UNITED NATIONS AND NON-SELF-GOVERNING PEOPLES. (Hansard, 5 November 1946)

§ VISCOUNT ADDISON

I assume that the noble Lord refers to a letter from the Secretary-General of the United Nations dated June 29. A reply to this letter on behalf of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom was sent to the Secretary-General on October 21 and I understand that it is now in circulation at the General Assembly as a United Nations document. A copy of this reply is annexed

Letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations.

New York.

21st October, 1946.

SIR,

I have the honour under instructions from His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to acknowledge Your Excellency's letter to him of 29th June, 1946, requesting information about the progress made by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in giving effect to the Resolution on Non-Self-Governing Peoples adopted at the General Assembly of the United Nations in London on 9th February, 1946, and relating to the application of Article 73 (e) of the Charter.

2. Your Excellency requested the views of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom regarding the factors to be taken into account in determining which territories are to be included within the scope of Chapter XI. In the view of H.M.G. it would be difficult to define in detail principles capable of general application, bearing in mind the great variety of conditions in the territories referred to in this Article and the number of different members of the United Nations who have responsibilities for such territories. The terms of Article 73 (e) appear to provide a sufficient and satisfactory guide in practice, and His Majesty's Government feel that the purposes of this Article can be adequately fulfilled without the necessity of any further interpretation. For their part, His Majesty's Government propose initially to supply information in accordance with Article 73 (e), in respect of the non-self-governing territories listed in Annex I.

3. Your Excellency will appreciate that those territories in the Far East mentioned in Annex I have only recently been freed from Japanese occupation; and consequently His Majesty's Government regret that they the are not in a position to supply information for those territories for 1945. Information will, however, he supplied for future years. Again, while His Majesty's Government are anxious to provide information about the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, these territories were also occupied by the Japanese for a considerable time and it will not be possible at the outset to provide as much information as in the case of other territories.

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4. I have also the honour to enclose, as Annex II, a note of the headings under which His Majesty's Government propose to supply information for the year 1945. It will be appreciated that the preparation and publication of many reports and statistics normally produced by British Colonial Governments was necessarily suspended during the war, and the amount of material of this type dealing with recent years, is therefore much less than that which was previously available. As Your Excellency is aware, a large amount of material relating to British Colonial territories was normally supplied by His Majesty's Governrnent in the United Kingdom to the Library of the League of Nations before the war. In 1940 this material was greatly reduced, but British Colonial territories were instructed to continue to forward it to Geneva as long as communications permitted. The archives of the League of Nations having been transferred to the United Nations, all this material is now the property of the United Nations. As a result of post-war conditions and of the many urgent tasks facing British Colonial Governments, it is not yet practicable to produce such reports and statistics as informatively and as accurately as before the war. Nevertheless His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom are anxious to fulfil their obligations under Article 73 (e) of the Charter to the greatest practicable extent, and they have asked Colonial Governments to compile statistical information in respect of the year 1945 under the headings shown in Annex II. This information will be forwarded to Your Excellency as soon as it is available. In respect of certain items and certain territories estimated figures only may be available for the first year, but His Majesty's Government hope that the information which will be supplied as a result of these enquiries will be satisfactory for the purposes referred to in your letter.

I have, etc.,

(Sgd.) A CADOGAN.

ANNEX I.

Non-self-governing territories in respect of which H.M.G. in the United Kingdom propose to supply information under. Article 73 (e) of the Charter.

Aden (Colony and Protectorate).
Bahamas.
Barbados.
Basutoland.
Bechuanaland Protectorate.
Bermuda.
British Guiana.
British Honduras.
British Somaliland Protectorate.
Brunei.
Cyprus.
Falkland Islands.
Fiji.
Gambia.
Gibraltar.
Gold Coast (Colony and Protectorate).
Hong Kong.
Jamaica.
Kenya (Colony and Protectorate).
Leeward Islands.
Malayan Union.
Malta.
Mauritius.
Nigeria (Colony and Protectorate).
North Borneo.
Northern Rhodesia.
Nyasaland.
St. Helena and Dependencies.
Sarawak.
Seychelles.
Sierra Leone.
Singapore.
Swaziland.
Trinidad and Tobago.
Uganda Protectorate.
Windward Islands.
Zanzibar Protectorate.
High Commission territories, Western Pacific:

Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.
British Solomon Islands Protectorate.
Pitcairn Islands.

ANNEX II.

Headings under which H.M.G. in the United Kingdom propose to supply statistical information in respect of non-self-governing territories.

I. Area, Population and Vital Statistics.

II. Occupation, Wages, Labour Organization.

III. Finance and Trade.

IV. Production (to include Agriculture, Animal Husbandry: Forestry, Fisheries, Mining, Industrial Production).

V. Social Services (to include Education, Health, Housing, Social Welfare).

VI. Communications (to include Shipping, Railways, Roads and Vehicles, Air Communications, Posts, Broadcasting).