EDITOR'S NOTES
| Date | 01 January 1955 |
| Published date | 01 January 1955 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1955.tb00075.x |
JOURNAL OF
AFRICAN ADMINISTRATION
VOLUME
VII
NUMBER 1JANUARY, 1955
EDITOR'S
NOTES
The first article in this number describes Dr. Tinker's book on the foundations
of local government in India,
Pakistan
and
Burma. Dr. Tinker is now Professor
of History in
the
University
at
Rangoon. His book, read together with
the
observations contained in the article by Mr. Wallis, a member of the African
Studies Branch of the Colonial Office, will be of great interest to all those
concerned with the expansion of local government in Africa.
Mr. Simpson, the
Land
Tenure Specialist in the African Studies Branch of
the
Colonial Office, wrote the article on land law
and
registration in
the
Sudan.
The paper was completed before Mr. Simpson left to
attend
a conference on
land problems for Asia and the
Far
East
organised by the Food
and
Agriculture
Organisation
at
Bangkok towards the end of 1954. He is also visiting Malaya
and Sarawak in
the
hope of learning much from their
treatment
of land tenure
problems which will be relevant to Africa.
We intend to publish more on the subject of the native purchase areas of
Southern Rhodesia, described by Mr. Powys-Jones in this number. Mr. Powys-
Jones recently retired from
the
post of Commissioner of Native Affairs in
Southern Rhodesia.
There are few who will
not
be interested in Mr. Stoke's description of the
council-manager system in Eire. In certain circumstances in Africa such
asystem, which has an element of popular control,
may
have advantages
but
whether it is appropriate for general introduction is a debatable point, parti-
cularly as it depends on an adequate supply of trained administrators as
managers.
While on the subject of local government readers will be interested to
hear
that
multi-racial district
and
provincial councils are now being set up in
Tanganyika. We hope to be able to publish an article on this subject in
afuture issue.
Until he retired recently from the service, Sir
John
Gray, who wrote for us
the review of Professor Anderson's Islamic Law in Africa, was Chief Justice
in Zanzibar.
By
the
time this number of the
Journal
is published
the
report for the 1954
Summer Conference should have reached those who joined us last year
at
King's College, Cambridge. Like its predecessors the report is not for publica-
tion
but
copies have been circulated to African Governments
and
to all who
participated. On this occasion the Conference discussed the problems of
industrial development
and
town growth, as
they
present themselves to
the
field officer.
For
this year only the usual Colonial Office Conference on African Adminis-
tration will be replaced by one organised by the Royal
Institute
of Public
Administration with the co-operation of the Colonial Office. The subject for
discussion will be the practical problem of developing local government in the
colonies and other territories. The R.LP.A., to which some members of the
Colonial Local Government Advisory Panel belong, is undoubtedly well-placed
by virtue of its wide and influential membership
and
the nature of
the
subject
toorganise
such a
con~erence.
Suppor~
for the conference, which is being held
this summer at Queens College, Cambridge, has already been obtained from the
Governments of the
many
territories which propose to participate,
and
we
extend to the R.I.P.A. our best wishes for a successful fortnight.
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