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6. Applications for land in the Protectorate, either on purchase or on lease, are not numerous, and it will not be necessary to specially affect more than one man to this work. His pay would be largely recouped by the survey fees charged to the purchasers of land. I therefore recommend that the survey staff be increased by one man at £360 to £400 a year, for this special purpose.
7. I cordially agree with the views expressed by Major Hills in his 31st paragraph as regards the desirability of issuing certificates of title for the native estates which have already been surveyed, and I hope that the difficulties which the Crown Law Officer and the Judge have pointed out concerning the tenure of land under the native laws, will soon be removed.
8. While agreeing as to the advantage of employing natives as surveyors, I fear that several years must elapse before Ugandans will be fit for employment in such a capacity. Barring a few men who know sufficient English to be capable of acting as interpreters in the Law Courts it is difficult to find a native who understands a word of English. Education is entirely in the hands of the missionaries, and teaching almost solely carried on in the vernacular.
9. I concur in Major Hills's recommendations as regards the pay and status of the survey staff, but his classification of the various grades appears to me to be capable of improvement. I consider that a certain number of surveyors should be on the permanent and pensionable establishment, and that at least six of the "District Surveyors " should be included that category. Under the existing system The delimitation of the native estates we are constantly losing our best men. requires not only the ordinary technical knowledge of a surveyor but especially the exercise of tact and discretion. A surveyor is frequently called upon to decide on the spot as to the relative merits of conflicting claims to the same piece of land or boundary, and, in such cases, a man who has had long experience in the country is worth three times as much as one who may have just arrived. Under the present system of temporary engagements we often find men, just as they have acquired a good knowledge of the native language and of the customs of the country, declining to re-engage. This should, I think, be remedied by placing six of the best surveyors on the permanent establishment. Judging by Major Hills's conclusions it is evident that the various surveys in the kingdom of Uganda will take at least 20 years to complete. By that time, progress in other parts of the Protectorate will have rendered similar work necessary, and I therefore see no reason to fear that work will not always be found for a permanent staff of at least six surveyors.
10. The various recommendations made by Major Hills for improvements in the working of the Survey Department generally will not be lost sight of, and will, I hope, be carried into effect.
11. With regard to Mr. Allen's Memorandum of 30th May (vide Mr. Wilson's despatch, No. 94, of 25th June*), I recommend the adoption of the proposal made in his 3rd paragraph. I also recommend that Messrs. Richardson, Fraser, Seth- District Smith, Fenning, and Boazman be appointed on the permanent staff as Surveyors" at £360 to £400. Mr. Winckler might be re-appointed at £360 to £400 a year, as the "Land Surveyor" referred to in my sixth paragraph. He should, later on, be placed on the permanent staff as a District Surveyor."
12. The cost of the Survey Department is already so great a drain on the finances of the Protectorate that I cannot recommend any considerable increase of expenditure in that direction. The strength of the junior staff should, therefore, be limited so as to bring the total outlay nearly within the amount authorised in this year's estimates.
33344
I am, &c.,
H. HESKETH BELL,
His Majesty's Commissioner for Uganda.
No. 84. UGANDA.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received September 19, 1907.)
[Answered by No. 88,]
The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments to
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the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and, by direction of the Secretary of State, transmits herewith copy of the under-mentioned paper.
Foreign Office,
September 18, 1907.
DESCRIPTION OF ENCLOSure.
Name and Date.
Subject.
Sir A. Hardinge, Brussels, No. 123, Africa, Sop- Measurement of an are of the 30th meridian.
tember 10, 1907.
SIR,
(No. 123. Africa.)
Enclosure in No. 84.
Brussels, September 10, 1907. I ADDRESSED a Note to the Congo Government in the sense of the Memo- randum enclosed in your despatch, No. 69, of the 4th instant, on the subject of the measurement of the arc of the 30th meridian, but I thought it as well, so as to incur no avoidable loss of time, to discuss the matter verbally with M. de Cuvelier, and I accordingly read to him this afternoon a rough translation of our proposals.
He seemed inclined to criticise as superfluous the retention on the spot of the portion of the "Political Commission" not actually employed on the scientific work of measuring the arc, for the purpose of "completing and extending the mapping of the boundary zone," and I had some difficulty in making him understand that this latter proposal did not aim at any readjustment of the frontier. He further enquired whether it was absolutely necessary to send out an astronomical expert, as the Congo Government might experience some difficulty in securing one at short notice, and whether the Commissioners who determined the exact position of the meridian might not be competent to measure the arc, though on this point he said, when I asked his own opinion as to Commandant Bastien's qualifications. that he would have to consult scientific specialists. He laid special stress on the importance of not interrupting or retarding the work of the Political Commis- sioners in order to complete the measurement of the arc, and I could not help fancying that he half suspected us of wishing to put off, by this means, as long as possible, the final settlement of a question with respect to which the Congolese case was a stronger one than our own. He added that he presumed that the state- ment that the angles of the proposed triangulation were on the British side of the meridian was a reply to his earlier enquiry as to how far on either side of the line operations would extend, and that he was willing to accept the assumption contained in that statement for the present, though he would be anxious to know on what it rested. To this I said that I could only hazard the conjecture that it was perhaps based on the earlier operations in the neighbourhood of the Anglo-German Boundary Commission.
I think M. de Cuvelier will accept our proposals in the main, provided it is clearly understood that they involve no stoppage of the delimitation of the meridian itself, though he may suggest some few modifications as to details and procedure. He expressed some doubt whether the share of £500 which each of the two Govern- ments would, he presumed, have to contribute towards the £2,000 estimated as the cost of the measurement would cover the expenses of sending out a special astronomer from Belgium, but his desire to assert the equal concern of the Congo Government with our own in scientific operations affecting our common boundary will, I feel sure, outweigh any mere considerations of expense.
I did not show him the map attached to the Report of the Director of Military Operations. He is, however, evidently keeping himself informed as to the work of the Commission, as he informed me that it was proceeding rapidly.
I have, &c.,
The Right Honourable
Sir Edward Grey, Bart., M.P.
ARTHUR HARDINGE,
• No. 65.