PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
6
Reference :-
C.O.885
18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
(No. 177/72.)
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
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Enclosure 1 in No. 81A.
Office of the Commissioner for Land,
Nairobi, July 18, 1907. THE Secretary of State in his despatch, No. 228, dated 23rd April, 1907, commented on Major Hills's report on the survey of this country before receiving my minute thereon, which was forwarded with Your Excellency's, note.
note.
I asked the Director of Survey to favour me with his remarks, and attach his
2. It is unnecessary to say anything regarding the Sotik Survey, and the formation of the Land Board. The former has been carried out; and the Land Board will very shortly come into existence.
An attempt is about to be made to train the youths of the country in survey. The result will be reported in due course.
3. The only question that has now to be dealt with is that raised in para- graph (4) of Major Smith's report. It is quite possible that I used the word Cadastral" in too loose a sense. The main point is that in this Protectorate, owing to the small staffs of all Departments, we are obliged to ask the Survey Department to undertake some duties which do not perhaps strictly speaking pertain to it. But this is inevitable in a new country.
The Land Office contains only two officers, whose time is fully occupied; and the Department of Public Works is still very short handed.
At the same time it is only fair to the Survey Department that the fact should be known that its staff is engaged not only on survey and the making of maps. Other miscellaneous duties have necessarily to be performed, and are willingly performed.
4. To take the several cases mentioned in the Director's note:-
(a) When Mr. Barton Wright went on leave there was no one to put in his place, with the experience of Mr. Waring, and that officer (whose post is that of Deputy Director, Cadastral Branch) was appointed Acting Land Officer.
(b) The work here mentioned was in the public service, though it may not
have referred necessarily to public lands.
(c) There is no representative of the Land Office on the coast, and as the report was urgently required by the Colonial Office, the District Surveyor was deputed for the work.
(d) For the same reason the Surveyor at Mombasa is requested to represent
the Land Officer on the Sites Board.
(e) I agree regarding reconnaissance work.
(f) The laying out of townships must be done by the Public Works Depart- ment or the Survey Department, in consultation with the Land Officer.
If the Public Works Department have no one available we must call on the Survey Department.
(g) I agree that partition of private lands is private work.
(2) and (i) These two must remain for the present in the Survey Depart- ment. The duty under (h) requires the professional knowledge of a map maker; and as all maps are kept by the Survey Department (2) also must remain with it. But I hope the latter may in time be taken over by the Land Office.
(j) It seems to me that this can best be done by the Surveyor who has put
up the beacons.
(k) I admit that this is properly Land Office work, and am dealing with the
question further on.
(7) In sending up the Estimates for the current year, we asked for a road section of the Cadastral Branch. The ideal is for the Survey Depart- ment to lay out the roads as it proceeds with the survey of the properties.
So far the Public Works Department had done this, except in the Sotik, where we asked the Survey Department to carry out the work as no Public Works Department officer was available.
5. It will be seen from the above remarks that there is real need for help, and I agree with Major Smith that the increase at present had better be in the Land Office. The existing staff consists of a Land Officer (salary £600) and an
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Assistant Land Officer (salary £300). We require another officer, to be called Land Ranger, who would be available for outside inspection work, his spare time being given to the office.
In forwarding my criticisms on the proposals to amend the Crown Lands Ordinance, I remarked that if the District Surveyors we had asked for were sanctioned it was hoped that these officers would be able for the present to do what Land Rangers are expected to do.
I was over sanguine in this opinion. The District Surveyors may be able to help on the coast, and in Naivasha and Kisumu Provinces, but not in the Ukamba Province, where far the largest number of settlers have taken land. We are at present receiving great help from the administrative staff or district officers, but this is not an ideal arrangement. These officers have multifarious duties to attend to; besides they are not all qualified to report on land. Some experience is needed for this work.
6. We may find that we shall require more than one Land Ranger. For the present I ask for only one, and suggest that if possible the new appointment be created with effect from next October, when Mr. Campbell will have returned from leave, and Mr. Scholefield will be free to take up the new duties. I suggest that the salary of the Land Ranger be fixed at £300 a year, the same as that of the Assistant Land Officer. Perhaps it may be possible to find savings under some head of the Estimates of this year to the extent of £150.
His Excellency
The Governor,
East Africa Protectorate,
Nairobi.
I have, &c.,
J. A. L. MONTGOMERY,
Commissioner of Land.
Enclosure 2 in No. 81A. MEMORANDUM.
(1.) With regard to Colonial Office despatch, I have to remark that the shapes
and sizes of the sheets therein laid down had already been adopted by me.
(2.) With regard to Sotik, I should like to record the fact that I have not altered my opinion—an opinion which I formed fully realising the advantages which are now accruing to us.
(3.) Appreciation of work done previous to the organization of last year will be found in my report of July, 1905, wherein it is stated that the work could not have been done better with the very insufficient staff and resources which were then available.
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(4.) In your covering letter, paragraph 5, you say, "Till the Licensed Surveyors must do nearly all the Cadastral work as they are in fact doing now.' cannot agree.
Using the word in its most extended sense to make it include all duties con- nected with the Survey of Crown Lands, it is not the case. In this sense of the work the Cadastral Branch has been continuously employed on Cadastral work with two exceptions :-
(a) Mr. Waring was employed as Land Officer during Mr. Barton Wright's
absence. (b) Certain miscellaneous drawing and reproduction of maps for purposes
other than public lands have been done in the Cadastral Branch.
In the restricted sense of the word, that is to say, the production of cadastral or large scale sheets for land purposes, no work of this sort whatever has been done by Licensed Surveyors, and the only cadastral maps yet produced in the country are those of Nairobi and Mombasa.
I think that for our purposes we must adopt a definition midway between the two. Perhaps Cadastral and Revenue Branch would represent the work better. The point is of importance, because so long as the word is used quite loosely one is apt not only to talk at cross purposes, but there is a great tendency to force on the department work, which, however important, is not really within its province.
In consequence of the existence of large arrears of work, it is not possible to confine the work of the Cadastral Branch to the production of the cadastral sheets.
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