NETT (1873- ), British politician, was born at Gorakhpur, North West Provinces, India, Nov. 22, 1873, and was educated at Harrow and Balliol college, Oxford. He was elected a fellow of All Souls college in 1897, and, after travelling for a year in the Near East, in 1899 joined the staff of The Times, London, and acted as chief correspondent to that paper during the first year of the South African War (1899-190o), remaining associated with it till 1909; during this period he edited and wrote the greater part of The Times History of the South African War. He began his political career in 1903, as a strong advocate of imperial prefer ence and tariff reform and, having contested in the Unionist in terest seats at Wolverhampton and Bow and Bromley, was elected in 1911 M.P. for the Sparkbrook division of Birmingham. Dur ing these years he also travelled extensively in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other parts of the British empire. From 1914 to 1916 he served with the British army, first in France and later in the Near East, and from 1917 to 1918 was a secretary of the War cabinet on the personal staff of the secre tary for war and of the Imperial War cabinet, and a member of the inter-allied military staff at Versailles. In Jan. 1919_he became under-secretary for the Colonies and in 1921 parliamentary and financial secretary to the Admiralty. From Oct. 1922 to Jan. 1924 he was first lord of the Admiralty in the Unionist cabinet. In Nov. 1924 he became secretary of state for the Colonies, and from 1925 to 1929 was also secretary of state for dominion af fairs, in which capacity he took part in the Imperial Conference of 1926 and made a tour round the British dominions in 1927-28.
He has published various works, including The Problem of the Army (1903) ; Fundamental Fallacies of Free Trade (1906) ; The Great Question (1909) ; Union and Strength (1912) .