CAB129-45 — Page 360

ANNEX I Page 360 of 587

CONFIDENTIAL

Copy No.31

Conference on Closer Association

in Central Africa

Confidential Minute

to Governments

COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS OFFICE,

40408

LONDON, S.W.1,

Page 36031st March, 1951.

Page 360

B38

POONFERENCE ON CLOSER ASSOCIATION

IN CENTRAL AFRICA

MINUTE

TO THE SECRETARIES OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES AND FOR

COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS

On behalf of the United Kingdom members of the Conference we have the honour to submit, for the consideration of the United Kingdom Government, a Report embodying the views and the unanimous recommendations of the recent Conference on the problem of the closer association of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Confidential Considerations

2. The Report has been drawn up in terms suitable for publication if the four Governments concerned agree that it should be made public. It consequently does not fully report all the detailed deliberations of the Conference. In reaching their conclusions members were influenced by certain considerations which might well, if developed fully in a published document, be a cause of offence to the Government of the Union of South Africa. They also discussed freely and at length a variety of proposals for the future of Central Africa, but the full publica- tion of their discussions might result in confusing public opinion instead of focus- sing it upon consideration of the solution they wish to recommend. The Conference felt, however, that these matters should be brought separately and confidentially to the notice of the four Governments and they are therefore set forth in the following paragraphs of this minute, which is in agreed terms and of which identical copies are being addressed to the other three Goverments by their own officials. It was, of course, understood by the Conference that the submission of the agreed minute would not preclude members from giving such further explanations of the work of the Conference as they might wish to their respective Governments.

Scale of Report

3. The Report has purposely been made as brief as possible. We are anxious that those who will have to form a judgment upon it should be induced to read not only the recommendations but the considerations leading up to them. In order there- fore to maintain a continuous thread we have relegated to annexes much of what might more conventionally have been in the body of the Report. Two documents that might have been added as annexes, namely the Central African Council's most valuable comparative survey of native policy and a comprehensive factual summary prepared for us by some of our members, have been excluded. We assume that if the Report is published the factual summary will be published at the same time, and we think it essential that the Survey of Native Policy should also, with the agreement of the Governments concerned, be made public simultaneously. We recommend that both documents should be published separately from the Report, partly because they would be out of scale if incorporated with it, and partly because we think that the Report volume should be small and therefore low-priced, so as to secure a wide circulation among the publics concerned..

Acceptance of Closer Association

4. The. Conference had no hesitation in agreeing that in principle and for practical reasons the closer association of the three Central African territories was desirable and indeed urgently necessary. These three contiguous territories, within the dominions or under the protection of His Majesty, have a wide range of common interests and common problems. In many respects their economic needs and products are complementary. Closer association would enable them to utilise more efficiently their capital resources in natural products, in man-power, in technical skill, and in finance, with benefit to all the inhabitants of all races.

The Danger to Central Africa

5. The force of these considerations has been felt for many years, but Central Affies is now exposed to a special danger which, in the few of the Conference,