Book Review: Transfer of Power
| Published date | 01 June 1962 |
| Date | 01 June 1962 |
| Author | D. J. McDougall |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206201700226 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
183
TRANSmER
OF1
POWER.
Problems
of
the
Passage
to
Self-Government.
By
Sir
Charles
Jefferies,
K.C.M.G.,
O.B.E.
1960.
(London:
Pall
Mall
Press.
Toronto:
Smithers
&
Bonnellie.
148pp.
$4.25.)
It
is
evident
from several
passages
in
this
illuminating
account
of
how
self-government was
actually
established
in
a
number
of
Asian
and
African
dependencies
that
Sir Charles
Jeffries
has
himself
taken
a
part,
probably
a
quite
important
part,
in
the
proceedings which
he describes.
His
years
of
service
in
the
Colonial
Office
have
given
him
a
knowledge
of
the
problem
which
very
few
writers
can claim.
His
approach
is
definitely
not
that
of
the
official
bound
by
the
routine
of
administration,
and
fearful
of
anything
that
threatens
to
disturb
it.
This new
develop-
ment
in
imperial
relations
emerging
after
the
First
World
War, and
gathering
irresistible
momentum
after
the
Second,
is
for
him
a
practical
problem
for
which
solutions
must
be
found.
Sir Charles
has
no
theories
about these
changes.
In
particular,
he dismisses
the
idea
of
a
'mission'
to
extend
parliamentary
government
to communities
where
such
a
concept
was
utterly
unknown.
Whatever
the purpose
of
acquiring
and
govern-
ing
these
territories,
he
observes,
"it
certainly
was
not aimed
at
the
creation
of
independent
self-governing
states".
The
book
is
at
once
an
analysis
of
the
problem, and
a
concise
explanation
of
the
solutions
adopted
or
attempted
in a
number
of
colonies,
in
terms
of
challenge and response. The
first
section
consists
of
a
number
of
short
chapters
surveying
the
problem
as
a
whole,
and
suggesting
answers
to
a
number
of
practical
questions:
the
conditions
leading
to
the
rise
and
growth
of
the
movement
for
independence;
the
considerations
governing
the
decisions
that
must
be
made
by
the
imperial
authority;
the
measures required
to prepare
a
colony
for
independence,
within
or
without the
Commonwealth.
Sir
Charles
has
not
attempted
to
give
definitive
answers
to
these
questions,
or
to
others
of
the
kind
which
he
suggests.
The
circumstances
varied
in
each
case,
but
out
of
them
all
a
pattern
emerged;
and these
chapters
explain
how
cabinets were
formed,
democracy
extended,
and
union,
or
at
least
a
working
agreement,
established
between
rival
groups, which
often
represented
deep
and
seemingly irreconcilable
tribal
or
territorial
divisions.
In
the
second
part
of
the
book
Sir
Charles
explains
in
some
detail
the
process
by
which
power
has
been
transferred
in
each
of
the
colonies
with
which
he
deals. These
chapters
include
first-hand accounts
of
several
of
the
conferences
with
delegations
from
Ceylon,
Ghana,
Nigeria
and
the
West
Indies.
They
are
written
with
a
sympathetic
understanding
of
the
aspirations
of
the
colonial
peoples,
and
with
more
than
a
little
admiration
for
many
of
their
leaders.
One
of
the
more
prominent
of
these
is
Sir
Oliver
Goodetilleki,
the
Ceylonese
leader,
whom
Sir
Charles
obviously
regards
as
a
statesman
of
exceptional
ability.
One
unforeseen circumstance
has
influenced
the
whole
process.
The
pace
of
change
has
been much
more rapid
than
was
anticipated,
with
the
result
that
a
good
deal
of
readjustment
of
plans
has
been
necessary.
That
the
difficulties
have
been
overcome
has
been
due
in
large
measure to the
work
of
the
colonial
service,
to
whose
members
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