Dr. MORGANIs is very appropriate that we should be speaking of a depressed industry in Great Britain. I will, with the permission of the House, deal with the condition of depressed people in the Colonial Empire. I hope to make some remarks about the condition of affairs in some of our Crown Colonies in the Caribbees. The right hon. Member for Spen Valley (Sir T. Simon), in speaking in the Hong Kong Debate proved to the House, that although there were no votes attached to the question of Colonial administration, and therefore no popularity, and not much interest, this House has a special responsibility in regard to these Crown Colonies, because the proletariat, the ordinary citizens, had no power in the administration of the Colonies, and no power over the legislation there. I know that the Under-Secretary of State is going to tell us that the conditions in the various Crown Colonies differ, that in some they have power and that in others they have not. He used the term "more or less autonomy." I dispute his claim that in regard to the islands which have asked me to raise this matter they have anything like "more or less autonomy." On consulting the dictionary I find that autonomy means self-government, the power to act for oneself. In these Crown Colonies with the exception of three, Barbadoes, Bahamas and British Honduras, there is an official and nominated majority as against the elected members.
I know that Rome was not built in a day and that a Labour Colonial Empire cannot spring up in a night. I want to pay my tribute to the work of the Colonial Office and the Labour Government 2476 since they have been in office. They have done exceptionally well. They are doing very good work, and I hope they will continue to do so. Although I shall be throwing some heavy bricks later on, I do not want it to be supposed that I am casting any reflection upon the staff of the Colonial Office. They are a very excellent staff of men, their ability is undoubted and their efficiency unchallenged. My grievance against them is that sometimes they seem to be stagnant, undemocratic and inclined to think that the Colonies should be under their parentage and supervision and should not be allowed expansion and scope. Having thrown that bouquet, I am going to throw a brick. I will give a case which the House may not regard as typical but of a type which is happening much too frequently in the Crown Colonies.
Here is a case which happened exactly two years ago in one of the Crown Colonies in the Caribbean Islands. For some reason not proffered to the public the Governor decided—he may have been acting on advice from the Committee of Imperial Defence or perhaps on instructions from the Colonial Office, or on his own initiative—to produce an ordnance to resuscitate the volunteer movement. There is no social legislation there, no workmen's compensation, no factory laws, no women's lights, very poor elementary education, very limited secondary education. The people protested against the ordinance. They said, "We cannot afford it. We have a huge list for payment of the bureaucracy. We have to pay salaries to the Governor, the Secretary and other Colonial officials, and we cannot afford this legislation." The protests were made in vain. The Governor passed the Bill with the official majority in the Council.
§ Sir ROBERT HAMILTONTo which island is the hon. Member referring?
Dr. MORGANThe Isle of Grenada, in the West Indies, one of the Caribbean Islands. The elected members protested. The elected representative for the principal town of the Island is a coloured journalist, practically self-educated, a very cultured leader of his people. The Colonial Office regards a reformer in any of these Islands as an agitator. This gentleman continued his protest in his journal and lampooned the volunteer 2477 movement, saying that there was no crime, no necessity for any militaristic display, and that it would be a waste of money. The Governor sent for him. He said that he supposed that the interview would be private. He asked for a private interview, but when he got there he found the Governor, the Colonial Secretary and the Attorney-General. The Governor read out to him a document to the following effect:
You are to promise that you will apologise to the Government for having written articles against the volunteer movement and against the Government policy and you must, in writing, say that you will promise never to offend again, otherwise within 24 hours you will be struck off the list of the local justices of the peace.The gentleman protested and asked to be supplied with a copy of the document, which was passed round to be initialled. He asked that he might see the document, but the Governor refused to allow him to do so. He repeated his request that the demand should be put in writing. Next day was a public holiday and he said that he wanted to see the document in writing. That was refused, but afterwards reluctantly it was given to him in writing. The Under-Secretary sometimes says that our information is in accurate and, therefore, in this case I am going to quote the official document:In view of what you have written, the Governor has directed me to inform you as follows:—In the verbal message read out to you by His Excellency the Governor at your interview with him on the 29th May you were clearly informed that the Governor had come to the conclusion owing to the attacks on and notices to the detriment of the Volunteer Force appearing in the newspaper which you control, that such attacks should not be made by anyone occupying the position of justice of the peace in this small colony, but he had taken into consideration the fact that you are the elected Member for St. George's district, and he was therefore prepared to allow you to retain the office of justice of the peace provided:—
- (a) That you submit to the Government your regret in writing for having written regarding the Volunteer Force as you have done.
- (b) That you submit also in writing an undertaking that in the newspaper you control no further article or notices shall appear to the detriment of the Volunteer Force.
Compliance with the above (a) and (b) is all that the Governor expects—beyond that, he requires no answer whatsoever from you. His Excellency is, however, willing, 2478 taking into consideration that to-day the 30th is a holiday, to await your reply up till noon of Saturday, 1st June, after which hour, in the event of your being unable to comply with the above conditions. His Excellency will take the necessary legal step to remove your name from the list of justices of the peace.In reply to that he said that his soul was not for sale; that when he was appointed justice of the peace no stipulation was made that he must never criticise the local government, especially in a matter like the Volunteer movement, and he declined to comply with the request. He was struck off the roll. I regret to say that in spite of every representation, every appeal, on the grounds of justice and morality, this injustice still prevails. We have asked the Colonial Office to inquire into this matter and to replace this man on the list of justices of the peace. The principle of the liberty of the press is involved and also the liberty of an ordinary citizen to criticise the local administration, yet in spite of all that has been written in "Labour and the Nation," in spite of all that is said by Labour Members to the plaudits of the multitude in this country, this injustice still remains. The divine right of Kings may have been changed to the divine right of Governors, but as the people in this Island have no say in the administration of the Colony, acts such as this should not be allowed to pass unchallenged or without some attempt to redress the injustice.3.0 p.m.
I mention this because it is typical of the Colonial Office administration. I know that the Governor has retired and that there is a new Governor in this island, but I have grave doubts whether he will act any differently. The Governor of Trinidad in the same way is trying to draw the colour bar at State functions in that Colony. These may be trivial matters to this House. It may be said that these Colonies are far away, what does it matter, but the inhabitants in the Crown Colonies regard these things as very important. They say that they are part of the British Empire and are looking for British justice. They ask that the whole system of Crown Colony administration in these Islands should be changed. The War changed the conditions there, and the opening of the Panama Canal, the cinemas, wireless and aeroplanes, have 2479 also greatly altered the conditions in this part of the world. But the old system still exists, by which one island is played off against the other. There is Barbadoes, with its limited franchise, its Mace, Speaker and two elected Houses, with only three thousand electors out of a population of 150,000, but an elective system. There is Trinidad, the richest colony in the Empire acre for acre, and one of the largest oil producers in the world, with a worse constitution—with an official majority. Its Pitch Lake bas been released to an American company instead of to a British company.
They are asking for a wider franchise, for manhood suffrage. The women are asking for the vote and to be elected as representatives to the Council. In one island this has been allowed. They are asking for social legislation, for workmen's compensation, factory acts, and penal reform. They are asking that all the old conditions should be removed; and after all it is the responsibility of this House. I will not say anything about the sugar policy of the Government, it is better to draw a sheet over it, but as far as the Islands are concerned they are very disappointed. My point is this, that these Colonies are asking, in view of the changed conditions and all the various anomalies which exist as between one island and another, and in view of the fact that the form of government is now obsolete, and that they have now reached a stage when they are entitled to a democratic extension of Government, to better administration, and better governors, that the Labour Government in this country should appoint a parliamentary Commission to go out and inquire into the whole situation. I see the Chief Whip smiling., but I can show him correspondence on this matter.
This is what all the electors in these Islands are asking. They say that if we do not think they are fit for self-government that we should send out a Parliamentary Commission, not a piecemeal commission, not a sugar commission or an education commission for Trinidad or a finance commission for British Guiana, but a commission representing the three parties in this country to inquire into the whole position of their economic conditions and their need for social legislation and also 2480 their ability to exercise the functions of government an a way which will ultimately lead to self-government under a federal system and so leading to Dominion status. What has happened? The electors have actually said that they would pay their proportionate costs of this Commission, and I regret to say that the Noble Lord who has the destiny of the Crown Colonies in his hands has refused to allow a Commission to go out. The colony says: "The British Government have appointed committees and commissions to inquire into everything from live beasts to dead mice, and surely they can appoint a Parliamentary Commission to go out and see, first, whether we are fit for government, and, secondly, whether they can do something to redress our grievances."
I apologise for having dealt with a matter which is of no interest to the House of Commons [HON. MEMBERS: "No, no"]. I am glad to hear it is of interest to a few Members. I have been trying for two years to speak on this subject and it is only now on the Adjournment Motion that I am able to get an opportunity. The colonists have asked me to raise this question all that time. I am not a good speaker and I do not know the rules of this House very well yet. Now that I have had an opportunity of speaking I hope that the Under-Secretary is not going to mumble out the brief that he usually gets from the Colonial Office. I hope that he will act with his Labour principles in his hand and in his heart, and courageously tell us that the Government have at last decided to see that an inquiry is held into the condition of these islands.
There is no question of tribal customs here, as in Africa. The inhabitants have to come to Great Britain for higher education, and they say that immediately the colour bar is put up against them. They suffer under various other disabilities. All the plums in the civil service in the islands are retained for Britishers. Once a man is appointed to the island he is never able to leave it. I know the case of a bandmaster who went to one of the islands at a salary of £100 a year. He has been there for 30 years and he is there now at a salary of £110. Each island is an absolutely closed cage from which a man has no escape. The same remark applies to medical men, malarial 2481 investigators. Except by a rare chance a man is not transferred from one island to another. We ought to have one malarial expert for a whole series of islands. The expert at Trinidad should be able to travel to all the islands and report on the conditions there, and should not be confined to one island. The same criticism applies to surgeons and x-ray specialists.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies has said that if he sent out a Commission it would be for the amalgamation of the Colonies simply with a view to economy. They do not want mere amalgamation of that kind, but something better than that, and I hope that the Under-Secretary in his reply will give them some encouragement. I hope that he will listen to a plea which is being put forward, without crime or bloodshed—unlike India and Egypt. These people are not illiterate, but they are thirsting for education and they ask that Parliament should give them the opportunity and the scope to develop gradually if you like towards the ideal of self-determination. Even though they are a negroid population on an African basis, they ask you to remember that their civilisation is British and not American. It is based on British ideas of justice, truth, honesty and good administration. I trust that the Under-Secretary will indicate the intention and desire of the Government to give them, some time in the future, a uniform system of administration, a uniform policy, and a uniform constitution, and that his reply will be a message of hope for these people.
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Dr. Drummond Shiels)I am sure we all agree that the hon. Member for Camberwell (Dr. Morgan) was much too modest in his description of himself, and that the community of the West Indies and especially that part of it in which he takes a particular interest, have in him an eloquent advocate. I was also glad to note from the exclamations in various parts of the House that there was disagreement with the hon. Member's suggestion as to the West Indies not being of special interest to the House. The West Indies have a special interest for this House and also for the Department with which I am associated. And I assure the hon. 2482 Member that I require no special brief in order to talk with some familiarity, as far as it is possible to do so from a study of these matters, of the questions which he has submitted. The difficulties of the West Indies, like many other things we have to deal with, are a legacy and that legacy has been accumulating for a long time. There are features of the West Indies about which I am not at all happy. Some of the things which the hon. Member mentioned, such as social and labour legislation, certainly require attention.
It was not very long after this Government came into office that we started to study this subject. The hon. Member for Bridgeton (Mr. Maxton) also brought to our notice a "master and servant" ordinance, showing the existence—in some islands at least—of a labour system which seems very unsuitable to the present day. These matters we have been going into very carfully. We find that there are similar conditions in other parts of the Colonial Empire. My noble friend the Secretary of State has Bet up a special committee to consider the general principles which ought to govern the various forms of social and labour legislation—workmen's compensation, the relations of employers and employed, minimum wages, and so on. When we get those principles established, we propose to bring as soon as possible the legislation of all the colonies into line with these principles. I would remind the House, however, that these laws and customs have grown up during many generations, and that the process of dealing with them must be a long and complicated one. But we are making a start.
I do not think the hon. Member intended that I should say very much about the case which he brought up of Mr. Marryshow. He has brought it up several times before. I think it is probably true that this is one of the cases where there is a good deal of the personal element involved. When you get in these small islands in the West Indies vigorous personalities confined within a small area, you are apt to get things of this kind arising. The hon. Member pointed out that in this part of the West Indies at any rate we have in the Colonial Office power to do and to order things that we have not got in some of the other islands. I think the hon. Member 2483 will be aware also that we have, in matters of this kind, where there are no broad general principles involved, but questions of fact and attitude, to be guided to a considerable extent by the views of the Governor. The Secretary of State considered very carefully, because the papers were very voluminous, both sides of this case, and he decided not to interfere with the action which the Governor took. Since that time, as the hon. Member said, there have been changes. I myself have seen and talked to Mr. Marryshow, and I was impressed with the interest which he takes in the affairs of his island. I promise my hon. Friend that I will be very glad to convey to the Governor's notice what he has brought before us to-day in regard to this gentleman, who, I understand, is at present in harmonious relations with the local Government.
Now, with regard to the constitutional questions, on which the hon. Member touched, it is not possible to go into that much to-day, but it is a subject which we have been considering. It has been explored before many times. It seems reasonable, on the face of it, that some form of federation, either whole or partial, would be a desirable thing, but there are difficulties. There is in each island a large amount of local patriotism, and there is a disinclination to be linked up with other communities. There is also a considerable distance between many of the islands, and although on map you might think that they were very suitable for a federal system, on going into it more closely one can see that geography is not always helpful. It does appear, however, as if some form of group federation might be possible, where groups of islands might have more economical and efficient administration. That is one of the questions into which we are going; at the present time. The Windward Islands, of which the hon. Member speaks, are one of the units which are being considered in connection with the question of the Federation of Trinidad and the Leeward and Windward Islands. We are trying to find out what the local opinion is on that subject, and to see if there is a prima facie case of getting some constitutional change of that kind. We shall take into consideration in that connection the remarks of 2484 the hon. Member, and I hope that we shall be able to arrive at a decision on the matter before too long.
Other matters are being discussed to-day, or I would have been pleased to go further into the whole question of the West Indies, but there will be other opportunities. I think that the hon. Member will be satisfied with what I have said, and with the fact that we regard sympathetically what he has brought forward and with the assurance that we are not forgetting the West Indies. If there were time, I would have liked to tell the House how much has been done through the Colonial Development Fund, especially in the direction of carrying out some of the recommendations of the Olivier Report in connection with land settlement for smallholders—a line which seems to me one of the most hopeful in the West Indies. We have al6o had to make provision for the relief of distress and to do the very best we could to tide the islands over the present difficulties. I agree with what the hon. Member said about trying, even if we have not any federal system, to have technical officers to go from one island to another and to give the benefit of their medical or agricultural knowledge to the different parts of the West Indies. We have started that to some extent, and shall certainly try to develop it.
I can assure the House that we shall do anything we can to help the West Indies. We came into a very difficult legacy, and this was followed immediately afterwards by this tremendous time of depression, and it is difficult to make the big scale changes that one might wish to make as things are at present. We hope, however, that these conditions will not last long and that there will be a possibility of making social and constitutional progress in the West Indies which I am sure we all wish to see made.
§ Dr. SHIELSAs I explained, we are considering the possibility of a Commission to inquire into closer union of Trinidad and the Leeward and Windward Islands. The Commission will have to advise according to its terms of reference, but we are trying to find out first the drift of public opinion and all the other 2485 relevant facts. I am not in a position to announce a decision, but, as I said, an effort will be made before very long to come to a conclusion.