THE POSITION IN TANGANYIKA
Commonwealth and Foreign
From A CORRESPONDENT BEFORE I visited Tanganyika I was of the opinion that the British Government ought not to rule from the map of possibility the return of the mandated territories to Germany, provided that it formed part of a general settlement of all outstanding German grievances. But having personally investigated the situation on the spot I have been led radically to alter my views.
In the first place the state of anxiety that now exists among the white population of Africa that the British Govern- ment, in return for some guarantees or disarmament pact in Europe, might be willing to enter into negotiations for the return of these territories in whole or in part to the Germans is highly detrimental to their immediate future. These suspicions of the British Government's intentions are re- sulting in a very real difficulty in raising capital for new enterprises. There are, for instance, considerable opportunities for successful goldmining in Tanganyika, but the operators are gravely handicapped by the difficulty of finding the necessary backing. As long as this state of uncertainty continues enterprise will be discouraged and development impeded. In the end even the Administration will begin to lose the necessary nerve and strength.
It is already having a serious effect on opinion in South Africa. The Dominion of South Africa has every reason to fear the abandonment of the Mandates, for they recognise that if the Nazis re-entered Africa they would not maintain for six months the obligation now placed upon the Mandatory Power to rule solely in the interests of the native. South Africans are convinced that if such a surrender were made they would be faced with a chain of German air stations, drawn across the African continent, and highly inconvenient and unassailable submarine bases on the African coasts. If ever that happened it would mean the snapping of the last links between South Africa and the Empire. They would realise that they could no longer look to Great Britain for the defence of their position and they would be compelled to turn elsewhere for assistance.
But if the strategical arguments against the abandonment of the Mandate are strong, those based on grounds of morality are impregnable. To bargain away the trust that has been placed upon us for the good government of the native would be an outrage on international decency. I know that in England I have often sickened at the repetition of such words as " sacred trust," and " the well-being of the native," but out here I have come to appreciate that they have their roots in reality. We do in fact exercise the mandate in the interest of the native. None can doubt this who witnesses the magnificent work in Tanganyika of Sir Donald Cameron and his successors, in establishing indirect rule, fostering the health services, developing education and reclaiming vast tracts of territory from the dominion of the Tsetse fly. The last ten years have revolutionised for the better the whole future of the country.
I am not suggesting that ten years of German rule prove, judged by the pre-War standards, that the German people were unfit to hold colonies. There were ugly incidents. The manner in which the Magi-Magi rebellion of 1905 was suppressed is still a bitter memory. But on the whole, according to their lights, they did attempt to develop the country. They encouraged the missionaries in the building of schools, they built roads and hedged them with avenues of trees, they prosecuted war against the insects and the dikases they bring with them.
What makes their return hopelessly impracticable was the method of their government. It was based on fear of the Nairobi, February. native. One sees it in their administrative offices. They are one and all constructed as forts, with turrets and battlements, and a carefully-chosen field of fire. They suppressed all native administration. All that they required of the chiefs was that they should be obedient and efficient tax-collectors for the central government.
British administration has changed all that. The adminis- trative offices are no longer military posts. The slits in the walls that were built for the insertion of rifles have been widened into windows ; the armouries have been turned into squash courts, the whole keynote is confidence and friendli- ness. The old type of native still clicks his heels and salute s in the best Prussian fashion when he sees an administrative officer, but he does it with a smile of real welcome on his face. The chiefs have been installed again with important powers, and where they have not existed they have been created.
The whole system of the Mandate is the complete antithesis of the Roman methods that it succeeded. There is not the slightest doubt that it has produced a happier and freer life for the native or that, were the Germans to return, they would find a rebellion on their hands within a few months, for such a method of Government as the British have intro- duced is alien to the whole German temperament and would inevitably be scrapped. It is well to remember too in this connexion that since the Germans were not in effective occupation of Tanganyika until the suppression of the 1905 rebellion, the British have now been in control for a con- siderably greater period than the Germans.
Another fact that is seldom realised in England is the existence of the Indians. In Tanganyika alone there are 30,00o of them. Indeed at the Peace Conference it was at first suggested that the Mandate should be given to the Government of India. For the redress of grievances these Indians now can appeal to Delhi. What would be their position under German rule ?
And the Germans in Tanganyika themselves ? Many of them are old Junkers who migrated when Kaiserism collapsed. Their loyalty is not to Berlin but to Doom. Then there are the Jews who fled to Tanganyika as a place of refuge from persecution. Admittedly these form a minority of the population. The majority of the Germans undoubtedly are Nazi in sympathy, particularly the younger members of the community, for whom the idea of ruling the native has a very natural appeal. They are active in propaganda, but beyond a few of the non-commissioned officers and men among the old German army and police forcc they are singularly unsuccessful in detaching the native to their side.
In any case there are only 6,000 Germans in the whole territory, out of a native population of between two and three million. A plebiscite on the future of Tanganyika is quite impracticable. The territory contains some of the most primitive tribes in East Africa. Scores of thousands of them have as low a standard of living and outlook as the cave men of prehistorical times. Such as are in any degree civilised would find a ballot paper completely incomprehensible. Their first instinct would be to consult the administrative officer as to what it meant and what they should do about it.
I am of course only writing of Tanganyika, but from what I have seen there, and of the attitude of Africa as a whole to the problem of the return of the mandated territories, I am convinced that the handing back of the old German colonies to the Nazis, both on grounds of imperial strategy and still more on morality, is not a discussable question.
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