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PARAPHRASE TELEGRAM from the Hh Commissioner in the Union of South Africa for H.Government in the United Kingdom to the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.
Dated 14th April, 1931.
(Received Dominions Office 6.55 p.m. 14th April,
1931)
In courge of my
Secret. No. 33. Extraterritoriality in China. interview with the Price Minister I handed him a copy of your
telegram of 3rd April regarding form of proposed treaty. Bodenstein had asked Clifford for a copy.
Prime Minister merely
said that he would deal with the matter with the least possible delay. I did not think it wise to refer to Clifford's conversation with Bodenstein in case Prime Minister should censure the latter for divulging without his permission information regarding Government intentions.
Clifford has since found an opportunity for further discussing the matter with Van den Heever who after pointing out that at least one authority on international law supported the view that the Dominions have no inherited rights and obligations under Treaties signed on their behalf before they acquired autonomous status said that he nevertheless intended to advise Government that this view was not likely to be generally accepted and in any case was generally harmful to Commonwealth and Union interests.
Van den Heever considered on the other hand that there were practical reasons why Union should not participate in proposed new Treaty. The Treaty would be assumed confer on British subjects in China unusual privileges which would not
normally
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