Lord Lugard's letter in. The Times on Wednesday, explaining that
the strip of British Somaliland " offered " to Abyssinia is, apart from the port of Zeita, a waterless and unpopulated patch of sand, puts Mr. Eden's tentative proposal to Signor Mussolini in the right proportion, and it is singularly interesting to learn that Lord Lugard himself proposed precisely the same transfer fifteen years ago. The principle raised by the handing over of a handful of the inhabitants of Zeita still remains. And that may have to be considered on a larger scale before long, for I gather that the old pre-War project of the sale . of some of Portugal's colonies to Germany is taking.shape again. There can be no question now—there was none in 1914 of pressure on Portugal. But if she should desire to sell voluntarily, considerable populations would necessarily be transferred to another sovereignty—which they might find either better or worse than the old.
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