FORMER COLONIES ARE OF LITTLE REAL VALUE.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 383, 15 March 1937, Page 3

FORMER COLONIES ARE OF LITTLE REAL VALUE.

SMALL EXPORTS. , Fallacies of Claims Made by German Leaders. When Germany’s lack of colonies is blamed for the hard times the Third Reich is now experencing, it is forgotten that colonies are not considered universal providers, says a writer in the “Christian Science Monitor.’’ The total export trade of the whole of the British colonial empire, excluding India, in 1933 was only £178,0001000 to all countries, Britain herself taking less than one-third of this total. Britain’s total imports of raw materials and foodstuffs in that year were over £520,000,000. Germany’s were about 400,000,000 Reichsmarks, about £320.000,000. A few colonies certainly produce a few things in abundance. Some colonies, however, as Britain knows full well, produce comparatively little of anything. The mandated territories which were formerly German are in this category. For example, Tanganyika, the most important of them, had a total export trade in 1934—the latest year for which complete statistics are available —of £2,856,589. No doubt this was divided up among a number of raw materials which Germany needs, but German industry would go very short if it had to rely on Tanganyika alone to supply its needs in any one of them. The Chief Items. Here, in round numbers, are the chief items of Tanganyika’s exports: —• Coffee: 12,700 metric tons, value £430,000. Tobacco: 135 tons, value £37.000. Hemp: 69,600 tons, value £882,000. Raw cotton: 5700 tons, value £277,000. Ground nuts: 19,200 tons, value £166,000. Hides and skins: 400 tons, value £167,000. Gold: 39,0000 z, value £195,000. These figures were for 1933, in which year Germany imported (again in round numbers) 130.000 tons of coffee, 87,000 tons of tobacco. 15,000 tons of hemp, 445,000 tons of raw cotton, 316,000 tons of ground nuts, 138,000 tons of hides and skins. Thus, in every item except hemp, Tanganyika’s output fell far short of Germany’s needs.

Tanganyika is a fair sample of colonial territories. Some of them, of course, are a good deal richer; but others are a good deal poorer. Some, however —Tanganyika among them — have very considerable undeveloped wealth, and there is no doubt that in years to come, though not' yet, they will be important sources of supply for a number of key products. Even so, it is as well to remember that the imperial power, which governs these colonies cannot, it it would —and it is to be hoped, would not if it could — exploit the resources of the colony exclusively for its own benefit, regardless of the rights of the local inhabitants.

In the category of potentially important sources of raw materials is South-West Africa, formerly known as German South-West, and now under the mandate of South Africa. At present South-West Africa has a total export trade averaging about £1,600,000 a year, of which 70 or 80 per cent, is in minerals, principally diamonds. The colony exports a few thousand pounds’ worth each of tin, vanadium, lead, and other metals, but as= yet not in sufficient quantities to make any appreciable difference to an industrialised country like Germany. It is thought likely that, when the territory has been fully surveyed, rich mineral deposits will be discovered. To Develop Resources. The potentialities of the British Colonial Empire have recently been engaging the attention of the British Government, which has undertaken that the question shall ultimately come before the League in order to enable the world as a whole to participate in the development of such resources as are found to exist. Meanwhile, however, development is constantly going on—mainly on the initiative of private enterprise, although the Government is also taking a hand in some places. The financing of this development work is by no means entirely in the hands of British capitalists. As a result of Anglo-American co-operation, for instance, over 400,000,000 tons of copper-bearing ore have already been proved, and are being exploited in Northern Rhodesia. The greater part of this is clean sulphide ore, giving, on an average, five per cent, of copper. It is possible to produce at a profit as low as £2l a ton. Rhodesia also possesses important deposits of vanadium, zine, lead, and cobalt. It should be possible—and it is now generally considered desirable—to extend greatly the participation of foreign capital and enterprise in the work of colonial development.

It is. true that Rhodesia is a somewhat exceptional case owing to the vast mineral wealth it contains. The only other British colony with anything like comparable advantages is Malaya, whence, in addition to abundant supplies of tin, come most of the world’s supplies of plantation rubber. There is American capital in the Malayan rubber industry and French capital in Malayan tin, but by tar the greatest share in the development of both products is held by Britain.

It is worth remembering in connection with Malaya that, though rubber is at present one of the world's key commodities, this may not always be so. Half a century or so ago, the indigo plantations of India were exceedingly prosperous—until the chemists discovered aniline dyes.. Synthetic rubber has already made itp appearance, and, although it is still much more expensive than the natural product, improved methods of production are constantly being recorded. The Role of Substitutes. How far the chemical substitute will ultimately supplant the natural product not only in regard to rubber, but other raw materials, is a matter of supreme importance in estimating the potential economic value of colonies.

Germany, under the direction of General Hermann Goering, is even now busy with an extensive campaign on behalf of the substitute. If the campaign succeeds, many colonies will become liabilities instead of actual or potential assets. Would Germany still want her colonies back if her search for substitutes were to succeed?

Even to-day the figures prove beyond question that colonies are considered desirable, more on account of prestige and sentiment than because of the raw materials they produce. The wealth derived from colonies is undoubtedly over-estimated by those who do not possess them. The fact that no country which owns a colony is ready to give it up makes possession all the more worth while to States without colonies. One of the most difficult aspects of the colonial problem to-day is that national social status is beginning to be measured largely by the possession or otherwise of a colonial empire. In these circumstances, the solution of the colonial question appears to lie not in the transference of ownership of bits and pieces of territory from one country to another, but in a different concept of colonial responsibility.