DIAMONDS.GOLD,AND BRITISHIMPERIALISM
dominantly of British stock, were loath to be placed in a state with an
Afrikaner political majority, Several convention delegates had hoped to
incorporate the other three territories forthwith, but the British govern-
ment, which administered them in cooperation with their African chiefs,
informed the convention that this was not possible, since the chiefs did not
wish to be placed under the control of white South Africans. As we shall
see, these provisions never went into operation.
Having completed their work in South Africa, the four colonial govern-
ments sent delegates to London, since only the imperial parliament had the
legal authority to give effect to their decisions. Members of the Western-
educated black elite in Southern Africa-clergy,
journalists, teachers-and
a handful of white sympathizers had also sent a deputation to London to
agitate for the removal of the color bars from the constitution.f-' They were
supported by the Manchester Guardian and severalprominent individuals.
However, though most members of Parliament preferred that the constitu-
tion should not contain a color bar, nearly all realized that it was politically
impracticable to attempt to alter the wishes of the four self-governing