REPRISALS IN KENYA
• of the active Mau Mau members into the open. if they are wielded blindly in reprisal for acts of terrorism, then they may make bitter enemies of the entire Kikuyu. Although the self- control shown by the majority of Europeans in the face of extreme provocation has been magnificent, there are those who urge still more drastic and indiscriminate action against the Africans, and their voices are becoming more insistent. One of them said on Tuesday in the Kenya Legislative Council that if the Government enforced its additional powers with the necessary resolution, communal punishment would mean that "not a cow, bicycle, or goat would be left in a Kikuyu reserve today." In reply to the leader of the African members of the Council, Mr. John Whyatt, the member for Law and Order, said that it was inevitable that some innocent Africans would suffer "temporary inconvenience." No doubt it is inevitable; such is the nature of the inescapable dilemma. But it is also realised by most Europeans in Kenya that the innocent Afri- can's dilemma is still more terrible. If he informs against the Mau Mau, he will be murdered. If he does not, the Govern- ment may seize his belongings and drive him from his home. The Mau Mau murdered five loyal Kikuyu as well as Com- mander Meiklejohn at the week-end. Until the law-abiding Africans can be sure of protection by the Government, then it will be unrealistic to expect co-operation on any scale from them. The atmosphere in Kenya is now at its tensest, and Mr. Lyttelton was quite right to decline Mr. Griffiths' suggestion that a Parliamentary delegation should be appointed now to visit that unhappy country. There will be time for such visits when some greater degree of order has been restored. The Europeans in Kenya themselves know little enough about the Mau Mau, and it would not help matters to have a group of M.P.s who know even less travelling about. The Royal Com- mission is another matter, and it is high time that its members were appointed and the enquiry begun. Meanwhile calm must be imposed upon Kenya, and that will not come about until Africans as well as Europeans are protected against the murders attacks of Mau Mau.
