Victoria Falls
All the steps so far towards a New British Central African Federation have been taken with care and circumspection. The report published by the British Government in June, in which a federation of Nyasaland, Southern and Northern Rhodesia was proposed, came at the end of a thorough investigation by tech- nical experts, in which they had satisfied themselves as to the economic advantages of the scheme. The three months which will have elapsed between the publication of the report and the conference to be held at Victoria Falls next week between representatives of the three territories and the British Colonial and Commonwealth Relations Ministers have given a further opportunity, for careful consideration. But it is still doubtful, in view of the attitude of the Africans in all three territories, whether It will be possible to take any major decisions on this occasion. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Griffiths, who has been touring the territories affected, has pretty certainly collected at first hand a great deal of evidence of the economic benefits of federation. That he could hardly fail to do. But it seems equally certain that he has collected enough evidence of African fears of white domination to give him pause. Neither he nor Mr. Gordon Walker can have many intisions about the fate that awaits Africans in these territories if the Abikaners who have been spreading northward get a chance to extend the system obtaining in South Africa. But it is precisely to counteract that danger that the new Dominion, with its special Minister to safeguard native interests, is contemplated. All things considered, the Africans will be wise to realise the advantages the change would bring them.
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