There are one or two points that I should like to bring to the notice of the House. The first one is a matter which I have taken the opportunity of raising in the House by way of question and answer on various occasions during the last three or four years, and that is the question, that has long awaited settlement, of the pensions of officers transferred from West Africa to East Africa, and vice versa. The Under-Secretary of State, I believe, is fully aware of the urgency of a settlement of this long-outstanding question. I realise that there are considerable financial difficulties in the way of a settlement that would be fair to all the Colonies concerned, who have to contribute in varying proportions to the pensions of officers who are transferred from one Colony to another, but I would urge that the difficulties are not such that they cannot be overcome. If these Colonial services are regarded as a whole, there is no reason why, with the aid of the Treasury, something in the nature of a clearing house or pool might not be formed, which would get away with these difficulties, and prevent us seeing the very great hardships which occur. A man has served, we will say, half the period of his service in one Colony on £500 a year, and then has been promoted and has served a few years or more on £1,000 a year in another Colony. He is not pensioned on the pay of his retiring post, but he is pensioned as regards, we will say, twenty-sixtieths on £500 and as regards ten-sixtieths on £1,000. It does not need any argument to show how unfairly that works out, that when a man gets promoted he is actually penalised in his pension. I urge on the Under-Secretary to do all that he can to see that a settlement of this matter is reached, if possible, during the existence of the present Government.

There is one other matter, on which I should like to ask a question. I believe the hon. Gentleman undertook, when he was going on his recent tour to West Africa, to look into the working of the Assessors' Ordinance at Sierra Leone. That is a matter which has given seine cause for anxiety. It was brought up before the Labour Government, I believe, on the first occasion by the members practising at the Bar at Sierra Leone and I would ask the hon. Gentleman not to forget to include seine reference to it in his forthcoming Report, to which we are all eagerly looking forward. There is one other matter, and that is the land question in Southern Rhodesia. I believe that is under consideration at the present moment, and I should like to ask the Under-Secretary whether it is considered that the 8,000,000 acres that are to be set aside for the natives form a sufficient area of ground, having regard to the population? With regard to the other number of acres, which it is recommended should be held "in reserve" for future arrangement, as between white settlers and native settlers taking up fresh areas of land, is it intended that that reserve area should be put in charge of a trust so as to be quite sure that too great an area of land is not alienated to the white settlers, thereby leaving the natives of the country in a less favourable position than that in which they might otherwise be placed?

The hon. Member for East Woolwich (Mr. Snell), I think it was, emphasised, and rightly emphasised, the very great importance of keeping the African, and particularly the Bantu African, on the land. It is the most dangerous thing that cam be done to separate the Bantu African from the land, and when we are making arrangements for the future distribution of land, such as is being done now in Southern Rhodesia, it is, to my mind, of the greatest importance that we should take the very longest view of the whole matter and see that, as far as we can, arrangements arc made which will allow a sufficient expansion of the African on his own native soil in that colony.