears to mark the beginning of a new phase of the Nazi effort to secure the surrender of colonial mandates. The Colonial Society formed by Dr Heinrich Schnee, former Governor of German East Africa and a leader of the restoration movement, is, we are told, to be enlarged into a League for the Restoration of German Colonies, the object being to make the movement fully national rather than semi-political in scope. The question of the colonies has been described as being virtually the only source of contention between Germany and Great Britain. The problem of status was dealt with explicitly in the fifth of the late President Wilson’s famous “ points,” wherein it was provided that there should be “ free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustments of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the "Government whose title is to be determined.” German argument, which ignores the point that confiscation was part of the punishment imposed by the Allied Powers after the war, insists that there should have been consultation when the future of the colonies was being decided. The current view held by the mandatory Powers is that the peoples governed under mandates clearly have the right, according to the principle enunciated by President Wilson, to a definite voice in any question of the restoration of their territories to Germany. And the generally accepted opinion is that, insofar as the overseas mandates arc concerned, there is emphatically no demand for reversion to the pre-war status. There has been no change in the British official view as expounded at Geneva seven months ago by Sir Samuel lioare, then foreign Secretary, that Germany’s problem is economic rather than territorial, and that the British Government is willing and eager to consider tluf first ground of grievance—the equal opportunity for Hie supply of raw materials from colonial possessions. Sir Samuel Hoare indicated at that time that the Government was quite prepared to co-operate in any collective effort to deal with the problem of distribution of supplies. Since then Mr Baldwin has had occasion to state that the Government is definitely not considering any transfer of mandated territory to Germany. It is of special interest at the present time to learn that it is actually being proposed that the territory which was German South Africa should be incorporated in the Union of South Africa. On the part of the other mandatory Powers, there is a positive refusal to admit the validity of the German demand. Japan will not give up the Pacific islands which she holds, although she has severed her connection with the League, and France has said that she cannot consider returning her portion of the former German Cameroons and Togoland. France maintains that these territories have been extensively developed by French planters, that the French Government has itself spent millions of francs on development, and that the great majority of the natives wish to remain under French rule. Similarly, in Tanganyika there is a desire on the part of the non-German foreign elements and the natives to preserve the existing status/ although there is anxiety because of the strength of the German element, consequent on the decision of the British Government, in 1925, to allow German nationals to re-enter the territory. France, like Great Britain, is willing to concede colonial economic rights to Germany, in accordance with the terms of the mandates, but she is adamant in her insistence that, under Article 119 of the Treaty of Versailles, no change in the distribution of mandates can take place except with the permission of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States. It is clear that such permission will not readily be obtainable. What the outcome of the persistent German agitation for restoration will be it is impossible to forecast. Dr Schnee recently made the statement that Germany, to solve her problem of raw materials, must possess colonies, and she would be satisfied with nothing less than unconditional restoration. Ihe question is one that vitally affects the peace of Europe, and for that reason, it would seem. a. collective approach to it cannot be much longer delayed. There is more than a threat that Germany will one day be prepared to back her demands by force.