Book Review: Commonwealth of Nations: Immigration: Control or Colour Bar?
| Author | David Corbett |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900125 |
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
102
INTERNATIOxAL
JOURNAL
end
with Hitler's
Prague
coup.
Chamberlain's
associates
continued
to
dangle
economic
benefits
before
the
Germans
throughout
the
whole
of
1939.
The famous
pledge
to
Poland
was
given
reluctantly
under
public
pressure
and,
when
the
crisis of
September
1939
was
at
its height,
there
were
men
among
the
Prime
Minister's
closest
friends
who
re-
garded it,
and
the
Poles,
as
expendable.
Indeed,
even
after
hostilities
had
started,
there
was
a
reluctance
to face
up
to
realities.
A
Chamber-
lain
stalwart
like
the
Air
Minister
Kingsley
Wood
refused to
authorize
the
bombing
of
any
targets
that
might
indicate
to
the
Germans
that
the
British
regarded
the
war
as
a
serious
business; and
as
late
as
April
1940
Lord
Halifax
was
talking
(if
the
German diplomatic
papers
are
to
be
believed)
of
a
compromise
peace
at
Poland's
expense.
The
authors
have sought
to
be
charitable
in
their
judgment
of
the
men
responsible
for
the
long
series
of
capitulations
to
Hitler.
Appease-
ment,
they
say,
resulted
in
the
first
instance
"from
mental
laziness
and
not
from
political
immorality".
At
the
same
time, they
quote approv-
ingly
Rebecca
West's
judgment
of
the
men
who
directed
British
policy
in
these
crucial
years:
"They
were
...
as
much
strangers to
all
tradi-
tion
of
English
pride
as
though
they
were
alien
in
blood".
Stanford
University
GORDON
A.
CRAIG
IMMIGRATION: CONTROL
OR
COLoUR
BAR?
The
Background
to
"White
Australia"
and
a
Proposal
for
Change.
By
the
Immigration
Reform
Group.
Edited
by
Kenneth
Rivett.
1962.
(Melbourne: Melbourne
University
Press.
Toronto: Macmillan.
xiv,
171pp.
$2.15)
This
book
is
an
impassioned
attack
on
the White
Australia
policy.
It
is
a
revised and
enlarged
version
of
a pamphlet
which caused
a
stir
when
it
appeared
in
1960.
Its
best
chapter
is
a
stinging
reply
to
critics
of
the
pamphlet:
here
the authors'
debating
style
is
most
effec-
tive.
Also
useful
is
the
book's
new
historical
chapter
on
the
origins
and
early
development
of
restrictions
on
the
entry
of
non-Europeans.
The
weakest
part
of
the
book
is
also,
unfortunately,
one
which
the
authors
took
the
trouble
to
add
for
this
addition;
it
is
a
resumtd
of
race
relations
in
Brazil,
Hawaii,
Fiji,
Malaya,
Indonesia,
East
Africa,
the
United
States
and Great
Britain.
In
thirty
pages,
it
is
not easy
to
say
much
about
eight
very
complex
societies,
but the
authors
feel justified
in
drawing
some
mildly
hopeful
conclusions
from the
experiences
of
these
nations.
It
might
have
been
better
to
give
more
space
than
they
do
(five
pages
in all) to
the
experiences
of
Canada and
New
Zealand,
countries
with
backgrounds
similar
to
Australia's.
In
defence
of
the
authors'
choice,
it
can
be
said
that
at
least
these
swift
surveys
of
many
countries
point
out
the
main
issues
and
give
some
guidance
to
those
who
might
wish
to
read
further
on
the
subject.
Four
reasbns
are
given
for
seeking
the
abolition
of
the
White
Australia
policy.
"First,
it
is
immoral
to
maintain
a
colour
bar
...
Secondly,
the
effects
of
the
policy
within
Australia
are
also
unfortu-
nate.
We
need
more
contact
with
non-Europeans
for
Australia's
sake
...
Thirdly,
we
are
needlessly
denying
opportunity
to
individuals
who
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