§ 14. Colonel WEDGWOODasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the expressed determination of the India Office to raise presently the case of the discriminatory land legislation in Zanzibar, he wishes to make any further statement on the matter raised by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Colonel Wedgwood)?
§ Sir P, CUNLIFFE-LISTERI am obliged to the right hon. Member for putting this question, as I inadvertently milled him in a supplementary answer, for which I apologise. The facts as regards communication between the India Office and my office are as stated in the reply of the Secretary of State for India on the 4th of March. The land alienation decree is not "discrimina 1923 tory," and the right hon. Member will see from Mr. Menon's report that, while criticising the decree in certain respects, Mr. Mellon expresses the view that the objections of the Indian community rested, to some extent, on a basic misconception, and that India could not logically object to such legislation, which was based on an Indian model.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODWill the right hon. Gentleman make a fresh inquiry in Zanzibar as to whether this legislation is not in fact discriminatory
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERNo. I have given the most careful consideration to that, and I have had reports, and I think, if the right hon. Gentleman studies the decree and, what is more, the way it is administered, he will see that it is neither in terms nor in practice discriminatory.