cab/24/207 closer union in east africa (1929)

8/3/2019 CAB/24/207 Closer Union in East Africa (1929)

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T H I S D O C U M E N T I S T H E P R O P E R T Y O F M I S B R I T A N N I C M A J E S T Y 'S G O V E R N M E N T .

Printed for the Cabinet. December 1929.

S E C R E T . Copy No. 3 8

C P - 3 6 0 ( 2 9 ) .

C A B I N E T .

C L O S E R U N I O N I N E A S T A F R I C A .

N O T E B Y T H E S E C R E T A R Y O F S T A T E F O R T H E C O L O N I E S .

IN accordance wi th the decis ion of the Cabinet taken a t the meet ing of the27th November , I now lay before my col leagues the fo l lowing papers :—

I . A s t a t emen t o f Na t ive Po l i cy wh ich i t i s p ropos ed to pub l i s h a s a Whi teP ap er a nd to com mun ica te to the Gove rno r s o f the t e r r i to r i e s conce rnedf o r t h e i r i n f o r m a t i o n a n d g u i d a n c e .

I I . A Commenta ry , p r eceded by a Fo reword in my own name , on the pos i t iona r i s ing ou t o f the Repor t s o f the Hi l ton Young Commis s ion andSi r Samue l Wi l s on , wh ich I in t end , wi th the app rova l o f the Cab ine t ,

to pub l i s h and l ay be fo re the p ropos ed J o i n t Com mi t t ee o f bo th H ous e so f Pa r l i amen t a s a bas i s fo r the i r d i s cus s ions .P .

December 9, 1929.

I .

D R A F T M E M O R A N D U M .

ONE o f the mos t impor tan t ma t t e r s , i f no t the mos t impor tan t , dea l t wi th inthe Re po r t o f the Commis s ion on C los e r U n io n in the Ea s t Af r i ca n Dependenc ies

(Cmd. 3234) i s na t ive po l icy an d ad m in i s t r a t io n ; and Hi s M ajes ty ' s Gov ernmen thave tho ugh t i t des i r ab le to r eco rd fo rmal ly , w i thou t fu r the r de lay , the i r gene ra lpo l icy tow ard s the na t iv e inha b i t an t s o f Eas t A f r i c a and the p r inc ip les to befol lowed by the Ea s t Af r i c an Go vernm en ts in ca r ry in g ou t tha t po l i cy .

2. I t i s wel l a t the outse t to reca l l and quote the declara t ion of po l icyinco rpo ra ted in the Ke nya W hi te Pa pe r of J u ly 1923 (Cmd. 1922) : -

" P r i m a r i l y K e n y a i s a n A f r i c a n t e r r i t o r y , a n d H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e rn m e n tth in k i t necessary def in i te ly to reco rd the i r cons idered opin io n tha t the i n ter es tsof the A f r i c an na t ives mus t be pa ram ou n t , a nd tha t , i f and when those in te r es t sand the in teres ts of the immigrant races should conf l ic t , the former should

p reva i l . Obv iously , the in te r es t s o f the o the r comm uni t i e s , Eu rop ean , In d i ano r A ra b , m us t s eve ral ly be s a fe gua rde d . W ha te ve r the c i r cums tances in wh ichmembers of these communi t ies have en tered Kenya, there wi l l be no dras t icac t ion or reversa l o f measures a l ready in t roduced , such as may have beencon templa ted in s ome quar t e r s , t he r e s u l t o f wh ich migh t be to des t roy o r impa i rthe ex is t ing in tere s ts of those wh o hav e a l re ady se t t led in K en ya . Bu t in thea d m i n i s t r a t i o n of K e n y a H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t r e g a r d t h e m s el v es a sexerc is ing a t ru s t on beha l f of the Afr ic an pop ula t ion , an d they are una ble todelegate or share th is t rus t , the objec t of which may be def ined as the pro tec t ionand adva ncem en t of the na t iv e r aces . I t i s no t neces sa ry to a t t e m pt to e l abo ra teth i s pos i t io n ; the l ine s of developm ent are as ye t in cer t a in d i rec t ionsun det erm ine d , an d m an y d if ficu lt p rob lem s ar ise wh ich req uir e t im e for th e i r

so lu t ion . B u t the re can be no room for doubt th a t i t is the miss ion of G re at[20266] * B



Bri t a in t o work con t inuous ly f o r t he t r a in ing and educa t ion o f t he Af r i canstow ar ds a h ig he r i n t e l l e c tu a l , m ora l and economic l eve l t h an th a t which theyhad reached when the Crown a ssumed the re spons ib i l i t y f o r t he admin i s t ra t i ono f t h i s t e r r i t o r y . "

I n t h e c a s e o f T a n g a n y i k a , H i s M a j e s t y , b y a c c e p t i n g a M a n d a t e — w h i c h H i sM a je s ty ' s Go ve rnm ent have no in t e n t io n of ab an do n in g o r o f seek ing to modif yin any way—in respec t of the te r r i tory as one inhabi ted by peoples not ye t ableto s t and by themse lve s unde r t he s t renuous cond i t i ons o f t he mode rn wor ld , ha sreaf f i rmed the pr inc iple , long an axiom of Bri t i sh pol icy and now embodied in theCo ven ant of the Lea gu e , th a t the wel l -be ing and d eve lopm ent of such peoples form asac red t r us t o f c iv i l i s a t i o n ; and h a s un de r t ak en , by Ar t i c l e 3 o f t he M anda te , topro m ote to the u tm ost th e m at e r ia l and. mo ra l wel l -be ing an d the soc ia l progress ofi t s i n ha b i t a n t s . Th e M an da te con ta ins a num ber o f speci fi c p rov i s ion s d i rec ted tot h a t e n d .

3 . With the s t a t ement i n t he Whi t e Pape r o f 1923 in a l l i t s a spec t s and w i tha l l i t s impl i ca t i on s , a s we l l a s w i th t h e p r in c ip l e l a i d d own in t h e Covenan t of theL e a g u e , a n d in t h e M a n d a t e f or T a n g a n y i k a T e r r i t o r y , H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e rn m e ntexp re ss t he i r comp le t e concu r rence . Th ey f u l ly accep t t he p r in c ip l e t ha t t here l a t i o n o f H i s M a je s ty ' s G ove rn men t t o t he na t iv e po pu la t i o ns i n Ea s t Af r i c ais one of t rus tee sh ip w hi ch can no t be devolved, an d f rom w hic h they cannot bere l i eved . T he u l t im a te re spon s ib i l i t y f o r t he exe rc i se o f t h i s t rus t ee sh ip mus ta c c o r d i n g l y r e s t w i t h t h e m a l o n e .

I t w i l l be no t ed tha t t h i s p r inc ip l e o f t rus t ee sh ip f o r t he na t ive popu la t i on i sin no way incon s i s t en t w i th w ha t ha s been de sc r ibed a s t he " D u a l Po l i cy , " i f t h i si s p r op e r l y un de r s too d . T he t a s k an d the du ty of gov e rnm ent i n E as t Af r i c a is , i nf ac t , two- f o ld , t ho ug h the d iv i s io n i s no t be tween ad m in i s t ra t i o n f o r t he imm igran t

race s and f o r t he na t ive po pu la t i on re spec t ive ly . O n the one ha nd , i t mus t be t hea i m of t he ad m in i s t ra t i o n o f eve ry t e r r i t o ry w i th re ga rd t o a l l t he i nhab i t an t s ,i r r e spec t ive o f r a ce o r r e l i g ion , t o ma in t a in o rde r , t o admin i s t e r j us t i c e , t o p romotehe a l t h an d edu ca t io n , t o p ro v ide mea ns o f com mu nica t ion a nd t ran sp or t , and genera llyto p rom ote t he i n du s t r i a l an d com merc i a l deve lopment o f t he cou n t ry . In a l l t h i srange of work persons of every race and of every re l ig ion, coloured no less than whi te ,hav e a r i gh t t o equa l t r e a tm en t i n a ccordance w i th t he i r s eve ra l needs . Bu t i n t heE as t Af r i c a n com mu ni t i e s , t he du ty of t rus t ee s h ip f o r peop le s " no t y e t ab le t o s t andby themse lve s und e r t he s t r enu ou s cond i t i ons o f t he m od e rn wo r ld ' ' i nvo lve s , i n re specto f the se peop le s , no t an a l t e rn a t iv e sy s tem of ad m in i s t r a t i o n , co n t ra s t ed w i th t ha tadop ted w i th rega rd t o immigran t r a ce s who a re ab l e t o s t and by themse lve s , bu tmere ly a n ad d i t i on to , o r r a th e r a spec i a l i s ed ap p l i c a t i o n a nd ex t ens io n o f t he common

ad m in i s t ra t i o n o f wh ich the benef it s a r e en joy ed by the whole po pu la t i on . I t isw i th t he add i t i ona l bene f i t s and the excep t iona l s a f egua rds ca l l ed f o r by tne spec i a lne ed s of the peo ples " no t ye t able to s tan d by themse lves un de r t he s t renuouscon d i t i on s o f t he m od e rn wo r ld " t h a t t he t ru s t ee sh i p f o r t he na t ive race s ispa r t i cu l a r ly con ce rned ; an d i t i s e s sen t i a l l y t o ensu re t he m a in t ena nc e of theseexcep t iona l s a f egua rds and the deve lopment o f t he se add i t i ona l bene f i t s t ha t H i sM a j e s ty ' s G ove rnm ent mu s t nece ssa r i l y , a s t rus t e e , r e t a in i n t he i r own hands theul t im at e dec is ion an d the f inal cont r ol . Ev en if i t sho uld be dec ided in the case ofK en ya th a t the pr es en t officia l m ajo r i t y in the Leg is la t ive C oun c i l should beaban don ed , t he re cou ld be no ques t ion o f dep a r t i ng f rom th e f un da m en ta l p r inc ip l ee n u n c i a t e d ab o v e . H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t f u ll y a n d r e a d i l y a p p r e c i a t e t heinte res t which unof f ic ia l members of the Counc i l in Kenya , as a l so the nomina ted

unof fic ia l me m bers in th e Coun c i l s of o ther Ea s t Af r ica n Dep enden c ies , haverep ea t ed ly show n in na t iv e a ff a ir s , and they reg a r d i t a s e s se n t i a l t h a t t he f eel ingof responsibi l i ty of a l l the unof f ic ia l members of the Counc i l s towards the na t ivepo pu la t i o n shou ld be recogn i sed and encou raged . H i s M a je s ty ' s Gove rnmentaccordingly wash to make i t c lea r tha t they regard the unof f ic ia l members of theCoun c i l s , wh e the r e l ect ed o r no m ina t ed , a s equa l ly re spons ib l e w i t h t he Governmentmembers in respec t of the advice which they may tender to the Governors upon na t iveaf fa i rs . In shor t , both the Go vern ors and the Co un c i l s a r e reg ard ed by HisM a je s ty ' s G ove rnm ent a s sh a r i ng in t he re spo ns ib i l i t y f o r na t ive we l f a re; bu twhatever the composi t ion of the Counc i l s , they would cons ider i t e ssent ia l tha t theGovernors should have overr id ing powers in case they should f ind i t necessary todi ffer f rom t he i r C oun c i l s , and , in such an event , th e Go vern ors , as representa t ives

o f H i s Ma je s ty ; , wou ld exe rc i se t hose ov e r r id ing pow ers . W i t ho u t such saf egua rd



H is M a je s t y ' s Go ve rn m ent cou ld no t ensur e t he m a in t en anc e o f t he t rus t ee sh ip f o rwhich they themse lve s mus t con t inue e s sen t i a l l y and i r revocab ly re spons ib l e .

4. Apar t f rom the p r inc ip l e o f t rus t ee sh ip which ha s been d i scussed in t he

p r e c e d i n g p a r a g r a p h , H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t a c c e p t n o l es s w h o l e - h e a r t e d l y t h eDuke o f De von sh i re ' s de c l a ra t i o n in t he W h i t e Pa p e r o f 1923 th a t t h e i n t e re s t s ofthe Af r i ca n n a t ive s m us t be pa ram ou nt , and th a t , if and when those i n t e re s t s a ndthe i n t e re s t s o f t he im m ig ra n t r a ce s shou ld confl ic t, t he f o rmer shou ld p re va i l . Th i saspec t of the ques t ion i s d i scussed a t l ength in the Report of the Commiss ion onCloser Unio n , wh e re t he v i ew is expre ssed t h a t t h e ' ' pa ram ou ntc y ' ' o f na t iv ein t e re s t s i s t o be i n t e r p r e t e d in t he sense t h a t t h e c rea t ion a nd p re se rva t io n o f af ie ld for the fu l l deve lopment of na t ive l i f e i s a f i rs t charge on any te rr i tory , andtha t t he Gove rnment hav ing c rea t ed th i s f i e ld i n t he e s t ab l i shment o f an o rgan i sedgove rnmenta l admin i s t ra t i on o f t he mode rn ty pe ha s t he du ty t o devo te i t s ene rg i e sto a s s i s t i ng the na t ive s t o make the be s t poss ib l e use o f t he oppor tun i t i e s open tothem. Th i s ob l iga t ion , which is p l a in ly i nvo lved in t he t rus t e e sh ip , mu s t be

rega rded a s i n no way incompa t ib l e w i th t he common du ty o f any Gove rnment t opromote t he deve lopment o f t he re source s o f i t s t e r r i t o ry and the p rospe r i t y o f i t si n h a b i t a n t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e i m m i g r a n t c o m m u n i t i e s w i t h i n i t . H i s M a j e s t y ' sG o v e r n m e n t a d o p t t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a s a g e n e r a l s t a t e m e n t of a m a t t e r i n w h i c ha more prec ise def in i t ion i s d i ff icult of achiev em ent . I n prac t ice , the re i s no rea sonto an t i c i pa t e d if fi cu l ty i n app ly in g the p r inc ip l e i n any pa r t i c u l a r c a se whe r econfl ic t be tween na t iv e and other in te res t s a r i se s . I t i s , of course , obvious th a t suc hconf l i c t may a r i se no t on ly be tween na t ive and European in t e re s t s bu t a l so be tweenn a t i v e i n t e r e s t s a n d n o n - n a t i v e i n t e r e s t s o t h e r t h a n E u r o p e a n . I n t h e v i e w of H i sMa je s ty ' s Gove rnment , t he i r t rus t ee sh ip nece ssa r i l y i nvo lve s t he co ro l l a ry t ha t a l lp roposa l s de s igned to p romote t he we l l -be ing o r t he i n t e re s t s o f any non-na t ive racemu st be ca re ful ly e xam ined , a t the outse t , f rom th e s ta nd po in t of the i r effect on the

nat ive races, and in any case of doubt as to this effect , reference must be made tothe Secre ta ry of S ta te for a dec is ion.

5. P a s s i n g f r o m t h e s e f u n d a m e n t a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s o f t r u s t e e s h i p a n d t h epa ra m oun tcy o f na t ive i n t e re s t s , i t w i l l be conven ien t t o re f e r he re t o t he op in ionsexpre ssed in t he Repor t o f t he Commiss ion on C lose r Union w i th rega rd t o na t ivepo li cy and adm in i s t r a t i o n . These op in ions do no t con s t i t u t e any nove l doc t r ine .They have long been impl ic i t in the pol icy wi th regard to the na t ive races in thed if fe ren t pa r t s o f t he E m p i r e . They may , i ndeed , be re ga rd ed a s l i t t l e mo re t h anan amp l i f ic a t i on o f t he po l icy l a id dow n in t he W h i t e Pa p e r o f 1923 , and , b ro ad lyspeak ing , t hey a r e whol ly accep tab l e t o H i s M a je s ty ' s Gov e rnm ent . Th e Comm is s ion appea r , howeve r , t o have env i saged a s ing l e sy s t em of na t ive admin i s t ra t i onw h i c h w o u l d b e g e n e r a l l y a p p l i e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e E a s t A f r i c a n D e p e n d e n c i e s . H i sMa je s ty ' s Gove rnment , on the o the r hand , t ake t he v i ew tha t , wh i l e i t i s poss ib l e t ol ay down ce r t a in gene ra l p r in c ip l e s o f un ive r sa l app l i c a t i on in Ea s t Af r i c a , i t i sne i the r p rac t i c ab l e nor de s i rab l e to d r aw u p any common code, o r even to f ram e anyun i f o rm sy s t em of na t ive admin i s t ra t i on , i n v i ew of t he f ac t t ha t t he l oca l cond i t i onsand the s t a t e o f na t ive deve lopment va ry f rom t e r r i t o ry t o t e r r i t o ry , and even f romdi s t r i c t t o d i s t r i c t w i th in t he same t e r r i t o r y . N a t iv e po l i cy , moreove r , c anno t bed i v o r c e d f r o m t h e g e n e r a l p r o b l e m s o f a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w i t h w h i c h t h e G o v e r n m e n tof any depend ency , wh e the r Co lony , P r o t e c to ra t e o r M an da ted Te r r i t o r y , is c a l l edupon to dea l . I t inc lud es such wid e f ie lds as tax a t i on , the d is po sa l of lan d, the pro v i sion o f t he me ans o f com mu nica t ion and t ra ns po r t , t he l evy ing o f ap pr op r i a t e

cus toms du t i e s on impor t s , t he cond i t i ons o f t he employ ment o f wage - l abour , t hepromot ion o f hea l th and educa t ion among a l l r a ce s , and the p reven t ion o f d i sea seamong an im a l s an d p l an t s , an d i t mu s t , t he re f o re , be re l a t ed t o a lmos t eve ry b r an cho f t h e G o v e r n m e n t s a c t i v i t i e s .

6 . B u t t he ap p l i c a t i o n of t he gen e ra l p r in c ip l e s o f po l icy wh ich have been l a idd ow n i n t h e p r e v i o u s p a r a g r a p h s o f t h i s m e m o r a n d u m r e q u i r e s m o r e d e t a i l e dt rea tm en t . T he sub jec t c an , pe r ha ps , be mos t conven ien t ly dea l t w i th unde r t h r eeheads : (a) poli t ical , (6) social , and (c) economic.

7 .—(a . ) The pol i t ica l deve lopment of the na t ives i s a mat te r which i s veryc lose ly bound up wi th the genera l recommendat ions of the Commiss ion on Closer

Union . H i s M a je s ty ' s Gov e rnm ent con tem pla t e t he se t t i ng up o f a Jo in t C om mi t t eeof t he two Ho uses of P a r l i a m en t fo r t he pu rpo se o f f u r th e r ex am ina t ion o f v a r io us

[ 2 0 2 6 6 ] B 2



m at t e r s a r i s i ng ou t o f t ha t Repo r t , and i n t he cou r se o f t ha t exam i na t i on t heCo mm it tee wi l l no dou bt cons ider th i s aspe ct o f na t iv e po l icy . In the c i rcumstancesH i s M a j es t y ' s Go vernm en t do no t t h i n k i t des i r ab l e t o an t i c i p a t e t he con e l u s ions wh i ch t hey m a y r each a f t e r t hey have r ece i ved t he Co m m i t t ee ' s r epo r t .Bro ad l y , t he i m m ed i a t e p rob l em i s to ens u re a s t ea dy a nd con t i nuous p roces s ofeconomic a n d socia l , an d a l so in a w id e sense po l i t i ca l develop me nt am ong the na t ives .T he process to be no w fo l lowed, in the op in io n of H is M aje s ty ' s Government ,i s t he deve l opm en t o f na t i ve soc i a l and po l i t i ca l i n s t i t u t i ons on na t i ve l i neswherever such ins t i tu t ions ex i s t , even in germ, in a fo rm wor thy of p reservat ion .Th e A f r i ca n na t i ve t hus be i ng t r a i ne d , by m e t hods an d fo rm s o f o rgan i s a t ionwh i ch have a t r a d i t i o na l ap pe a l for h i m , m a y g ra du a l l y deve lop a po l it i ca lconsciousness and a des i re to t ake an increas ing share f i r s t in h i s t r iba l a f fa i rs andt he l and r e se rved fo r t r i ba l u se , and u l t i m a t e l y a l so i n t he governance o f t he t e r r i t o ryin wh ich he l ives . T he mea ns by w hic h th i s can be ach ieved i s , as po in ted ou t byt he C l ose r Un i on Com m i s s i one r s , t o m a ke t he m ax i m um use o f t he oppo r t un i t i e so f s e l f -governm en t i n t r i b a l and l oca l i n s t i t u t i o ns , an d i nc reas i n g l y t o a s soc i at e t hena t i v es w i t h Go vernm en t t h r ou gh loca l na t i ve counc il s . A com pl em en t to t h i swo uld be the co-opt ion , f rom t im e to t im e, o f exce pt ion al ly ad van ced na t ives onbod i e s such a s N a t i v e La nd B oar ds , an d u l t i m a t e l y , wh ereve r pos s i b l e , t he i r adm i s s ionto fu l l m em be rsh ip of such B oa rd s . A n esse n t ia l p a r t of th i s po l icy wou ld be therefe ren ce to N at iv e Coun ci l s fo r the i r cons ide ra t io n of a l l p ro po sal s seriously orpa r t i cu l a r l y a f f ec t ing na t i v e i n t e re s t s ; a nd t he com m u n i ca t i on t o t he na t i ves , t h roughwh a t ev e r o rg ans i t m ay be p rac t i cab l e t o u se fo r t h i s pu rpo se , of fu ll i n fo rm a t i onrega rd i ng t he p l ans and p roposa l s o f t he l oca l adm i n i s t r a t i on , and t he l aws wh i chspec ia l ly conce rn the na t iv e po pu la t ion . I t wi l l be the du t y of the loca l Governm entsin th i s w ay to kee p th e na t iv e po pu la t ion a s fa r as poss ib le con t inuou s ly in formed,no t on ly of the l aw s to wh ich th ey w i l l be sub jec ted , b u t a l so of the pr inc ipaldeve l opm en t s o f t he ad m i n i s t r a t i o n . M oreover , H i s M aj es t y ' s Governm en t cons ide rt h a t a t l eas t the way shou ld be ke p t open to the p oss ib i l i ty , a t subseq uent da tes , oft h e s e p a r a t e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f p a r t i c u l a r n a t i v e a r e a s , o u t s i d e t h e l i m i t s o f a n ycons i de rab l e i m m i g ra n t s e t t l em en t , shou l d t h i s be deem ed ad v i s ab l e .

8.—(6.) On the socia l s ide , H is M aje s ty ' s G ove rnm ent re ga rd th e ob jec tive to beach ieved as a genera l improvement in the s tandard of na t ive l i fe , a l ike in economiccond i t i ons , i n hom e c i r cum s t ances and i n t he phys i ca l hea l t h o f m en , wom en andch i l d ren , t og e t he r w i t h the sp re ad of edu ca t i on i n t he w i d es t sense . Such educa ti onshould no t be regarded as appl icab le on ly to ch i ld ren a t school o r youths undert ech n i ca l i n s t ru c t i on , bu t m u s t i nc l ude such m e asu r es o f ad u l t educa t i on as m ayf rom t i m e t o t i m e be p rac t i cab l e . I t s hou l d go f a r beyond r e ad i ng and wr i t i ng ,or any mere process o f f i t t ing ind iv idual s to car ry ou t c ler ica l du t ies , o r even toa t t a i n som e m e asu r e of pro fi c iency i n ha nd i c ra f t s ; i t s hou ld , a s t he Rep o r t of t heCom m i s s i on on Cl ose r Un i on exp res ses i t , a i m a t r a i s i ng t he ave rage s t anda rd o fkno wle dge an d of in te l l igen ce of the who le com mu ni ty , an d ac h iev ing such- ani n t e l l e c t ua l advan ce , a s wou l d , i n itself, gradual ly ef fec t a t rans format ion of theda i l y li ves of t he peop l e . Ed uc a t i o n , s an i t a t i on an d a p rog res s i ve r a i s i n g of t heeconom ic s t a nd a r d o f l i fe shou l d t he re fo re go ha nd - i n -ha nd . Th us , i n s t ruc t i on inhome and personal hygiene should be seconded by ef for t s to improve the hous ing ofna t i v es , a nd , gene ra l l y , t he m a t e r i a l su r ro un d i n gs i n wh i ch t hey l ive , and t hep rov i s i on t h roughou t Eas t Af r i ca o f m ed i ca l f ac i l i t i e s , hosp i t a l s and d i spensa r i e sshou l d be r eg a rd ed a s o f equ a l i m p or t an ce w i t h t he supp l y o f teache r s andschools . As in the po l i t i c a l spher e , so in the socia l , i t should be the a im to t ra inthe na t ives themselves to t ake an ever - increas ing par t , no t on ly in the work of theedu ca t i o na l , m ed i ca l , ad m i n i s t r a t i ve an d o t he r s e rv i ces a li ke , by f il li ng, i n suchserv ices , any pos t s fo r which ind iv idual s may increas ing ly become qual i f i ed , bu t a l soin the loca l d i re c t io n of these serv ices th ro ug h the na t iv e counci l s a l r ea dy re fer red to .

9.—(c.) T ur n i n g now t o t he econom i c sphe re , H i s M aj e s t y ' s Governm en t a r eo f op i n i on t ha t t he m a i n ob j ec t i ve t o . b e kept in v iew i s the improvement o f thege ne ra l co ndi t io n of the na t ive s by en co ur ag ing them to ma ke the mos t ef fic ient use ofth e i r own resources for pu rpo ses of p ro du ct io n , fu l l re ga rd be in g ha d to the pr inc ip lethat the nat ive should be in fact effect ively free to work, as he may wish, ei ther inh i s own t r ib a l a re a , o r on h i s ow n ind iv i du al ho ld in g of l an d , o r ( sub jec t to p ropers t a t u t o r y s a f egu a rd s of t he cond i t i ons of em p l oym en t ) i n labou r fo r wages ou t si deth e t r i ba l a r ea . I t i s ev iden t th a t a na t iv e ' s f reedom to choose h i s fo rm of workoan be rea l on ly i f l an d i s p ra c t i c a l ly as wel l as the ore t i ca l ly ava i lab le , no t on ly for

t r iba l occupancy, bu t a l so for ownersh ip , l ease or occupat ion by such nat ives as are

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prepa red ind iv idu a l ly to t ak e up agr i c u l t u r e on the i r own accoun t . Moreove r , i t i spar t of the duty of the Government to a f ford ac t ive ass i s tance in improving the na t ivem e th o ds of c u l ti v a t i o n by a p p r o p r i a t e t r a i n i n g i n a g r i c u l t u r e ( i n c l u d i n g th e k e e p i n gof ca t t le ) an d by th e e ffec tive d isse m ina t ion am on g the ad ul t s of know ledge req uis i te

f o r t h i s purpose , and in enab l ing the na t ive s t o ob t a in a f a i r ma rke t f o r t he i rp r o d u ct s , e s p e c ia l ly by p r o v i d i n g a d e q u a t e m e a n s of c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d t r a n s p o r t .These an d other means of pr om ot i ng the deve lop men t of th e resources of the t e r r i to ryin na t iv e occu panc y or use shou ld , in v iew of the la rg e pop ula t io n concerned , berega rded by the Go ve rnm ent a s o f p r im a r y imp or t an ce .

10. In cons ide r ing the p rob lem of deve lop ing na t ive economic re source s , f ourfac tors a t once sug ges t them se l ve s : ( i) l a n d ; (i i) l ab ou r ; ( ii i ) pro du c t i on ;( iv) taxa t ion.

11 .— (i .) A s reg a rd s l an d , i t i s t he v i ew of H i s M a je s t y ' s Gov e rnm ent t h a t t hef i rs t essent ia l i s to remove f ina l ly f rom the na t ive mind any fee l ing of insecur i tyin reg a rd t o h i s t r i ba l l a n d s ; an d th a t l an d shou ld be kep t ava i l ab l e f o r a l l t het r ibes of such an exten t an d ch ara c te r as wi l l fu l ly suffice for th e i r ac tu a l an dfuture needs . T he y the re fo re welcome the provis io n to th i s end wh ich i s to bemade in t he K en y a N a t iv e L an d s T ru s t B i l l. They a re i n co rd i a l ag reem entwi th t he de c l a r a t i on in - t h i s B i l l t h a t t h e l an ds w i t h i n t he boun da r i e s a s finallygaze t ted for Nat ive Reserves a re rese rved for the use and benef i t of the na t ives foreve r. A ny de ro ga t io n f rom th i s so l emn p l edge wou ld , i n t he v i ew of H i s M a je s ty ' sGovernment , be not only a f lagrant breach of t rus t , but a l so , in v iew of i t s inevi tableef fec t upon the na t ives , a se r ious ca lami ty f rom which the whole Colony could notf ai l t o suffe r. H i s M a je s ty ' s Gov e rnm ent f u r the r cons ide r t h a t i n K en y a the qu es t ionof na t ive cus tomary r i gh t s , a s opposed to t r i ba l r i gh t s i n l and , i s one which i t i sbecoming u rgen t ly nece ssa ry t o i nves t iga t e , and they a re o f op in ion tha t s t eps t o t h i s

end should be tak en wi th ou t de lay . T he lega l dec is ion th a t the lan d not spec if ica l lya l i ena t ed to i nd iv idua l owne rs rema ins ve s t ed in t he Crown does no t mean , i n t hev iew of H i s M a je s ty ' s G ove rn me nt , t h a t t h e na t iv e s wh o hav e been ac tua l ly us ingtha t l and have no r i gh t s which the Cour t s o f Jus t i c e mus t p ro t ec t , bu t on ly t ha tsuch cus tom ary r i gh ts have not ye t been so def in i tely asc er ta ine d a nd def ined th a tthe pr ote c t io n of the Cou rts can in fac t be exerc is ed. Acc ord ingly , the ea r l ies tposs ib l e au thor i t a t i ve a sce r t a inment and de f in i t i on o f t he se cus tomary r i gh t s o foccupancy or use r in lan d wi th in the Na t iv e Reserves become of the u tm osti m p o r t a n c e .

The p r iva t e r i gh t s j us t r e f e r red to a re t hose which , a ccord ing to na t ivecus tom, g ive to the holder some degree of proper ty in land, and benef i t only a smal lp r iv i leged c l a s s . I t is t he a im of H i s M a je s ty ' s Go ve rnm ent t h a t , wh i l e t hose r i g h t s

a re recogn i sed , eve ry member o f t he t r i be who w i shes i nd iv idua l ly t o cu l t i va t e l andin the *R eserve should be able to find land wh ich he can use for the purp ose . Th eybe l i eve t ha t i n na t ive a rea s whe re t he cus tom of i nd iv idua l t enure does no t ex i s t , t h i sis a l re ad y gen e ra l ly t he ca se . W he re t ha t cus tom has a r i sen , t hey a re confiden t t h a tthe lega l recogni t ion of the cus tom wi l l go fa r to remove any re luc tance fe l t by thosewho ho ld l an d un de r t he cus tom to a l l ow ing th e y oung men to ob t a in t h e use of l andfor i nd iv id ua l cu l t i va t ion .

Al l these cons idera t ions involve , i t wi l l be recognised, not only ear lyinves t iga t ion , bu t a l so con t inuous s tudy o f a l l t he i ns t i t u t i ons o f t he na t ivecomm uni t ies, in or de r th a t th e ac t io n tak en f rom t im e to t im e by the loca l Gov ernm entsshou ld be ba sed upo n ad eq ua te know ledge o f t he na t ive hab i t s and cus toms . I t m us tbe recogn i sed th a t some acq ua in t a nc e w i th , and some t r a i n i ng in , an th ro po log y ,pa r t i c u l a r ly w i th re f e rence to A f r i c an cond i t i ons , ha s come to f o rm a nece ssa ry p a r tof the in te l lec tua l equ ip m en t of officers in ne ar ly a ll gr ad es of the E as t A f r ic anColon ia l Se rv i ce s . M uch can be done by the l ocal ad m in i s t ra t i on s t o encourag e an dpromote such s tu di es ; an d i t i s ho ped a l so th a t i t may be poss ib le to incre ase a ndi m p r o v e t h e p r e l i m i n a r y t r a i n i n g i n a n t h r o p o l o g y w h i c h h a s , w i t h i n t h e l a s t f e wyears , been a t tempted on the f i rs t appointment of of f ice rs for adminis t ra t ive pos ts .

W h i l e n o t h i n g i s m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h e r e m o v a l f r o m t h e m i n d s o f t h ena t ives of any fee l ing of insecur i ty in the i r t enure of the lands def in i te ly a l loca tedfor the i r occupancy and use , i t cannot be ignored tha t the in te res t s of a dependencyas a whole inev i tably m ak e necessary , f rom t ime to t im e , the com pulsor yexpropr i a t i on o f l a rge r o r sma l l e r p lo t s o f l and f o r new purpose s o f pub l i c u t i l i t y .

* For ter r i tor ies in which actual " Reserves" do not exis t , the words " Nat ive Reserves" or " Reserves "should read throughout as meaning " native areas. ' '



Par t s o f the area a l loca ted for na t ive occupancy or use , as , indeed , o f o therareas in the ind iv idual ownersh ip of persons of any race , mus t , in the commoni n t e re s t , f rom t i m e t o t im e , be w i t h d r aw n f rom pas t o ra l o r a r ab l e u se, and evenf rom r es i d en t i a l occu pa t i on , fo r conver s ion i n t o roads o r r a i l w ay s ; fo r t he erect ion

of schools , ho sp i ta l s , o r po l ice , pos t office a nd o th er G overn me nt bu i ld i ng s ; fo r thecon s t ruc t i o n o f works sup p l y i ng wa t e r o r e l ec t r i c i t y ; and fo r o t he r u ses of li kena t u re . I t wo u l d be i d l e t o p r e t e nd t h a t any l an d , whe t he r i n na t i ve u se o r occupancyo r i n Eu ropean owner sh i p , can r em a i n fo r a l l t i m e i m m une f rom such com pu l so ryex p r op r i a t i o n fo r pub l i c pu rp oses . In t he v i ew o f H i s M aj es t y ' s G overnm en t i t is ofh i gh i m por t ance t ha t no such com pu l so ry exp rop r i a t i on , however sm a l l i n ex t en t ,o f l and once def in i t e ly a l loca ted to na t ive oc cupa ncy or use , wh ethe r as Nat iveRese rves , o r t r i ba l occupancy , o r i nd i v i dua l ho l d i ngs , shou l d eve r be pe rm i t t ed byt he loca l adm i n i s t r a t i on fo r t he m ere p r i v a t e o r pe r sona l p ro fi t or o t he r advan t ageo f any i nd i v i d ua l , wh e t h e r o f Eu ro pe an , In d i a n , Af r i ca n o r o t he r r ace . W here t heex p r op r i a t i o n i s r eq u i r ed fo r pub l i c pu rp oses , i t s hou l d be pe rm i t t ed on ly a f te ram p l e no t i ce t o t he na t i v es o r o t he r pe r son s conce rned , w i t h a fu l l and pa t i en t

ex pl an at io n of the pub l ic purp ose to be served , and a fo rmal p ubl ic enq ui ry by somecom pe t en t t r i b un a l , wh i ch shou l d be r eq u i r e d t o a ss ess and de t e rm i ne t he com pensat ion to be m ad e to th e pers ons or t r ibe s there by de pr iv ed of wh at the G overnm ent hada l r e ad y p rom i sed t o t hem i n pe rpe t u i t y . One e l em en t i n t he com p ensa t i on shoul d, i nan y o th er case th an wh ere l an d i s req u i r ed for the t rack of roa ds or ra i lwa ys , o rwhere no more than a mere s i t e fo r a bu i ld ing i s in ques t ion , be invar iab ly prescr ibed .W he n an a gg reg a t e a r ea o f land ha s been so lem n l y a s su red t o t he na t i v e p opu l a t ion ,i t m us t no t be l essened . O the r l and ther efo re of superf ic ia l ex ten t equal toth a t to be com pulso r i ly ex pr op r ia ted , an d thus , in effect, abs t rac ted f rom the area ofth e N at iv e Reserv es , m us t in every case be ob ta in ed f rom th e area s no t p rev iouslyal loc ated to the na t ive s , an d , wh ere prac t i ca b le , p lac ed f ree ly a t the d i sposal of thepe r son s o r t he t r i b e t o be ex t ru de d f rom t h e i r accus tom ed t e r r i t o r i e s . Such

com pen sato ry l an d ou gh t , i t need ha rd ly be sa id , to be no t on ly equ al in superficia lex ten t , bu t a l so , as far as poss ib le , eq ua l in ag r ic u l tu ra l qua l i ty , convenience andm ar ke t va l u e t o t h a t t ak en away . W he re such com pl e t e equ a l i t y canno t be ensu red ,i t wi l l be for the competen t t r ibunal to assess , in addi t ion , the pecuniarycom pensa t i on , i f any , r eq u i r e d t o m a ke t he exp rop r i a t i o n equ i t ab l e . Su i tab lead d i t i on s t o t he aw ar d m us t a l so be m a de , a s is cu s t om ary i n Eu rop e , and a s is,i ndeed , p rov i ded fo r i n Ke nya by t he app l i ca t i on o f t he In d i an L an d Acqu i s i ti onAct , 1884 , by way of compensat ion for d i s tu rbance , and a l so in o rder to cover thecos t o f r e i n s t a t em en t i n new hom es , fo r r em ova l t o wh i ch app rop r i a t e a r r angem en t sshou l d a l w ays be m ad e by t he Governm en t . Even whe re t he a l lo t m e n t of t he newl and t o t he pe r sons ac t ua l l y d i sp l aced i s no t found p rac t i cab l e , an equ i va l en tad d i t i on m us t a l w ay s be m a de t o t he N a t i v e Rese rves in o rde r t ha t t he i r t o t a l a r ea

m ay no t be l e s s ened by t he ex p ro p r i a t i o n fo r pub l i c pu rpo ses t ha t has been foundnec essar y in the in te re s t o f the t e r r i to ry as a whole . Only on these l ines , in theop i n i on o f H i s M aj es t y ' s Governm en t , can t hose com pu l so ry exp rop r i a t i ons o f na t i ve ,as o f o ther l ands , which are f rom t ime to t ime necessary in the publ ic in teres t , bemade to seem, to the d i spossessed t r ibes o r persons , anyth ing bu t a b reach of thes o l e m n u n d e r t a k i n g i n t o w h i c h t h e G o v e r n m e n t h a v e e n t e r e d .

I t i s , how ever , fo r the G over nm ent to m ak e provis ion n o t on ly for thepr o te c t io n of the l an ds a l loc a ted for th e occu panc y or use of the na t iv e t r ibes o r o thero rgan i s ed na t i ve g roups o r com m un i t i e s , bu t a l so fo r t he i nd i v i dua l occupancy o ruse , by ow ne rsh ip or und er l ease , o f such nat i ve s as have l ef t the i r t r ibe s and whodes i r e t o cu l t i v a t e l and fo r them se l ves and t he i r f am i l ie s . W hi l s t ha v i n g no desi reto go bac k on the deci s ion come to by L or d E lg in in 1908 . conf irmed by the W hi teP a p e r o f 1923 , w i th r eg ar d to the res t r i c t i on of ag r ic u l tu ra l l and sa les in the so-ca ll edHi gh l ands o f Kenya t o pe r sons o f Eu ropean descen t , H i s M a . ]e s t y ' s Governm en ta re no t w i l l i ng t o s ee any r e s t r i c t i o n ex t end ed t o o t he r ag r i cu l t u r a l a r eas i n anypa r t of E as t A f r i ca . In gen e ra l , so f a r a s t hey a re no t p rec l uded i n any pa r t i cu l a rcase by prev ious deci s ions , they adhere to the pr inc ip le o f equal i ty o f oppor tun i tyin the d i sposal o f a l l Grown lands i r respect ive of race , co lour o r re l ig ion—apr i nc i p l e i n e ffect i m po sed i n t he M an da t ed Te r r i t o ry of Ta ng an y i k a on Hi sM aj es t y ' s Gov ernm en t by t he t e rm s o f t he M an da t e upon wh i ch t he i r adm i n i s t r a t i onof the t e r r i t o r y i s based , an d one wh ich they hav e no idea of ab an do nin g . Bu t in thev iew of H is Ma jes t y ' s Go vern me nt the i r t ru s te esh ip for the na t ive s involves someth ing more than what , as i t mus t be feared , can in mos t par t s o f Eas t Afr ica form a ny yea r s be l i t t l e m ore t han a t heo re t i ca l e qua l i t y o f op po r t un i t y o f na ti ves w i thEu ro pe an s i n t he pu rch ase o f i nd i v i d ua l ho l d i ngs of l and . W hi l s t H i s M aj est y 's



6

9 Q 9*J HI

Governm en t m u s t con t i nu e t o a ff irm t he r i g h t t h ro ugh ou t E as t A f r i c a o f i nd i v i du a lna t i ves , equa l l y w i t h o t he r pe r sons , i nc l ud i ng Ind i ans , sub j ec t t o t he p rov i sosjus t ment ioned , to purchase or t ake on l ease l and ou t s ide the Nat ive Reserves ,the ob l iga t ion of t ru s te esh ip req ui re s th a t ef fec tive o pp or t un i ty shou ld be af fordedto the na t ive s— pe rha ps in area s ou t s id e the N at i ve Reserves specia lly a l loca ted fort h i s pu rpose— t o t ake up i nd i v i d ua l ho l d i n gs of ap p r op r i a t e ex t en t on l ease o r bypu rchase w i t h pay m e n t by easy i n s t a l m en t s , for cu l t i va t i on by t hem sel ves an d t he i rfami l i es , on t e rms tha t wi l l render th i s po l icy genuinely prac t i cab le .

I t need ha rd l y be s a i d t h a t t he po l i cy o f t he Ea s t A f r i c an Governm en t s a s r ega rd sland should not admit of res t r ict ions on the possession, occupat ion, or use of landby the nat ives of such a kind as , in effect , to compel them ei ther di rect ly or indirect lyto t ake serv ice for wa ges w i t h pr iva te emp loyers . I t is o f g re a t impo r tan ce th a t noGovernment o f f i cer should t ake any par t in the recru i t ing of na t ive l abour in sucha way as to l ead to th i s fund am en ta l po l icy be in g misu nders tood .

A s t he a l i ena t i on o f l an d t o non -na t i ves m us t , i n it s ' b ea r i ng on fu t u re na t i veneeds, a s sum e i nc rea s i ng i m por t ance , H i s M aj e s t y ' s Gov ernm en t cons i de r t h a t anannua l r e t u rn shou l d be fu rn i shed t o t he Sec re t a ry o f S t a t e showi ng wha t l andi nc l uded wi t h i n Na t i ve Rese rves has been exp rop r i a t ed fo r o t he r t han na t i veoccupa t i on o r u se , and wha t l and ou t s i de Rese rves has been a l i ena t ed , unde r wha tterms such a l i e na t ion ha s been effec ted a nd to whom , an d w ha t s t ip u la t ion s havebeen m ad e i n each case w i t h a v i ew t o p re ven t i ng p u rch ase by m ere sp ecu l a t o r s , an dfor ensu r i ng r easonab l y ea r l y an d adeq ua t e deve l opm en t by t he pu rch ase r s t hem se l ves .

12 . - ( i i . ) A s r eg a rd s l abou r , r e fe rence has a l r ea dy been m a de i n a p r ece d i ngpa ra g r ap h t o a p r i n c i p l e t o wh i ch Hi s M aj es t y ' s Governm en t a t t ach g re a timpor tan ce , name ly , th a t the na t ive sh ould be effect ive ly a nd economical ly f reeto work , in acco rdanc e w i th h i s own wish , e i the r in p r od uc t ion in the R eserve s ,or as an ind iv i du al p rod uc er upo n h i s own p lo t o f l and , o r in em ploym entfor wages , wh e t he r w i t h i n t he t e r r i t o ry i n wh i ch he has been r e s i den t o rbeyond i t s bord er , sub jec t to the prop er s t a tu tor y saf eg ua rds of the condi t io ns ofemployment , an d for such ra t es o f wa ges as ma y be f ree ly co nt rac ted for . A ct ua lcomp ulsion to w or k in pr iv at e emp loy m ent cou ld, of course, in no case becon t em p l a ted . Th i s i s a l r ea dy fo rb i dden by l aw t h ro ugh ou t Ea s t Af r i ca , a nd t hei dea l wh i ch H i s M aj e s t y ' s Go vernm en t have i n v i ew i s t he g r ad ua l d i s a ppe a ra nceof even the two k i nd s of com pulsory serv ice wh ich a re s t i l l l awf u l , u nd er severe lyl imi t ing condi t ions , v iz . , compulsory l abour for publ ic serv ices in case of emergency,and the compulsory l abou r for t r ib a l serv ices wh ich i s based on t ra d i t io na l t r ib a lcustom. I t i s ess en t ial th a t in thes e tw

7o sur v iv ing cases (which c lear ly do no t ex t endto such work as ra i lway cons t ruc t ion even by the Government itself, or to employment by con t rac to rs o r sub -co nt ra c tor s on any p ubl ic work s) , the power to ca l l ou tcompulsory l abo ur should be mos t s t r i c t ly l im i ted to ad ul t men in hea l th a nd no td i sab led by age or in f i rmi ty , and carefu l ly sa feg ua rde d a ga ins t abuse , an d th a t a nysuch service shou ld be closely re gu lat ed . Th ese asp ects of the m at te r wi l l sho rt lycome to be exa mi ned in g r ea ter de ta i l in connect ion w i th the prop osed Con vent ion ,under the ausp ices o f the League of Nat ions , to l imi t and regula te the use ofcom pu lso ry l abou r , wh i ch is now un der con s i de ra t i on i n t e rn a t i ona l l y , an d H i sMajes ty ' s Government therefore conf ine themselves a t p resen t to s t a t ing the abovem ai n p r i nc i p l e s .

13 .— ( ii i. ) A s r eg a r ds p roduc t i on , H i s M aj e s t y ' s Governm en t cons ide r t h a tthe na t ives mus t be a l lowed, sub jec t to any necessary safeguards , in the Nat iveReserves or on l and in ind iv idual occupat ion , to g row such crops and to keep suchs tock as they th in k mos t p rof i t ab le ; bu t , ap a r t f rom the ques t ion of en su r in g th enecessary loca l food supply , which i s the f i r s t essen t ia l , the Government shouldact ive ly encourage the product ion of such crops and the ra i s ing of such s tocks ast he na t i ve m ay p rove best f i tt ed i n t he pa r t i cu l a r c i r cum s t ances t o und e r t a ke , an dsuch as wi l l give him the best re tu rn for his . efforts . A ny pro po sal to pr oh ib i t th ena t i ves f rom engag i ng i n any pu r su i t o r f rom cu l t i va t i ng any k i nd o f p roduce i s ,of course , to be dep rec ated , an d i f reg u la t ion s are ca l led for to saf eg ua rd s tock orcrops f rom d i sease , such regula t ions should apply genera l ly to a l l persons wi thoutany r ac i a l d i s t i nc t i on s . Th e p rov i s i on o f r a i l and road t r a nsp o r t to ensu re a de qu a t eaccess to m ar ke t s fo r na t i ve jus t as mu ch as fo r o ther p rod uce m u s t . b e a p r i m a r ycons idera t ion for the Government , which should use every endeavour to see tha tna t ives are in a pos i t ion to ob ta in fa i r p r ices fo r the i r p roduce , and , in pa r t i cu la r ,tha t the pa ins t aken by some of them in improving the i r methods of cu l t iva t ing and

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i n g r a d i n g t h e i r p r o d u c t s s h o u l d m e e t w i t h d u e r e w a r d i n t h e s h a p e o f in c r e as e dv a l u e s . P r o g r a m m e s o f r a i l w a y a n d r o a d d e v e l o p m e n t m u s t t a k e f u ll y i n t o c on s i d e r a t i o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f m a k i n g a l l o c c u p i e d a r e a s , n a t i v e n o l es s t h a nn o n - n a t i v e , a c c e s s i b l e t o t h e b e st m a r k e t s , a n d o f m e e t i n g a l l r e a s o n a b l e n a t i v er e q u i r e m e n t s f o r t h e t r a n s p o r t of t h e i r p r o d u c e . I n p a r t i c u l a r , s p e c i a l a t te n t i o ns h o u l d b e g i v e n t o t h e p r o v i s i o n o f a d d i t i o n a l r o a d s w i t h i n n a t i v e a r e a s , a n d to th ec o n s t r u c t i o n o f c a u s e w a y s o r b r i d g e s i n t h e c a s e o f e x i s t i n g a s w e l l a s o f n e w r o a d s ,s o a s t o e n s u r e a s f a r a s p o s s i b l e t h e t r a n s p o r t o f n a t i v e p r o d u c e i r r e s p e c t i v e ofw e a t h e r c o n d i t i o n s o r o f s e a s o n s . H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t t a k e t h e o c ca s io n top o i n t o u t t h a t , i n s o f a r a s t h e r e m a y n o t h a v e b e e n i n a n y p a r t o f E a s t A f r i c as u ff ic ie n t s u r p l u s o f n a t i v e r e v e n u e o v e r e x p e n d i t u r e o n n a t i v e p u r p o s e s to e n ab let h e s e t r a n s p o r t f a c i l i t i e s t o b e p r o v i d e d , t h e r e c e n t i n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e C o l o n ia lD e v e l o p m e n t F u n d m a y in f u t u r e p r o v i d e a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r c a r r y i n g t h e m into

e ff ec t, e s p e c i a l l y i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e p r o v i s i o n of s t e e l w o r k w h e r e r e q u i r e d f orp e r m a n e n t b r i d g e s .

I n a d d i t i o n t o p r o v i d i n g a c c e ss t o m a r k e t s , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o e n s u r e t h a t

n a t i v e s a r e n o t , t h r o u g h t h e i r i n e x p e r i e n c e a n d t h e s m a l l s c a le o f t h e i r t r a n s a c t i o n s ,p l a c e d a t a s e r i o u s d i s a d v a n t a g e , e i t h e r i n t h e s a l e o f t h e i r p r o d u c e o r i n t h ep u r c h a s e o f t h e i r r e q u i r e m e n t s . T h i s e n d w i l l , n o d o u b t , u l t i m a t e l y b e a t t a i n e d b yt h e i n t e l l e c t u a l a d v a n c e o f t h e p e o p l e t h e m s e l v e s , b u t , i n e x i s t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s , am e a s u r e o f s u p e r v i s i o n o v e r t h e o p e r a t i o n s o f t r a d e r s m a y b e e s s e n t i a l f o r t h ep r e v e n t i o n o f a b u s e s , a n d m u s t b e r e g a r d e d a s a n e c e s s a r y a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e d o c tr i n eo f t r u s t e e s h i p .

1 4 . — ( iy . ) T u r n i n g n o w t o t h e q u e s t i o n o f t a x a t i o n , H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e rn m e n tc o n s i d e r t h a t t h e p r i n c i p l e t o b e f o l l o w e d i s t h a t , w h i l s t t h e w h o l e re v e n u e of ad e p e n d e n c y f r o m d i r e c t t a x a t i o n , by w h a t s o e v e r c l a s s , v o c a t i o n o r ra c e p a y a b l e , o u g h tt o b e a s s e s s e d i n p r o p o r t i o n t o t h e a b i l i t y t o p a y o f e a c h f a m i l y o r h o u s e h o l d , t h el e v y o f d i r e c t t a x a t i o n o n t h e n a t i v e s h o u l d b e d e f i n i t e l y l i m i t e d b y h i s c a p a c i t y to

p a y su c h i m p o s t s w i t h o u t h a r d s h i p , a n d w i t h o u t u p s e t t i n g h i s c u s t o m a r y m e t h o d ofl i f e . T h e n a t u r e o f a n y d i r e c t t a x a t i o n l e v i e d u p o n t h e n a t i v e s , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h es c a l e o n w h i c h i t i s a s s e s s e d , s h o u l d b e d e t e r m i n e d p r i m a r i l y i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h t h isp r i n c i p l e . I t i s , i n d e e d , a p o s i t i v e d u t y o f t h e G o v e r n m e n t s t o m a k e su r et h a t t h e n a t i v e h a s a n e f fe c ti v e c h o i c e i n t h e w a y i n w h i c h h e m e e t s h i s t a x e s , a n de v e r y c a r e s h o u l d b e t a k e n t o p r o v i d e t h a t t a x a t i o n , w h e t h e r c e n t r a l o r l o ca l, d oe sn o t , i n i t s r e s u l t , a c t u a l l y o b l i g e t h e n a t i v e t o l a b o u r f o r w a g e s a s t h e o n l y p r a c t i c a b l em e a n s o f o b t a i n i n g t h e m o n e y w h e r e w i t h t o p a y h i s t a x . O n t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t hep i c t u r e , i t i s i n c u m b e n t u p o n t h e G o v e r n m e n t s t o e n s u r e t h a t G o v e r n m e n t e x p e n d it u r e o n n a t i v e s e r v i c e s i n t h e a n n u a l b u d g e t s h o u l d b e a r a p r o p e r r e l a t i o n t o t h er e v e n u e r a i s e d f ro m t h e n a t i v e s , a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y t h a t t h e n a t i v e s s h o u l d r ec eiv e,d i r e c t l y a n d v i s i b l y , a f a i r r e t u r n f o r t h e d i r e c t t a x a t i o n w h i c h t h e y a r e c a l le d u p o nt o p a y . T h i s c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s o n e t h a t s h o u l d c o n s t a n t l y o c c u p y t h e a t t e n t i o n oft h e G o v e r n m e n t s , a n d , t o e n s u r e t h a t " i t i s n o t lo s t s i g h t of , H i s M a je sty'sG o v e r n m e n t w i s h t h a t a t t h e e n d of e v e r y f i n a n c i a l y e a r a s t a t e m e n t s h o u ld b ef u r n i s h e d t o t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e s h o w i n g i n d e t a i l , d i s t r i c t b y d i s t r i c t , t h e t o ta lr e v e n u e d e r i v e d f r o m t h e d i r e c t t a x a t i o n of t h e n a t i v e s , a n d t h e t o t a l a m o u n te x p e n d e d b o t h l o c a ll y , w i t h i n e a c h n a t i v e a r e a , a n d i n c e n t r a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n u p o ns e r v i c e s d i r e c t l y b e n e f i t i n g t h e n a t i v e p o p u l a t i o n .

I n a d d i t i o n t o a n y g e n e r a l r e p o r t o n e a c h t e r r i t o r y a s a w h o l e , s u c h a s t h a t w h i cht h e G o v e r n m e n t o f t h e T a n g a n y i k a T e r r i t o r y f u r n i s h e s a n n u a l l y f o r t r a n s m i s si o n tot h e P e r m a n e n t M a n d a t e s C o m m i s s i o n o f t h e L e a g u e o f N a t i o n s , H i s M a jesty'sG o v e r n m e n t d e s i r e t h a t i t s h o u l d b e a p a r t i c u l a r o b l i g a t i o n o f t h e C h ie f N a t i v e

C o m m i s s i o n e r , o r o t h e r o ff ic er h o l d i n g a n a n a l o g o u s p o s i t i o n , t o i n c l u d e i n t h e r e p o r tf u r n i s h e d a n n u a l l y t o t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e f u l l i n f o r m a t i o n u n d e r t h e v a r io u sh e a d s o f L a n d , P r o d u c t i o n , H e a l t h , E d u c a t i o n , & e , i n w h i c h t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s a n dt h e v i c i s s i t u d e s o f t h e n a t i v e s i n t h e d i f f e r e n t p a r t s o f t h e t e r r i t o r y a r e i n s uf fic ie ntd e t a i l d e s c r i b e d . I t w i l l b e l a r g e l y f r o m t h e s e a n n u a l r e p o r t s t h a t H i s M a je sty'sG o v e r n m e n t , i n t h e f i rs t p l a c e , a n d t h e w h o l e w o r l d o f t h o s e i n t e r e s t e d i n A f r i c a na f f a i r s , w i l l b e a b l e t o j u d g e o f t h e p r o g r e s s m a d e f r o m y e a r t o y e a r " i n t h e t r a i n i n ga n d e d u c a t i o n o f t h e A f r i c a n s t o w a r d s a h i g h e r m o r a l a n d e c o n om i c le ve l t h a n t h a tw h i c h t h e y h a d r e a c h e d w h e n t h e C r o w n a s s u m e d t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f or t h ea d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h i s t e r r i t o r y , " t o q u o t e t h e t e r m s i n w h i c h th e D u k e ofD e v o n s h i r e i n 1 9 2 3 d e s c r i b e d t h e G o v e r n m e n t ' s t a s k i n K e n y a .

1 5 . H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t h a v e n o w s u m m a r i z e d t h e p r i n c i p l e s w h i ch , int h e i r o p i n i o n , s h o u l d g o v e r n t h e a l l - i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n o f n a t i v e p o l ic y a n d



administrat ion in Ea st A fri ca generally. These princip les are not new, and itis not, of course, inten ded to impl y th at they, or the idea s wh ich ins pir ethem, have never been app lied. Bu t , as already explaine d, Hi s M ajest y'sGovernment have judged it of importance to state in a c lear and comprehensive

form their attitu de tow ard s th is question. Th ey are the first to recogn ise tha t nostatement of policy or principles can by itself achieve results, and that progress mustthroughout be dependent upon the spir it in which the policy and principles areinterpreted by those wh ose du ty it is to give effect to them. H is M aje sty 'sGovernment know that they can unhesitat ingly count upon the whole-heartedco-operat ion of the local Governments in East Africa in giving effect to their views,not only in the letter, but in the spirit , as the only means by which the duties oftrusteeship for na tive we lfar e wh ich ha ve be en' assumed "can be honestly andeffectively fulfilled.

I I .

F O R E W O R D .

His Majesty's Government have decided to ask Parliament to approve of theappointment of a Joint Committee of both Houses to examine and advise upon thoseparts of the Report (Cmd. 3234) of the Commission on Closer Union in East andCentral Africa which deal with the quest ions of c loser union in Kenya, Uganda andTanganyika, and the alterat ion of the const itut ion of Kenya, and uponSir S . W il so n s R eport (Cmd. 3378) on his vis it to East Af ric a in 1929.

They have approved of the commentary which is appended to this note as abasis for discu ssion by the Jo in t Com mittee. The Jo int Com mittee wil l , of course,

form its own conclusions and I wi ll say no more tha n this. So far as I have been ableto form an opin ion after s ix months' somew hat intensive study of the Ea st A fr ica nposition, the conclusions indicated in the commentary present a workablescheme—perhaps I might say the most workable scheme—for accomplishingthe objects at whi ch the Com mission on Closer Un ion a imed. Thecommentary should, how ever, be read tog ether w ith the- statem ent* ofnative policy issued by Flis Majesty ' s Government and applicable not only to Kenyaand Ug and a, but also to the Ta nga nyik a T erritory, for which Flis M ajes ty'sGovernment have accepted a perm ane nt respo nsibilty w hic h they will not rel inquishor seek to modify.

The other parts of the Commission's Report , and more part icularly theirsuggest ions as to orga nisat io n in this country and the posit ion of Za nzibar,

Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia in relat ion to any c loser union, are not at present

administration in Eastern Africa may be said to have been more or less in the air

under consideration.application.

Th e stateme nt of Nativ e Policy is , however, of general

C O M M E N T A R Y .

IN T R O D U C T O R Y .

The quest ion of Closer Union between the various territories under Brit ish

ever since the end of the Great W ar, when H is M ajesty 's Government accepted theMandate for the administrat ion of the Ta nga nyik a Territory. W ith the establishment of common services and the growth of common interests between certain of theterritories (more part icularly between Kenya, Uganda and the TanganyikaTerritory), the question became rapidly more prominent, and the need for someco-ordinat ing authority to deal wit h such subjects became more appar ent . W herethere was a service common to two territories, the difficulties attending its controlby the Governor of one of those territor ies are obv ious; however im pa rtia l he m igh tbe in his decisions, and however free from any bias in favour of his own territory,any decision by him unacceptable to the other territory would be regarded there asan indicat ion of part ial ity .

A case in poin t wa s the rai lw ay system of Ken ya and U gan da, where thedesirability of separating railway finances from those of the Kenya Government, in

* Cmd.

C2 0 2 6 6 ]



- o rd e r t o p r e s e r v e t h e i n t e r e s t s o f U g a n d a a s t h e c h i e f c u s t o m e r o f t h e l i n e , l e d i n1 9 2 6 t o t l ie s e t t i n g u p o f a H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r f o r T r a n s p o r t , w i t h a n A d v i s o r yR a i l w a y C o u n c i l . T h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s th e n e x i s t i n g n e c e s s i t a t e d a s s i g n i n g t h e p o sto f H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r to t h e G o v e r n o r o f K e n y a , b u t t h i s i n s t a n c e o f d u a lp e r s o n a l i t y w a s s o o n s h o w n t o b e s u b j e c t t o a l l t h e d i f fi c u lt ie s r e f e r r e d t o a b o v e . As i m i l a r t r o u b l e a r o s e i n t h e c a s e o f t h e first C o n f e r e n c e o f t h e G o v e r n o r s o f t h ed e p e n d e n c i e s in E a s t a n d C e n t r a l A f r i c a h e l d i n 1 9 2 6 , w h e r e , i n t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s ,i t w a s n e c e s s a r y t h a t o n e o f t h e G o v e r n o r s ( a c t u a l l y t h e G o v e r n o r of K e n y a ) s h o u ldp r e s i d e . H e r e , a g a i n , S i r E d w a r d G r i g g f o u n d h i s p o s i t i o n as C h a i r m a n v eryd i ff ic u l t t o r e c o n c i l e w i t h h i s p o s i t i o n a s G o v e r n o r of K e n y a , i n w h i c h c a p a c i t y h eh a d t h e c l o s e st i n t e r e s t i n t h e s u b j e c t s u n d e r d i s c u s s i o n .

A n o t h e r q u e s t i o n w h i c h h a d a s s u m e d i m p o r t a n c e in E a s t A f r i c a w a s t h a t oft h e w o r k i n g a n d c o n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e K e n y a L e g i s l a t i v e C o u n c i l . T h e c o n s t i t u t io no f K e n y a w a s a r t i f i c i a l i n c h a r a c t e r , s in c e , w h i l e a n of fic ia l m a j o r i t y w a s r e t a i n e di n t h e L e g i s l a t i v e C o u n c i l , t h e m o s t a c t i v e p a r t of t h e C o u n c i l w a s f o r m e d b y t h er e p r e s e n t a t i v e s e l ec t ed b y t h e p o l i t i c a l l y - e d u c a t e d E u r o p e a n c o m m u n i t y . A t t hes a m e t i m e t h e I n d i a n C o m m u n i t y h a d g i v e n effe ct to i t s r e s e n t m e n t a t t h e s h a rea c c o r d e d to i t b y r e f u s i n g t o e l e ct I n d i a n m e m b e r s to t h e C o u n c i l .

I n v i e w o f t h e s e d if f ic u l t ie s , a n d m o r e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n v i e w o f t h e o b vi ou sd e s i r a b i l i t y o f e s t a b l i s h i n g so m e a u t h o r i t y c o m p e t e n t t o c o - o r d i n a t e t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f r a i l w a y , c u s t o m s a n d o t h e r s e r v i c e s o f c o m m o n i n t e r e s t a n d t o s e tt led i f fi c u lt i e s a r i s i n g o u t o f t h e m , i t w a s d e c i d e d i n 1 9 2 7 t o a p p o i n t a C o m m i s s i o n tov i s i t E a s t A f r i c a a n d s u b m i t r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s o n t h e s e m a t t e r s . T h i s d e c is io n w a sm a d e p u b l i c i n a W h i t e P a p e r , * e n t i t l e d " F u t u r e P o l i c y i n r e g a r d to E a s t e rnA f r i c a , " i n w h i c h t h e o p p o r t u n i t y w a s t a k e n t o r e af fi rm t h e g e n e r a l p r i n c i p l e s of

(Chairman).

p o l i c yC o m m i

l a i d d o w ns s i o n c o n s i s t e d

i n t h e 1 9 2 3of—

M e m o r a n d u m , " I n d i a n s i n K e n y a . " ! T he

T h e R i g h t H o n . S i r E . H i l t o n Y o u n g , G . B . E . , D . S . O . , D . S . C . , M.P.

S i r R e g i n a l d M a n t , K . C . I . E . ; C . S . I .S i r G e o r g e S c h u s t e r , K . C . M . G . , C . B . E . , M . C .M r J . H . O l d h a m

M r . H . F . D o w n i e , C o l o n i a l O ff ic e ^ s v , ? . ^ , . , . , v s .^

L i e U i l i eC o l o n e l C . W . G . W a l k e r , D . S . O . S * -

I t s T e r m s o f R e f e r e n c e w r ere :—

(1 .) T o m a k e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s a s t o w h e t h e r , e i t h e r b y f e d e r a t i o n o r s o m e o t he rf o r m o f c l o s e r u n i o n , m o r e e f f e c ti v e c o - o p e r a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e d i ff e re n t

G o v e r n m e n t s i n C e n t r a l a n d E a s t e r n A f r i c a m a y b e s e c u re d , mo rep a r t i c u l a r l y i n r e g a r d t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t r a n s p o r t a n d c o m m u n ic a t i o n s , c u s t o m s t a r if f s a n d c u s t o m s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , s c i en t if ic r e s e a r c h an dd e f e n c e .

( 2. ) T o c o n s i d e r w h i c h t e r r i t o r i e s c o u l d e i t h e r n o w o r a t s o m e f u t u r e t i m e bob r o u g h t w i t h i n a n y s u c h c l os e r u n i o n , a n d , i n p a r t i c u l a r , h o w be st t^g i v e e ffe ct t o A r t i c l e 10 o f t h e M a n d a t e f o r T a n g a n y i k a T e r r i t o r y , w h i chp r o v i d e s t h a t t h e m a n d a t o r y m a y c o n s t i t u t e t h e T e r r i t o r y i n t o a c u st o m s,fiscal a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e u n i o n o r f e d e r a t i o n w i t h t h e a d j a c e n t t e r r i t o r i e su n d e r i t s o w n s o v e r e i g n t y o r c o n t r o l , p r o v i d e d a l w a y s t h a t t h e m e a s u r e sa d o p t e d t o t h a t e n d d o n o t i n f r i n g e t h e p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e M a n d a t e .

(3.) T o m a k e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s i n r e g a r d t o p o s s i b le c h a n g e s i n t h e p o w e r s a nd

c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e v a r i o u s L e g i s l a t i v e C o u n c i l s o f t h e s e v e r a l t e r r i t o r i e s :(a ) a s t h e r e s u l t o f t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a n y F e d e r a l C o u n c i l o r o t h e rc o m m o n a u t h o r i t y ; (b) s o a s t o a s s o c i a t e m o r e c l o s e l y i n t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a n d t r u s t e e s h i p o f G o v e r n m e n t t h e i m m i g r a n t c o m m u n i t i e s d o m ic il edi n t h e c o u n t r y ; a n d (c ) s o a s u l t i m a t e l y t o s e c u r e m o r e d i r e c t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f n a t i v e i n t e r e s t s i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h (4 ) b e l o w .

( 4 . ) T o s u g g e s t h o w 7 t h e D u a l P o l i c y r e c o m m e n d e d b y t h e C o n f e r e n c e of E a s tA f r i c a n G o v e r n o r s (i.e., t h e c o m p l e m e n t a r y d e v e l o p m e n t o f n a t i v e an dn o n - n a t i v e c o m m u n i t i e s ) c a n b e s t b e p r o g r e s s i v e l y a p p l i e d i n t h e p o l i t ic a la s w e l l a s t h e e c o n o m i c s p h e r e .

* Command Paper 2904. t Comm and Pa per 1922.



9 9/3d w

(5.) To make recommendations as to what improvements may be acquired in

internal communications between the various territories so. as to f acili tate

the working of federation or closer union.

(6 . ) To report more particularly on the financial aspects of any proposals which

they may make under any of the above headings.

The Commission proceeded to Eastern and Central Africa in December 1 9 2 7 ,and returned to England in May 1 9 2 8 , wher e it took furt her evidence. It s Rep ort *

was published in January 1 9 2 9 . This Report, as well as dealing with the questions

of Closer Union and the constitution of the local Legislative Councils, in connection

with which it had primarily been set up, gave also a very full and weighty exposition

of the general principles of native policy, not only as regards East Africa but as

regards the British Empire at large, with particular reference to the principles which

should govern the relati onship s between the nati ve and imm igr ant races. I t was t hi s

aspect of the Report which was chiefly responsible for the unusually large measure

of public interest which it commanded.

Before the publ icat ion of the Rep ort , th e then Secretary of State for the

Colonies, Mr. Amery, summoned home the Governors of Kenya and Tanganyika

( the Governor of Uganda was unable to come owing to pressure of public business

a f t e r his recent leave), and discussions took place in London in the first two months

o f 1 9 2 9 . The Repor t had aroused very grea t interest and criticism in Eas t Afri ca

itself no less tha n in Engl and, and as a result, afte r full consideration, t he Gbver n

m e n t decided to send Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Wilson, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.,

K.B .E. , the Pe rma nen t Under-S ecret ary of State for the Colonies, to Ea st Afric a

to ascertain w ha t measu re of agreement could be obta ined locally on the

recommendations of the Hi lt on Young Report as rega rds the three nor the rn

territories.

Sir S. Wilson's Terms of Reference were :—

" You ar e to proceed to Eas t Af rica in o r d e r to discuss the recommendations

of the Hi lt on Young Commission for the closer union of Kenya, Tanganyikaan d Ug an da (an d such possible modificat ions of these proposals for effecting

the object in view as may appear desirable) with the Governments concerned

and also wi th any bodies or indi vidua ls rep resent ing the various interest s an d

communities affected, wit h a view to seeing how fa r it ma y be possible to find a

basis of gener al agreement. You are to ascertain on w h a t lines a scheme for

closer union would be administratively workable and otherwise acceptable, and

to report the outcome of your consultations."

He left Engla nd fo r.E ast Afric a in Apri l 1 9 2 9 and visited Kenya, Uga nda

and Tang anyi ka, ret urn ing to Eng lan d early in Ju ly . Hi s Re po rt ! on his visit Avaspublished in October. It Avas preceded by a foreword explaining that it was

published at the earliest possible date for the information of Parliament, but thatit was not to be taken as in any AVAY committing the Government, Avhich had changed

since Sir S. Wil son left for Ea st Afr ica .

In accordance with his terms of reference and in view of the discussions which

had taken place in London, Sir S. Wilson confined himself in his Report mainly

to the question of the mach iner y desirable for the co-ordination of the essent ial

economic services, on which a considerable measure of local agreement wa s found ,

a n d to the question of the Kenya cons titution. He therefore did not at te mp t to

deal in his Report w i t h the broad principles of Native Policy enunciated by the

Hilton Young Commission, an d he lim ite d his enquir ies in thi s respect to as ce rtaining

the vieAvs held locally as regards putting the control of Native Policy under a central

autho rity. The subject of Nat ive Policy, hoAvever, continued to occupy the attention

of H i s Maje sty 's Government and to excite intense public interest, and a Wh it ePaperJ was published in Avhich the vieAvs of His Majesty's Government with regard

to native policy in general Avere enunci ated, and copies )f thi s were sent to the

Governors of the Ar

arious dependencies concerned for thei r infor mati on and guidanc e.

His Majesty's Government decided at the same time to ask both Houses of

Parliament to approve of the appointment of a Joint Committee to consider and

recommend Avhat immediate changes in the constitution of the three most northerly

of. the Ea st Afric an terr ito ries (Kenya, Ug an da and Tangany ika) were pra cticab le

and desirable.

* Command P aper 3234; t Command Taper 3378 . J C o m m a n d Paper.

[ 2 0 2 6 6 ] c 2



( A . ) — Central Authority.

The proposa ls of the Commiss ion contempla te three s tages :—

(a.) A High Commiss ioner whose func t ion would be to enquire anc l supervise ,but wi th execut ive power to g ive ins t ruc t ions to the Governors on mat te r sinc lu ded wi th in h is sco pe— pr im ar i ly na t iv e pol icy and ce r ta in servicesof common in te res t .

H e wou ld not in te rve ne in ma t te r s of rout ine an d the pos it ion ofthe Gove r nor s wou ld r e ma i n una l t e r e d . H e wou ld be c ha i r m a n of theGove r nor s ' C onf e r e nc e .

(b.) A Governor -Genera l wi th execut ive powers and cont ro l over leg is la t ion inre ga rd to the spec i fied se rv ices bu t w i th ou t leg is la t ive func t ion . H e wouldbe ass is ted by advisory counc i ls for genera l purposes , for Ra i lways , andfor Cu stom s. As in the f irst s ta ge th e st a t us of the Go verno rs is to beaffected as lit tl e as po ssib le, an d the y are- to co nti nu e to be ' ' for allp r a c t i c a l pu r pose s the King ' s r e p r e se n ta t ive s in the i r own t e r r i to r i e s . "T h e C o m m i s s i o n ^ V ICAV of this second stage is expressed by their sugges t ion tha t the Governor -Genera l would be regarded in the na t ive mindas " the loca l pro jec t ion of the persona l i ty of the Secre ta ry of S ta te"(p . 154) .

(c.) U lt im ate ly , a Go vern or -G ene ra l w i th a cen t ra l counci l w i th pow er to legis la te in respect of services of common interest , and with a central revenue.At th i s s t a ge the Gove r nor - Ge ne r a l wou ld a ppa r e n t ly ha ve a l so a dmin i s t ra t ive responsib i l i ty in respec t of the common se rvices and the s ta tusof the three Governors would def ini te ly be reduced to something correspo nd in g w i th th a t of L ie u te na n t - G ove r no r ( p. 221) .

The Commiss ion do not a t tach impor tance to the d is t inc t ion of t i t le be tween*' H ig h C omm iss ione r " a nd " Go ve r no r - G e ne r a l . " The l a t t e r t i t l e imp l i e s a de gr eeof federa t ion be tween the dependen c ies whic h they do not contem pla te , and i t i sc ons ide r e d p r e f e r a b le to r e t a i n the t i t l e o f " H i g h C om m iss i on e r " th r oughou t inr e f e r r ing to the C e n t r a l A u th or i ty of wh a te ve r k ind .

The miss ion of S i r S . Wilson represents an a t tempt to reduce the three s tepscon tem pla ted by the Com miss ion to one , by the imm edia te c rea t ion of a HighC om miss ione r , who wou ld ha ve l e g i s l a t ive a nd a dm in i s t r a t iv e r e spons ib i l i t y forcer ta in se rv ices , and who, as cha i rman of the Governors ' Conference , would have anadv isory fu nc t ion in a l l m at te r s of common in te res t , and on such m at te r s be in apos i t ion to keep the Secre ta ry of S ta te informed of the progress of events and g ivehim va lu able advice . Such a H ig h Com miss ioner wo uld def in ite ly be a Kin g ' srepresenta t ive , r eplac ing the Governors in some of the i r func t ions , but leaving the i rc on s t i tu t i ona l pos i t ion a n d the i r a u th or i ty in o the r r e spe c ts un i m pa i r e d .

The most se r ious objec t ion to the a r rangements contempla ted by the Commiss ionlies in their re la t ion to native affairs , but the quest ion of native policy is of cardinalimp or ta n c e , a nd i s de a l t w i th se p a r a t e ^ in S e c tion ( B) of th i s c omm e nta r y . Apa r tf rom th is , the re i s a c lea r advantage in favour of a t ta in ing a def in i t ive se t t lement a tthe ear l iest possible moment, as each successive change in the posit ion of the HighCo mm iss ion er would be acco mp anied by confus ion a nd cont roversy comp arable wi ththa t wh ic h ha s f o l lowe d the pub l i c a t ion o f the C ommiss ion ' s r e por t .

The posit ion of the three Governors could not possibly remain unaffected in thetwo ' ea r l ie r s tag es . I t h as been sugg es ted th a t i t wo uld , in fac t , be hum il ia t ing .They -would have to in t roduce in to and pass through the i r Legis la t ive Counc i lsme asure s wh ich wou ld be know n to be due to ins t ru c t io ns rece ived f rom the HighCommissioner , and not on that account rendered the more acceptable to the unoff ic ia le lement, and perhaps a lso to the off ic ia l e lement, of the Legisla t ive Councils of thedepen denc y concerned. Eve n if the r e were no poss ib le objec t ion of th is na ture ,exper ience shows tha t the procedure of secur ing the passage of s imul taneous andident ic leg is la t ion through three separa te Legis la t ive Counc i ls i s in i t se l fincon ven ient and d i la t ory . In the second s tage i t wi l l be know n w heth er the measureshave or have not the suppor t of the High Commiss ioner^ advisory counc i ls , and thoG o v er n o rs pos i t ion would be equ ally difficult in e i th er even t . In the former , ;)con tro ver sia l meas ure wou ld be res en ted th e mo re if i t we re fe l t th at i t wa s endorsedby the op ini on of men no be tte r qualif ied to adv ise tha n ma ny mem bers of theLe gis la t iv e Counc i l . In the la t te r , the w eig ht of oppos i t ion would be great lyincreas ed . Fu r t he r , i t m igh t ha pp en tha t a member of the Leg is la t iv e Counc il



9 9*5

O w *-?

would a lso be a mem ber of the H ig h Co mm issoner ' s advi sory coun c i l ; h is s up po r t ,in the face of the opposi t ion of o ther members , of a measure which he had advoca ted ,or h is s i lence on a measure aga ins t which he had advised , would be a fur there mba r r a s sme n t to the Gove r nor .

Th e Comm iss ion ' s pr e l i m in ary s tage would a pp ea r ef fec tual ly to des t roy the

f e el ing o f r e spon s ib i l i t y on wh ic h pub l i c a d mi n i s t r a t ion i s ba se d . Th e G ov e r n or sposi t ion has a l rea dy been dea l t w i t h ; he wo uld have no respo nsib i l i ty for m easu reswhich he "put to th is C oun c i l in the f ram ing of which h e may hav e had l i t t le voice .H is Leg is la t iv e Coun c i l could not be expec ted to co-opera te se r ious ly . Mem bers wh ofound a measure gpntra ry to the i r v iews would e i ther oppose i t wi th a fee l ing ofresen tme nt des t ruc t ive of use ful d iscuss ion , or would t re a t i t w i th ap a t hy . T heH i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r himself, f ree f rom the con s tan t check of pa r l i am en ta r yc r i t i c i sm , wi thou t the r e spons ib i l i t y f o r a c tua l a dmin i s t r a t ion a nd wi thou t o the rass is tance than th a t of an i r respo nsib le adv isory counc i l , becomes an a r b i t ra ry ru le rwhose ideas a re unc ont ro l le d by the duty of ca r ry i ng them in to ac tua l e ffec t. Th eSecre ta ry of S ta te , ha vi ng de lega te d p ar t of h is func t ions , cann ot resume them, andhas no reply to any ques t io n th a t may be ra is ed in P ar l i am en t .

For the proper adminis t ra t ion of the se rv ices of common in te res t , the re i s everyreason to proceed to the Com miss ion '^ th i rd s ta ge as rap id ly as poss ib le . In thec ase of t r a n sp or t , t he H ig h C ommiss ione r f o r T r a ns po r t , K e n y a a nd U ga n da ,a l ready fee ls tha t h is pos i t ion i s made d i f f icul t and h is impar t ia l i ty ca l led in toques t ion by the fac t th a t he i s a lso Gove rnor of K en ya . The e f fec tive ad m in is t ra t io nof the Customs U nio n be tween the three depe nden c ies ca l l s for comment a ndresponsib le d i rec t ion a t the ea r l ies t poss ib le da te .

Th e Com miss ion co ntem pla te as one of the subjec ts for inv es t ig a t ion a t thep r e l im ina r y s t a ge the a r r a nge me n t s f o r in t r oduc ing the mod i f i c a t ions p r opose d in thecons t i tu t ion of K en ya . Tho se modif ica t ions a re d iscussed in Sec t ion (E) of th iscom men tary , but , wh a teve r may be dec ided on them, i t seems essen t ia l to fa i r dea l ingtha t the i r na ture should be de te rmined, and the method of the i r opera t ion dec ided

upon as fa r as poss ib le , be fore any s tep i s taken to de t rac t f rom the author i ty of theLegis la t ive Counc i l of Kenya as i t now exis ts .

( B . ) — N at iv e Policy and Administration.

The ma in r e a son a c tu a t i ng the C ommission in r e c omm e nd ing a g r a d ua lextens ion of the pos i t ion of the High Commiss ioner seems to have been the i r v iew ofthe imp or ta nc e o f inv e s t iga t ing na t ive po l i cy in Ea s t Af r i c a . Th e r e i s a g r e a t de a lwhich c a n be done w i th ou t p r i o r inve s t iga t ion , a nd t he S ta t e m e n t o f Na t ive P o l i c y *which has been i ssued may be thought to represent adequa te ly a l l tha t could beexpec ted f rom the f ir st s tag e of the Com mi ss io ner ^ propo sa ls , wh i le leavin g am ple

scope f o r the H ig h C om miss ione r , a s C ha i r m a n of the G ov e r no r s C onf e r e nc e, t oco-ordina te the work done in ca r ry ing out the S ta tement of Pol icy , and to proposea ny supp le me n ta r y a r r a n ge m e n t s wh ic h , a f t e r due e nqu i r y a nd c onsu l t a t ion , a r eproved to be des i rable .

The ac tua l execut ion of na t ive pol icy i s the poin t on AVHICH the proposa ls of theCommiss ion have met wi th most c r i t ic ism, on grounds of pr inc ip le , of expediency andof p r a c t i c a b i l i t y .

I t i s r e c ogn i se d th a t H i s M a je s ty ' s G ove r nme n t i s c ha r ge d wi t h a t r u s t e e s h ipfor na t ive we lfa re w hic h i s em pha sised by the Cov enant of the Versa i l les Tre a t y asregards a l l na t ive races , and more spec i f ica l ly ins is ted on in the Manda te forTa ng a ny ika . I t is no ne w p r inc ip le , a s i t und e r l i e s the who le of B r i t i sh C o lon ia la dm in i s t r a t ion . W i th ou t p r e s s ing too f a r t he l e ga l c onno ta t ions o f a t e r m whic h i s

used in a general sense, i t is the essence of a trusteeship of this kind, equally with al e gal t r u s t , t h a t i t c a nn o t be de vo lve d o r de le ga te d . N o tw i th s t a nd in g a l l de vo lu t ionof au th or i ty , the mo ra l (and even the lega l ) respo nsib i l i ty rem ain s wi th the t ru s teehimself. Th e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e ' s re spons ib i l i t y fo r the na t iv e s a nd h i s a u th or i tyf or the a d m in i s t r a t i on of na t i ve af fa i rs mus t r e ma in un im pa i r e d a nd und iv ide d .

To p ut execut ive cont ro l of na t ive a ffa ir s def in i te ly und er the H ig h Com miss ionerwou ld me a n tha t t he r e wou ld be p r o te s t s (a) f rom Uganda , espec ia l ly by theB a g a nd a , ba se d on the f e a r th a t t he i r i n t e r e s t s AVOULD be sub or d in a te d to v i e ws nowheld , or supposed to be he ld , in Kenya as to the pos i t ion of the Afr ican; (b) on behalfof Ta ng a ny ika , a nd pa r t i c u la r ly by the P e r m a n e n t M a n da t e s C ommiss ion o f the



Lea gue of Na t ion s , ba sed on a s imi l a r f e a r ; and (c ) by the European agr i cu l tu ra li n t e re s t s i n Ke ny a , who , on the con t ra ry , wou ld ap pr eh en d th a t t he i r l eg i t ima tein t e re s t s would be subord ina t ed to wha t t hey would rega rd a s a cademic v i ews , which ,howeve r we l l su i t ed t o t he cond i t i ons i n Uganda and Tangany ika , wou ld ra i se i n anacute form the ques t ion of conf l ic t ing in te res t s be tween na t ive and immigrant

c o m m u n i t i e s i n K e n y a .There remains the ques t ion whether the removal of responsibi l i ty for na t ive

wel fa re f rom th e loca l Gov ernm ents an d legis la tu res i s in fac t the bes t way ofte rm in a t in g wh at confl ic t the re now is be tween the in t e re s t s of na t iv es and others . I tma y be re ga rd ed as ce r ta in th a t in Ken ya the gr ow in g sense of respon sibi l i ty forna t ive we l f a re which i s f e l t by the European communi ty would be pe rmanen t lyc r ipp l ed when i t was rea l i sed tha t t hey we re unab le , t h rough the i r r ep re sen ta t i ve s , t ota k e an effective p a r t in m at te rs affect ing t he na t iv es . Confl ic t of inte res t is a tpresent a mat te r of degree ; every care should be taken to avoid making i t a mat te rof p r i n c i p l e .

N a t iv e po l i cy i s conce rned p r im ar i l y w i th na t iv e adm in i s t ra t i o n , bu t a lso i tadmi t t ed ly i nc ludes no t on ly t he d i sposa l and admin i s t ra t i on o f l and , bu t a l so t het axa t ion o f t he na t ive s , and thus t he f raming o f t he annua l budge t f o r e ach t e r r i t o ry ,hot mere ly a l l the law and adminis t ra t ion re la t ing to wage labour , but a l so sani ta t ionan d me dica l se rvices , a long w i th educ a t ion an d techn ica l t ra in in g. Even theadminis t ra t ion of c r imina l jus t ice in the pol ice cour t s i s very c lose ly bound up wi thna t iv e pol icy. Th ese co ns ide rat ion s seem to po in t to a def ini te choice betweencomple t e un ion o f t he t h ree dependenc ie s i n a Gove rnor -Gene ra l , who would be

responsible for a l l their act ivi t ies , and keeping the control of nat ive affairs def ini te lyin t he hands o f t he sepa ra t e Gove rnors , w i th t he advan tage o f consu l t a t i on andinte rchange of v iews a f forded by the i r conferences under the cha i rmanship of theH ig h Com miss io ner . I t m ay be objec ted th a t the t ra ns fe rr ed se rvices which a recon tem pla ted as a m at t e r for the H ig h Com miss ioner , espec ia l ly Ra i lw ays , Customs

and Defence, are as c losely ident if ied with the nat ive interests as are some of theoth ers wh ich hav e been me nt ion ed. Th ey a re , however , ma t te rs in wh ich the effect onna t ive in te res t s can be c lose ly watched, and a re se rvices which lend thmse lves forcol lec t ive handl ing as the o thers do not .

The view of the Commiss ion tha t the na t ives would eas i ly ass imi la te theconcept ion of the High Commiss ioner as the loca l projec t ion of the persona l i ty of theSe cre ta ry of S t a t e i s d if ficult to accept . Th e most adva nce d na t i ve people wi th whichwe a re dea l in g, the B ag an da , have rep ea ted ly g iven exp ress io n to the i r objec tion toany cont rol o ther than tha t of the i r own Governor , as the King ' s loca l representa t ive ,and of t he Sec r e t a ry of S t a t e a s t he K in g ' s M in i s t e r ; t o t hem the Ce n t ra l A uthor i t ya s con templa t ed by the Commiss ion would be an ou t s ide au thor i t y ove r r id ing the i rGove rnor , t o whom the Sec r e t a ry o f S t a t e had su r r end e re d the i r i n t e re s t s . Fur the r ,

they and a l l o ther na t ives would be quick to see the change in the pos i t ion of the i radminis t ra t ive of f ice rs , as the se rvants of the Governor , but obey ing the orders of asupe r -G ove rno r . Th e p re s t i ge o f t he Gove rnor would d i s ap pe a r , a nd w i th i t t heusefulness of h i s making persona l contac t wi th the people .

If , t he n, th e H ig h C om mis sione r is to hav e th e exe cu tive control of na t iv e affairs ,i t seems essent ia l that , as is proposed in the case of the common services, he shoulda lso have the du ty of ad m in i s t ra t i o n and be t he head of t he ad min i s t ra t i vees tab l i shm ent in a l l the depend enc ies . Th e objec t ion s to such a course , unless i t wereaccompan ied by a comple t e un ion o f t he dependenc ie s , a re appa ren t f rom wha t ha sa l ready been s ta ted—it -would involve in te rfe rence wi th every aspec t of loca ladm in i s t ra t i on . In pa r t i cu l a r , i t wou ld reduce to conf us ion the adm in i s t ra t i on ofthose a reas in which na t ives and non-na t ives l ive s ide by s ide .

(C.)— -A More Practicable Scheme.

I f i t i s accep ted th a t th e func t ion s of the H ig h Com miss ion er should be a t l easti n pa r t admin i s t ra t i ve and l eg i s l a t i ve , and no t me re ly adv i so ry , and tha t h i spow ers should have the i r fu l les t extens ion only w i th r eg ar d to w ha t have been cal ledthe economic se rvices , which i t i s des i rable to amalgamate , a prac t icable scheme canbe worked out to form a sa t i s fac tory bas is on which the ins t ruments of Governmentre l a t i n g to t he H ig h Co m m iss io ne rs office can be f ram ed . W i th rega r d to t hea r rangement s p roposed f o r t he appo in tmen t o f members o f t he H igh Commiss ione r sLegis la t ive Counc i l , i t may be sugges ted tha t i t wi l l probably be found des i rable

th a t t hey shou ld be app o in t ed by the H ig h Com miss ione r a f t e r consu l t a ti on w i th



t h e G o v e r n o r s c o n c e r n e d , r a t h e r t h a n . t h a t t h e y s h o u l d b e c h o s e n b y t h e G o v e r n o r sa n d r e c o m m e n d e d t o t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r f o r n o m i n a t i o n . I n th e e v e n t o f th ec r e a t i o n o f s u c h a C o u n c i l , i t w o u l d b e a s i m p l e m a t t e r t o e n s u r e b y i n s t r u c t i o n s t ot h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r t h a t t h e m e m b e r s n o m i n a t e d t o r e p r e s e n t e a c h t e r r i t o r ys h o u l d b e f u l l y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e , a s f a r a s t h e i r n u m b e r s p e r m i t t e d , of a ll i n t e r e s t s i n

t he se t e r r i t o r i e s , a n d n o t o f a n y o n e s e c t i o n o f t h e c o m m u n i t y o n l y .I n a d d i t i o n , i t w o u l d be n e c e s s a r y t o m a i n t a i n u n i m p a i r e d t h e p o s i t i o n o f

T a n g a n y i k a a s a d f s t i n c t u n i t o f a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a l t h o u g h c o m b i n e d fo r c e r t a i np u r p o s e s c o n t e m p l a t e d b y A r t i c l e 1 0 o f t h e M a n d a t e . I n p a r t i c u l a r , i t w o u l d bed e s i r a b l e t h a t t h e c o m m o n c o n t r o l o f t h e r a i l w a y s y s t e m s s h o u l d n o t e x t e n d t oc o m p le te a m a l g a m a t i o n , b u t t h a t t h e T a n g a n y i k a s y st e m s h o u l d r e m a i n a s e p a r a t ee n t i t y w i t h s e p a r a t e e s t i m a t e s o f r e v e n u e a n d e x p e n d i t u r e , i n o r d e r t h a t t h e r e m i g h tbe n o d o u b t a s t o t h e u s e w h i c h w a s b e i n g m a d e of r e v e n u e s r a i s e d i n t h e M a n d a t e dT e r r i t o r y .

I t w o u l d b e n e c e s s a r y a l s o t o e n s u r e t h a t , i n t h e i m p r o b a b l e e v e n t o f l e g i s l a t i o np a s s i n g t h e C o u n c i l o n t h e v o t e s o f t h e K e n j^ a a n d U g a n d a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a g a i n s tt h e b e s t i n t e r e s t s of T a n g a n y i k a , t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e s h o u l d b e i n a p o s i t i o n t o

s ec ur e t h a t th e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f H i s M a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t u n d e r th e M a n d a t e w a sn o t a b r o g a t e d o r e v e n i m p e d e d . F o r t h i s p u r p o s e , i t s h o u l d b e l a i d d o w n t h a t a m o n gt h e c l a s s e s o f b i l l s t o w h i c h t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r i s n o t t o a s s e n t w i t h o u t t h ep r i o r a p p r o v a l o f t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e s h o u l d b e i n c l u d e d b i l l s w h i c h i n v o l v e a n yp o i n t a f f ec t in g t h e M a n d a t e f o r t h e T a n g a n y i k a T e r r i t o r y , w h i l e a m o r e g e n e r a lp r o v i s i o n w o u l d b e d e s i r a b l e , t o t h e ef fe ct t h a t i f a n y m e a s u r e i s o p p o s e d b y f o u rof t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of a n y t e r r i t o r y t h e m e a s u r e s h o u l d s i m i l a r l y r e q u i r e t h e p r i o ra p p r o v a l o f t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e .

T h e financial a r r a n g e m e n t s i n d i c a t e d in t h e a p p e n d i x t o S i r S . W i l s o n ' s R e p o r tw o u l d r e q u i r e a d j u s t m e n t w h e n t h e m a t t e r h a s b e e n c o n s i d e r e d in g r e a t e r d e t a i l .I n p a r t i c u l a r , a s c u s t o m s d u t y w o u l d b e c o l l e c t e d b y t h e of fi ce rs of t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r , i t w o u l d b e f o r t h o s e o f fi ci a ls t o h a n d o v e r t o t h e l o c a l G o v e r n m e n t s7 5 p e r c e n t , of t h e r e v e n u e c o l l e c t e d , a n d n o t f o r t h e lo c a l G o v e r n m e n t s t o h a n d o v e r2 5 p e r c e n t , t o t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r . A l s o , t h e a r r a n g e m e n t s f o r t h e " r e p a y m e n t s " w o u l d r e q u i r e c l o s e r d e f i n i t i o n , a n d p r o v i s i o n w o u l d b e n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e mto b e p a i d o v e r i n i n s t a l m e n t s d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h e fina ncia l y e a r , s u b j e c t t o f i n a la d j u s t m e n t w h e n t h e y e a r i s c o m p l e t e d . T h e s e , h o w e v e r , a r e d e t a i l s w i t h w h i c ht h e J o i n t C o m m i t t e e n e e d n o t be t r o u b l e d .

T h e a c t u a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f r a i l w a y s w h i c h a l r e a d y e x c e e d - 2 , 6 0 0 m i l e s , o fc u s to m s d u t y a l r e a d y e x c e e d i n g £ 2 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 a n n u a l l y , of t h e p o s t s a n d t e l e g r a p h s o fa r e g i o n t w o - t h i r d s t h e . s i z e o f B r i t i s h I n d i a , a n d of t h e m i l i t a r y a r r a n g e m e n t s f o ri ts d e f e n c e , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e c o - o r d i n a t i n g f u n c t i o n o f t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r a s t h eC h a i r m a n of t h e G o v e r n o r s C o n f e r e n c e , w o u l d f o r m a f i t t in g t a s k f o r a m a n oft h e s t a n d a r d r e q u i r e d in o n e w h o m u s t t a k e t h e p r e m i e r p o s i t i o n i n E a s t A f r i c a .I t i s a t a s k m o r e w r o r t h y o f s u c h a m a n t h a n t h e p u r e l y d i r e c t i n g p o s i t i o n c o n t e m p l a t e d b y t h e C o m m i s s i o n o n C l o s e r U n i o n , w h o , i n t h e i r c o m p a r i s o n w i t h t h e w o r kof L o r d M i l n e r in S o u t h A f r i c a ( p a g e 1 47 ) , h a v e n o t t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t t h e f a c t t h a tL o r d M i l n e r w a s a t t h e s a m e t i m e G o v e r n o r of t h e T r a n s v a a l a n d t h e O r a n g e R i v e rC o lo n y a n d H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r fo r t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e s i n S o u t h A f r i c a .

R e a s o n s f o r g i v i n g i m m e d i a t e le g i s l a t i v e p o w e r s t o t h e H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r a r eg i v e n i n S e c t i o n A a b o v e . I t i s n e c e s s a r y t o p o i n t o u t t h a t t h e g r a n t o f l e g i s l a t i v ep o w e r s t o a H i g h C o m m i s s i o n e r , w h e t h e r n o w o r l a t e r , w o u l d in v o l v e ( s i n c e t h o s ep o w e r s a r e t o s o m e e x t e n t a s u b t r a c t i o n f r o m t h o s e o f t h e l e g i s l a t u r e of t h e C o l o n yof K e n y a ) t h e c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t t h e r e m u s t b e a L e g i s l a t i v e C o u n c i l c o n t a i n i n g K e n y ar e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a n d t h a t i t s l e g i s l a t i v e s es s i o ns m u s t b e w i t h i n t h e C o l on y o f K e n y a ,

w h e r e a s M o m b a s a , w h i c h is s u g g e s t e d b y t h e C o m m i s s i o n a s t h e s e a t o f g o v e r n m e n t ,is i n t h e P r o t e c t o r a t e o f K e n y a . T h e C o l o n y o f K e n y a is a B r i t i s h s e t t l e m e n t w i t h i nt he m e a n i n g o f t h e B r i t i s h S e t t l e m e n t s A c t , 1 8 8 7 , a n d t h i s p o s i t i o n c o u ld t h e r e f o r eo nly b e a v o i d e d b y a m e n d i n g , b y A c t o f P a r l i a m e n t , S e c t i o n 3 o f t h a t A c t , w h i c hp r o v i d e s f o r t h e d e l e g a t i o n o f t h e C r o w i r s p o w e r of l e g i s l a t i o n t o " a n y t h r e e o rm o re p e r s o n s w i t h i n t h e S e t t l e m e n t . "

(D . )— T he Tanganyika Mandate.

A n o r g a n i s a t i o n o f c o m m o n s e r v ic e s i n t h e t h r e e d e p e n d e n c i e s o n t h e l i n e ss u g g e s t e d i n S e c t i o n C d o e s n o t i n v o l v e a n y c h a n g e i n t h e s t a t u s o f t h e m a n d a t e da r e a o r o f i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . A s t h e T a n g a n y i k a M a n d a t e i s n o t o f t h e k i n d e x p r e s s l y



ment ioned in t he Covenan t , wh ich a l l ows admin i s t ra t i on a s an i n t eg ra l pa r t o f t hem a n d a t o r y ' s t e r r i t o r y , T a n g a n y i k a m u s t p r e se r v e i t s i n d i v i d u a l i t y a s a t e r r i t o r i a lun i t . Th is conc lus ion, however , i s qua l if ied by a spec ia l sec t ion in the Ma nd atei t se l f which au thor i se s t he m an da to ry " t o con s t i t u t e t he t e r r i t o r y i n to a cus toms ,f isca l and adm in i s t r a t i v e un io n o r f ede ra t i on w i th t he ad jac en t t e r r i t o r i e s unde rh i s own sove re ign ty o r con t ro l , p rov ided a lway s t ha t t he measure s adop ted to t ha tend do not inf r in ge th e pro vis ion s of th i s m an d a t e . " Such a un ion seems c learly toinvolve, as one of the most im p o rt an t m eans of se cur ing th e u tmos t benefi t for a llpa r t i c ip an t s , some me thod o f j o i n t l eg i s l a t i on ; an d the me tho d which Br i t i shexp erie nce ha s show n to be m ost effective an d sa t is fac to ry in sim ila r cases is th at ofac t in g w i th t he adv ice o f a Le g i s l a t i ve C ounc i l , r ep re s en t ing a l l i n t e re s t s conce rned,in wh ich there a r e the fu l les t op po r tu ni t ie s for f ree deba te . S ince one of the p ar tn ersin the prop ose d un io n is a B ri t i sh Colony, no oth er solut io n, even if i t weredes i rable , i s poss ib le , as has a l ready been indica ted in Sec t ion (C) .

W hi le a common L egi s la t iv e Co unc i l seems necess ar i ly to be impl ied inA rt i c le 10 of th e M an da te , i t i s , in an y case , open to Hi s M ajes ty , hold ing fu ll

pow ers un de r Ar t ic le 3 , to legi s la te wi th the advice of any body wh ich H e may th inkmos t su i t ab l e fo r t he purp ose , p rov id ed th a t He re t a ins abso lu t e con t ro l . In t he caseof Tangany ika , H i s Ma je s ty l eg i s l a t e s a t p re sen t w i th t he a id e i t he r o f t he P r ivyCou nci l or of a loca l Le gis la t iv e Cou nc i l . T he sugg es t ion i s now to es tabl i sh anad d i t i on a l Counc i l f o r m a t t e r s common to t he t h ree t e r r i t o r i e s . Th e ma in t enanceof t he i n t eg r i t y o f t he Manda ted Te r r i t o ry and o f t he comple t e au thor i t y o f t heCro wn , wh i le gu ar de d by th e power s of the Secr e ta ry of S ta te , would be fur thersecured by the sugges ted provis ion which enables any four of the Tanganyikamembers of the Counc i l to requi re any measure which might in any way a f fec t thein t e re s t s o f Tan ga ny ik a to be re f e r red to t he Sec re t a ry o f S t a t e t h ro ugh the H ighCommiss ione r .

The Tan ga ny ika M an da te se t s f o r th m any p r inc ip l e s which , a s common

po stu la tes of B r i t i s h pol icy , need no t here be m ent ion ed; I t a l so def in ite ly p rohib i t sthe es tabl i shment of for t i f ica t ions or mi l i ta ry and nava l bases and the mi l i ta ryorganisa t ion of the na t ives except for loca l pol ice purposes and for the defence ofthe t e r r i t o r y . Thes e cond i t i ons w i l l have to be born e in m ind in a r ra ng ing f or agene ra l r ed i s t r i bu t ion o f t he f o rces un de r a c en t r a l ad m in i s t r a t i o n . The re a re a lsode ta i led provis ions for secur ing the fu l les t equa l i ty of economic , commerc ia l andindus t r i a l r i gh t s t o a l l na t i ona l s o f s t a t e s members o f t he League o f Na t ions , andi t t he re f o re f o l l ows tha t any un ion o r f ede ra t i on un i f y ing the se r i gh t s ove r a numberof dependenc ies which inc lude Tanganyika must extend over a l l of them many of thepr iv i l eges secured by the Manda te .

In ord er to secure the pr op er fu l f ilment of Ar t ic l e 11 of the Ma nd ate , re qu i r ingthe submiss ion of an annua l repor t to the Counc i l of the League of Nat ions , and of

the c r i t i c a l f unc t ions o f t he Pe rmanen t Manda te s Commiss ion , i t w i l l be nece ssa ryf o r t he H ig h Comm iss ione r , a s we l l a s t he Gove rnor , t o t ake pa r t i n t he p rep a ra t i o nof t he annu a l r ep or t ; and tho ug h i t is no t exp l i c i t l y me n t ione d in t he M and a te , t herem us t obv ious ly be such a sep a ra t i o n an d p re sen ta t i o n o f t he H ig h Commissione raccounts and resul t s as wi l l enable the Mandates Commiss ion to assure i t se l f tha tthe p r inc ip l e s o f t he Manda te a re be ing ca r r i ed ou t bo th gene ra l ly and in de t a i l .These e s sen t i a l s wou ld be p re s c r ibed in t he i ns t ru c t ion s t o t he H ig h Commiss ione r,I t m ay be observed th a t un de r Ar t ic le 257 of the Tr ea ty of Ve rsa i l le s publ ic pro per tyi n T a n g a n y i k a m u s t , in g e n e r a l , r e m a i n t h e p r o p e r t y of ' ' t h e M a n d a t o r y P o w e r i ni t s c apac i ty a s su ch , " t h a t i s , o f t he Go ve rnm ent of t he Te r r i t o ry , t hou gh the re isno th in g to h in de r common m ana gem ent i n t he gen e ra l i n t e re s t .

(E . )— T he Kenya Constitution.

W ha tev e r a r ran ge m en t s may be ma de fo r c en t ra l i s a t i o n , and even if no sucha r rangement s a re made , i t i s nece ssa ry t o cons ide r wha t s t eps can p rope r ly be t akento m ak e the Le gis la t iv e Co unc i l of K en ya more fu lly re pre sen ta t iv e of the var iousin t e re s t s conce rned , w i thou t a t t he same t ime invo lv ing any immedia t e advancetowards the grant of responsible government , as to the prac t icabi l i ty of which evenin the u l t im ate fu t ur e mem bers of the Comm iss ion were not agreed, bu t which i t isdes i rable to leave to the na tura l course of pol i t ica l evolut ion wi thout any s t imulus ,a t a t ime when tha t course cannot be foreseen.

Th e g r an t o f e l ec t ive rep r e sen ta t i on in Ke ny a a f t e r t he W a r AVUS followed,

ow ing to the necessary use of the off ic ia l m ajo r i t y , by a per iod of " perm ane nt oppo-



s i t i on ' ' on the pa r t of t he e l e ct e d Eu r o pe a n m e mbe r s wh ic h l a r ge ly ne u t r a l i se d the i ruse f u lne ss in the c ons t i tu t iona l ma c h ine r y a nd de pr ive d the Gove r nme n t o f wha tmig h t ha ve be e n va lua b le a s s i s t a nc e . La te r , t he sy s te m o f r e f e r r ing spe c ia l su b je c t sto S e le c t C om mi t t e e s ha s be e n a do p te d wi th use f u l r e su l t s so f a r a s ob ta in ing the

a c t ive pa r t i c ip a t i on of E le c te d M e mb e r s i s c onc e r ne d . B u t the p r a c t i c e wh ic h ha sa pp a r e n t ly g r ow n up , o f a c c e p t in g th e v i e ws o f the S elec t C omm i t t e e a f t e rina deq ua t e deb a te and exa m in a t io n in the fu l l Cou nc i l , ma de i t d if ficul t for th eGov ernment to Secure the p assa ge of me asu res in wh ich th e e lec ted e lement d o notent i re ly agree .

The problem of the moment i s to f ind some means of secur ing the ass is tance ofthe E le c te d M e mb e r s a s pa r tn e r s w i th the Gov e r nm e n t in the l e g i s l a t ive m a c h i ne r ywhi le a t the same t im e secu r ing th e ad eq ua te rep res en ta t i on of o th er unoff ic ia lin te res ts and the ab i l i ty of the Go vern me nt to ens ure the pas sag e of necess a rymeasures aga ins t , i f need be , the weight of opin ion of the e lec ted e lement .

In addi t ion , i t i s becoming more necessa ry every year to re l ieve the Off ic ia lM e mbe r s , who a r e the mse lve s H e a ds o f Ad m in i s t r a t iv e S e r v ic e s, of t he bu r d e n o fa t t e nd a nc e in the Le g i s l a t i ve C ounc i l .

The C omm iss ion ha ve the mse lve s r e c omme n de d the subs t i tu t ion of nom ina te dfor some of the Off ic ia l Mem bers and the C ha i rm an , going fu r th er th an h iscol leagues, r ecom me nded an increa se in the nu mb er of e lec ted Eu ro pe an s w hichc ons ide r a t ions o f the ba la nc e be twe e n c oun t r y a nd town r e nde r de s i r a b le in o r de rto improve the rep res en ta t i ve ch ara c te r of th e e lec ted e lement . By the ju dic iou sse lec t ion of nomina ted Unoff ic ia l Members , r epresent ing not sec t iona l in te res ts somuc h a s those ge n e r a l i n t e r e s t s wh ic h a r e no t se c t iona l ly r e p r e se n te d , i t wo u ld b eposs ib le gre a t ly to inc reas e the usefulness of the Counc i l w i th ou t thro w in g th eba la nc e o f powe r in to a n y pa r t i c u la r unoff ic ia l qu a r t e r o r de p r iv ing a p r u de n tGovernor of th e abi l i ty , in any prob able c i rcum stanc es , to ca r ry h is me asu res in toeffect.

With a Counc i l in which the of f ic ia l and nomina ted unof f ic ia l e lements toge thercons t i tu te a m ajo r i ty , e ffec tive cont ro l of leg i s la t ion ( in c lud ing tha t re l a t in g tona t ives) shou ld not be d i ff icult to secure . Pro vi s io n mu st , however , be m ade fore xc e p t iona l c a se s a nd f o r th i s pu r po se the C om miss ion r e c omme nde d th a t t he pow e r sof ve to and. ce r t i f ica t ion sho uld be ves ted in th e H ig h Com miss ioner . Those pow ersmig h t be ve s t ed e i the r in the H ig h C om miss ione r o r the Gove r nor o f Ke ny a , bu t t heba lance of ad va nt ag e may be th ou gh t to be on the s ide of the i r be in g ves ted in th eGovernor .

I t wou ld be n a t u r a l t o suppose tha t t he smoo th wo r k ing o f the C ounc i l wo u ldbes t be ensu red i f the Mem bers whose v iews were over r idd en fe l t t ha t i t was doneby the au th or i ty wh o w as most c lose ly in tou ch wi th loca l fee l ing and w ho h adfollowed person a l ly the course of deba te . Ex pe r ie nc e of cases in which i t ha s beennecessary for the Secre ta ry of S ta te to advise d isa l lowance of an Ordinance shows 'th a t t he r e i s subs ta nc e in th i s v i e w. Th e on ly r e a sons f o r t r a n s f e r r i ng the pow e r so f ve to a nd c e r t i f ic a t ion to the H ig h C om miss ione r mu s t be e i the r th a t i t wou ld :re lieve the Gove rnor of an invid iou s duty , or th a t th e Go verno r mus t be so muchexposed to loca l inf luence th a t he would n ot be a pr op er j ud ge of th e necess i ty forus ing the powe r s , o r a t l e a s t t ha t t he High C ommiss ione r , ha v ing a mor e de ta c he dand broader v iew of Eas t Afr ican a f fa i r s , would be a be t te r judge of tha t necess i ty .On the ground of the des i rabi l i ty of inc reas ing in every poss ib le way the sense ofr e spons ib i l i ty of the Le g i s l a t ive C oun c i l a nd the Gov e r nor , i t s ee ms be t t e r t h a t t hepowe r s shou ld r e s t w i th t he Gov e r nor .

An addi t iona l sa feguard of leg is la t ion would be a f forded i f , to the c lasses ofBi l l s which the Govern or i s req ui r ed to sub mit for the cons id era t io n of th e S ecre ta ryof S ta t e , we r e a dde d " a n y me a su r e wh ic h ha s e voke d s t r e nuo us oppos i t ion f roma ny r a c ia l o r r e l ig iou s m ino r i ty a n d whic h in h i s op in ion ma y c a use ha r d sh ip o ropp ress i on ." A c lause to th is e ffect ha s in fac t been ins e r ted in th e new Co ns t i tu t ionof Ceylon.

I t seems undes i rable tha t the races or c lasses f rom which the nomina tedUnoff ic ia l M emb ers of Co unc i l wou ld be chosen should be exp ress ly la id d own , but i tshould be recognised t ha t , wh en i t becomes poss ib le , they should in c lud e one or m oreAf r i c a ns . Th e qua l i f i c a t ions wh ic h mu s t be e xpe c te d in a n A f r i c a n r e p r e se n ta t ivec a nno t be de te r m ine d w i tho u t c a r e f u l e xa m ina t io n . I t wou ld see m th a t he shou ldnot mere ly be able to express to the Counc i l h is v iews on na t ive ques t ions , but tha the should a lso be able to ta ke a use fu l p a r t in the gen era l work of the Coun c i l . H ewould haye to be recogn ised as an acce ptab le spok esm an of the mo st in te l l ig ent na t iv e

[20266] D



op inio n a nd , if h im se l f by res idence ac tu a l ly a memb er , of a t r i ba l commu ni ty, i twou ld be nece ssa ry t o a sce r t a in t ha t h i s appo in tmen t was ag reeab le t o t he l e ade rsof Cha t communi ty .

Th e ul t im ate goa l to be exp ec ted in the deve lopm ent of the Kenya Legis la tiveCounci l may wel l be the representa t ion by persons of any races e lec ted on age ne ra l f ran ch ise based on a c iv i l i sa t io n tes t . T hi s goa l can no t imm edia te ly beobta ined and i t i s s t rongly urged tha t i t would be a mis take in the deve lopment ofna t iv e in te res t s if i t we re to be supp osed t h a t i t i s one wh ich t he na t ive s should setbefore themse lves a t th i s s tage . Th ere is a g re a t dea l to be done in brea king downrac i a l ba r r i e r s and in bu i ld ing up na t ive c iv i l i s a t i on be f o re such an a r rangementcould be ma de . I t i s a r gu ed t h a t the pol i t ic a l an d economic deve lopment of thena t ives must l i e in the d i rec t ion of the improvement of the i r own ins t i tu t ions andthe i r s t anda rds and me thods o f l i f e , coup led w i th an advanc ing expe r i ence o f l oca lgov ernm ent , for wh ich pro vis ion a l rea dy exis t s in eac t ro f the thr ee dependenc ies . Inth i s way , w i thou t any sudden change which migh t b reak dowm the whole mach ine ryof na t ive l i f e , and w i thou t d ive r t i ng the be s t na t ive i n t e l l i gence to po l i t i c a l endswhich f o r t he p re sen t mus t be rega rded a s unob ta inab le , t he Af r i can can be s t bef i t ted to take h is par t in the publ ic l i f e of the fu ture .

(F.) The Indian Question.

The ma in ques t ion re l a t i ng to Ind i ans i n Eas t Af r i c a , and the on ly po l i t i c a lque s t ion of r e a l mom ent , i s t h a t o f t he e l ec to ra l a r r an ge m en t s i n Keny a . Af t erthe wa r e l ec t ive rep re s en ta t i o n on the Leg i s l a t i ve Co unc i l o f Keny a was i n t roducedf or t he Eu ro pea ns . Subs equen t ly e l ec t ive rep re s en ta t i on was i n t rodu ced f or t heI n d ia n an d A ra b com m un i t ies . T he f ran chis e i s confined, so fa r as concernsna t iona l i t y , t o Br i t i sh sub jec t s o f European o r ig in o r de scen t ; Br i t i sh sub jec t s o f

Ind ian o r ig in o r de scen t , o r Ind i ans unde r t he suze ra in ty o r p ro t ec t ion o f H i sM a je s ty ; and Ara bs who a re B r i t i sh sub jec t s o r un de r t h e p ro t ec t io n or suzera in tyof H i s M a je s ty , ab l e t o w r i t e A ra b ic on Sw ahi l i i n A ra b i c cha rac t e r s . The f ranch iseis on the bas is of adul t suf f rage for a l l these races , except tha t Arab women a reexc lud ed. T he re i s a re s id en t ia l qua l i f ica t ion, and the us ua l d i squa li f ica t ion ofp e r s o n s o f u n s o u n d m i n d , u n d i s c h a r g e d b a n k r u p t s , & c .

Thus , bo th f o r Europeans and f o r Ind i ans t he p r inc ip l e o f e l e c t i ve rep re senta t ion has been accepted, and no dispute a r i ses in regard to th i s on e i ther s ide .

The po in t t o which much impor t ance i s a t t a ched by the Ind i an communi ty , andwh ich i s i n f a c t t he " I n d i a n Q ue s t io n" i n E as t Af r i c a , i s t he me thod wherebye lec t ive re pr es en ta t io n i s to be e ffec ted. In te r es t in th i s ques t ion i s no t res t ric ted toE a s t A f r ic a ; inde ed, i t i s in In d ia i t se lf th a t f ee l ing is s t ro nge s t on the subject .Th e re a r e two a l t e r na t ive m e thods f o r secur ing e l ec t i ve rep re sen ta t i o n , knownge ne ra l ly as " a com mu nal f ra nch ise " an d " a common e lec tora l ro l l . " When HisM a j e s t y ' s G o v e r n m e n t i n 1923 dea l t exhaus t ive ly w i th ma t t e r s r e l a t i ng to Ind i ansi n K e n y a ( C m d . P a p e r 1922) they dec ided upo n a com mu nal f ran chise . Und er th issy s t em Eu ro pe an an d In d i an cons t i tuenc i e s a re fixed indep end en t ly ; Euro peans votein t he E ur op ea n cons t i t uenc i e s f o r Eu rop ean can d id a t e s , and I nd ia ns vo te in theIn d i an cons t i t uenc i e s f o r In d i a n cand ida t e s . Th i s pos i t i on ha s neve r been accep tableto t he Ind i ans , who , un l ike t he o the r communi t i e s i n Keny a , i n t e rp re t i t a s ma rk ingan infe r ior pol i t ica l s ta tus for themse lves , despi te the fac t tha t a communal f ranchisee x i s t s i n I n d i a itself. It offends their amour-propre , an d as a consequence theyrese nt i t . Th ey a re re fu s in g to exerc ise the i r r ig h t to e lec t ive repre senta t io n, and

a r r an ge m en t s have ha d to be m ade f o r con t in u ing a sy s tem of nom ina t ion of Ind i ansby the Governor in order to secure the i r representa t ion upon the Legis la t ive Counc i l .They dem and to -day , a s t hey deman ded in 1923, the a l ternat ive system of a commonelec tora l ro l l un de r wh ich K en ya wo uld be d iv ided in to a num ber of cons ti tuenc ies ,i n e ach o f which European and Ind ian vo te r s on the ro l l wou ld vo te t oge the r at ane lec t io n for can di da tes of e i th er race . Th e qua l i f ica t ions for adm iss ion to the vote rs 'ro l l wo uld be prec ise ly the sam e for both races , an d th e In d ia n spokesmen havea lways taken the l ine tha t they would be prepared to accept a h igh s tandard foradmiss ion to the ro l l even though i t would prec lude a la rge major i ty of the Indiansi n K e n y a f r o m a c q u i r i n g t h e f r a n c h i s e .

It is c lear that in the abstract much can be said in favour of a common electoralro l l in any te rr i tory in which there i s e lec t ion of representa t ives to a common Counci l .

But whatever the advantages of the sys tem when cons idered in the abs t rac t , i t i s



urg ed in man y qu a r t e r s t h a t i t i s no t poss ib l e , a s a m a t t e r o f p rac t i c a l po l i t i c s i n acolony l i ke Ke ny a , t o in t ro duc e a f und am enta l chan ge in t he con s t i t u t i on bysubs t i t u t i ng a common e l ec to ra l ro l l f o r t he ex i s t i ng communa l f ranch i se w i thou t t hesup po rt of pub l ic opin ion. Th is i s recognised in the R ep or t of the Com miss ion onCloser Un ion. T he co nd i t ion s to-d ay a re in e ffect the same as those wh ich obta ined

in 1923. I t w as then a rg ue d th a t i f a common e lec tora l ro ll wer e ado pte d in K en ya ,i t w as diff icult to see ho w i t could fa i l to resu l t in e lect ions be in g fou gh t on ra cia lg r o u n d s , a n d t h e g a p w h i c h u n f o r t u n a t e l y e x i s t e d b e t w e e n t h e E u r o p e a n a n d t h eIn d ia n comm uni t i e s— and whic h s t i l l ex i s t s t o -day — wou ld be w iden ed and con t inue d .I t m a y we ll b e t h o u g h t t h a t a r a p p r o c h e m e n t b e t w e en t h e E u r o p e a n s a n d I n d i a n s i nthe soc ia l sphere i s a necessary pre l iminary to a pol i t ica l change in the d i rec t iondes i red by the In d ia n s . Given the form er , the la t te r wo uld no dou bt fo l low eas i ly .The door to such a cha nge has never been c losed by H i s M ajes ty ' s Go vern me nt .

When th i s ques t ion was unde r cons ide ra t i on p rev ious ly , an adap ta t i on o f t hecommon e l ec to ra l ro ll w as con tem pla t ed in w ha t was kno wn a s t he W oo d- W in te r to nproposa l s , i.e., p r o p o s a l s f r a m e d b y t h e H o n . E d w a r d W o o d ( n ow L o r d I r w i n ) a n dt h e E a r l W i n t e r t o n , w h o w e r e t h e P a r l i a m e n t a r y U n d e r - S e c r e t a r i e s of S t a t e fo r t h e

Colon ie s and In d i a re spec t ive ly . Th i s ad ap ta t i o n t akes t he f o rm of a commonelec tora te wi th rese rva t ion of a spec i f ied number of sea ts for candida tes of a g ivenrace . Th e de ta i l s of th i s pro po sa l , wh ich m ig ht be p u t in to e ffect in mo re th an oneway , a re g iven in t he W h i t e Pa p e r o f 192 3 ; bu t f o r p re se n t purp ose s i t i s t he gene ra lp r i n c i p l e o n ly w h i c h n e e d b e c o n s i d er e d . T h e W o o d - W i n t e r t o n p r o p o s a l s w e r ere f e r red to Ind i a and Keny a f o r a conf iden t i a l expre ss ion o f op in ion by the twoGove rnment s . The Gove rnment o f Ind i a would have been p repa red to a ccep t acommon e lec tora l ro l l combined wi th a rese rva t ion of sea ts ; the Government of Kenyacould not accept i t , mainly on the ground tha t i t gave no suf f ic ient sa feguard to theE u r o p e a n c o m m u n i t y a g a i n s t I n d i a n p r e d o m i n a n c e i n t h e f u t u r e . I n t h e W h i t eP ap er of 1923 i t is s ta ted t h a t th e resu l t of re fe re nce to op inio n in K en ya of t h erecommenda t ion tha t a common e l ec to ra l ro l l shou ld be adop ted , even thoughcombined w i th t he re se rva t ion o f sea t s , was t o show tha t t he advan tages c l a imed f o rthe common e lec tora l ro l l would in prac t ice have been i l lusory , as in the spec ia l cond i t i ons ex i s t i ng in Keny a i t was c l ea r t ha t no cand ida t e , European o r Ind i an , cou lds t and a s an advoca t e of t h e i n t e re s t s o f t he o the r r a ce w i tho u t sac r if ic ing th e su pp or tof h i s own. T he conc lus ion then reached by H i s Ma j e s ty ' s Go ve rnm ent wa s t ha t ,hav ing rega rd t o a l l t he c i rcums tances , t he i n t e re s t s o f a l l conce rned in Keny a wouldbe bes t se rved by the ad op t io n of a com mu nal sys tem of rep res en ta t i on . . .

A s r e g a r d s c o m m u n a l f r a n c h i s e , t h e a r g u m e n t s s e t o u t i n th e W h i t e P a p e r o f1923 in favour of th i s sys tem for ad op t ion in Ke ny a we re th a t i t secured to everye l ec to r , Ind i an o r European , t he oppor tun i ty o f be ing rep re sen ted by a member w i thsy m pa th i e s s imi l a r t o h i s own ; t h a t no jus t i f i c a t ion was seen f o r t he sugges t ion th a t

i t i s de rog a to ry t o any of t he comm uni t i e s so rep re s en ted ; t ha t so f a r f rom ha v in ga d i s rup t ive t endency , i t migh t even he lp t o con t rac t d iv i s ion be tween the race s ;t ha t i t wou ld pe rmi t o f a f a r w ide r f ranch i se be ing g iven to t he Ind i ans t han wouldbe the case w i th a common e lec tora l ro l l, an d so se rve be t te r as an in s t r um en t forthe po l i t i c a l deve lopm ent o f t he Ind i a n com m uni ty ; and , i n gene ra l , t h a t i t p rov id eda f ramework in to which could be f i t t ed immedia te ly the grant of e lec tora l represent a t i on w i th a w ide f ranch i se t o t he o the r communi ty i n Keny a then ready f o r suchan ins t i tu t ion, namely , the Arabs , and in to which could be f i t t ed in due season asy s t em of rep re sen ta t i on f o r t he na t ive s o f Keny a themse lve s .

I t ha s a l ready been s t a t ed t ha t t he u l t ima te goa l i n Keny a may we l l be a gene ra lf ranchise based upon a c iv i l i sa t ion tes t i r respec t ive of race and colour , but tha t i tis no t to be exp ecte d t h a t th e na t iv es wil l be able , a t an e arly d ate , to pla y an effect ive

pa r t i n t he gove rnment o f Keny a a s members o f a common e l ec to ra t e embrac ing a l lthe se pa ra t e com mu ni t ies , an d, ther e for e , th a t the first s ta ge in th e inc lus ion ofna t ives as e lec ted representa t ives of the i r own people in the cent ra l l egis la ture ofthe Colony m us t be exp ec te d to be on some oth er bas i s . I f th i s v iew be accep ted, i tf ol lows th a t t he comm una l f ram ewo rk mu s t i n some f o rm be re t a ined in t h emea n t ime . I t does no t , o f course , f o ll ow th a t t he comm una l f ranch i se f o r Eu ro pe an sand In d i an s an d Ara bs m us t be re t a ine d f o r t he same pe r io d of t im e ; i f co nd i t i onsa l te r and loca l f ee l ing undergoes a change , a jo in t e lec tora te for two or a l l of thesecom mu ni t ies m ay come in t o be ing . B ut th e pr in c ip le of d i f fe rent e lec tora l ro l l s w i thdi f fe rent qua l i f ica t ions for vote rs wo uld have to be re ta i ne d a t an y ra te for th e na t iv eson the one ha nd , and th e im m ig ra nt r aces on th e o the r , and in th a t case i t i s d if ficul tt o see w ha t p ra c t i c a l ad va n t ag e would be ga in ed by end eavo ur ing to fo rce t he pace

wi th the objec t of combining two or a l l of the exis t ing separa te e lec tora tes .

cab/24/207 closer union in east africa (1929)

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