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thrown by General Idi Amin - who
accused him of indulging in "drink,
... women and maintaining an idle life
at public expense."
General Amin is known to be pro–
British. After assuming suprcme com–
mand of Uganda, he made the
following declaration: "We will main–
tain good relations with Britain and the
Commonwealth because we are grateful
to Britain for giving us
such good
administra/ion.
We will stay in the
Commonwealth and help to strengthen
it."
Jt
is certainly a wise African leader
who could say: "We are grateful to
Britain."
But what about the future of the
Commonwealth? Will Britain continue
to sell arms to South Africa - thereby
precipitating a Commonwealth rupture?
Will a number of African nations leave
the Commonwealth? Can the Common–
wealth a:; we know it today survive the
seventies?
One of the keys to an understanding
of the future of the Commonwealth is
its past history. And to understand
today's Commonwealth, it is imperative
that we know the basic facts regarding
its
origin.
How the Commonwealth
Originated
Tbe real roots of today's Com–
monwealth are buried deeply in the his–
tory of the British Empire. Wben
Britain lost her Crown possessions in
America, many thought the end of the
British prominence had come once and
for all. But not so.
No sooner had Britain lost her Amer–
ican colonies than she began to gain
control of important territories in
Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Australasia,
and she also began to strengthen her
hold on her Canadian territories.
Then carne the Durham Report.
In 1839 Lord Durham presented to
the British Government a very impor–
tant, dctailed and far-reaching docu–
ment entitled
Report
011
the Affairs of
British North America.
The Durham
Report outlined some of the reasons for
the
discontent
in the Canadian colonies
and suggested how Britain could best
arder hcr future colonial policies.
Lord Durham understood the natural
The
PLAIN TRUTH
yearning of a people for self-govcrn–
ment. He knew that nationalism could
seize the Canadian colonies and cause
them to sever their ties with the Mother
Country - j ust as had happenecl in thc
American colonies in 1783 - if Britain
didn't give them a certain amount of
autonomy.
He,
thcrcfore, advocated that Britain
adopt the policy of granting her
colonies their own "responsible govern–
ment" as soon as they were sufficiently
able to take on this responsibility. This
newly formed government would have
certain ties with the British Crown, but
would be mainly responsible for the
interna! affairs of state of the colony.
This Durham Report led the ,British
Govemment to adopt the policy of
granting "rcsponsible government" to
the colonies as they were able to assume
it. Shortly thereafter, the British-held
territories of Caoada, Australia, South
Africa and New Zealand acquired their
autonomy.
These Old Dominions now had their
own self-governing machinery, but still
had to look to the Crown of Britain in
matters of defense and foreign rela–
tions. In spite of certain natural differ–
ences, they looked to Great Britain and
maintaioed deep loyalty toward the
British Sovereign.
lt was through this means that the
British Empire began to be transformed
into the British Commonwealth ! In the
Bttlfo!tr Report
of 1926, the term "Brit–
ish Commonwealth of Nations" was
defined as the "autonomous commu–
nities within the British Empire."
But in the
Stat11te of W estmimte,-
of
1931,
uthe free association
of the mem–
bers of the British Commonwealth of
Nations" was clearly defined to include
"the United Kingdom, the Dominion of
Canada, the Commoowealth of Australia,
the Dominion of New Zealand, the
Union of South Africa, the l rish Free
State aod Newfoundland."
During World War II, the term
"British Empire" was used by sorne to
refer to the
non-self-goveming terri–
torios
who had not yct attained full
commonwealth status. Others used
"Empire" and "Commonwealth" almost
synonymously - except that the Com–
monwealth was viewed as an end
toward which the Empire was moving.
April
1971
Britain Drops Empire
After World War II, the United
Kingdom began to shy away from using
such words as "empire," "imperial,"
and
"Brítish
Commonwealth," and used
10
their stead "Commonwealth of
Nations" or simply "Commonwealth."
The 1946 Commonwealth Prime
Ministers Meeting was the last impor–
tant gathering to use the term Brit–
ish Commonwealth instead of simply
"Commonwealth."
After World War
II,
the word
Imperial
began to have a very bad con–
notation in international circles. The
Colonial powers were looked upon as
tyrants, and Britain (sensing this)
undoubtedly wanted to disassociate her–
self from such politically emotive
words.
Communist propaganda continued to
exploit the idea that the colonial powers
were oppressors. This was in spite of
the fact tbat Russia itself in fact con–
trols a vast empire labeled a "union."
The "Oid Commonwealth" had been
called a "White Man's Club" since it
was composed of Britain and the white–
settler colonies of Canada, Australia,
South Africa, New Zealand and
Newfoundland.
After World War II, a majority of
British leaders thought Britain should
grant independence to the non-self–
governing territories. Almost overnight
they sought to transform them into
well-run, self-governing nations.
Britain grantcd independencc to India
and Pakistan in 1947, and both of
them joined the Commonwealth -
even though each adopted a republican
form of government.
With India's and Pakistan's then-vast
populations ( about 400,000,000), the
predominantly
white
Commonwealth of
about 70 million was transformed
almost overnight into a predominantly
colored
Commonwealth. Then Ceylon
was granted indepeodence in 1948 and
shc too joinecl the Commonwealth.
Since World War II a few of those
to whom Britain granted independence
have opted out of the Commonwealth :
Burma, Sudan, British Somaliland,
Southern Cameroons, Maldive Islands,
and Federation of South Arabia (includ–
ing Aden). Southern Ireland (Eire)
(Continued on page 40)