192 J.-A. PEMBERTON
Ḗcole libre des sciences politiques and director of the Institut interna-
tional des langues et civilisations Africanes, maintained that ‘conceptions
of humanity and trusteeship’ had inspired the colonial powers in their
colonial administration long before the war, point out in this regard
that such conceptions had found expression at the Berlin Conference of
1885.^370 At the same time, it was widely admitted at the conference that
the conception of trusteeship had received added emphasis after 1919
due to the influence of the mandatory provisions of Article 22 of the
Covenant.^371
In the memorandum that he submitted to the general rapporteur
on peaceful change and to the IIIC, Lugard, an early but not uncon-
troversial proponent of trusteeship, explained the significance of this
principle from the British perspective. He stated that however ‘sceptical
some nations may be about its altruism, and in spite of some failures,’
the British policy of trusteeship is a ‘very real thing’. He added that no
British government would ‘dare ignore’ this principle, citing in support
of this contention the fierce public reaction to the Hoare-Laval pro-
posal.^372 Lugard stressed the urgency of reaching some sort of settlement
with Germany in order to avoid another fait accompli. As with Hoare
and Eden, the settlement that he had in mind would take the form of
economic concessions: Germany would be afforded access to the raw
materials in the colonial areas and in the territories under mandate.^373
For Lugard, the transfer of colonies or mandates to Germany was out
of the question. He declared that to transfer territories under mandate
or under British colonial rule to Germany would be to treat the popu-
lations of these territories as mere ‘chattels’ and to break the repeated
pledges Britain had made to them: to ‘give them as much share in the
Government as they are from time to time capable of ’ and assist them to
‘“stand alone” at some distant time’. That these policies were ‘derided
by Herr Hitler,’ was a crucial reason, Lugard observed, why the British
Government refused to transfer even mandates to Germany.^374
(^370) Ibid., 520–21.
(^371) Ibid., 446, 463.
(^372) International Study Group: Note (in absentia) by Lord Lugard, March 13–14, 1936,
AG 1-IICI-K-I-18.b, UA. See also Lugard, ‘The Basis of the Claim for Colonies,’ 14.
(^373) International Study Group: Note (in absentia) by Lord Lugard, March 13–14, 1936,
AG 1-IICI-K-I-18.b, UA.
(^374) Ibid.