Abstract
QUESTIONS in the House of Commons on July 16 indicated that no little consternation had been aroused in certain quarters by Mr. Pirow's statements on his return to South Africa as to the trend of opinion in Great Britain on the question of the future of African mandated territories. To some extent, this was allayed by the Prime Minister's assurance that Mr. Pirow's opinions are personal and that in any event, the question falling outside the scope of his mission, his view has no basis in official discussion. The House further elicited from the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies an explanation of a somewhat cryptic statement by General Hertzog in the Union Parliament in making provision for an expenditure of £35,000 for “development and improvement in native territories”, which has been taken, not unjustifiably, as pointing to the transfer of the native territories of Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland to the Union Government at no distant date, although the precedent condition of native consent, to which the British Government is pledged, is not yet fulfilled. Mr. MacDonald's reply clarified the situation. General Hertzog, it would appear, was defending an offer of the Union Government to contribute towards certain development schemes as a step towards the co-operation with the native authorities which has been agreed upon as a desirable policy. On July 15, Mr. MacDonald stated in a written reply that the offer of the Union Government is directed to three objects: (1) anti-soil erosion work in Basutoland, (2) provision of water supplies in Bechuanaland, and (3) conservation of water in Swaziland. Notwithstanding assurances that acceptance of the offer would not impair the pledges of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, the uneasiness of the native authorities in the Protectorates is such that this offer is now in abeyance; but Mr. MacDonald stated that the question of assistance out of United Kingdom funds is under consideration by the Colonial Funds Development Committee.
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Native Territories and the Union of South Africa. Nature 138, 155 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138155b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138155b0