4 NOVEMBER 1932, Page 2

The Gold Find in Kenya.

The gold find in Kenya raises other questions besides gold. The Kakarnega area where the discovery has been made appears to be part of the native reserves. Under what conditions mining should be carried on is therefore a point of the first importance. There is no reason on the face of it why the natives of Kenya should not benefit from the discovery of gold in their soil as much as the Arabs of Iraq from the discovery of oil, though nothing could be more disastrous than to put sudden wealth into -their hands. The results of the oil-strike in Oklahoma on the Indians of that region are worth remembering. It is clearly for the Kenya Government to take the situation in hand, as the South African Government did when diamonds were discovered in Namaqualand a few years ago. If that is done promptly all the evils of a gold-rush, with its wild exploitation and its demands on native labour, can be avoided, the enterprise can be planned under proper regulation, and the finances of the colony materially benefited. The Governor of Kenya is understood to be waiting for a further report from Sir Albert Kitson, who has been testing the find. The reason- able course would be to take over the gold area for the benefit of the colony as a whole.