HC Deb 05 November 1947 vol 443 cc1962-70

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. R. J. Taylor.]

10. p.m.

Squadron-Leader Kinghorn (Great Yarmouth)

The subject to which I want to draw the attention of the House tonight for a few minutes is development in Southern Rhodesia. I am interested in Southern Rhodesia, and it is customary when we are speaking here to disclose our interest in the subject under discussion. My interest is one which began to develop before the war, when I found myself having to lecture on various parts of our Commonwealth. During the war that interest was increased, when I found that Rhodesians with whom I served in the Royal Air Force were doing the same job as myself and others, and that brought home to me the fact that we were all members of one nation.

I carried on that interest, and got into touch with events in Southern Rhodesia as much as I possibly could while here in England, and, in doing so, I rather infected friends of mine with that same keen interest. So much so that a week or so ago an acquaintance of mine went to Southern Rhodesia, filled with the same sort of interest in that country, and is now making great efforts to get additional transport going in that country—which is three times the size of England and Wales—to help build up Southern Rhodesia's economic resources.

Further, I am much interested in a project already put forward to form the basis of increased immigration into Southern Rhodesia. That project is increased housing capacity. I and many others feel that the future of Southern Rhodesia is assured. There are steel plants already in operation, and ample resources for feeding those plants, and business men from this country have already committed themselves to long-term projects for making Southern Rhodesia the steel-producing centre for the whole of the Continent of Africa. In addition, the massive resources of water power, of which children in this country already know from pictures of the Zambesi River, the Victoria Falls, and so forth, are marked down for much more rapid exploitation. In years to come Southern Rhodesia will be the African centre for the electrical development of the whole of that Continent.

We know that every part of our Commonwealth would like more immigrants than are being received today, but the major difficulty is transport. We cannot move as many people as wish to go from this country to various Dominions, because we lack ships and aircraft. Even when priority passages are obtained then; is no housing accommodation for the immigrants. Despite this the future of Southern Rhodesia, from the point of view of immigration, is assured, because those who served in the R.A.F., at operational training aerodromes in that country, remember how impressed we were by it, and its possibilities.

The reason I have brought up this subject tonight is not mainly for these long-term projects, but to bring to the attention of the House the possibilities of short-term action in Southern Rhodesia, if our Government can act along with the Government of Southern Rhodesia to exploit as quickly as possible some of the resources lying to hand in that wonderful little country in order to help us to bridge the terrible dollar gap. I suppose we all know that the centre of that famous story, "King Solomon's Mines" was really concentrated in Rhodesia, but it would be a truism to say today that "King Solomon's Mines" are waiting now to be exploited, and can be exploited without the difficulty we have to encounter when we exploit similar raw materials in our own country. There are only fewer than 100,000 white people in that country which, I repeat, is three times the size of England and Wales, and yet the resources are ready to be tapped. Not only that, but if we tackle the situation properly, we can tap them and pipe them over to the countries where we must get exports in order to bridge the dollar gap Some of these raw materials which I shall mention in a moment would be only too welcome now in large quantities in America, both North and South, and in return, through that channel, we could get increased supplies of beef from South America, hides, and so on.

First let me mention chrome. There is a small place in Southern Rhodesia where chrome has been mined for some time. My information—and it is also the information which Sir Miles Thomas found out a few weeks ago—is that already there are 300,000 tons of this chrome ore lying in a stock pile at a place called Selukwe. It is worth half a million pounds at present market value, and it cannot be used because the railways and the road transport facilities are not enough to move this commodity which could be sold at once to the United States and thus bring dollars into the sterling area immediately. That is only one way. We all know that in these days gold has fallen rather in popular esteem, and that a more valuable thing is better supplies of coal. I think I am safe in saying that in Southern Rhodesia there is the most wonderful coal mine in the world—if one can call it a coal mine. Many of us have been aware for some time that it existed, how easy it was for the coal to be mined, how it is in much greater seams than in our country, and how one did not have to send miners walking four and a half miles from the place where the cage gets to the bottom of the pit before they start work, as was mentioned from this very bench only last week by one ex-miner. Sir Miles Thomas said on 21st September, in the "Sunday Times," after his recent return from Southern Rhodesia: I marvelled at the possibilities of the Wankle coal mine. Instead of going down in a cage, one actually motors to the coal face. It is as simple as entering the Mersey Tunnel—and the height of the underground work ings is nearly as great. The coal seam is 26 feet thick. There is enough in the deposit—5,200,000,000 tons—to give a yield of 2,500,000 tons a year for 2,000 years. That is long enough for us to develop atomic power in this country and say goodbye to coal. He said: It is high quality, good coking coal with a thermal equivalent of 13,500 B.T.Us."— whatever they are— The price at pithead is under 10s. a ton. It sells as domestic fuel in Salisbury 500 miles away, for 35s. a ton delivered and 27s. a ton in truck. Industrial consumers naturally pay lower prices. That is the position of coal. It is easy to get plenty of it and enough to last this country for many a long year to come. There is a similar story to tell of other raw materials—mica asbestos, which, I am led to believe, is consumed mostly by manufacturers in this country. There is gold, of course, which as I have said, rather falls behind some of these other raw materials these days. Then there is tobacco which is helping us out, but it is a curious thing that tobacco in Southern Rhodesia is exported to America of all places, and is one of the ways in which dollars come back to the sterling area. It is a landlocked little country—little compared with other African countries, but much bigger than this country—and its outlet to the sea is normally through Portugese territory. There is a single-line track working and the normal outlet is to the Eastern part of Africa through a foreign port. On the West, much further off, is a port in British territory, and between there and the port one has to go through Bechuanaland. On examining the map I find that some years ago another man had a similar idea to mine that we could force a way through to the West coast. That is a possibility which can bear examination, and it was thought of 15 years ago. Railway lines do exist, and the gap is only 600 miles.

I wish to emphasise that here are valuable deposits on British territory. We are hungering for dollars, and many things which we hope to export have never been exported to America, and some believe never will be exported there, but in this wonderful part of the Empire—these King Solomon's Mines—there are valuable deposits for which Americans North and South are hungering. Would it not be worth while for the Government to summon the civil servants of the Commonwealth Relations Office and of the Economic Planning staff to sit down for a week or a fortnight to study this question, especially as representatives of the Dominion Governments will be here for the Royal Wedding, and see if there is any way by which we can exploit these deposits as they were exploited during the war? I think it would be a thing worth trying. If it failed, at least it would have been an effort, and if it succeeded the prospects are endless. We should be simply digging up dollars on some of our own territories in Africa, and, it may be we could sacrifice some of the steel rails that we want in this country, some of the trucks, and some of the manpower which we are due to direct, in order to make this short-term effort and to get a better return for that effort. I think it worth while for the Government to consider it, and I ask the Under-Secretary of State, who is to reply for the first time, other than answering Questions in the House, to consider it. I congratulate him beforehand because I shall not have an opportunity afterwards. I hope he will accede to my request.

10.24 p.m.

Colonel Ponsonby (Sevenoaks)

I wish to support what has been said. Rhodesia is an oasis of potential wealth and the only difficulty is that communications are at the moment very difficult. I am afraid that it is a long-term policy to drive that railway to the West. I hope, however, that in the near future the survey for that 600-mile railway will be completed. A great deal of that line would go through Bechuanaland, which is a Protectorate, and I hope that that will be one of the schemes which may be dealt with under the new Bill, which we shall hear about tomorrow. In the meantime, I would endorse what the hon. Member has said.

10.25 p.m.

Mr. Rankin (Glasgow, Tradeston)

I listened with interest and appreciation to what my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Squadron-Leader Kinghorn) had to say, and I do not wish, in the few minutes at my disposal, to indicate any deep difference in my attitude from his. He mentioned two commodities which were produced in Rhodesia and he gave the pit-head price of one of them—coal—as 10s. a ton. That is an interesting figure, and we must keep it in mind, because when we talk about a pit-head price of 10s. a ton for coal we must remember the standard of living which is indicated by the kind of price which is paid for that coal. He mentioned tobacco, which we get from that wealthy area. One of the last returns I saw dealing with the tobacco industry in Rhodesia showed a profit for the year of £12 million, out of which £7 million went out of Rhodesia in the form of dividends to people who were taking no part in creating that wealth, and the average wage of the individuals who work in those tobacco fields was £5 per year. That is an aspect which we have to keep in mind. We certainly want to develop the trade and wealth of Rhodesia, but at the same time we wish to raise the standard of living of the working people in that area, so that with a higher standard of living they will be able to consume some of the commodities which we can give them in fair trading in exchange for the products of that wealthy area.

10.29 p.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Mr. Gordon-Walker)

I am very grateful to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Squadron-Leader Kinghorn) for raising this matter, which is of great common interest to His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Government of Southern Rhodesia. As he said, Southern Rhodesia is a self-governing member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and the way in which its wealth is developed is, of course, its own affair. It is most important to bear that in mind when discussing these matters. On the other hand, we are, as I shall try to show, extremely ready to agree to help in any way in which we are able, and there is frequent, constant and friendly contact between the two Governments. My hon. and gallant Friend gave a fair and accurate description of the sources of wealth in that very rich country. He mentioned the mineral resources there which are only just beginning to be tapped—chrome, of which Rhodesia is one of the main sources of supply, and coal. He gave a description of the Wankie coalfield. We must remember that that is only one small corner of one coalfield. There are other coalfields of that sort yet to be tapped. Then there is asbestos, of which Southern Rhodesia is by far the biggest source of supply in the world. The iron and steel industry is just "opening out and there is at Que Que a great plant which will be the best equipped plant south of the Equator.

Now, my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth and the hon. and gallant Member for Sevenoaks (Colonel Ponsonby) both stressed and put their finger on a critical matter, namely, transport. The immediate difficulty is transport, though there are some other long-term difficulties connected with the shortage of labour. But the immediate shortage is rolling stock and locomotives. I do not think it is possible in any short run for the Government of Southern Rhodesia to build great new railway lines. I think they are a long-term proposal which will help in the long run, but the short-term need is locomotives and rolling stock. The situation which my hon. and gallant Friend described about chrome is general in Southern Rhodesia. At all sources of supply great stock piles amounting to something like two years' supply are accumulated, because there is not the necessary rolling stock to remove it. The development of coal and iron is also held up by the shortage of transport.

I am glad to be able to report that the Government of Southern Rhodesia are taking strong and energetic steps to deal with these bottlenecks. Earlier this year they nationalised the railways in Southern Rhodesia and placed important orders, in this country and in Canada, in the main, for rolling stock and locomotives. We are doing everything possible in this country to see that locomotives and wagons are given due priority and their delivery is expedited. There are 30 locomotives on order in Britain, and eight were delivered between June and August, The remainder, I am assured, are coming through with due priority and the rate at which they are coming through is constantly watched. Eight hundred wagons are due to be delivered from this country by the end of 1948. I do not think we can go quite so far as my hon. Friend suggested and sacrifice all our own major interests, because we, too, have vital interests in this field of transport and we have to balance one thing with another. But I do not think anyone can claim that we are not giving high and due priority to these things urgently needed, in our common interest, by Southern Rhodesia.

We are also giving help in a number of long-term directions, one of which my hon. Friend has mentioned. That is in regard to immigration, which is of great long-term importance and also of some short-term importance. An agreement has been signed between His Majesty's Government and the Government of Southern Rhodesia by which free passage is given to a number of ex-Service men and women. We, on our part, pay the ocean part of their passage, but transport is holding that up badly at the moment. The other long-term interest is the development of power Here, there is the great and ambitious scheme to develop the Kariba Gorge on the Zambesi River which appears to have magnificent resources which could be developed not only for the industries of Southern Rhodesia, but of Northern Rhodesia as well. The Governments of Northern and Southern Rhodesia have agreed between themselves and John Brown and Co., Ltd., to investigate the possibilities of water power and railways and minerals in the two countries and to pay for these investigations. If these investigations are satisfactory, and no one can say beforehand that they will be, though it seems probable that they will be, they have agreed to enter into a contract with John Brown and Co., Ltd. The results of a preliminary survey in Northern Rhodesia have been encouraging. But that scheme is going to be expensive and elaborate and will cost £18,000,000, and to complete the scheme is likely to take 10 years. Mr. Davenport, the Minister of Mines and Public Works said in a recent speech—

Colonel Ponsonby

Is it not the case that the £18,000,000 is to be put up by the two Governments and £5,000,000 by industrialists?

Mr. Gordon-Walker

That is quite true. I mentioned £18,000,000 because it is proposed by the two. Governments in Rhodesia that it should be raised in London. We have been asked for our views and we have expressed the warmest support and encouragement. Of course, it is impossible for the Government here to give a pledge to raise a given sum of money two or three years from now. We cannot possibly know the state of the capital market, and capital investment is a very serious problem; but, short of that commitment, we have given the warmest encouragement to this development. We must remember that the success of the scheme is not yet assured, but it is a highly hopeful scheme.

We are doing exactly what the hon. and gallant Gentleman asked us to do at the end of his speech, namely, to meet with the experts and Ministers of Southern Rhodesia and go thoroughly into the future developments of Southern Rhodesia. Very fortunately, Sir Godfrey Huggins, the Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, is coming to this country for the Royal Wedding and is specially prolonging his stay, with the Ministers and civil servants he is bringing with him, so as to go into full discussion with the Government, covering this, and many other matters. We, for our part, welcome this initiative that he has taken and we will conduct the discussions in the most generous way possible, and we will do everything we can to help the Government of Southern Rhodesia in any way that it can suggest, and which is feasible, to develop the really great resources of that very rich country

Adjourned accordingly at Twenty-three Minutes to Eleven o'Clock.