CO129-581-16 British propaganda in Hong Kong 18-4-1939 - 29-10-1939 — Page 55

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ïutrition in the Colonies.

3

It is a significant fact that a good deal of the criticism

levelled against the British Empire for its sins of omission and

commission in so far as these criticisms are justified and are

K

not mere misrepresentation or downright lies is based on evidence

produced by the British themselves, Such evidence is sometimes

adduced in support of an attack by its opponents on the Government's

policy, at other times it is collected and published by the

Government itself in an attempt to further some reasure of reform.

The

An example of this latter case is the Government's report on

the findings of a Committee of the Economic Advisory Council, which

has reviewed the nutrition problem in the British dependencies.

report covers forty-eight different territories, with an area of over two million square miles, and with a population of more than fifty-five millions of people, "widely separated from each other in space and character, and divided into countless groups having the

most different food habits and customs that it is possible to

imagine."

That the Committee found that, in many cases, native diets are

frequently insufficient in quantity, and still more frequently in

quality, is not surprising. What is of the greatest interest is that the British Government and people are so conscious of their responsibilities to the colonial subjects of the mire that they have spent time and money in investigating their needs and devising

plans for ameliorating their conditions.

Moreover, the suggestions made in some quarters that the British recognition of their responsibilities is due to recent

The Committee concerned was agitation about colonies is nonsense.

set up three years ago, and its investigations have been thorough, its criticisms are definite, and no attempt is made to hide the

need for reform.