Bill, to ascertain the consent of the natives concerned where such consent is required before the leasing of areas in the native reserves to Europeans; the composition of the native councils to which reference is made in the first of the proposed amendments; and how far they are representative of the native population?

Mr. AMERY: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 21st June to the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Gillett).

Mr. BAKER: Was not the earlier reply to this request for information merely a statement that discussion was being temporarily postponed ?

Mr. AMERY: Yes, but as the whole matter has been postponed for consideration, I could not very well answer the detailed points that the hon. Member has put.

Mr. WELLOCK asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the total amount of land now in the possession of the white population of Kenya; the dates on which the principal transferences were made; the amount of land involved in each; and what proportion this forms of the total fertile land of Kenya ?

Mr. AMERY: The areas of grants of land in Kenya registered in recent years are as follows:

These figures do not show what proportion of the grants were made to Europeans, nor do they make allowance for surrenders; but the total area alienated at the 31st December, 1926, was 6,005,774 acres. As regards land under occupation by Europeans, the total amount, according to the Kenya Agricultural Census for the year ended 31st July, 1927, was 4,737,920 acres. I am not in a position to supply the detailed information asked for in the second and third parts of the question. I cannot say what percentage of the total land area of Kenya could properly be classed as fertile, but the area alienated at the 31st December, 1926, was approximately 4 per cent. of the total land area.

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how much land of the native reserves now occupied by natives it is proposed to alienate or which will be available for European settlement under the Native Land Trust Bill now under discussion in Kenya Colony; and where this land is situated?

Mr. AMERY: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on the 21st June to the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Gillett).

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any correspondence has passed between his office and the Government of Kenya Colony as to the Native Land Trust Bill which that Government is understood to be introducing during this month; and,

if so, whether a copy of such papers may be placed in the Library of the House?

Mr. AMERY: Correspondence has passed, and is still passing, between the Governor of Kenya and myself in regard to the Native Land Trust Bill which was recently introduced into the Legislative Council in Kenya. I will consider when the correspondence is complete what part, if any, of it can be published.

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY: Can the right hon. Gentleman see his way to let us have some of this correspondence before his Estimates. come up for discussion this year ?

Mr. AMERY: I think that I must wait until the correspondence is complete, but I will consider the suggestion.

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY: Will the right hon. Gentleman prepare some statement on the matter?

Mr. AMERY: I will consider that point.

Mr. RENNIE SMITH asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is intended, under the Kenya Native Land Trust Bill, to demarcate a minimum amount of land which is to be unconditionally reserved to the natives for ever?

Mr. AMERY: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave on 21st June to the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Gillett).

27th June.

Mr. AMMON asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Kenya Native Land Trust Bill makes provision for the inclusion as beneficially occupied land of land under cultivation and fallow land, grazing land, and land left idle after grazing; and whether all land not so occupied will be available for leasing to Europeans?

Mr. MORGAN JONES asked the Secretary for the Colonies whether the appointment of non-official Europeans to the Central Board under the Kenya Native Land Trust Bill will be submitted to him for approval; and whether he can make any statement as to the kind of qualifications which will be taken into account in the selection of these gentlemen?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. AMERY): I would refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Gillett) on 21st June.

Colonel WEDGWOOD: Are we to understand that this Native Land Trust Bill which is passing through the Kenya Assembly is one to take land from the natives and not to secure the natives in the land which they have, and will the right hon. Gentleman inquire why the nature of this legislation has been completely changed from what was intended by the Colonial Office ?

Mr. AMERY: The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative and the second, therefore, does not arise.

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY: Has the right hon. Gentleman's

attention been called to the speech of the Governor of Kenya in which his Department is attacked by the Governor for holding up this legislation?

Mr. AMERY: I have seen the telegraphed report of the speech, but I cannot accept the hon. Member's description of it as an attack.

Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHY: Since the right hon. Gentleman answered the previous question on the matter, has he looked up what happened to Ahab when he took Naboth's vineyard?

28th June.

Mr. BARR asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Kenya Native Land Trust Bill excludes from the native reserves, as already demarcated, certain areas which may be leased to European landholders; and whether, in view. of the effect of such exclusion on the uncertainty in regard to future land policy, which was described by the East Africa Commission as being the principal cause of disquiet among the natives, he proposes to take any action in this matter?

Mr. AMERY: I think the hon. Member has misunderstood the position, as the Bill did not purport to effect any reduction in the native reserves; but as I explained in reply to a question by the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Gillett) on the 21st June, it is not proposed to proceed with the enactment of this legislation pending the receipt and consideration of recommendations which will be made by the Commission on Closer Union in East Africa, and, in the circumstances, no useful purpose would be served by discussing the Measure further at this stage.

NORTHERN NIGERIA (EDUCATION).

25th June

Mr. MORRIS asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will publish the Report presented by the Rev. A. G. Fraser, head of the Government school at Achimota, upon the condition of education in Northern Nigeria?

Mr. AMERY: Mr. Fraser visited Nigeria at the request of the Governor of that Colony, and embodied his impressions in a Memorandum, which he sent to Sir Graeme Thomson. It is not proposed to publish the document, which was not an official report.

SEAMAN'S REPATRIATION.

Captain GARRO-JONES asked the Home Secretary (1) whether, prior to the deportation of John Zarlia, consideration was given to the fact that during the War this man was employed by the Liverpool Gas Company; that he was called up for military service, but was exempted on the ground of his employment being of national importance; whether he can specify any reason why this seaman was treated as an alien; and how it comes about that a supposed alien was repatriated to a British Colony ;

(2) whether he is aware that John Zarlia, the seaman who has been deported to a British Colony on the ground that he is thought to be an

alien, has a wife and child, who are being maintained by the Liverpool Guardians to the extent of 15s. per week; and whether he will consult with the Colonial Office with a view to securing the return of this man to his home and family in Liverpool?

Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS: With the hon. and gallant Member's permission, I will answer this and the following question together as they relate to a single case which, as I have already explained, is not one of deportation. I understand that this man was during part of the War employed in Liverpool as stated and that he has a wife and child there. In reply to previous questions I have given details of the circumstances in which he was refused leave to land as an alien and was removed by the shipping company in accordance with the provisions of the Aliens Order. If he is in fact a British subject and is able to produce satisfactory evidence on the point, he is of course free to return to this country if he wishes.

Captain GARRO-JONES: On a point of Order. I put down these two questions in order to get answers to specific points, but the right hon. Gentleman has taken the opportunity of lumping the questions together and evading the specific point. That being so, I wish to ask, as a supplementary question, whether the right hon. Gentleman can specify any reason why this seaman was treated as an alien and how it comes about that a supposed alien has been repatriated to a British Colony?

Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS: With great respect, may I say that the hon. and gallant Member is asking a question which he has asked several times before, and which has been answered already. I fully explained why this man was refused leave to land here--because he was, and is still believed to be, an alien. Consequently, he was not repatriated at our expense at all, but the ordinary course was followed which is followed in all cases of a shipping company bringing a man here who is not allowed to land. They took him back to the place he came from, and the fact that he came from a British Colony does not prove that he is a British subject.

Captain GARRO-JONES: Can the right hon. Gentleman give any specific item of evidence to show that this man was an alien; and, if not, is it to go out to all the coloured subjects of the British Empire that, unless they can prove by specific documentary evidence-which very few of them can give that they are British subjects, they are to be deprived of every privilege of British subjects when they come to this country and are to be treated as aliens ?

The hon. and For many years

Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKS: No, Sir. Certainly not. gallant Member is not justified in making that statement. past this man has been treated as an alien and assumed to be an alien and has passed as an alien. In those circumstances, it is for him to show that he is a British subject when he asks leave to land here.

Captain GARRO-JONES: I beg to give notice that on the first opportunity I shall raise this matter either on the Motion for the Adjournment of the House or on the Vote for the right hon. Gentleman's salary.

25th June.

TANGANYIKA (COFFEE PLANTATIONS, KILIMANJARO).

Sir R. HAMILTON asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that during the season of 1927 some 3,800 bags of Arabica coffee, consigned by the Kilimanjaro Native Plantations' Association, were sold by auction in London at prices very similar to those obtained for Kenya coffee sold at the same auctions; and whether he has received any report as to the manner in which the native coffee plantations on Kilimanjaro have been managed and the present condition of the trees?

Mr. AMERY: I am aware that the Kilimanjaro native Arabica coffee is of high quality and fetches good prices. Indirect Government supervision of native coffee cultivation in Kilimanjaro has proved successful, and the latest reports at my disposal indicate that the trees are in excellent condition.

TANGANYIKA (NATIVES).

Mr. RENNIE SMITH asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in regard to the mandated territory of Tanganyika, if, when natives become available with sufficient command of the English language to take part in the debates of the council, it is the intention to appoint natives to the council, in order to assist the Secretary for Native Affairs, the Chief Secretary, and the Governor in discharging their responsibilities for the welfare of the natives?

Mr. AMERY: The question of appointing native members to the Legislative Council of Tanganyika will receive the fullest consideration as soon as there are natives of standing, able to speak on behalf of the various tribes of the country, and otherwise qualified to participate in the proceedings of the Council.

Mr. SMITH asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in pursuance of the policy agreed to in Tanganyika in July, 1926, that non-native settlement should be encouraged wherever the climate is suitable and adequate areas are available without depriving the native population of sufficient land for its own use, how much land has been allocated to non-natives for use; and whether any final estimate has been made of the total amount of land to be used in this way?

Mr. AMERY: The area alienated under the German administration is

estimated at 1,754,620 acres. Since then, rights of occupancy have been granted over approximately 277,699 acres. It is impossible at present to give even a preliminary estimate of the amount of suitable land available for this purpose in the uninhabited or sparsely inhabited districts of this vast territory.

26th June.

WEST AFRICA (ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS, IMPORTS). Sir R. THOMAS asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that there is great and increasing importation of intoxicating