EAST AFRICA.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16429, 24 January 1919, Page 7

EAST AFRICA.

: * PROLONGATION OF CAMPAIGN. ENQUIRY DEMANDED. (By Cable Press Association.— I Copyright.) (Australian and Ctiblo Association.) (Received January 23rd, 7.45 p.m.) CAPE TOWN, January 21. Now that the war in Europe is over, the prolongation of the East African campaign is becoming the subject of increasing criticism. A strong article in tho ''Cape Times" by Mr Owen Letcher, a well-known authority on Central Africa, demands tho appointment of a, Commission of Enquiry. It asserts that the total strength of the enemy at the time of General Northey's departure scarcely outnumbered the motcr-cars possessed, by our mechanical transport. "We had an overwhelming, superiority of numbers, Besides an organisation extending from Cape Town to Nairobi; also two main headquarters at Dar-es-Salaam and Zomba, which employed a much larger number of'officers than tho whole of Goneral von Lettow's European force. It is commonly understood that the cost of the East African campaign has been much more than the Boer war. Only a strong oommittee of unbiased men can give a satisfactory answer to the question: "Why was the campaign not finished months and months ago?"