§ 54. Mr. De Chairasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will consider the appointment of a commission to visit all parts of the Colonial Empire and mandated territories to ascertain what dependencies are capable of further development; what fields there are for further British capital investment and settlement; and what steps are necessary to increase the purchasing power of the 66,000,000 inhabitants of the dependent Empire which during the first six months of 1938 only purchased £29,000,000 worth of goods from Great Britain compared with £70,000,000 worth purchased by the self-governing Dominions?
Mr. M. MacDonaldWhile I am in sympathy with the objectives which my hon. Friend has in mind, I do not feel that the appointment of a commission such as he suggests would be an effective method of achieving them.
§ Mr. De ChairIs it not a fact that the situation in the West Indies came somewhat as a surprise, and would not a commission to investigate the whole of these matters enable the Government to accelerate their development?
Mr. MacDonaldOne of the reasons why the particular proposal is not the best one is that we have a number of local commissions making inquiries already into this very question, including the Royal Commission on the West Indies.
§ Mr. ShinwellMay I ask whether in view of these difficulties the right hon. Gentleman has any doubt in his mind as to the future of the British Empire?
Mr. MacDonaldPerhaps the hon. Member will read the latter part as well as the first part of the speech I delivered.
§ Mr. PalingIs it not time that the appallingly low rate of wages paid to millions of these people should be investigated so as to raise their purchasing power, if it is at all possible under the capitalist system? Could not we send out a commission to investigate this matter?
Mr. MacDonaldAs far as the West Indies are concerned, the question of the purchasing power of the people is covered already by the terms of reference to the Royal Commission.