HANDS OF U.K. COLONIES

Chronicle (Levin), 3 December 1949, Page 5

HANDS OF U.K. COLONIES

(N.Z.P.A.-

Straighf Tdk To Meddiers Before U'll.

Reuter .

Copvnan-u)

Recei-vect JFriday 8 p.m-. NEW YORK, Dec. 1. Britain- will not accept internation al supervision of her colonies, said Mr Hector McNeil (Britain), speaking in the United: Natiops General Assembly which is considering its Trusteeship Committee' s report on information from non-seifgoverning, territories. Britain has. already, vqted, against eight of the ten resolnfions cqntained in the rdpqrt. She abstained on the other two. , Mr McNeil said Britain in gqqd. faith had supplied the technieal information required under the United Nation Chartei'. " Unfortunately we are objig ed to ask ourselyes whether our goou faith in supplying this information hu--been met by equally good faith on thc 'part of other nations. ) ' ' There is a tendency to base Assem I bly resolutions on the baseless assump tion that the member States responsibh for the administration of non selfgov erning territories have accepted the principle of international supervision oi those territories. j "There seems to be a widely spread but totaily fallacious belief that uniess a territory is. fully selfgoverning o completely i'ndependent its people have no share in their government and administration, and that their affairs art managed on an entirely authoritarian basis. Representatives of the Uniteo Kingdom have repeatedly tried to rerpove this apprehension, but apparently they haveJoeen nnsuccessful. ! "The people of the British colonies are flnding free expression of their will in matters whieh affeet them most closely. In the present phase of their political growtli they are certainly . noi prepared to tolerate a greater degree of international intervention in their do mestic affairs than other eovintries, themselves independent, would be wili ing to aecept. "The United Kingdom is not prepared to put back the hands of the clock by committing its colonial peo ples to polieies in tlie formulation of which they have no say and which the United Kingdom regards as misguided." ]Mr McNeil said Britain felt that the probleins in territories should be studied by United Nations specialised ageneies on a world or regional basis and the results of their findings could then be submitted to the General Assembly in annual reports.