THE FEDERATION VOTE
WITH the division on Central African Federation in the House of Commons on Tuesday the die is cast. It is true that the project could still be brought to nothing by an adverse result of the impending plebiscite in Southern Rhodesia, but the approval of Parliament in this country will undoubtedly influence the Southern Rhodesian voters strongly. The announcement of the figures in the House was received in fitting silence. Even now it is hard to say with assurance whether Mr. Lyttelton's hopes are justified and Mr. Griffiths' fears are groundless. Both the Colonial Secre- tary and his predecessor spoke with great sincerity, and each of them had a case which it is difficult to answer. Each case has found influential sponsors outside the House of Commons. The balance tilts only slightly this way or that. But probably most people, compelled in the end to approve one course or the other, have undergone the same mental processes as that eminent authority on African affairs, Lord Hailey, who wrote in The Times on Monday that he felt at the outset some mis- giving about the scheme, but had yoncluded that on the whole it seemed to hold out to the Africans of all the three territories concerned a future the value of which they have not been able to appreciate. That inability is not surprising. There are six million Africans in Southern Rhodesia, North Rhodesia and Nyasaland. How many of them can be supposed to have the faintest conception of what federation means—a question on which many aspirants to seats in the House of Commons have manifested considerable mental confusion '? - The main con- tention on which the Opposition—apart from the far from negligible group of Labour Members who dissociated them- selves from its views—took its stand was the unjustifiability of imposing federation on the African population against its will. That is a thesis which must command respect, but it must first be examined itself and then weighed against what may be, on balance, overriding arguments in favour of federation.
As to the first point, it can be argued with some reason that if, admittedly, the mass of the African population of the three territories have no glimmering of understanding of what federa- tion means, either generally or in its application to themselves, many of the chiefs do grasp what federation is, and the tribes- men are in the habit of trusting them. But this suggestion is not completely valid. In the first place a minority of intellec- tuals may be something less than infallible as guides; 'a minority of intellectuals is not superior to the mass of average level- headed men, in regard, for example, to Communist " Peace " Conferences. In the second it is a case not merely of under- standing what federation in the abstract is and what effect its adoption in Central Africa would be. It is a case of studying the White Paper and the present Bill and scrutinising the safe- guards they embody. Any federation involves transferred powers and reserved powers—powers transferred to the new Federal Government at the centre, and powers reserved to the legislatures of the constituent States. In this case it is the reserved powers that affect the African most closely, most notably in the matter of his land. Here nothing will be changed except in so far as the Federal Government may requisition sites for public undertakings; that right is exercised by the Government, and even by local authorities, in this country. Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, moreover, will still remain protectorates, with direct access to the Secretary of State in Whitehall, a provision to which they have always, and rightly, attached great importance. The Federal Government's powers will relate mainly to matters which do not affect the individual directly, such as external affairs, communications by rail, river and air and customs, though it is hoped that by raising the economic standard of the whole area the change will affect him indirectly and beneficially.
There is one further consideration to be borne in mind. To shelve federation at this stage would not have the effect of simply leaving things as they are. What is supremely to be desired is sincere co-operation between moderate European s and moderate Africans. They exist; but so do extremists in both camps. If it could be represented that the African spokes- men, many, though not all, of whom may be accurately described as extremists, had succeeded in persuading the Dritish Government to drop the project extremism in the territories would receive an unwelcome stimulus. Similarly if federation were defeated in the Southern Rhodesian plebiscite by the ante African Right the efforts of those whites working for a genuine partnership with the Africans would be disastrously frustrated. To that extent the situation would be substantially worse than it is. There, might be grounds for dropping federation even at such a cost, but it has not yet been demonstrated that there are. The economic advantages of federation are not contested. The three contiguous territories are all in need of large extensions of the inadequate railway system, large developments both of electric power and of mineral deposits and the initiation of various other enterprises of common interest. Private capital is needed for much of this, and none of the territories is in a position individually to attract it. There is every reason to believe that a single federal economic unit would. That indeed is one of the principal reasons why the Labour Government decided on federation and why the Labour Colonial Secretary. Mr. Griffiths, did his utmost to carry it through.
The scheme suffered certain misfortunes at the outset. 11 a scrupulous anxiety to avoid influencing the Africans' free decision the 'Colonial Secretary instructed the district office's in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, on whose guidance the African so consistently relies, not to make propaganda of any kind in favour of the scheme. On the other hand the African leaders, who had in reality every interest in joining in the dis- cussions on the scheme, and if need be urging modifications 0. f it, chbse instead to boycott the Victoria Falls Conference ill 1951 and the London Conference of last year. All this is to be regretted, but it does not touch the essence of the matter. The, argument against imposing federation against the Africans' will is strong, but it is not decisive. Actually federation w111 make no sort of conscious difference to the African on his holding or in his village; he will not know it has happened; it should in the end improve the lot of the African in industry by raising economic standards generally. The most serious criticism, and that on which Mr. Griffiths laid greatest stress in the debate on Tuesday, is that changes made in the pro- visions for safeguarding Africans' interests since the original White Paper was drafted have had the effect of seriously weakening the safeguards. That would be a serious matter If it were so, and it must be admitted that the question is arguable. But there is no doubt that the Government genuinely believes that the latest expedient, the creation of a committee of the Federal Legislature consisting of three African members of the Legislature and three European members specially charged with safeguarding African interests, is the best yet devised. It would have the power of holding up any measure of which the three African members disapproved, for in the event of a tie in the voting in the committee the chairman is compelled to give a casting vote for keeping the question open (i.e., preventing 8 measure from being passed), and if the African members hold the measure to be' discriminatory against Africans it will b' referred to the' Secretary of State. The adoption of Central African Federation involves, and must involve, risks. So, as much or more, would its abandon- ment now. A great responsibility rests on the whites who will form a large majority of the Federal Legislature. The aim is the creation of a real partnership in Central Africa; it is, for them to show that they genuinely mean that. An equal responsibility —in some respects even a greater—lies on those in this country who have opposed federation up to now. They were perfectly entitled to do that. It was indeed their duty to do it if they believed federation wrong. But after Tuesday's vote in the House the situation has changed. Federation has been decided on, and every good citizen's business is to try to make it a success. The use of language that could be interpreted as an incitement to Africans to resist the new plan would deserve the strongest condemnation. There may be flaws in the plan, but the principle is common to both political parties in this country. A Conservative Government has , consummated, admittedly in a slightly different form, what a Labour Govern- ment initiated. That measure of agreement is more important than differences on detail.
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