Chapter 470 Integration and Division of Labor

"Wow!" There was a burst of meaningful and continuous responses, and knowing smiles appeared on the faces of all the colonial commissioners. The British Commissioner of Bechuana lowered his voice, "In principle, there is still room for discussion on this matter. , but I personally will never shrink from the British Empire. You must know that we have been ready to sacrifice everything for the country from the first day we went overseas. It’s just that Bechuanaland only has diamonds, which is very difficult. It’s embarrassing.”

"Like Togo, we only have some local diamonds, and of course there are some rumors of gold mines. If I can get domestic support in some aspects, I personally am willing to work tirelessly to find gold mines for the British Empire that can help the country's development. ." The commissioner of British Togo said with a reserved face, "In terms of diamonds, we have to admit that women really like them."

"Cameroon is not rich in resources. There are only grasslands and forests. I don't know what use they are?" the commissioner of British Cameroon said with a wry smile and shook his head.

"As long as it exists, it cannot be said to be useless. Any construction requires resources. Now Europe is rebuilding using Newfoundland timber, and once Malaya is transformed into a production base, the demand will also exist. What's more, we all know , Australia’s environment is very harsh, the land is not fertile enough, and wood consumption needs to be provided elsewhere.”

Alan Wilson said at the outset that this statement was wrong. Forests and pastures cannot be said to be useless. As long as the demand is there, useless is a false proposition. In the same way, this was a piece of advice to the British Commissioner of Kenya who also felt that they were not rich enough in managing the colonial resources.

At present, the largest colony in British Africa is Nigeria in terms of population, with a population estimated at 30 million.

Surrounded by French Africa, it can be said that as long as there are no problems in French Africa, Nigeria is very safe.

Alan Wilson remembers that Nigeria seems to be a powerful country in Africa. Although it is largely supported by its population, it also has the foundation of a powerful country in terms of resources.

Later generations in Africa rely on the total population and resources, and their voice in Africa is very high, and they should be regarded as a ruthless character.

As for the visible problem, the population is growing too fast. In Alan Wilson's time, Nigeria's population had exceeded 200 million, and it was still rising at a very fast rate. If no measures were taken, Egypt would be Nigeria's future.

A group of colonial commissioners also knew the situation in Nigeria and held extensive discussions. Based on the experience of British India, if the population of a single colony exceeds that of the mainland, it must be broken up while control is still there.

This has become a consensus in Whitehall. Nigeria, with a population of 30 million, is still in a safe state.

From Uganda to Tanganyika, from Swaziland to Sudan, the resources discovered in each colony today, as well as the resources that are rumored but not confirmed, are discussed by the commissioners of each colony.

"We'd better not compete with each other. Some colonies are big and some don't have such rich resources. God is not so fair sometimes, so we, as part of a group of gentlemen, should discuss it. Don't form internal competition." Alan Wilson said After pondering for a while, he added, "Of course, with the exception of diamonds and gold, I refer to general industrial resources. We should discuss and give some colonies with inconvenient transportation a chance. After all, we all serve the same country. We all He is an honorable gentleman and highly educated.”

"It depends on which university you received higher education in!" the British Sudanese Commissioner joked with a smile.

"Both universities count," Alan Wilson replied knowingly, "Oxford and Cambridge must remain united and serve the country together."

Obviously, the colonial commissioners were not repelled by the possibility of adding extra burdens, and were even eager to give it a try. They were all prepared to go through fire and water for the British Empire.

This is also in response to the call of the Labor government. These civil servants are not opposed to the emergence of nationalized enterprises in the colonies.

"According to the Soviets,

This stimulates productivity. At present, the mainland needs a large amount of resource input, and a large amount of resources can also make the pound more stable. Alan Wilson talked about the benefits of nationalized enterprises, "Africa's mineral resources definitely need the help of local people, and we can use this to cultivate some pro-British forces." "

"Gentlemen, let us first imagine the worst possibility. As we all know, a large part of today's world order is still established by the United Kingdom. In the eyes of the United States and the Soviet Union, this is a remnant of the old order. Since World War II, still During the war, we were not unaware of the various words and deeds of the two countries. One wanted national self-determination, the other wanted to liberate the world. No matter which one they were, they were all aimed at colonial countries."

"Then we will follow the example of the Soviet Union and carry out nationalization movements in the colonies while cultivating pro-British forces. If, I mean if, one day we really can't stay in the colonies anymore, we can still hand over the local political power to trustworthy people. In the hands of other people, we broke up the nationalized enterprises, retained everyone’s shares, and cooperated with independent leaders.”

"So when it comes to nationalization, we don't take everything. We must allocate part to local forces who are optimistic about it and bundle their interests. This is actually not a loss. If there is help from local forces, maybe the mining volume will explode. growth, we still made a profit.”

"In terms of developing resources, the major colonies cooperate with each other to ensure that once the colony becomes independent, there will only be a single industry to rely on, so that we can still exert influence. We will adopt an international division of labor among the major colonies. The integration of the model can also be said to be a concrete embodiment of the imperial preferential system.”

"This is an explanation to the Conservative MPs." Norman Brooke looked at Sir Ismay beside him and nodded.

The main contents of the Imperial System of Preferences are: mutually lower tax rates or tax exemptions for imported goods between member states; high tariffs on imported goods from outside the member states to prevent the United States and other countries from penetrating into the British Empire market.

After the war, as the United States forced Britain to relax restrictions, the scope and role of the system gradually narrowed. Many of the newly independent federal member states canceled the preferences they had previously given to British goods.

At present, Britain has no intention of kneeling down, and the 1.2 billion pounds scraped out of the emergency raid will cause a lot of trouble for the major colonies, but as long as the mainland recovers, it can continue to compete with the United States. It was just that the entire British India was lost on paper.

Earlier, the United States had been targeting Britain over the World War I debt issue. Even Axis countries like Italy have received the generosity of the United States in canceling half of their debts. Germany has even received tens of billions of dollars in investment. France has also had its debts greatly reduced. Only Britain is particularly stingy.

"The large-scale establishment of nationalized enterprises in the colonies. I think once the Americans see it, they will definitely put pressure on it." After hearing this, Sir Ismay smiled bitterly and said, "I hope this can be kept hidden for as long as possible."

"There is no way. The Americans want to dismantle the imperial preferential system immediately, but we cannot let it disappear for the time being, because we do not have the strength to resist the scale of American industry, unless Malaya reaches the day when it can share the pressure."

Alan Wilson said in a moderate tone, "Nationalization will cause inefficiency, but it also depends on the industry. For example, the mining industry should be the easiest industry to take advantage of nationalization and avoid the disadvantages of nationalization. We started from Start with the most basic raw materials, provide British companies with the most cost-effective raw materials, and improve the competitiveness of British private enterprises. We can use nationalization to explain to the Labor government, maintain the imperial preferential system to explain to the Conservative Party, and use interest bundling to colonial elites. .”

"Currently, we are the only ones suffering as humble social servants, right?" A smile appeared on the corner of Norman Brooke's lips, "But there is no way. Who made us, the people who are born to serve the empire? These grievances are also We can’t spread it everywhere, that’s the decision.”

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"Yes, sir!" nearly twenty colonial commissioners replied in unison.

"Ismay, save the minutes of the meeting. Today we will talk about the layout of British Africa first." Norman Brooke raised his wrist and looked at the time. He was about to have a chance encounter with the Dutch ambassador, and at the same time he had to Prepare for a delightful briefing to Prime Minister Attlee.

This meeting seemed very long, but in fact it only talked about African issues, to be precise, black African issues. The issues of the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal were not discussed much, and the Malayan plan was briefly discussed within the scope of safety.

After the meeting was adjourned, and after necessary checks which could not be called body searches, the colonial commissioners left the Foreign Office building.

Of course, every commissioner who walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building had a smile on his face. Although the burden on him was heavier, inspired by the glory of the British Empire, everyone accepted it happily.

Alan Wilson also walked with the wind, and after thinking about whether he had enough time, he went to find Hepburn. He had something to talk about other than politics. Her serious attitude made him very happy, and he began to outline the British literary world and history.

Hepburn's uneasiness disappeared after a few minutes. It was as if she was sitting alone in the whole world, and he was talking about English literature to Hepburn's bright black eyes. And these eyes will meditate, smile, and blink appreciatively.

Alan Wilson remembers throwing teachers aside during his short time at Oxford, and this time he threw everything aside.

Alan Wilson considered whether to make the candlelight dinner plan today or wait until all colonial issues were settled and there would be plenty of time to discuss. Finally, he decided to postpone it. Now was not the time.