HC Deb 03 May 1933 vol 277 cc839-40
13. Sir ALFRED BEIT

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the hostility of the resident population to the new proposals for taxation in Zanzibar, he will agree to the appointment of a local advisory committee, as in the case of Kenya, with the object of proposing alternative proposals aimed at balancing expenditure and revenue?

Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTER

The introduction of a system of trade licences, to which my hon. Friend no doubt refers, was one of the proposals made by Sir Alan Pim, who carried out a comprehensive inquiry into the revenue and expenditure of the Zanzibar Government last year. A similar system is already in force in the dependencies on the mainland, and I see no reason to postpone its introduction in Zanzibar or to suppose that a local committee would be able to put forward any more satisfactory alternative.