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general policy of His Majesty's Government, and they cannot counte- nance the introduction of any such legislation in Kenya.
The existing Immigration Regulations of the Colony are of quite general application. It is clearly as important in the general interests of Kenya to prohibit the entry of undesirable persons from Europe or America as from Asia. There is no reason to suppose that the Regulations in present circumstances are inadequate for this general purpose. But the consideration which must govern immigration policy in Kenya is purely economic, and strict regard must be paid to the interests of the African. When the question is re-examined from this standpoint, it is evident to His Majesty's Government that some further control over immigration in the economic interests of the natives of Kenya is required. The primary duty of the Colonial Government is the advancement of the African, and it is incumbent upon them to protect him from an influx of immigrants from any country that might tend to retard his economic development.
In course of time, as the natives progress intellectually, they will no doubt take the place which Africans hold in other parts of British Tropical Africa in mechanical and subordinate clerical work and in small trade, and it must be the aim of the British administration to further this development by all possible means. With this object the Colonial Government must weigh, so far as may be practicable, the effect on native interests of the admission to the Colony of would-be immigrants of any race. No information is yet available to show what number of immigrants following a particular occupation the Colony can absorb. The problem is complicated by the position of the separate dependency of Uganda, to which the normal access lies through Mombasa and the Kenya Colony, and this necessitates careful con- sideration before any scheme is definitely decided upon. Further, some arrangement must be devised for securing a strictly impartial examination of applications for entry into Kenya, possibly by a Board on which the various communities, including the natives, would be represented. It will, therefore, be an instruction to the Governor of Kenya to explore the matter further on his return to the Colony, and, in concert with the Governor of Uganda, to submit proposals to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for giving effect to that amount of control of immigration which the economic interests of the natives of both dependencies require.
10. Conclusion.
In conclusion, His Majesty's Government desire to record that the decisions embodied in this memorandum have only been taken after an exhaustive review of the several complicating factors which have led to the present unhappy controversy. Their constant en- deavour throughout their deliberations has been to relate the principles which must govern the administration of a British Colony in Tropical Africa to the wider considerations of general Imperial policy as enunciated in the Resolution of the Imperial Conference of 1921. It is regretted that on certain material points it has not been possible
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to meet the wishes of the Government of India, whose views have received the fullest consideration from His Majesty's Government at the instance of the Secretary of State for India. It is not to be expected that issues so grave can be composed to the immediate satisfaction of the several interests concerned, but His Majesty's Government believe that the decisions now taken, resting as they do on the broad basis of the British trusteeship for the African, provide an equitable adjustment of those interests. It is the confident expectation of His Majesty's Government that, if the whole matter is viewed in its true perspective, decisions so based will be accorded general acceptance, and it is their earnest hope that a sincere effort will be made to restore in Kenya that spirit of co-operation and good-will so essential to its welfare and development.
July, 1923.
Printed under the authority of HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY Office, By HARRISON AND Sons, LTD., 44-47, St. Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 2, Printers in Ordinary to His Majesty.
#3-518)r G510 2000 7/23 IH & S Ltd. Gp.3.
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