212 THE LAND OF THE LION 
of them. One thing above all other things this country 
wants badly, and wants now. A strong impartial govern- 
ment. That is just what, alas, it has not got. A policy 
of “cover-up,” and “‘hush-up”’ at any cost, prevails. Ifan 
official fails in his office, or if worse than that, he has been 
guilty of more than one failure, too often the course pursued 
is one of concealment. ‘‘Let us not havea scandal whatever 
we do.” This criticism may seem harsh and uncalled for, 
especially coming from a visitor who has received, as I have, 
on all hands, nothing but kindness and courteous considera- 
tion. But I have fully convinced myself, by actual personal 
investigation, of its unfortunate and literal truth. The 
difficulties facing the executive in British East Africa are 
very great. Every allowance should be made for those who 
are set to doa task, with means utterly inadequate to the 
accomplishment of that task. But however inadequate 
those means may be, the policy of hushing up, and pretend- 
ing not to know flagrant wrongdoing of public officials, 
must be ruinous to official discipline and efficiency. 
This raid of Mr. , known all over the land, was not 
punished as it should have been. It is true that there are 
difficulties in procuring evidence, natives would have to be 
brought from a long distance, expense might have to be in 
incurred, but if an example was once made of such unscrupu- 
lous villainy, it would strengthen the hands of every single 
magistrate in these far scattered posts, and help greatly to 
raise the prestige of the native police (askari), which by the 
way, needs raising badly. That hundreds of innocent 
men should be murdered in cold blood, for attempting 
to defend their poor little all of possessions, that this 
should be done within an English protectorate, and that 
the man doing it should remain not only unpunished, 
but untried, is surely not according to what is best in 
English tradition. 
In a land where disorder and injustice has wrought its 
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