Considerable uneasiness has been created this week by the resignation
of Sir Charles Eliot, the Commissioner of the East Africa Protectorate. At first it was supposed that the proposed grant of land to the Zionists had something to do with his action ; but it now appears that the reason was the alleged policy of the Foreign Office in granting large tracts of land in East Africa to syndicates, while refusing similar applications by private settlers. The Commissioner has sent a peremptory telegram to the Prime Minister demanding a full inquiry into the circumstances of his resignation, and declaring that he was unable to execute the instructions of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, as they were "unjust and impolitic." Sir Charles Eliot is perhaps the most distinguished of our younger diplomatists and his rapid advancement has shown that he has been high in favour with the Foreign Office. The reasons which have induced an administrator imbued with the traditions of the Service to commit so striking a breach of official etiquette as his telegram to the Prime Minister must be of no ordinary gravity ; and there is a universal desire to have the matter cleared up. We are glad to see that Mr. Balfour in the House of Commons on Wednesday promised that an explanation should be given, but that the Government would await the arrival of Sir Charles Eliot before publishing the correspondence.
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