CO885-(25-26) — Page 498

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :--

885/25

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

42

essential articles of food and all essential munitions of war; and second, that at any rate so far as food is concerned, the Dominions, Colonies, and Protectorates should, as far as possible, provide sufficient for their own requirements, and, if possible, a surplus to be at the disposal of the Imperial Government.

In a new country such as Rhodesia, manufactures on a large scale obviously cannot be expected. Attention must, therefore, primarily be directed to the supply of food and of raw material for munitions. In this respect the position in Rhodesia is by no means unfavourable :-

(i) There is already a considerable export of meat in the shape of slaughter stock despatched to Johannesburg and Pretoria, while an active movement is or foot for the establishment of canning, and perhaps, later, of cold storage equipment;

(ii) The production of maize in the absence of abnormal seasonal conditions considerably exceeds local requirements. There is every reason to expect that this production will increase, and it would certainly be greatly stimulated by the making of further arrangements such as that by which the Imperial Government have offered to purchase at a fixed price all maize produced this year in excess of local requirements;

(iii) The production of various fruits, beans, etc., suitable bath for food and for the making of oil, etc., is steadily increasing. The production of wheat is not at present sufficient to supply the local needs. It is felt, however, that the present moment is a suitable time to encourage production, and it is probable that some active steps may be taken in this direction at once.

The position in Southern Rhodesia with regard to minerals is set out in the memorandum of the Southern Rhodesia Munitions and Resources Committee. The production for the twelve months ending 30th November, 1916, of gold, copper ore, chrome ore, and asbestos, was as follows:-

Gold Copper

Chrome ore Asbestos

937,193 ounces 3,662 tons

92,104 tons

5,800 tons

By arrangement with His Majesty's Government, the exportation of chrome ore, and of copper from the Falcon Mine, where it is found in conjunction with gold, has, during the War, been allowed to the United States of America and other countries. In the case of the copper from the Falcon Mine, this is due to the fact that practically no facilities for treating the ore exist in Great Britain. At the outbreak of war it was only possible to obtain the necessary treatment in Germany and in the United States. All indications go to show that there are in the territory large deposits of asbestos, and also deposits of tungsten, antimony, and other ores; and, while the development of these deposits must in the main be left to private enterprise, it is to be considered whether some assistance could not be an "industrial given through some financial institution, such as is known as bank," and also by making the services of experts available at a reasonable charge. In a country such as this, where much of the mining is done by individuals and small syndicates or companies, expert advice is usually difficult to obtain, and expensive, and, recognizing this, the British South Africa Company allows its engineers to inspect mining ventures of the smaller kind free of charge other than actual expenses. In addition, however, to engineering advice, information is frequently required as to the uses, facilities for treatment, and opportunities for sale of raw material, both vegetable and mineral. Useful assistance in this direction is already given by the Imperial Institute, and in many cases it is no doubt desirable that the necessary investigations should take place in London, There are, however, where the opinions of manufacturers are readily obtainable. occasions on which the advice of trained experts would be very valuable if given an actual inspection of products being grown or minerals being developed, and if a certain number of such experts could be attached to the Institute and their services made available from time to time in Rhodesia and other dependencies at a moderate cost, good results would almost certainly follow, especially as the visits of such experts would lead to much closer co-operation than is possible at present between the Institute, on the one side, and the Rhodesian Administration and the recognized Rhodesian industrial organizations, such as the Chambers of Mines. Chamber of Commerce, Agricultural Union. and Munitions and Resources Committee, on the other.

43

B.--With regard to question (b), namely :-

What steps should be taken to recover home and foreign trade lost during

the War, and to secure new markets?

It is obvious that a small community such as that of Southern Rhodesia can have little direct influence in determining such a wide question of Imperial policy, but certain lessons can be learnt from the experience of Rhodesia before the War. At that time, as the figures already given show, goods to a very con- siderable value, in spite of the preference given to British goods, were imported from Germany. It is believed by the Chamber of Commerce, Bulawayo, that this was due to some extent to the German practice of building up business by means of what are termed consignment stocks." German firms have apparently been very enterprising in this direction, and, so far as is known, did not suffer loss. Secondly, in the opinion of the Bulawayo Chamber of Commerce, it should be brought to the notice of manufacturers, both in the United Kingdom and the colonies, that it is not always advantageous to grant sole selling rights or agencies extending over several provinces unless the firm to whom the agency is granted has branch offices in all the chief towns in the territory covered by the agency agreement. For instance, it is not to the advantage of manufacturers in many instances to give selling agencies for the whole of South Africa, including Rhodesia. If such an agency is given, say, to a Cape Town firm not having an office in Rhodesia, it means that any Rhodesian merchant wishing to deal in this particular line will usually have to pay an over-riding commission to the Cape Town merchant, which must eventually be paid by the consumer. The Rhodesian merchant, in such cases, should be able to approach the manufacturer with the object of obtaining the selling agency for Rhodesia, otherwise he is very likely to conclude an agreement with a foreign firm. Merchants do not like to be tied to competitive firms and be forced into the position of paying over-riding com- missions as sub-agents. Merchants, as a rule, prefer to deal direct with the manu- facturers with or without the intervention of their own London buyers, as may be convenient. When the manufactured article is only turned out by two or three firms in the world, and, possibly, one only being a British firm, it will be seen that the action complained of on the part of the manufacturer might easily result in trade being diverted to a foreign country quite unnecessarily.

I understand that these points have already been brought to the notice of His Majesty's Trade Commissioner.

C. With regard to question (c) :-

To what extent and by what means the resources of the Empire should,

and can, be developed.

This would seem to be partly a matter of general policy to be decided by representatives of the various parts of the Empire, and partly a matter for the individual territory, in this case Southern Rhodesia itself. As already stated, it

is clear that the production of raw material should be stimulated as much as possible. So far as raw material is necessary for munitions, the Imperial Government might assist (a) by making contracts for the purchase of such material at a fixed price for a number of years; (b) by making an annual payment in return for reserving the right to call for such material at any time, either at a fixed price or at a price based on the market price obtaining at the time; (c) by the provision in Great Britain of facilities for treating such material; (d) by having, as already indicated, experts available to give advice in Rhodesia at intervals, at moderate cost.

66

The question of cheap and rapid railway and steamship communication is also of importance. The more come and go "there is between Great Britain and the overseas territories the easier it becomes to interest British capitalists in the resources of the territories; while the steamship companies can materially assist by making provision in good time for the export of the products of developing industries. For example, at the present time inquiries are being made as to the provision of storage capacity on the ships of the Union-Castle line for the con- vevance of citrus and other fruits, the production of which in South Africa seems likely to expand greatly in the next few years.

With regard to railways, it is obvious that in a new country the extension of railway communication is of the utmost value as a civilizing influence and as an encouragement to development of all kinds. In a country of huge distances

D

471-4