PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Specific examples of diff.
culty of laying
down general principles.
Native righte.
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Even in India, a country far better known, more homo- geneous, and more thickly populated than our colonies, it has not been found possible to lay down a general law Each individual case is dealt for railway concessions. with on its merits.
13. The considerations adduced in the foregoing paragraphs show that the task of laying down general principles presents very serious difficulties, and that if such principles are to have any wide application they must necessarily be so vaguely expressed as to reduce them to mere platitudes. To illustrate; it is essential that concessions should provide, inter alia—
for bona fide working;
that the community secures an adequate advantage from the exploitation of the natural resources of the country; and
(e) that native rights are properly safeguarded.
14. These are well defined principles, but they are so obvious as to be axiomatic, and it may safely be assumed that they are constantly present in the minds of those who deal with concessions. A mere tabulation of them would, therefore, be of little value. In such cases the question of the application of the principle to the circumstances of a particular concession is as important as the principle itself. To decide as to the applicability of a principle necessarily involves consideration of details; and as the distinction between principle and detail is, in many cases, very fine, what appear to be details frequently raise most important questions of principle. Thus the provisions to ensure bona fide working necessitate the consideration of matters relating to capital, rate of development, &c., &c. Experience shows that important questions of principle arise on such points, and also in connection with such matters as the rates of rent and royalty necessary to secure adequate benefits to the community.
15. Again, as regards native rights, local conditions of land tenure vary so widely that rules applicable to one locality are quite unsuited to the circumstances of another. Speaking generally, all land in West Africa is in the hands of native communities, and concessions are obtained from them subject to the approval of the Government-Judicial or Executive. In the East Africa Protectorate, on the other hand, much of the land was waste when the country was taken over, and such lands were declared Crown Lands. Native rights do exist there, if not in the soil at least in its products, and such rights must necessarily be safeguarded; but it is clear that the extent to which grants of land can fairly be made to Europeans is greater in the East Africa Protectorate than in West Africa, where there is more permanent occupation, and property in land, whether individual or collective, is understood and claimed by the natives.
It may here be observed that the criticisms of those Members of Parliament who take a special interest in native questions have been particularly concerned with matters arising out of the alienation of native lands in the Gold Coast, where, it may be noted, such matters are dealt with locally under the Concessions Ordinance.
16. It is therefore clear that, in view of the initial diffi- of defining culty of determining the points at which principles shade
into details, it would not be easy to decide the
scope of any memorandum laying down rules of policy for the guidance of Governors. Bald statements of principle are
Difficulty
scope of
memo- random.
5
valueless; and, as the extent of the applicability of any principle varies inversely as the precision with which it is defined, the difficulties in the way of drawing up any useful rules appear to be insuperable.
This view is Instances supported by the experience of the Committee in certain in which instances in which the possibility of laying down rales question
of laying of practice on specific points has been considered. The
down points in question related to—
principles has been discussed.
(a) invitations to tender for concessions; (b) uniformity in regard to the collection of wild rubber; (e) model clauses in leases.
As regards (a), the then Secretary of State (Lord Crewe) was not prepared to endorse the general rule suggested by the majority of the Committee; as to (b) and (e), the Committee found it impracticable to lay down any general principle which would apply to all cases.
17. At the Twenty-ninth Meeting, held on the 20th Question July, 1910, with Colonel Seely in the chair, the following of inviting resolution was passed by a majority of the members voting *--
"Whenever the Government has sufficient information, from enquiry made by or on behalf of the Government, as to the existence of mineral, agricultural, or other economic products reasonably to justify the opinion that such products can be profitably worked any concession for the exploitation of such product should be advertised for public tender on terms laid down after consultation with the Colonial Government. This rule to be a rule of practice in the Department and to be subject to the laws existing in particular Colonies and Protectorates."
tenders.
18. The minutes on the paper submitting this recom- Decision mendation to the Secretary of State are instructive :- of the
MR. FIDDES: "I don't agree with the recommendation of State.
Secretary
of the Committee as I consider it would be impracticable
to carry out any general rule of this kind."
SIR F. HOPWOOD: "With Mr. Fiddes, I doubt whether the recommendation will work."
COLONEL SEELY: "I think the recommendation of the Committee a sound one, although, of course, it must be applied with discretion.'
LORD CREWE: "I am not prepared to lay down a general rule at present."
to collect
19. At the First Meeting of 1911, held on the 3rd Licences January, the Committee was asked to consider a ques- wild tion of policy in regard to the issue of licences for rubber.
the collection of wild rubber. Attention had been drawn to the difference in the systems adopted in Southern Nigeria and Uganda for the exploitation of this product, and it was thought that, within the limitations arising from varying local conditions, the policy of the Colonial Office ought to have the appearance of uni- formity in such matters. The point was referred to a Sub-Committee, and the report embodied below shows clearly that the local conditions of Southern Nigeria and Uganda are so widely different that it is impossible to lay down any rule of policy applicable to both, even on a specific and limited point like that under consideration. The Sub-Committee reported as follows:-
"In Southern Nigeria there is a very dense popula- tion, and it may be said that there is not an acre of land which is not owned, controlled, or claimed by natives. There is no waste land. The natives are keen traders,
and are fully alive to the value of their rights over
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