Problems of Empire In his great survey of the African
continent, published this week and reviewed on another page of The Spectator by a leading African administrator, Sir Donald Cameron, Lord Halley has emphasised the need for closer Parliamentary control of colonial and imperial administration. He proposes that a standing committee of Parliament on African affairs should be set up, and an African Bureau and an African Research Fund should be established. The point of his proposals is that without permanent and reliable non-official sources of information neither Parliament nor the public can exercise efficient control and criticism. It is interesting that another exceptionally able administrator, Mr. Ernest Bevin, just returned from a tour of the Empire, has come to a similar conclusion. In a statement this week he speaks of the " dictatorship " of the Colonial Office over 66,000,000 native and voteless people. Many will object to the term ; yet it is completely accurate unless the Colonial Office is effectively responsible to properly informed Parliamentary and public opinion. Thus Mr. Bevin proposes that a Select Committee be appointed to enquire into colonial problems and that the Labour and Trade Union movements should set up their own organisations of information. There is no need to emphasise the wisdom and importance of such proposals ; the troubles of the West Indies and of Palestine might have been avoided if errors of policy and administration had been more effectively criticised at home.
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