DOMINIONS AND COLONIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23686, 19 December 1938, Page 2

DOMINIONS AND COLONIES

There is a casual paragraph in Mr Lloyd George's new book on the Peace Conference which acquires a peculiar appositeness at. the moment, says " Janus," writing in the Spectator. Writing of the allocation of mandates for the German colonies, Mr Lloyd George notes that Canada remained the only British dominion without any extraneous responsibilities: "Personally (he writes) I regretted the disinclination of her statesmen and her people then to share in the direct responsibilities of Empire. I had been of the opinion that Canada might undertake the control, and administration of the British West Indian islands on behalf of the Empire. Those beautiful and fertile islands were—and still are—suffering from the neglect which is inevitable in an immense and scattered estate needing care and capital, not only* for its full development, but even to prevent its falling into decay Canada has no tropical or semi*tropical territory, and I thought the undertaking might interest the Canadian people." Sir Robert Borden at Paris was not responsive to Mr Lloyd George's suggestion The idea of encourgjng the transfer of small outlying colonies tb the self-governing dominion nearest them is worth considering, al! the same.