SIR,—The proposals in your editorial on 'Avoiding a Problem' themselves
avoid the issue raised by coloured immigration to this country.
You suggest a restriction on this move- ment because 'the absence of a colour bar in Britain, which is an absolutely essential in- gredient in British policy, cannot he ensured unless a proper balance is maintained between white and coloured populations.'
The main reason why the absence of a colour bar is 'an absolutely essential ingredi- ent of British policy' is because of the prestige it gives Britain in her relations with coloured peoples—in particular in the colonies—and with other nations also coping with colour
problems. -
You suggest that this position can only he maintained if the coloured population is so low in numbers that it goes almost unnoticed, and ask that we should continue to claim the prestige it gives us by isolating ourselves from the possibility of a colour bar.
This is no way to preserve the advantages we claim. Restriction on coloured immigra- tion will only destroy the basis of our position.
Either we must allow free coloured immi- gration from the colonies, with, perhaps, some minimum standards of health and education. and try to show that we can absorb a few tens of thousands without a major upheaval, or we must confess that our boast of having no colour bar is based, as South Africans and Americans have often argued, on having no colour problem.
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