• It is suggested that the High Commissioner should be
assisted by a Council composed of three of his personal staff, and seven members from each territory, four of whom would be official and three non-official. The • Government do not 'conceal their wish that this Council should have only advisory fUnctions, but they point out that Kenya Colony—as distinct from the snail sea-coast strip of Kenya which is a Protectorate—comes under the Settlements Act of 1887 and that this Act would 'require amendment before any advisory body could be recognized. We may hope that the Joint Committee of the two Houses of Parliament to which these proposals are to be submitted will recommend the necessary amendment, for this legal bond with the Colonial policy of the past is a definite obstacle. Lord Passfield and his advisers deserve thanks for their bold application of the principles laid down by the Duke of Devonshire in July, 1923, and accepted by all political parties here.
Previous page
