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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.
Reference :-
885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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important products of Nyasaland seems likely to be on the increase, and will at any rate continue to be great for many years to come.
9. In this connexion it may be well to refer to the proposal put forward by the Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, who advocate a system of rebate from the home duties on certain grades of tobacco and in regard to other commodities, in favour of the producer, on the understanding that the whole crops are shipped to the United Kingdom in British bottoms. Such an idea might only be considered when paying prices are not obtainable without some such bonus, but that time has not yet come, for, take, for instance, the case of tobacco, with which the Chamber has dealt at some length, so long as that industry continues to be a paying one, as it is in its present stage of development, it will need no encouragement beyond improved and suitable local transport facilities, when its extension here will be limited only by the demands of available markets. High-priced commodities like tobacco, cotton, and tea should stand on their own for many years to come. On the other hand, however, if the export of foodstuffs, such as maize, wheat, cattle, etc., is to be fostered some encouragement will be necessary, but this would better take the form of cheap ocean freights and quicker and more convenient shipping facilities.
Industries.
10. It has been said frequently enough before that the future of Nyasaland seems to lie in agriculture, and the Director of Agriculture, in the memorandum attached, draws a glowing picture of its possibilities.
11. Particular attention should be also directed to cattle-raising, dairying, mining, and forestry, as they are not without promise, and much might be expected were they taken up as seriously as they deserve. But everything will depend on whether suitable transport facilities within and without the country are forth- coming. Little more will be done by way of development until they are made available.
12. It therefore is a question of finance, and it seems that, with two such assets as a rich soil and comparatively cheap labour, capable of producing much raw material and food of first-rate quality and of the description required, within the Empire there is an exceptional opportunity ready at hand for the profitable investment of much British capital on railways, roads, and shipping within the country and on better rail and shipping connexions outside.
Transport.
13. The chain of railways in prospect from Lake Nyasa to the coast when completed, together with an adequate steamship service on the Lake, will go far towards development, but the proposed feeder roads, and possibly some branch railway lines, besides a reliable ocean service, must come before resources can be fully tapped. Without such facilities Nyasaland would stagnate, and much valuable raw material and food of vital importance to the trade and the prosperity of the Empire would not be produced.
14. The increasing need in the United Kingdom for larger supplies of cotton would, it seems, alone warrant the raising of a loan of sufficient dimensions to finance the railways, roads, and shipping, without which the fertile lands now lying idle cannot be developed. The interest and sinking fund on such a loan might very well form a special charge on the debt account of this Protectorate, provided the Imperial Government continued to make good the difference between local revenue and expenditure, but on a consequently greater scale than at present, until such time as the improvement in trade, which would quickly follow, became evident in the revenue to such an extent as would permit of the Protectorate gradually The stimulus to trade with the United taking up the whole responsibility. Kingdom would in all probability indirectly more than recoup the Imperial Treasury in the long run, and, it is to be hoped, before the lapse of many years.
Ocean Shipping.
15. One immense advantage of such improved communications would be the practical abandonment of our present seaport at Chinde, with its shallow bar and the difficult Zambezi River route. which together have constituted so great a handicap to our trade in the past. Remembering what has been done in spite of these difficulties, the probable effect that direct communication with ocean shipping at the port of Beira would have on the industries and trade at Nyasaland
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can be easily imagined. The Secretary of the Chamber of Agriculture and Com- merce, in his letter attached, puts the case explicitly as regards our ocean com- munications. The east coast service, excellently worked as it was by the Deutsch Ost Afrika Linie, should clearly not, in the interests of all concerned, be allowed to get out of British control again, even at the cost of a subsidy for the British steamship companies, involving, as it very well might, compulsory shipment of all Nyasaland produce in British bottoms.
16.
As the question of ocean shipping between the United Kingdom and the colonies is having the careful attention of the home authorities with a view to securing the best of facilities and reasonable freights for Empire produce, anxiety in this respect is perhaps uncalled for. The fact should nevertheless be emphasized that, until such time as Nyasaland is placed in direct railway communication with the seaport of Beira, it will be very essential that an adequate and regular steamer service should be maintained between that port and Chinde, and that the question of freight charges between Beira and Chinde, and, in fact, on the whole route to the United Kingdom, which are now exceedingly heavy, and, from all accounts, may remain so unless pressure is brought to bear, should be examined with a vier to securing a more reasonable tariff.
WM. WHEELER,
21st August, 1917.
Enclosure 4 in No. 41.
Acting Chief Secretary.
NOTES ON Commercial anD INDUSTRIAL POLICY AFTEr the War.
In response to His Excellency's request I have noted one or two main points to which I think attention should be directed with a view to developing Nyasaland after the War in the interests both of the progress of the native population and of the Empire as a whole.
Nyasaland is a country nearly as large as England. It has large tracts of fertile soil capable of growing various high grade agricultural products, and it has also a large native labour supply. It has great possibilities. Its chief natural disadvantage is its inland situation, with lack of good means of communication with a convenient seaport.
I. Communications.--No. great development can be expected until the means of communication with the coast and also within the Protectorate are improved. The Lake is an asset from the point of view of communications, but its use depends primarily on the completion of the railway line to the coast. I need not enlarge on this subject, as it has been thoroughly considered and its importance recognized. II. Area of Protectorate. In connexion with communications I consider that it would be a great advantage from the point of view of easy development if the whole drainage area of the Lake (including the Nyasa Province of German East Africa) were placed under one administration. From a geographical and economic point of view the Lake system forms a unit, and the advantages of its being under a single administration are obvious.
III. European Settlement. The next question to which attention should be paid is, I think, the encouragement by favourable terms of settlement, etc., of a European population of a suitable kind. My experience of the Protectorate leads me to think—
(1) That nothing is to be hoped for for a long time from independent native
cultivation. On the other hand he is a useful labourer.
(2) That very small holdings for Europeans are undesirable as bringing in
"dead-
a type of settler who has a bad effect on the native.
(3) That very large estates are undesirable, as they operate as
hands," holding up large areas from profitable cultivation. (4) That the most desirable class of settler is a man of energy with small capital, able to handle native labour, and having a freehold or long lease of from 500 to 2,000 acres, or even up to 5,000 acres. This class
has been very successful, and if it increases in the future it will, I feel assured, aid very much in the economic development of the Protectorate. IV. Colony. So far I have dealt with the development of Nyasaland per se. To make it an Imperial asset the first step, it seems to me, is to declare it a Colony
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