COLONIES AND LIVING SPACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23884, 11 August 1939, Page 4

COLONIES AND LIVING SPACE

By H. V. Hudson,

A CONSTRUCTIVE INTERNATIONAL IPOLICY

Editor of the Round Table Lord Halifax’s now famous speech to the Royal Institute of International Affairs on June 29 was epoch-making in the literal sense. It marked , a new epoch in British foreign policy because it presented coherently,, for the first time, the result of .Great’Britain’s fateful decision to Ibei.-a European Power as well as a World Power. v/Yet the most important part of mis. speech Was not its re-emphasis pledges to defend certain ebuntries of, Europe, but. its references to the contributions that Great Britain - plight make, mainly outside Europe; to-a. better world order Under favourable conditions.' Now that .Great Britain has committed hersielf to go to wdr; if need be, over the internal troubles of the European continent, it becomes a vital national interest of hers to alleviate those troubles, real or imagined, and to see that they do not lead to war. In j*he European continent itself she i Ha»,little or nothing to contribute to subli. alleviation: her part must lie in two fields where she is favoured above the generality of nations—that is to' say, trade and finance on the one hand, and colonial adminis-; tratibn on the other. It is impossible here to go into the complicated non-economic aspects Of the colonial problem. But this must be said: ; a purely economic solution,can never suffice to get.rid of the problem as a source of friction between nations. Territorial adjustment is indeed impossible with the Nazi Germany of to-day, for it would mean, first, an act of military suicide; and, secondly, the handing-over of native peoples for whom we are trustees to a Government that recognises no right but the right of Germans to dominate all other races by force. Yet in the long run there can be no lasting Solution which does not enable all countries to contribute according to their abilities, in administration and -politics as well as trade and finance, to the welfare of backward areas. The answer may be x a federal union of the forward countries, or forms of condominium over the backward, or internationally recruited* administrative and technical services in the colonies; but it, must somehow fulfil that general condition. Examining the economic aspects of the colonial problem, Lord Halifax spoke at length of the way in which the advantages of ready access to colonial markets ; and tb colonial raw materials could be shared mpre widely, if trade barriers .were reduced all,round. He showed that a need for Lebensraum —living space—is more likely to be relieved by expanding trade than by acquiring territory. Germany, a country which actually requires to import labour from abroad, does not need physical spade to settle its people, feut a* new economic, policy to raise theiij standard of welfare, “ I have no doubt,” said the Foreign Secretary, “ that in the conduct of bur colonial administration we should be ready to go far upon the economic side, as have already v on the political side, in making wider application; .Mthe' .principles Which now obtaift • ;tri/'the mandated territories, including,* on terms of reciprocity, that of the Open Door.” Is this offer enough? There are many people who thirtk that as a matter; of principle, regardless of reciprocity, the Open Door is the right policy/ for territories for whose people we are trustees. We cannot be sure, they say, that we are dutifully carrying out : our-trust , unless ; our wards can buy in the cheapest market, or the market that Suit;? them best, not the market that suits us best. Other people argue that, since we in Great Britain give the colonies reciprocal preferences, it would be unfair to put other coun - tries on an equal footirtg with us iii colonial markets except on the basis of reciprocity. But this controversy is not the ; gist of the matter. The real problem .arises from the character of * Germany’s' ’economic policy; The concept of the Open Door fits into the * pattern :bf ’ traditional, commer-* * dal policies, under which everyone is free to trade as he will within the limits’ set by tariffs (or occasional quotas); applying,- equally to all foreign countries. It has no relation to the entirely different type of commercial policy which aims at controlling every particular trade transaction in the interests of some nbrirpcqnpTplc., . objectiy*^—military frieff*djhi^iXP r artificial exchange -l control; S;iich is the policy of Gei> ; many., .The Open Door fare that is ; offered .tp. her is edible, and even, 4. nutritibijsnbut it is .not part of the diet , which she has imposed on herself, ahdj : haying consumed it, she • would stillvbe hungry. ; ~,'-

Is .there some' more appropriate economic, offer that we could make to Germany—something that would chime in : With the regime of * exdaahge control apd . barter? It would- have to have the nature of a grand-scaiei! clearing * agreement, under vtyich Germany could procure the ; raw materials that she heeds fromithe colonial empire without having.''to obtain “free” exchange.We have to envisage a giant “svjapv of German manufactures ffdr- rtibber, tin, , tea, copper, sisal, and other colonial products, tafc&i in guaranteed quantities at ffxed prices. ; There are obvious difficulties in the : way,-y the first of which is the fact that the British dependent empire is not a single economic unit but a collection of separate countries each with its own commercial interests and its own means of defending them. We cannot offer to exchange German imports of Malayan tin for Ceylonese imports of German machinery unless we devise at the same time some compensatory means, of paying Malaya and enabling Ceylon to pay. A second difficulty, allied with the first, is that the doctrine of trusteeship preyed us from negotiating a pact which would, in effect, oblige the colonies to buy certain quantities Of German goods, and then force it pn them whether they like it or not.

There are other difficulties, political as well as economic. It would be fatal to take any initiative at this moment which would leave on German minds the impression, entirely false, that the British Government and people were wavering in their resolve to stand fast by their friends iiind their Ideals. r Nevertheless, the idea is worth exploring. The United Kingdom, Canfeda, South Africa, and New Zealand have already concluded “payments agreements” with Germany. , For, the colonial empire as a whole to- do so would be no innovation of principle, The present opportunity, on the economic side, is ripe for pursuing- the idea because many colonial products are in I

state .of glut. A fixed-price, guar-anteed-purchase arrangement with Germany would, therefore, be acceptable to territories that might otherwise have felt it an imposition. And the time is politically ripe, too, because the nature of British foreign relations to-day demands of the Empire the adoption of a constructive as well as a defensive international policy.