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39762
98
No. 58.
UGANDA.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
(Confidential.)
(Received 18 November, 1913.)
SIR,
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 199, of the 26th April, 1913,* with enclosures, on the subject of regulations for the pre- vention of illicit trade in ivory, and to express my regret that it has not been replied
Government House, Uganda, 18th October, 1913.
to sooner.
2. I have read Mr. Butler's letter with the greatest interest, and agree generally with what he says.
3. It has been my conviction for many years past that the preservation of the elephant can only be effected by an international agreement-
(a) to adopt a minimum weight below which it is illegal to possess ivory; (b) to fix the weight at not less than 25 lbs., preferably at 30 lbs.; and
(c) to enforce rigidly the prohibition of export and confiscation of all ivory
under that weight.
Everything depends on such an agreement.
4. Mr. Woosnam, the Game Warden in British East Africa, is, I believe, of the same opinion.
*
5. It appears to me, however, that, before Great Britain can reasonably approach other nations possessing territory in Africa, with a view to such an agreement, our Colonial and Protectorate Governments should at least be consistent in the matter of a legal minimum weight of ivory, and in the enforcement of their regulations.
6. I believe I am correct in stating that, during a visit of the Governor of German East Africa to Nairobi, Mr. Woosnam approached His Excellency on the subject of raising the minimum weight in his territory, so as to approximate with the legal weight in British East Africa, and was informed that, whilst His Excel- Jency sympathised with this suggestion, he was not prepared to recommend it so long as we in our adjoining territories were so inconsistent in the matter. At that time the minimum weight was 30 lbs. in British East Africa, and 11 lbs. in Nyasa- land and Uganda. In Uganda the weight has now been raised to 30 lbs., and in German East Africa it has recently been raised to 15 kilos, but in Nyasaland it is still 11 lbs., and in the Sudan 10 lbs.
7. In regard to the enforcement of our regulations, we have, I fear, been some- what apathetic in the past. In British East Africa and Uganda, for instance, the possession of any ivory was illegal unless obtained without a contravention of the Ordinances. Elephants could only be killed by holders of game licences, and yet a very large trade was openly carried on by Indians and others with the natives in unadministered districts who held neither licences nor permits. Traders were, therefore, in possession of illegally obtained ivory, and this aspect of the case could not be dealt with until a clause regarding onus of proof was introduced in the two latest Ordinances. Illicit trade was, furthermore, stimulated by the acceptance of seductive reports of hoards of buried ivory-entirely mythical-in the hands of natives. These reports were repeatedly used by traders as a prop to keep the door open for the acquisition of ivory of elephants recently killed by natives at their instigation, and also by the traders themselves; and it follows that the more wide- spread such an illicit trade becomes, the more difficult it is to check or control. I have dealt with this question in various memoranda in the Nairobi Secretariat, and also in my Confidential despatch of July 4th, 1911,† paragraphs 5 to 8.
8. Quite recently the question has been raised regarding ivory in transit from the Congo below 30 lbs., the legal minimum allowed by our recently published Game Ordinance. I have caused the traders to be informed that male ivory under that weight, and obtained by them prior to the promulgation of the Ordinance, may be passed through this Protectorate, provided a declaration in each case is furnished to that effect, but that it is not intended to allow the transit of ivory below the legal standard, and which has been obtained subsequently.
• I..F. transmitting copies of Nos. 20 and 23.
† 24772: not printed.
9.
99
I have been encouraged to adopt this attitude, in face of the threatened risk of the possessors of underweight ivory finding a less convenient and much more expensive open door viâ the Sudan, German East Africa, and Abyssinia, since Lord Crewe ruled that no ivory could be allowed in transit through British East Africa that did not come up to the legal standard, viz., 30 lbs. The ruling was, however, reconsidered and cancelled, after considerable correspondence, solely on account of this Protectorate objecting to raise the minimum weight above 11 lbs. That objection no longer exists, and I trust that both British East Africa and German East Africa may shortly be induced to disallow the transit of ivory under their legal minimum weights, and that the Sudan will adopt a similar weight, as recommended by Mr. Butler.
10. His suggestion that the exact number of tusks exported should be shown in Customs reports is a very important one, and I have given directions for this Returns showing the gross weight of ivory exported are of little or no value as a means of arriving at an approximate estimate of the number of elephants killed.
to be done here.
11. In regard to the Sirdar's suggestion referred to in the last paragraph of Lord Kitchener's despatch of March 21st* to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I am of opinion that confiscated ivory should be disposed of outside Africa, unless a less drastic method can be adopted in enforcing or controlling the export after its sale by public auction locally. It is contended by the Treasurer and the Director of Customs that local sales are more profitable, as ivory is often cut up and shipped to parts of the world other than London or Bombay, according to the demand for a special class, and that this demand enhances the value. It is, how- ever, not improbable that if London and Bombay were the only markets for British East African and Uganda ivory there would be many more buyers, and competition would be made keener in consequence.
I have, &c.,
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(No. 381.)
No. 59.
NYASALAND.
F. J. JACKSON,
Governor.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.
SIR,
Downing Street, 28 November, 1913. WITH reference to Sir William Manning's despatch, No. 72, of the 16th of March, 1912, and connected correspondence, I have the honour to enquire whether there would be any objection to raising from 11 lbs. to 30 lbs. the minimum weight specified for elephant tusks in the Game Ordinance, 1912.
2. I would add that 30 lbs. is the legal minimum weight in the East Africa and Uganda Protectorates.
39762
SIR,
No. 60.
I have, &c.,
L. HARCOURT.
COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.
[Answered by Nos, 62 and 65.]
Downing Street, 28 November, 1913,
WITH reference to your letter of the 19th of November, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt to transmit to you, to be laid before Secretary Sir Edward Grey, the accompanying copy of a despatch§ from the Governor of Úganda on the subject of the Regulations for the prevention of illicit trade in ivory.
2. The Governor of Nyasaland is being asked whether in that Protectorate there would be any objection to the minimum weight for elephant tusks being raised to 30 lbs., and I am to suggest, for Sir Edward Grey's consideration, that the Soudan
• Enclosure in No. 20. † 12159: not printed. † 39942. not printed.
31479
$ No. 58.
€ 2