PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
سائلس
61
Reference :-
C.O.885
18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
;
160
the 18th of November,* and to inform you that I approve of your having sanctioned the expenditure of an additional sum of £1,000 in respect of transport for the Survey Department.
2. My approval is given on the assumption that the extra charge can be met from general savings on the expenditure for the current year, and if this should be found to be impossible you should communicate with me again. As, however, I hope that it will be possible to agree to the proposal made in your despatch, No. 503, of the 22nd of November,† to make good the deficit in railway revenue from surplus balances, there will probably be no difficulty in the matter.
3736
No. 107.
SOUTHERN NIGERIA.
MR. E. P. COTTON to MAJOR CLOSE, R.E.
I have, &c.,
ELGIN.
38, Woburn Place, Russell Square, W.C., DEAR MAJOR CLOSE,
9 January, 1908. In terms of our conversation to-day, I shall be much obliged if you would forward your report which you mentioned to the Colonial Office as soon as con- venient.
I cannot help but feel that the report of the Colonial Survey Committee for last year, which appears to have been published considerably before my first plan was forwarded, and which, I presume, is public property, reflects very seriously upon my reputation; and I wish to have an opportunity of explaining matters as soon as possible.
I wish to state, with regard to the method in which the surveys should be carried out, that I received [no] specific instructions, either from the Colonial Office or from the Government of Southern Nigeria; indeed, so far as I can remember, I received no instructions at all, and I accept full responsibility for the manner in which they have been executed,
Sincerely yours,
1720
E. P. COTTON.
161
the Survey Department, and the possibility, judging from past experience, of large additional expenditure from various causes which cannot now be foreseen.
The
In a territory the revenue from which is only some £80,000, while the expendi- ture is over £200,000, a service of so costly a character requires ample justification on its merits. Far from providing such justification Major Hills's report seems to leave no room for doubt that, so regarded, it ought never to have been under- taken, and that no purpose is served by it which could not have been attained by other methods (to quote the words of the report) "whereby, while giving the natives all the land to which they were entitled, the labour of demarcating the boundaries between private and Government land could have been much reduced." report proceeds to indicate the physical and other difficulties involved, and in refer- ring to the period, put at 25 years, for completion, it shows how little immediate necessity there was for an elaborate demarcation, owing to the low density of the population, and to the fact that land required for white planters can readily be found in the provinces outside Uganda proper. This is confirmed by the Commis- sioner, who states, in his letter of 17th September, 1907,* that "applications for land in the Protectorate, either on purchase or on lease, are not numerous."
My Lords are aware that this aspect of the question has been referred to in previous correspondence, and that the terms of the Agreement entered into with the native chiefs by Sir H. Johnston on behalf of Her Majesty's Government in 1900 are regarded as such as to render it necessary that this survey should be proceeded with irrespective of cost. In the light, however, of the facts which are now disclosed, it appears to My Lords that the whole question calls for reconsideration with a view to determining whether some much less costly method of procedure can be devised which, while satisfying immediate requirements, will obviate a charge on the Protectorate which at present, with the topographical survey, consumes about one-eighth of the revenue.
As regards the topographical survey, it appears likely that, in a country like Uganda, a survey could be made more expeditiously and economically by a military than by a civilian organisation; but my Lords are not convinced, on the informa- tion before them, that such necessity for an exact topographical survey exists in the present circumstances of the Protectorate as to justify the heavy increased outlay on this work which is proposed during the next three years. In paragraph 3 of the memorandum by Major Close and Major Hills, the question is mentioned in passing whether it would not be wise to give up the attempt for the present, and take steps to execute a rapid geographical survey. My Lords would be glad, there- fore, to know in greater detail for what administrative and military purposes a map of " to the mile is regarded as urgently required, and they would invite the Secre- tary of State to take this question into further consideration in connection with the other matters dealt with above.
I am, &c.,
G. H. MURRAY.
SIR,
No. 108.
UGANDA.
TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received January 16, 1908.)
[Answered by No. 113.]
Treasury Chambers, January 15, 1908. THE Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury have had before them Mr. Antrobus's letter of the 19th October last‡ (35943/07), on the subject of the survey of Uganda, and I am directed to submit, in reply, the following observations for the consideration of the Earl of Elgin.
My Lords regard with concern the heavy burden on the funds of the Protector- ate which is being entailed by these surveys. Not only has their cost and rate of progress been vastly under-estimated, but it seems clear from Major Hills's report that, apart from the terms of the Agreement which was entered into in 1900 (apparently without any consideration of the cost) no real necessity has arisen, or is likely to arise in the near future, for the cadastral survey. My Lords gather that the expenditure on that survey to the date of Major Hills's report had been about £10,000, and Major Hills's estimate for completion over a period of 25 years shows a further expenditure of £122,000, or, if £10,000 be allowed for survey fees from natives, £112,000, making a total cost of £122,000. If the proposals recommended by the Secretary of State be adopted, an ultimate saving of £10,000 is anticipated on the topographical survey. Against this, however, must be set the increased expenditure in salaries and pension charges which are proposed in connection with
+ No. 92.
• No. 103.
† 43711 not printed.
3736
No. 109.
SOUTHERN NIGERIA.
MR. E. P. COTTON to MAJOR CLOSE, R.E.
38, Woburn Place, Russell Square, W.C.,
21 January, 1908.
DEAR MAJOR CLOSE,
I HAVE Considered very carefully our conversation of last week and, asso- clating it with criticisms and correspondence on the new map, I have come to the conclusion that a grave misunderstanding (probably on my part) has been at the root of the whole matter.
2. I desire to state that I had no knowledge whatever of what now appears to me to be the function of the Colonial Survey Committee in determining how the surveys in Southern Nigeria should be conducted. I was of opinion that it simply represented the War Office point of view, and that any representation which it might make to the Colonial Office regarding the work in question would be con- veyed to the Governor in the usual way and, if necessary, to me through the Colonial Secretary.
29431
I think I am correct in stating that no specific instructions whatever were
• No. 83.
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