§ 29. Mr. Skinnardasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Secretary for Native Affairs in Northern Rhodesia has announced in the African Representative Council that the doctrine of paramountcy of native interests is dead; and whether he will make a statement of his policy in this respect.
Mr. Creech JonesThe Secretary for Native Affairs told the Council that the 1923 White Paper on this question was dead, in the sense that it had been superseded by the report of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament of October, 1931, which reviewed previous statements on native policy and the relations of the African and immigrant communities. The report of the Joint Select Committee 869 continues to be the operative document on this question. Paragraph 73 of this report sums up the matter by saying that the doctrine of paramountcy means no more than that the interests of the overwhelming majority of the indigenous population should not be subordinated to those of a minority belonging to another race, however important in itself. This interpretation was accepted as authoritative in 1932 and the policy of His Majesty's Government in this matter has not changed since then.
§ Mr. SkinnardWould not the Secretary of State agree that this was only a belated announcement of the demise of the doctrine in 1931, and would not the better way have been to give a more positive statement of present policy?
Mr. Creech JonesMany positive statements have been made by preceding Governments since 1931, and all I can say is that that policy remains as firm today as when those statements were made.