CONSULTATION IN AFRICA
Sta,—Mr. Jones's letter in the Spectator of June 10th ignores completely one essential difference between the l3fitish territories in East and West Africa—the . fact that the .latter are not contiguous. Problems of an inter-territorial character, which are susceptible to a British solution in the East, depend in the West, not only on co-operation between British territories, but also on co-operation with other nations.
It is wdrth noting, therefore, that immediately after, the war steps were taken -to resume and extend that Anglo-French Collaboration on tech-' nick matters of common concern to their respective territories in Africa which the war had interrupted. Commencing in 1946, a number of conferences have been held. At the more recent ones, representatives. from all the West African- Colonies, British and French, have been joined by delegates from the Belgian Congo. These gatherings included, in 1946, a medical conference at Accra and a veterinary conference at. Dakar ; in 1947 a communications conference at Dakar and a trypano-. somiasis conference at Brazzaville ; in 1948 a labour'conference in Nigeria and a soils conference at Goma, Belgian Congo.
In. addition, the West African Council has itself convened a number of technical conferences attended by officers from all the four British terri- tories which it represents. Directors of education and of public works have also conferred recently on their own problems. A number of con- ferences have been held in England, composed of officers from all the African territories, which have dealt with such subjects as " Local Government in Africa " and " Initiative in African Society." Last year's conference at Cambridge, with the latter title, dealt primarily with mass ---
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