Our Pledges in Kenya The questions raised by the Kenya
gold find are discussed at length and with authority on a later page. The issue has been confused by the inferences not un- reasonably drawn from an answer given by the Colonial Secretary in the House of Commons on December 20th. The statement then made appeared at first sight satis- factory, and was generally considered so. Everything hangs, however, on the interpretation given to the word " temporary " as applied to the conditions created by the revised ordinance regarding the native reserves, and new light has now been thrown on that. In view of the fact that prospecting leases, running for as long as twenty-five years or more, appear to have been granted already, it is absurd to term the disturbance thus created as merely temporary. The substitution of financial compensation for compensation in land in the case of the displaced native is utterly unsatisfactory and can only lead to the demoralization of the natives evicted. The little information that has come through from Kenya makes it manifest that a great deal more information is needed. The revised Kenya ordinance is not effective till it receives the Colonial Secretary's sanction, and it is quite imperative that such sanction should be withheld till opportunity has been given for full discussion in the House' of Commons. This country's pledges towards the natives are deeply involved and the affair is not one of
gold but of honour. * * S.
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