Table Of ContentThe Official History of Colonial Development
VOLUME 1
THE ORIGINS OF BRITISH AID POLICY, 1924-1945
The author has been given full access to
official documents. He alone is
responsible for the statements made
and the views expressed.
The Official History of Colonial
Development
VOLUME
I
THE ORIGINS OF BRITISH AID POLICY,
1924-1945
J.
D. Morgan
© Crown copyright 1980. Published by permission of the
Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1980 978-0-333-26224-5
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission
First published 1980 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basillgstoke
Associated companies in Delhi
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Morgan, David John
The official history of colonial development
Vol. I: The origins of British aid policy,
1924-1945
I. Great Britain - Colonies - Economic policy
2. Economic assistance, British
I. Title II. Origins of British aid policy,
1924-1945
338.91' 171'241041 HC259
ISBN 978-1-349-04560-0 ISBN 978-1-349-04558-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-04558-7
ISBN 978-0-333-28800-9 (5 volume set)
This book is sold subject
to the standard conditions
rif the Net Book Agreement
Contents
List of Tables V111
Preface IX
List of Abbreviations xii
PROLOGUE XIV
i. The Origins of the Policy of
Colonial Development and Welfare XIV
11. Changes in the 1930S XVlll
(a ) The Colonial Service XVl11
(b) The Growth of Unofficial Representation xx
(c) Reorganisation of the Colonial Office XX111
111. Colonial Policy as Part of British
Foreign Policy XXVI
IV. Contents XXIX
Sources XXIX
COLONIAL TRADE POLICY, 1929-1939
I
Sources 13
2 THE COLONIAL QUESTION, 1935-1939 14
i. The Issue is Raised 14
ii. Basis for Negotiation 18
Sources 21
3 DISTURBANCES IN THE COLONIES, 1935-1938 23
Sources 27
4 THE INTELLECTUAL FERMENT OF THE 1930S 28
Sources 34
5 POLICY AND EXPERIENCE IN THE 1920S 35
Sources 43
v
VI CONTENTS
6 POLICY AND EXPERIENCE IN THE 1930S 44
i. The Colonial Development Act, 1929 44
B. The Colonial Development Advisory Committee 46
Ill. Colonial Office Conference, 1930 49
IV. Slow Progress, 1930-I 93 I 50
v. The Working of the CDAC 5 I
VI. The Nyasaland Protectorate's Development
Programme, 193 I - I 934 52
VB. The Scope of the Act 56
VIll. Limitations of the Act 59
Sources 61
7 PREPARATORY DISCUSSIONS IN THE COLONIAL
OFFICE, 1938-1939 64
Sources 71
8 THE IMPACT OF WAR 72
Sources 75
9 THE REPORT OF THE WEST INDIA ROYAL
COMMISSION 76
Sources 79
10 THE COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
ACT, 1940 80
i. Preparatory Meetings 80
ii. Passing the Act 85
iii. Implementation of the Act 89
iv. The Colonial Development and Welfare Advisory
Committee 94
v. Colonial Research 99
vi. The Expansion of Higher Education
107
vii. The Colonial Service 118
Sources 120
I I THE CD & W ACT AND COLONIAL TRADE UNIONS 124
i. The Background in the Gold Coast 124
ii. Enforcement of Section I (2) (a) of the CD & W Act,
1940, in the Gold Coast 127
iii. The Strike of 1947 in the Gold Coast 129
CONTENTS V11
IV. Instability in the Gold Coast, 1947-1948
Sources
12 THE DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
ORGANISATION IN THE WEST INDIES 137
i. Setting up the Organisation 137
11. The Working of the Organisation 140
lll. Development Planning 148
IV. Regional Policy 15°
Sources
154
13 THE ANGLO-AMERICAN CARIBBEAN
COMMISSION 157
i. Formation of the Commission 157
ii. The Commission in Operation 168
lll. West Indian Conferences 173
Sources 178
14 THE COLONIAL ECONOMIC ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
i. The Need for an Advisory Committee
11. The Contribution of the Committee
Sources
15 THE COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE
ACT, 1945 198
Sources 206
16 DEVELOPMENT PLANNING TO 1945 208
1. From Piecemeal to Programme Planning 208
11. Early Exercises in Planning 213
(a) Kenya, 1943 213
(b) Uganda, 1943 214
(c) Nigeria, 1944 216
(d) Jamaica, 1944-1945 218
lll. The General Planning Position, November 1944 227
Sources 239
Appendix
Index
List of Tables
1.1 Principal Colonial Exports of Primary Products, 1937 8
10.1 Regional Distribution of CD & W Funds allocated for
Higher Education, 1946-70 112
10.2 Student Numbers in Overseas Universities, 1965-66 113
I I . I Rates of Pay on the Gold Coast Railway, 1929 and 1939 125
12.1 Disbursements of CD & W Funds, 1940-41 to 1943-44 140
15.1 Sterling Balances and Note Circulation, November 1944 201
16.1 Allocation of Funds (groups of territories), 1945 212
16.2 Nigeria: Planned CD & W Expenditure, 1946-56 228
16.3 Uganda: Planned Development Expenditure, 1946-50 229
16.4 West Indies: Summary of Principal Development
Proposals 232
16.5 Summary of Assistance required under the 1956 Act 233
Vlll
Preface
My interest in the field of Colonial and Commonwealth economic
policy was aroused in 1941 when, on joining the staff of Dr ArnoldJ.
Toynbee's Foreign Research and Press Service in Oxford, I was
required to prepare a study of the economic background and
implications of the Ottawa Trade Agreements, 1932. Over the
following years-at the University of Liverpool, the London School of
Economics, the University of the West Indies, the University of
Manchester, the Overseas Development Institute, and the Institute of
Commonwealth Studies of the University of London - I extended my
interest beyond trade policy to the problems of development and aid.
This was enormously assisted in the first place by my residence in
Jamaica over the years 1955-9 whilst I was Head of the Department of
Economics at the University College. During those years I was able to
gain first-hand knowledge of the economies and economic problems of
the Caribbean area: Mexico and Central America, Venezuela and
Guyana, the British, French and Dutch islands, Cuba, Haiti and
Puerto Rico. It was assisted in the second place by the privileged access
to the files of the Colonial Office in order to prepare a short history of
the origins and nature of British aid to developing countries, which was
published by the Overseas Development Institute in 1964 under the
title of Colonial Development. In the third place, there were study-visits to
the New Commonwealth. In 1964 a Houblon-Norman award enabled
me to renew my acquaintance with the West Indies, beginning with
Bermuda and the Bahamas, in order to study banking developments
and aid problems. A Hayter grant in 1966 and a Leverhulme award in
1969 enabled me to become acquainted with the economies and
economic problems of East and Central Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. In
particular, I studied the working of joint ventures between local and
expatriate interests, including among the former the local develop
ment corporations and among the latter both the Commonwealth
Development Corporation and the Commonwealth Development
Finance Company. I was fortunate to meet Governors, Ministers and
officials, Governors of Central Banks, staffs of local development
corporations, banks and businesses of many kinds, economists in the
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