TITL
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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the Director and Assistant Director of Surveys (the European head- quarters staff) is £1,200; this, on an output of 300 square mile per annum, represents an addition of £4 per square mile to cost of survey, but if the output is 600 square miles per annum it represents £2 only. It is therefore false economy to diminish the output of work.
Mabira Forest Survey.
5. As regards the survey of the Mabira Forest, referred to in Treasury letter No. 19283/09, dated 22nd October, 1909, the area covered by this survey is portion of the area included in the estimate for the cadastral survey of Buganda. Many native estates are comprised within this area, and the balance is portion of the 1,500 square miles of Government forest referred to in the 1900 Agreement. An oppor- tunity having arisen of surveying this area at cost price instead of at a considerable loss, it was naturally taken advantage of. A party of four surveyors was, with the approval of the Secretary of State, employed by the Mabira Company to survey this forest, but the cost of the survey proved so great that the Government, at the Company's urgent request, agreed to take over the work. It has now been practically completed at about one-quarter of the cost per square mile at which it was being done by the Company's surveyors, thus proving the value of trained surveyors.
Duties of Crown Land Surveyors.
The duties of the Crown Land Surveyor alluded to in the letter from His Majesty's Lords of the Treasury now under consideration, consist in making surveys of isolated properties and township plots for the purpose of issuing leases and making grants of land. His operations extend over an area of some 60,000 square miles, reaching from Mount Elgon on the east to the German boundary on the south, and from thence up to Gondokoro.
The survey of a property such as the Mabira would take him from two to three years, and it is therefore apparent that were he to undertake such a work, all other surveys in the Protectorate except those of native estates must remain in abeyance for some three years. It is difficult for those accustomed to the rapidity of travel in Europe to realise that a 150 mile journey represents some 10 days' travel in Uganda; it is, however, necessary to realise this in estimating the amount of work which one surveyor capable of performing on isolated surveys.
6. Referring again to Treasury letter No. 19283/09, there need be no fear for many years to come of the lack of regular work for surveyors in Uganda; nor, as regards surveys such as that of the Mabira, dislocation of field parties during the working season. This will be obvious when it is stated that the Mabira forest survey, commenced in June, 1909, is still in progress. If, as is likely, surveys of the Budonga and Bugoma Forests are required in the immediate future, it may be found possible to employ somewhat smaller parties, though the advisability of doing so is open to question. In the case of native estate surveys the answer is in the negative, if economy is desired.
Fees for Survey.
7. The fees for surveys such as that of the Mabira Forest will be based on the actual cost of the survey, as far as it is possible to separate it from that of native estates, plus an addition for leave and for wear and tear of instruments. There are no pension charges to be considered, nor, provided the staff is adequate, is there any dislocation and loss of output. Dislocation of field parties and loss of output must and will inevitably take place if the staff is inadequate for its work and is called upon to survey isolated properties for which men must be detached from their regular work, unless there are one or two special surveyors, as is now the case for Crown Land surveys.
Conclusion.
8. It is hoped that this memorandum calls attention to certain points which possibly have not been entirely realised by His Majesty's Lords of the Treasury, and gives such undoubted proof of the advisability from the point of view of ultimate economy, represented by a saving of £6 per square mile, of maintaining a constant output of not less than 600 square miles per annum, that, even though it may be with considerable reluctance, they will nevertheless realise the advantages of maintaining the survey staff at such a level as will enable it to obtain this output. I do not feel that any arguments are required to persuade the Secretary of State for the Colonies
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of the advisability of doing so, as he has long since realised the importance of this work.
RAYMOND C. Allen,
Entebbe,
11th February, 1910.
11395
SIR,
No. 42.
Director of Surveys and Land Officer.
SOUTHERN NIGERIA.
MAJOR F. G. GUGGISBERG, R.E., to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 18 April, 1910.)
[Answered by No. 44.]
War Office, London, S.W., 18th April, 1910. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith, in duplicate, a report and proposals for the survey of Southern Nigeria.
2. I have drawn up this report after consultation on local conditions with Mr. A. Cleminson, as careful an examination into the existing state of the Survey as possible, and five years' experience of survey work in the Gold Coast.
3. The whole object of the report is to show that, under existing leave condi- tions and with the present staff, the map of the Colony cannot be completed, even if under the most favourable circumstances, for about 26 years.
4. Experience has shown that any programme devised for work in tropical Africa is liable to alterations by sickness and other causes, but, holding this in view, I see no reason why the work of completing the map should last more than nine years if my proposals are approved.
5. An appendix (I.) showing the cost for this year of the Royal Engineers whose employment is recommended in my report is attached, also an estimate of the total cost of the Department in 1911. If the departure of this party is delayed until January they will only get three months' work in the field before the rains begin. In this case, it would be unwise to bring them out before August, 1911, which will mean not only a delay of one year in completing the map, but will also cause serious inconvenience to the topographical work owing to the non-completion of the framework, for the construction of which the Royal Engineers are specially engaged. I cannot submit too urgently that the Royal Engineer party should be engaged in August this year.
6. With regard to the alteration in the conditions of leave. I have pointed out in my report that there is no necessity for the Cadastral Branch to come under the proposed conditions. The little office work required in the Topographical Office during the absence of the Topographical Staff can easily be carried on by the Head Clerk under the superintendence of the Cadastral Officer or the School Instructor, and the native surveyors of the Topographical Branch can be usefully employed on special township and road surveys under the Cadastral Branch during the rains.
7. I have the honour to submit that the changes entailed by my suggestions are urgently needed.
I have, &c.,
F. G. GUGGISBERG,
Major, Royal Engineers,
Director of Surveys,
Southern Nigeria.
Enclosure in No. 42.
REPORT AND PROPOSALS FOR SOUTHERN NIGERIA SURVEY, APRIL, 1910, BY Major F. G. GuGGISBERG, C.M.G., R.E., Director of Surveys.
1. OBJECTS OF THE SURVEY DEPARTMENT.
The objects of the Survey Department are
(a.) Topographical.--To produce as rapidly as possible a map of the whole Colony on a scale of 1/125,000, from which maps on smaller scales can afterwards be made.
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