Colonial Agenda
A debate on colonial affairs from which the questions of Palestine and Malaya were excluded could have fallen flat. But Mr. George Hall's wide-ranging report and the debate which followed were valuable. They were also free from the excessive party polemics which have bedevilled so many recent debates, and Mr. Oliver Stanley acknowledged the continuity of the present policy with that of recent Governments. Possibly the problem of administering over forty territories with .6o,000,000 inhabitants, with the super- imposed problems of the aftermath of war and the resettlement of half a million colonial troops, had a sobering effect on discussion. In such circumstances particular measures like the setting up of the West African Council and the preparation of ten-year development plans are welcome. And the grant of a further £2o,000,000 to Malta is doubly welcome, as an acknowledgement of a great debt and a recognition of the future importance of Malta's prosperity and strength. But it is appropriate that debates of this kind should be mainly devoted to general questions. Prominent among these is the need for basic facts. When Dr. Haden Guest called for " soil surveys, geological surveys, forest surveys and agricultural surveys in order to see that we really knew what the resources of the colonies are capable of becoming," he b,.-gan in the right place. There are plenty of statistics and reports about the colonies, but they would be more useful if they were thoroughly planned and co-ordinated by a fully equipped fact-finding unit.
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