COLONIAL AND MIDDLE EASTERN SERVICES. (Hansard, 22 February 1940)

Mr. Creech Jones

There are several questions that I would like to put to the Secretary of State in regard to the items now before the Committee. The information supplied in the White Paper is not particularly illuminating, and my questions arise because I am in some doubt as to the purposes to which the expenditure is being or has been put. I welcome the continued policy of making grants-in-aid to certain of our Colonial dependencies where they are unable to stand on their own feet and meet certain of the heavy expenses in which they are involved. I hope that the Colonial Secretary will go on strengthening the administration so that more and more the economic resources of these territories are developed, and that as soon as possible these territories can pay their own way. Meanwhile, if certain social service and welfare work is to be done, obviously the Government must continue to finance as liberally as possible the Governments of these dependencies until they are more or less self-supporting. I would like to put questions, first of all, in relation to Somaliland, where I notice that military expenditure to the extent of £30,000 is involved. Various statements have been made, and, although I do not associate myself with them, I would like to have an answer as to whether this expenditure includes any recruitment of British protected subjects in respect of certain services over the frontier?

I notice that in regard to British Honduras there is an increase of £70,000, which is more than double the estimated administrative expenditure. We all recognise the poverty of this particular colony, and one would like to feel that the administration was being strengthened to the degree that it can exploit its economic resources more freely than is the case at the present time. Certain interests seem to have a grip in that colony, but I hope that the money for which the Colonial Office is now asking will be used for developing not only the economic possibilities of the territory, but also for the development of certain social aids in order that the poverty, which is pointed out in the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the West Indies, may in some degree be allayed. I would like to know whether part of this sum is for the purpose mentioned in the recommendations of the 1634 Royal Commission, namely, to meet the deficit in administration indicated there?

A sum of £58,000 is called for in respect of Kenya to meet expenditure on military roads, and I ask that some special consideration should be given to the problem of roads in this particular colony, and that, while military considerations are dominant possibly, the economic needs of the local inhabitants are not overlooked altogether, so that these roads may serve a permanent purpose in the development of the colony. In the past, the roads which have been constructed have, in the main, served the interests, I believe, of the European areas. A disproportionate amount of money has been spent in that way and the native areas have, to a degree, been neglected. If these roads are to be constructed, while; it is obvious that military considerations must be paramount, I hope that the ultimate economic needs of the colony, particularly from the point of view of the native peoples themselves, will not be lost sight of when this construction is going on.

Finally, we are making a grant-in-aid to St. Helena towards the expenses of her administration. The poverty of that colony has become proverbial, and one recognises that administration there has to do a great deal before the standard of life of the people can be built up. I believe that a number of very severe economic restrictions are operating there, and that the colony is again in the grip possibly of one or two special interests, but I hope that, small as this sum is, it may be a contribution towards extensive administrative organisation which will put the colony in a much healthier condition. The last report shows that its housing scheme consisted merely of five houses, and that a further two were contemplated. A much more vigorous social policy than that should be pursued, and every effort should be made to bring back health to this colony, which has been neglected for so long. I again welcome the continuance of this policy of grants to assist these territories, and I hope that the Secretary of State and his administration will do all that is humanly possible to induce the local Governments to build up the economic and social life of their communities until they find themselves on a self-supporting basis.

§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Malcolm MacDonald)

The hon. Member for Shipley (Mr. Creech Jones) started off by welcoming the policy of assisting colonial territories, when they have faced deficits in their budgets, by a. system of grants in aid, but urged that we should pursue a policy of wide development of the economic resources of those countries so that eventually they can stand, economically, on their own feet and not be obliged to have recourse to us for grants in aid. In a sentence I may say that that expresses completely the policy of the Government in its administration, not only of the Colonial Development Fund, but in its plans for a wider policy in future. The hon. Member asked four or five specific questions regarding the Supplementary Votes that are being asked for to-day. First, with regard to British Somaliland, he has noted that part of this expenditure is required for military purposes, and he asked whether any of it was being incurred in connection with the recruitment of British protected persons beyond the boundaries of Somaliland. I am not certain whether he had in mind the suggestion which has been made from time to time that some of these British protected persons are being, recruited for service in foreign Forces, but, if he has, I can assure him that no such recruiting is going on inside this territory. This military expenditure is entirely concerned with increasing the efficiency of our own and British defence forces in that territory.

The hon. Member then passed on to British Honduras and expressed the hope that the money we are asking for to-day would be used to help economic development there. The greater part of it is being so used. Something like £50,000 out of £70,000 is on account of unemployment relief works, largely for the building and construction of roads which, of course, will assist the transport system of the country and so be a contribution towards its economic development. A great deal of the rest of the money required is due to the fact that the British Honduras currency is based on the American dollar, and depreciation of sterling in terms of the American dollar has meant that our contribution in pounds in the form of a grant in aid to the territory has had to be increased since the war.

1636 Then he asked about the roads which are being constructed in Kenya and, whilst appreciating that they are military roads and therefore must be constructed so as to serve most efficiently their strict military purposes, he hoped we would not overlook the fact that these roads might also be constructed so as to help the ordinary social amenities and the economic development of the native territories. We must, of course, first pay attention to the strict military requirements, but if we could make them serve other and more peaceful purposes we would do what we could in that direction.

Finally, speaking about St. Helena he referred to the poverty of the island and hoped that this request for an additional grant was an indication that we were doing something to develop the natural resources and social services there. I would say to him that one of the reasons why expenditure has risen in St. Helena is that we have been paying considerable sums to the main industry there—the production of New Zealand hemp. That subsidising of the main industry has been one of the causes of the increased expenditure requiring our assistance, and another cause is the extent of the development of the social services there. I have a little note here on the way in which we are expanding the health, education, housing and certain other services in the colony, but perhaps I need not take the time of the Committee now. I would, however, be most ready to send to the hon. Member a short account of the way in which the five-year development programme for St. Helena is progressing at the present time.