Editor's Notes
| Date | 01 July 1960 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1960.tb00174.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1960 |
JOURNAL
OF
AFRICAN
ADMINISTRATION
Volume
XII
.Number 3 .
July
1960
Editor's Notes
IvIR.
Raymond
Apthorpe's
article on
'The
Introduction
of
Bureaucracy
into
African
Polities' clearly illustrates
the
wide differences in
the
indigenous
tribal
systems on
which
the
present
administrations
have
been
founded,
and
from
which
they
have
progressed
through
at
least
the
first two phases
of
British
administration,
the
phases
of
direct
and
of
indirect
rule.
The
extent
to
which
further
progress
can
be
made
to the
third
phase
of
local
government
depends
on
the
adaptability
of
existing political systems to
the
introduction
of
awestern
type
of
bureaucracy.
Readers
will
appreciate
Mr.
Lawrance's
vcry
clear
and
complete
account
of
'A
Pilot
Scheme
for
the
Grant
of
Land
Titles in
Uganda',
but
may
be
alarmed
at
the
cost,
although
Mr.
Lawrance
expects
that
photograrnmetric
methods
of
survey will
enable
it to he
materially
reduced.
The
article shows clearly
the
drawbacks
of
registering plots as
they
exist
on
the
ground
without
power
to
secure consolidation or
even
to
straighten
boundaries.
With
the
increased speed
of
political
advance
in African territories, all
administrations
are
studying
ways
and
means
of
increasing local
recruitment
so
that
a
reasonably
high
proportion
of
experienced local officers will be avail-
able
when
responsible
government
or
independence
is achieved.
Mr.
Coke
Wallis
has
described
the
way
in which
the
Nigerianization
of
the
public
services in Western
Nigeria
is
being
undertaken.
We welcome from
Mr.
Tatton
Brown
an
article
describing
the
progress
made
in
the
development
of
African District Councils in
Kenya,
last described in
an
article
which
appeared
in
the
July
1955 issue
of
the
Journal.
Most
territories will be in
the
throes
of
undertaking
or
compiling
the
results
of
their
demographic
and
agricultural
censuses
held
under
the
auspices
of
the
United
Nations
and
the
Food
and
Agricultural
Organization.
Mr.
T.
E.
Smith's
account
of
the
background
to census-taking
and
vital
registration
among
semi-literate societies shows clearly
how
important
is
the
role
of
the
District
Commissioner
if
results
of
any
accuracy
are
to be
obtained-"not
only
the
administration
and
enumerators"
should be
prepared
for
the
count
"but
also
the
people to
be
enumerated".
Mr.
C.
H.
Allen's description
oflocal
government
and
political consciousness
in
the
British
Solomon
Islands
Protectorate
emphasizes
the
fact
that
the
admin-
istrative
problems
of
territories as far
apart
as Africa
and
the
Pacific
Ocean
differ
only
in
detail.
12J
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