§ 14. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations how many Africans in Basutoland have been issued permits by the Resident Commissioner of Basutoland, for the purpose of entering licensed premises in that territory, and in particular the dining room of the sole licensed hotel in Maseru, the Lancers Inn; by what authority these permits are issued; and what distinctions are imposed in this matter between Europeans and Africans.
§ Mr. AlportPermits to obtain liquor on licensed premises for consumption on or off such premises have been issued to twenty-seven Africans in Basutoland. These permits, which are issued by the Resident Commissioner, are valid for the whole territory and are not limited to particular hotels or parts of hotels. No permit is required to enter the dining room of any hotel.
These permits relieve Africans of the disabilities laid down in the law about the sale and consumption of liquor.
§ Mr. JohnsonIs the Under-Secretary of State aware that this action of Mr. Chaplain, the Commissioner, is quite illegal because under Section 21 of the Proclamation No. 75, Laws of Basutoland, page 964, permits apply only to off-licence sales? In any case, the permits are not used because the Basuto chiefs, including the Paramount Chief himself, think it quite derogatory that they should be treated in this way. Why cannot decent, civilised Africans like the Paramount Chief and his advisers enter the hotel and consume liquor there, if they so desire, just the same as decent, civilised Europeans can do?
§ Mr. AlportI will certainly look into the allegations which the hon. Gentleman has made with regard to the scope of the powers of the Resident Commissioner. It may well be that in some respects the continuance of this sort of regulation is over-paternalistic at the present. I would only remind the hon. Gentleman that the object was not to prevent the African from sharing in the privileges of the European but, under international agreement, to prevent him from indulging in the white man's vice. I think it may be, as I say, that the ideas which gave rise to the agreements which took place before and after the First World War are out of date, but we must not underestimate the motive which lay behind the establishment of this form of regulation in earlier days.
§ Mr. JohnsonEven so, the hon. Gentleman admits that social conditions are changing, and Africans now can have the opportunity fully to share in a mixed society; so will he not agree that to make an issue of such permits is illegal, because Section 21 on page 964 definitely states:
A licence holder may hand any liquor so ordered in sealed bottles to the messenger of such customer."?This is clearly off-licence custom, and hence it is quite wrong for the Commissioner to issue on his own discretion permits to certain people, and the Basutos do not like it.
§ Mr. AlportI will certainly look into the legal position and let the hon. Gentleman know.
§ Mr. BottomleyWill not the Under-Secretary of State agree, in view of the work which he himself did recently in meeting the Basuto delegation in a very 1370 harmonious atmosphere, that it would be unfortunate if local officials tended to do away with that now?
§ Mr. AlportI think that in the precise development to which the right hon. Gentleman referred we may in due course find a solution of the particular problem the hon. Gentleman the Member for Rugby (Mr. J. Johnson) has raised.