The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1018. THE GERMAN COLONIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 251, 11 July 1918, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1018. THE GERMAN COLONIES

A kather vague statement by Mr. Lloyd George that "he did not want to dispossess Germany of her- inheritance" is exceedingly ill-advised if, as an English critic infers, ho intended it to apply to the former German colonies. . Apart, however, from its boinjc unlikely that tho British Prime Minister would commit himself in this way on such a vital matter, it is only fair to note that his statement as it stands admits of an entirely different interpretation. It is oae ; of the strongest arguments against restoring the conquered colonies to Germany that they have never in any real sense constituted part of the inheritance of tho German people, and very possibly Mr. Lloyd George, instead of suggesting the return o£ the German colonies, was drawing a just distinction botween the actual inheritance of the German people and territories which stand in quite another category. The mero fact that such a question can arise, however, shows that we can afford to take nothing for granted where the disposal of the Pacific and African territories over which Germany formerly held sway is concerned, and that our own Ministerial representatives, and those of other Dominions, have not yet obtained that clear understanding on tks subject with Great Britain which is one of the principal objects of their presence in London. Happily, indications havo lately been afforded that in their efforts to gain a clue place in Allied peace terms for a settlement of colonial questions compatible with justice and the future peace of the world those who speak for the British Dominions and for at least an important section of opinion in tho Mother Country will receive powerful backing and support from America. The latest evidence on the point is the submission to the_ United States Senate of a resolution which explicitly proposes to exclude Germany from tho Pacific. Whether the proposal commands the approval of a majority in the Senate has yet to appear, but its introduction is a striking indication of the extent to which public opinion in America has developed during the last twelve months in regard to tho German colonies aa in regard to various other issues that are open between Germany and tho rest of the world. There can bo little doubt that even at tho time when the United States entered the war, and for some time afterwards,' most people in that country would have resolutely refused to agree t'o Germany being deprived of any or all of her former colonies. How far opinion has changed is indicated in Senator Sau/,sbury's resolution which aims at ''keeping Germany out of the Pacific for ever." The reasons for this change are by no means obscure, nor is it only in regard to the German colonies that the war outlook of the American people has changed,, and changod very notably, during'the- last few months. The truth is that a belief in tho ability of the German peoplo to set their own house in order by internal reforms died hard in America. How the belief was killed and with what result was well stated by a, recent contributor to tho New York Evening Post:

Even after America, went into the war it was still a question whether that wnr ought to be waged as against a ruthless caste dominating a misled people, or against a people whose conscience was temporarily sick. The answer came after Bresfc-liitovsk, when Russia was dismembered and its new-born freedom stilled, and there enmo from the German people a murmur, a feeblo movement of protest, and—acquiescence.

Just as the quickened pace of the Western campaign has notably stimulated the direct war effort of the United States, so the Gorman Ciovernrncnt's self-revelation at Erost-Litovsk and in succeeding crimes, and above all the acquiescence of tho Gorman people in these crimes, has done much to awaken

tho American people (though not, of course, only the American people) to tho vital issues raised in the war. It has taught them that peace, when it is re-established, must be securely buttressed by every possible safeguard, and tho effect is likely to ho nowhero moro marked than as it bears upon the fate and disposal of the former German colonies.

TKo continued acquiescence of the German people in the worst crimes of their rulers lays all necessary emphasis upon the dangers that would be invited by giving Germany an opportunity of establishing aerodromes and submarine bases in.the Pacific and resuming her schemes of aggression and expansion in Africa. Some people have argued, however, that to dispossess Germany of her colonies would be to subject her to just such a wrong as Germany herself inflicted on France when she annexed Alsace-Lorraine. The absurdity of the argument is, perhaps, best realised in light of the fact that the enormous stream of German emigration in pre-war years was directed almost in its entirety _to other lands than the colonies in which we arc now invited to believe the German nation takes so much pride that it will never consent to their loss. Compact information on this and other aspects of German colonial policy is presented by Mr. J. H. Harris in a little book on Germany's Inst Colonial Empire, which deserves to bo widely read. Mr. Harris points out that from 1880 to 1910 over 2,000,000 persons emigrated from Germany. Yet, at the outbreak of war, the total German population of tho German colonies, including tho military and civil establishments, was 16,000. It is assumed that Germany got 10,000' colonists out of the emigration during the previous thirty years of two million souls. In the colonics in which sho jias so completely failed to establish a white population Germany has at the same time so barbarously abused and on occasion massacred the native races that a permanent reversal o£ the treatment to which they have hitherto boon exposed is demanded in the interests of humanity and to preserve them from extinction. No comprehensive statistics are available to show what number of African nativos Germany has done- to death, but the German Secretary of State for the Colonies admitted in prewar days thai from 1903 to 1913 105,000 natives had been, killed in expeditions against them. This certainly is only an item in the account. It was .a German (Professor Bonn) who once said:

We tried to assume to ourselves the functions of Providence, and we tried to exterminate a native nice whom our Inck of wisdom had goaded into rebellion. Wo succeeded in breaking up the. native tribes, but we have not yet succeeded in creating a new Germany.

It is only too well established that her former colonies are of no real value- to Germany except as weapons of Prussian militarism, and that regard for tho interests of African and other native races and for the security of future peace in tho world equally, forbids their restoration. ■ Laying down principles that are no doubt accepted universally in Allied countries President Wilson # has said .that Prussian militarism must either bo destroyed or .reduced to virtual impotence and that all question's, whether of territory, sovereignty, economic arrangement, or political relationship, must bo settled "upon <% basisof free acceptance by the people immediately" concerned, not upon a basis of material interest or advantage to any other nation or people which may desire a different settlenient for the sake of its owiv exterior influence or mastery." If •these principles are applied at the end of the war Germany will never recover the colonies where she accomplished so little to.her own fcruo advantage and brought such unspeakable calamity to their native inhabitants.