Sin,--I am neither theologian nor politician, but I have for
some time both felt deeply and read fairly extensively on this subject, and I cannot help feeling that Mr. Lane Poole's letter may be dangerously misleading. He ignores completely the basic principle for which Michael Scott 'is fighting, namely the right of the African to an effective voice in the government of his own country. As I have understood him, Mr. Scott has never suggested self-government for the Africans—at least for a long time to come. He knows, better than most, that the African needs the white man. Many Africans are, we know, very much like children; but surely modern psychology has taught us, if nothing else, that it is a bad thing to impose on a child what it considers an injustice, with the "this is good for you" attitude of superiority. It is desirable to arrive at a solution that will be acceptable to both parent and child.
Mr. Lane Poole seems to think that if a bishop and an archbishop as well have given their blessing to federation it is inconceivable that any good Chtistian should dare to oppose it—an obvious non sequitur. By most, even of those who disagree with him, Michael
Scott is accepted as a good Christian and a man of deep sincerity. At the worst they would consider him misguided. But it is to be feared that Mr. Poole takes a highly prejudiced, view of people who do not see eye to eye with him, and he has judiciously forgotten, no doubt, that Jesus himself was a rebel against established authority.
To return to Mr. Poole's chief witness, the Archbishop of Canter- bury, I would suggest that, if federation takes place, it may well Indeed fail disastrously, but that if, by some miracle, it does succeed gloriously, it can only be because Michael Scott and others of his way of thinking have instilled the African with the need to make his voice heard and with the power to do so through the medium of passive disobedience. For federation will only succeed if the African is given an effective .share in the attempt to make it work. Or would Mr. Poole perhaps prefer another Mau Mau, which could be suppressed by 'force ?—Yours faithfully, (Mrs.) KATHLEEN KNIGHT.
Greyfriars, Kendal End Road, Burnt Green, Nr. Birmingham.
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