In the old days we were told that in Imperial
matters Downing Street never considered the wishes of " the man on the spot." Such a criticism certainly cannot be made • nowadays. In Mr. Amery we have a Colonial Secretary who has travelled in all parts of the Empire, and his Under-Secretary, Mr. Ormsby-Gore, has travelled far and wide since he assumed office. Last year Mr. Ormsby- Gore was in East Africa, now he is making a tour of British West Africa. While at Lagos he made an im- portant statement. He said that he saw no necessity for the introduction of European plantations in Nigeria, in order to improve the conditions of the West African palm oil industry.. In his opinion the natives were able to do all that was necessary despite the increasing competition of the Dutch East Indies and the Congo. Those who care for the welfare of the subject peoples of the British Com- monwealth are proud of the results of British policy in West Africa, where by a judicious, system of African pro- ducership and land ownership peace has prevailed and a steady commercial expansion has taken place. The success of West Africa shows that the African native is able to respond to the needs of the modern world under just laws.
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