Majesty's Government Research Articles

Race and Resistance in Burma, 1942–1945

The President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister, Mr Churchill, representing His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom … respect the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live, and they wish to see sovereign rights restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them.

Composite materials: Sewell, J.H. (The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, UK) US Pat 4 533 589 (6 August 1985)

Composite materials: Sewell, J.H. (The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, UK) US Pat 4 533 589 (6 August 1985)

Fibre reinforced composites: Bishop, S.M. and Curtis, P.T. (The Secretary of State for Defence of Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, England) US Pat 4 536 432 (20 August 1985)

Fibre reinforced composites: Bishop, S.M. and Curtis, P.T. (The Secretary of State for Defence of Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, England) US Pat 4 536 432 (20 August 1985)

Strategic Issues in the Economic Policies of His Majesty's Government of Nepal

Not Available.

The Panthay Mission of 1872 and its Legacies

On the last day of May 1872, “three respectably, but not ostentatiously dressed Chinamen” arrived at the Charing Cross Hotel, London. They brought with them three letters and four heavy boxes for presentation to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. While they waited for a reply to their letters and for an opportunity to present the boxes, they toured London, visiting the Mint, Woolwich Arsenal, Newgate Prison, the Enfield Ordnance Factory, the Powder Mills at Waltham Abbey, the Post Office and the Bank of England. At the end of July they were informed that Her Majesty's Government could not accept the proposals outlined in their letters and that Her Majesty could not receive the boxes. On 21 September 1872, the three Chinese departed, leaving behind the four sealed boxes. Thus appeared to end one of the more bizarre episodes in nineteenth-century Anglo-Chinese relations.

4521513 Protection against dental caries: Roy R Russell, Bromley, United Kingdom assigned to The Secretary of State of Social Services in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdon of Great Brtian and Northern Ireland

4521513 Protection against dental caries: Roy R Russell, Bromley, United Kingdom assigned to The Secretary of State of Social Services in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdon of Great Brtian and Northern Ireland

4448768 Protection against dental caries: Geoffre Colman, Roy R B Russell, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom assigned to The Secretary of State for Social Services in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

4448768 Protection against dental caries: Geoffre Colman, Roy R B Russell, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom assigned to The Secretary of State for Social Services in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

4385120 Thermostable glycerokinases and process for its production: Anthon Atkinson, Michael Comer, Salisbury, United Kingdom, assigned to the Secretary of State for Defense in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

4385120 Thermostable glycerokinases and process for its production: Anthon Atkinson, Michael Comer, Salisbury, United Kingdom, assigned to the Secretary of State for Defense in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Mountain Hazards Mapping in Nepal Introduction to an Applied Mountain Research Project

This paper explains the background of a project on mountain hazards mapping in Nepal which is supported by the United Nations University, Unesco, and His Majesty's Government of Nepal. Three areas, representative of the three main altitudinal belts experiencing major human impacts, were selected for production of prototype hazard maps. They are: 1) High- Altitude belt above and below upper timberline (Khumbu Himal); 2) Middle Mountain belt (vicinity of Kathmandu); and 3) Low- Altitude belt (transection of the Siwalik Hills and Gangetic Plain). The research design is presented and some early results from completed work in the Kathmandu area are discussed. The paper is intended to provide a framework for a series of subsequent reports on more detailed aspects of the study, including geomorphology, ethnography, biogeography, land use, and the hazard maps themselves.

Fleecing the foreigners

This month sees another swingeing increase in the fees for overseas students attending British institutions of further and higher education: an increase of nearly one‐third. Of this, a rise of 9% is attributable to the last Government, which had decided to keep fees at the same real value as in the last academic year. The rest is the responsibility of the present Government. I suppose it could be argued that part of their increase too was occasioned by the need to keep fees in line with general levels of inflation, since they have themselves deliberately and sharply increased price levels by their taxation policies, their demands upon the nationalised industries, and the abolition of the Price Commission. But unhappily overseas students do not benefit from the commensurate reduction in British direct taxation; few fall into that happy little group who used to pay tax at 83% and will now enjoy the blessed relief of a 60% maximum rate. But most of the additional increase is in any event designed to be straightforward profit‐taking, an activity with which the members of Her Majesty's present Government are very familiar.

Governmental Regulation of the Press: A Study of Israel's Press Ordinance Part II

The British strategy to tame the Palestine press was to be implemented through a sophisticated masterplan. The Press Bureau was reorganized and explicitly directed to woo journalists and thereby achieve press cooperation. Simultaneously, the iron fist of the Press Ordinance was cast, to be used in case gentle handling failed to bear the desired cooperation.The British analyzed the pitfalls on the road to cooperation correctly. As early as 1932 the Press Officer observed that the “deep-seated antipathy of Arabs and Jews as represented by their respective presses” and “the fundamental opposition of all Arab press to the Mandate” might undermine the entire plan. But even this sober analysis could not foresee the dimensions of the coming crisis.As Jewish immigration to Palestine and the economic prosperity of the country increased, the Arabs anxiety about their political future in Palestine intensified. In 1936, Arab tensions exploded in the Arab rebellion. Widespread terror, arson and general strikes engulfed the country, and this time they were directed not only against the Jews but also against the British Government. Under these circumstances, the British came to the conclusion that they could no longer support the idea of a Jewish National Home in Palestine. In 1939, the White Paper, expressing a shift in policy, was issued. His Majesty's Government rejected the idea that Palestine should become a Jewish State and announced that hereinafter, Jewish immigration to Palestine would be limited and Jewish purchase of Arab lands prohibited.

Whitehall, Washington and the Intelligence Services

T g HERE is no area of defence policy on which British and American official views are at present as sharply divided as the role of the intelligence services. The American Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities, the Church Committee (of which Vice-President Mondale was a member), concluded in its report last year: ' There is a clear necessity, after thirty years of substantial secret activities, for public debate and legislative decisions about the future course of our intelligence system.' 1 The official British view is precisely the opposite. That view was recently reaffirmed by the British embassy in Washington. When questioned by a congressional sub-committee on the British practice of intercepting all telegrams entering and leaving the United Kingdom, the embassy gave the traditional dusty answer: 'It is not in accordance with Her Majesty's Government's policy to comment on such matters.'2 This article is not in accordance with Her Majesty's Government's policy either. Those branches of government most concerned with the intelligence services-the Cabinet Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Defence Ministry-do not like British intelligence work, past or present, general or particular, to be debated in parliament, discussed in the press, or researched in the universities. Debate in the Commons is more or less prevented by the conventions of the House; discussion in the press is discouraged by the D notice system; research in the universities, even on the past record of the intelligence services, is made as difficult as possible by denying access to even their earliest files. The official British view is that the past and present functions, cost, and effectiveness of the intelligence services do not form a proper subject either for polite patriotic discussion, or for parliamentary debate, or for academic research. My own view, within limits which I shall discuss later, is that they do. The role of the intelligence services is, quite simply, too important not to be discussed. Their role is more vital now than it has ever been before in peacetime. Secret intelligence is essential now not merely,

The Bishop of Jamaica and Slave Instruction

In July 1824 two new bishoprics were organised in the West Indies, the bishopric of Jamaica including Honduras and the bishopric of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward islands, to promote the activity of the Anglican Church among the slave population. A series of resolutions passed in the House of Commons in May 1823 committed the government to reforms intended to prepare the slaves for eventual freedom, and primary importance was given to their need for religious instruction. Knowledge of Christianity was regarded as an ‘indispensable necessity to…the foundation of every beneficial change in their character and future condition’. Most of the reform programme, which included the abolition of flogging for women, the admission of slave evidence in court and the improvement of manumission facilities, involved revision of existing slave codes and implementation, therefore, depended, outside the crown colonies, on the cooperation of the island assemblies. The imperial government, however, was free to promote religious instruction and chose to appoint the bishops. Under their supervision the Anglican Church in the West Indies was to become a missionary force. As the Secretary of State explained to the governor of Jamaica, ‘his Majesty's Government have been anxious to prove the deep interest which they feel in the encouragement of the religious and moral instruction of the Negroes, by at once taking upon themselves the whole charge of placing the Clergy of the West Indies under Episcopal control’. Funds were voted to pay the bishop of Jamaica £5,600 p.a. and salaries were also provided for six auxiliary curates and an archdeacon to help to supervise the clergy.

Gravitation

Either Professor Bondi's reputation as Chief Scientific Adviser to Her Majesty's Government or his even longer standing reputation as a lecturer attracted 270 members and visitors to the meeting of the Guildford Sub-Branch at the University of Surrey on 20 November to hear him speak on 'Gravitation'. Although using what he called "the six letter word 'tensor' " only two or three times he gave with great clarity an account of the internal inconsistencies of Newton's theory of gravitation and of the resolution of these by Einstein.

A Catholic's Secret Counsel to the British Government on His Irish Church: April 1918

One of the most troubled periods in Irish history was pro voked by the conscription crisis in the final year of World War I. Neither the British government, responsible for the administra tion of Ireland, nor the Catholic Church, whose influence was considerable, could predict the course of events in 1918 with any sense of confidence. Until the issue of compulsory military service confronted Irishmen, the Irish Church was engaged in a tacit alliance with His Majesty's government since both desired to prevent disruption and to promote peace and harmony.1 When Prime Minister Lloyd George extended conscription to Ireland he abrogated that undeclared partnership. The Church denounced the draft law and by that action joined the ranks of Irish moderates, republicans, radicals, and an otherwise diverse mass of Irish citizens united mainly by their common opposition to conscription.2 On the evening of 18 April 1918 the Catholic

Britain's Obligations under the Simonstown Agreements

N February, 1971, the Attorney-General presented to Parliament a White Paper i(Cmnd. 4589) entitled Legal Obligations of Her Majesty's Government arising out of the Simonstown Agreements. It comprises the Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown for England and Wales together with an annex of twenty-eight letters and aidememoire exchanged between the South African embassy in London and the British Government (the Foreign Office, the Admiralty, the Ministry of Defence and in one instance (letter No. 17) H.M.S. Vernon). This is the first time that correspondence relating to the implementation of the Simonstown Agreements 1 has been made public and it is clear that there is other earlier correspondence, since letter No. 1, which is dated September 5, 1961, refers to a letter of March 24, 1961.2 The Law Officers' Opinion begins by a section entitled The Background which gives a very brief description of all the Simonstown Agreements followed by a fuller, but still short, description of the Sea Routes Agreement. In all, both descriptions comprise four paragraphs covering less than a page and a half. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that this brief account takes up the story of the Simonstown Agreements at the time of their signature on June 30, 1955; but the agreements themselves were the result of earlier developments which must be appreciated if the agreements are to be understood. Moreover, any interpretation of the treaties that goes beyond strict textuality requires an understanding of their context. The significance of this point will appear hereafter when it will be argued that the neglect of context is a weakness in the Law Officers' interpretation and that, paradoxically,

Barotseland's Scramble for Protection

The arrival of European concession-seekers in Barotseland coincided with a period of internal instability in that kingdom. King Lewanika, fearing both enemies within the ruling class as well as Ndebele raids, decided to follow the example of his friend Khama of the Ngwato in seeking British protection. With considerable difficulty he prevailed upon a local missionary, François Coillard, to write a letter on his behalf requesting such protection.It had already become clear that an important faction of the Lozi ruling class opposed the king's decision. Some of its members feared that his ‘protectors’ would make his overthrow that much more difficult; others were concerned that he more powerful white men would undermine the authority of the nation's traditional rulers. These suspicions received apparent confirmation when the representative who appeared to negotiate the concession proved to be an agent, not of Her Majesty's Government, but of the British South African Company. Thanks, however, to the ignorance of the missionaries who were interpreting for the court, as well as to the duplicity of Rhodes's agent himself, this distinction was successfully blurred. Opposition remained, however, until, at a critical moment in the negotiations, Khama's envoy threatened the council with harsh retribution if it refused to sanction the proposed treaty. In the face of this united stand of those who represented the power of the British government and its white associates and black collaborators, the National Council of Barotseland finally agreed to the concession, and, for better or worse, the Lozi found themselves under white ‘protection’.

The Announcement of August 20th, 1917

On August 20th, 1917, Edwin Montagu declared in the House of Commons that: “the policy of His Majesty's Government … is that of the … gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.” This announcement, more than any other single event, may properly be described as signalling the creation of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and the breakup of the third British Empire. It affirmed that a nonwhite portion of the empire could aspire to the same goal of self-government as the white colonies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa had successively achieved.

The Announcement of August 20th, 1917

On August 20th, 1917, Edwin Montagu declared in the House of Commons that: “the policy of His Majesty's Government … is that of the … gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire.” This announcement, more than any other single event, may properly be described as signalling the creation of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and the breakup of the third British Empire. It affirmed that a nonwhite portion of the empire could aspire to the same goal of self-government as the white colonies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa had successively achieved.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:James A. Maxwell. Commonwealth‐State Financial Relations in Australia.A. C. Palfreeman. The Administration of the White Australia Policy. Melbourne UniversityZelman Cowen. Isaac Isaacs.M. Beever and F. B. Smith (Compilers). Historical Studies: Selected Articles (Second Series)Mohammad Ayub Khan. Friends Not Masters.E. N. Gladden. Civil Services of the United Kingdom, 1853–1970. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, London, 1967 Her Majesty's Government. Exeter, Wheaton, 1967 Local Government in Britain. Exeter, Wheaton, 1967 The Courts of Justice. Exeter, Wheaton, 1967.