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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

885/26

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

28

III.-PAPERS.

No. I.

REPORT ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CROWN COLONIES.

Prepared by Mr. H. G. Williams at the request of Lord Milner.

General Report

Sierra Leone

Memoranda on Crown Colonies

Gambia

Gold Coast

Nigeria

Rhodesia ...

Nyasaland

Zanzibar....

East Africa Protectorate

So-maliland

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Ugnuda

Egypt

Mauritius...

PAGE.

28

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.

Memoranda on Crown Colonies-cont.

8t. Vincent

Grenada

Bahamas ...

Leeward Islands...

Memoranda on Products

Cocoa

Sudan

Ceylon

Straits Bettlements and Labuan

Federated Malay States...

Falkland Islands and South Georgia

Fiji

...

British Guiana

British Honduras

Jamaica

Trinidad and Tobago

Barbados...

St. Lucia ...

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37

46 46

Coffee

Cotton

Rubber

Gold

Bugar

Ten

Tin

Memorandum on certain Imports into the United

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U.S.A. Imports of Tin...

States

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Cocoa

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Coffee

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Rubber

Do. Importa

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Summary of Exports of Crown Colonies ..!

du.

Summary of Exports of Crown Colonies to U.K.

and U.S.A....

[NOTE. Mr. Williams, having prepared this report single-handed, desires it to be explained that he cannot vouch for the exact accuracy of every figure, though he has no reason to doubt its substantial accuracy in all respects.]

THE CROWN COLONIES.

THEIR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

The British Empire, as it existed before the war, consisted of four distinct parts-the Home Country, India, the Self-Governing Dominions and the Crown Colonies.

The latter, excluding Egypt and the Sudan, which occupy such a peculiar position that they almost form a distinct section, covered an area of 1,843,000 miles equal to about 164 per cent. of the total area of the Empire and containing a population of over 37,000,000 people equal to 8 per cent, of the whole, and incidentally double the population of the Self-Governing Dominions.

More than four-fifths of the area and population of the Crown Colonies are in Africa, and the importance of the African Crown Colonies will be largely increased by the addition of those German Colonies in Africa which, subject to the mandate from the League of Nations, are to be incorporated in the British Empire.

In addition to the African group, there are the important West Indian Colonies, important not much in relative size and population as in the high stage of development of the in- habitants, and lastly there is the Asiatic Group, viz., Ceylon, Malay States, the Pacific Ocean Islands, all of which are rapidly growing in commercial importance.

Viewing the Crown Colonies as a whole, several faots emerge-

1. They are great sources of agricultural and mineral products.

2. Their potential capacity is immeasurably greater than their realised.capacity.

3. They are inhabited by peoples who require, and will for generations continue to

require, the tutelage and supervision of a white race.

4. Their development is hampered for want of capital.

5. The capital they require can best be expended in improving the means of transport, in providing adequate sanitation, drainage and irrigation, and in scientific agricultural research.

6. They are a great potential market for manufactured goods and will ultimately ba capable of supplying the United Kingdom with the bulk of the imported raw material it requires for its industries as well as a great variety of foodstuffs.

29

Let us examine these facts in the light of our present economic position.

Our largest single source of food and raw material is the United States. Owing to borrow- ings from that country and sale of securities representing property in that country, our capacity to finance imports from the United States is about £120,000,000 a year less than it was before the war.

As the United States is to-day the world's greatest manufacturing country, it is difficult for us to increase our export of goods to her, but we can adjust our trude balance with her in two ways--

By diminishing our imports from the United States.

1.

2.

By exporting our manufactures to countries which can absorb them and which pro duce materials wanted by the United States, and then using the credits created by our exports to these countries to send goods from them to the United States.

The Crown Colonies can help us first of all. They produce many raw materiala of the kinds we import from the United States, they also produce raw materials required by the United States, and they can absorb our manufactures in steadily increasing quantities.

The Crown Colonies, however, can only produce a large exportable surplus providing there is a sufficiency of capital available for development, and a sufficiency of competent persons avail- able to direct wisely the use of such capital.

Whatever future prospects may be, the Crown Colonies (excluding Egypt as such) are not to-day producers of cereals (except rice) or root crops.

They do, however, produce the following agricultural commodities:-

Cocoa.-Largely and in very rapidly increasing quantities.

Coffee.--Considerable, rapid development in East Africa.

Tea.-Enormously in Ceylon, steady growth.

Spices.-Largely and in increasing quantities.

Sugar.-Largely, but slow development.

Cotton. Small, but enormous possibilities, particularly in Africa.

Rubber.-Main world source of cultivated rubber. Very rapid development.

Vegetable Oils, Seeds and Kernels. Very important and growing rapidly.

Rope-making Materials. Substantial and growing.

Tobacco. Not much at present, but considerable possibilities.

Wool. Not much, but some possibilities. Meat. Not much, but some possibilities.

Hide.-Not much, but some possibilities.

High-class Timber. Substantial and growing. Gold. Substantial and growing.

Copper--Some and growing.

Iron Ore.-A little and growing.

Tin. Very important and growing rapidly. Petroleum.-Considerable and growing.

Gums and Resins.-Important and growing.

The commodities mentioned above are all of the kind that this country imports while the United States is a large importer of tea, coffee, cocoa, apices, rubber, vegetable oils, gums and resins, sugar, tin, high-clase timber, rope-making materials and a number of other products such as our Crown Colonies do or could produce.

On the other hand, we import from the United States very large quantities of cotton, copper and petroleum, and we can only diminish these imports by finding other sources of supply, which our Crown Colonies can well become.

In order that the progress already made in the Crown Colonies may be estimated rapidly, the attached statistical memoranda have been prepared, which show the development în 28 Crown Colonies and British Protectorates. Generally speaking, the period reviewed is that commencing with the year 1901 and concluding with the year 1913. The latter year was chosen, as it was the last complete year before the war, while the former year was chosen because it is the earliest year for which statistical information is given in the most recent edition of the Statistical Abstract for the Self-Governing Dominions, Crown Colonies, &c.

In many cases information is given to show the progress which occurred during the war and a number of statistics are quoted covering the year 1917.

There are eight memoranda dealing with the world's production of eight of the principal products of the Crown Colonies. In many of these, unfortunately, the figures for foreign countries are rather incomplete and in the case of most foreign countries 1912 is the latest year for which figures are available in the most recent issue of the Statistical Abstract for foreign countries.

However, generally speaking, the information is adequate enough to enable broad general- isation to be made. There is also a memorandum showing the needs of the United States in respect of those commodities, which are the principal products of the Crown Colonies.

The conclusions to be drawn from the 37 memoranda are clear and confirm the predictions that would be made from a priori reasoning.

They are briefly as follows. The economic development of the Crown Colonies has depended

in the past, and will depend in the future on-

(a) The effective maintenance of internal peace;

(b) The provision of adequate means of transport;

(c) The establishment and effective maintenance of widely conceived schemes of health protection, both for the coloured (indigenous and otherwise) and the white inhabitants;