LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR]

A NEW DEAL FOR AFRICA

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Now that the two East African experts have had their say (and I am greatly indebted to Mrs. Elspeth Huxley for representing another view of East African interests than that taken by Mr. Joelson) perhaps you will allow the author of the original article to bring the discussion back to its starting- point.

My proposals were intended to suggest a possible method —by no means the only possible one—whereby we might begin now to enlist (for reasons which I need not repeat) the co-operation of other countries in the development and administration of part of our Colonial Empire. The widely differing circumstances of the various Colonies, and the necessity for caution and " gradualness " in any new experi- ment, would make it impossible to apply such a method to the Colonial Empire as a whole ; nor do I believe that any universal scheme could be successfully applied to all our Colonies at one blow.

I chose East Africa as the seat of the proposed experiment for a number of reasons into which there is no space to enter here ; but I may say that the, considerable private correspond- ence to which the article has given rise has but served to con- firm, in my opinion, the soundness of the choice. The possible benefits would, I think, be greater and the difficulties less than elsewhere.

Constructive criticisms of the proposals have, unfortunately, not been put forward in your columns ; but the chief criticisms which have come to me may be summed up, with brief com- ments, as follows :

I. SOVEREIGNTY :

(a) No such thing as an international sovereignty exists and the attempt to create one, or vest it in the League of Nations, would involve an abnormal break in political evolution ; (b) No native people could conceive of allegiance to anything so nebulous or impersonal ; (c) A world-wide international sovereignty would mean irresponsible criticism and interference in the administration by States with no real interest in the territory administered.

(a) What about the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ? And where does sovereignty in the Mandated Territories reside ? (b)

Could the inhabitants (black and white) of the territories concerned not be brought to think of themselves as owing

allegiance to a Central African Federation in the making, with a flag and a citizenship of its own ? Point (c) seems to me substantial and will be dealt with hereafter.

2. LANGUAGE:

What would be the official language of the proposed inter- national administration ?

I must confess that I had in mind the African language which is widely spoken as a lingua franca in East and part of Central Africa—namely, Swahili ; but I am told that, despite what is said on pages 86 to 91 of Lord Hailey's Survey, Swahili is in fact not capable of sufficient development for the purpose and not only is, but must remain, restricted mainly to East Africa. I am also told that Africans want to learn a European language, especially English, and that they would resent any obstacle to what they so desire. English could, of course, be maintained as the official language of an adminis- tration gradually internationalised, as I suggested, by our own volition in the East African Dependencies ; though its maintenance would render the eventual extension of the internationalised area in Central Africa more difficult.

3. INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION :

A mixed international staff would involve deterioration in administrative efficiency, and control from Geneva would be worse than control from Whitehall.

To the first point I can best reply by quoting a letter written to me by a distinguished English administrator : " Having taken an active part in international administration for 18 years I know that a body of international Civil Servants can easily be recruited for any kind of international work and, under proper conditions, can become as loyal and efficient as may be desired." To the second point, I would reply that the transfer of the focus of authority to Africa was implicit in my proposals. I proposed that a triumvirate, each man serving for nine years and being replaced triennially in rotation, should eventually govern the territories. It was my intention (one cannot explain everything in a short article !) that they should be as independent of outside political control as is (say) the directorate of the L.P.T.B. ; and that the Council of the League, having once appointed them, would have to leave them alone to do their job. Indeed, in order to secure them against interference, I suggested that they should be removable only by a majority of the Assembly of the League.

As regards point t (c) above, I should have thought that men so appointed and assured of their position would be secure against irresponsible criticism and interference ; though it may be that a greater sense of responsibility would inform the administrators if they were appointed, not by the Council of the League, but by the group of States which were prepared to contribute to an international development loan such as I suggested. This idea, though not incompatible with the main intention of my proposals, would need an entirely different application.

Personally, I have great faith in the future of a League of Nations directing its activities to daily international co- operation in time of peace, rather than to collective defence in time of crisis, and I believe with Sir Edward Grigg (The Faith of an Englishman) that one of the two main objects of British foreign policy should be " to build up the League of Nations, whether in its present form or some other, as the embodiment of our ideals in international relations."

Even if the titular sovereignty of the King were to be main- tained (vide I (a) and (b) above) it would still be possible for us to enlist the co-operation of other countries to a wide extent in the development and administration of East Africa, and I cannot improve on Mrs. Elspeth Huxley's statement, in your issue of January 6th, regarding the benefits that would ensue from such action on our part.—I am, Sir, yours faith- The Geographical Magazine, 40-42 William IV Street, London, W.C. 2.