§ EARL GREYMy Lords, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is true that the Colonial 1018 Office have recently made special arrangements to consider applications from graduates of Canadian Universities for appointments in the British Colonial Services in tropical Africa and elsewhere; and whether a representative of the Colonial Office has recently been in Canada to confer with the Canadian authorities on the matter?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, I am much obliged to my noble friend for having given me an opportunity of referring to this subject, in which my predecessor was greatly interested, and which, I am glad to see, has now made a certain amount of satisfactory progress. Lord Milner, when he was Secretary of State for the Colonies, in consequence of certain trustworthy information which came from private sources in Canada, determined to make a move in the direction indicated in the Question. It was felt then that the interest of Canadians in other parts of the Empire had been to a very large extent quickened by the war, and that, if effective machinery was established for the purpose of giving accurate information to the Universities and other bodies in Canada, and also if means were provided for considering suitable applications, a certain number of Canadian graduates might be willing to take service in the Colonial Services of the Empire.
It is, of course, necessary that full consideration should be given to this matter and the Colonial Office have had it under careful consideration. It was recognised that it was essential that the Universities which took part in this scheme should be kept posted as to the nature of suitable openings in the Colonial Services, with the conditions of service, pay, and so forth. Secondly—and this is a matter which I am sure your Lordships will appreciate is very important—in view of the necessity that officers for duty amongst native races should be most carefully selected, arrangements must be made in order that the Secretary of State should have full information as to any candidates who might be brought forward.
In order to bring that matter to a more definite conclusion, my immediate predecessor the late Secretary of State for the Colonies sent his private secretary 1019 who deals with the matter of appointments, Major Furse, for a tour through Canada, where he got into close touch with the Universities. As a consequence of that, machinery has been devised which I hope will produce satisfactory results. Liaison officers have been appointed at each of the Universities concerned. Each University has a selection board, and there is a central committee at Ottawa consisting of experienced gentlemen who deal with the names and cases sent up to them from Universities before making any final recommendation to the Secretary of State. Thus it will be seen that any candidates are put through a careful examination by two separate bodies before the Secretary of State comes to a final decision.
Necessarily, this scheme is still in the experimental stage, but I am glad to say that we have had two satisfactory results so far. Two Canadian graduates have availed themselves of the opportunity that has been offered. One is a medical officer on the Gold Coast, and the other holds an agricultural appointment in Mauritius. I am quite confident that the scheme will be a success. It will not only be of benefit to the Colonial Services to be able to avail themselves of a certain number of representatives of young Canada, but there will be a clearer understanding in Canada of the needs, the opportunities, and the resources of the Empire. It will give to Canadians a novel and an interesting opening for administrative work as well as rich opportunities for research work in fields otherwise inaccessible to them. I am glad to say that we are working in close connection with the Canadian authorities. I do not anticipate that there will be any very large influx of Canadians. Probably five or six men will be picked annually, and there need be no apprehension that the appointments which will be given to men so selected will in any way compote with those given to the men who come from the Old Country. I hope the scheme will prove to be a great success.