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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

PERC.O. 885

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

20 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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such land as would be suitable for their purpose. Thus, persons who, by their enter- prise, would assist the country to advance rapidly in prosperity will be debarred from getting the land they need, and would be forced either to seek such land in other Provinces of the Protectorate, or to go to other countries where they could satisfy their requirements without the difficulties likely to be encountered here.

7. Further, the final delimitation of Crown lands will doubtless show that we have many native tenants of our land, and that at present the rents due by them are either being paid to the landholders who at present claim the land or that they are able to occupy the land without any payment. Each tenant would pay a rent of 2s. Sd. per annum, and it is not, I think, an excessive estimate to calculate that there are at least 6,000 who should, if we could locate Crown lands, be paying that amount to the Crown. That is to say, an amount of revenue which would increase every year, and would ultimately reach at least £800 per annum, which is the amount mentioned by Mr. Allen as necessary to ensure à survey of 600 square miles per

annum.

8. The voluntary assistance given us by the natives in line cutting for the demarcation of their estates at present amounts to a sum of £4 per square mile, but, as pointed out by the Director of Surveys, each year shows them as less prone to assist in such work without payment; and, should they refuse, they could not be compelled to do so, and the cost of surveying the estates would be enormously enhanced.

9. I feel, therefore, that in the interests of this Government, both with regard to finance and good government, it is most essential that the demarcation of estates should proceed as rapidly as possible, and I venture to express the hope that, should your Lordship see fit to approach the Lords of the Treasury once more on this subject, they will realise the economy which must result from the maintenance of the cadastral survey parties at the requisite standard.

I have, &c.,

ALEXANDER BOYLE,

Acting Governor.

Enclosure in No. 41.

DIRECTOR OF SURVEYS to CHIEF SECRETARY.

(No. 40/10.) (Confidential.)

Memorandum re Colonial Office Confidential Despatch of 8th November, 1909. (Survey Staff-Uganda Protectorate.)

In considering any question relative to the reduction of the survey staff I venture to invite attention to the following extract from Sir James Hayes Sadler's despatch, No. 97, of 29th July, 1905:-

Urgency of Survey.

In my Report for 1902-3 I wrote as follows:-" The survey of the Kingdom of Uganda is an important matter, but what is more important is to allocate and demarcate the boundaries of the estates allotted to the chiefs and the private landowners under the Agreement of 1900, and as the settle- ment of the country, the contentment of the people, and the progress of cultivation depend largely on this measure, it is one which I should wish to see carried through as rapidly as possible. And these views I have ever since maintained. I look upon the mapping of the estates and the eventual settle- ment of the land question as the main factor in the peace and development of the country."

This opinion of the late Commissioner of Uganda may, I think, be taken to fairly represent the opinion shared by all those best fitted to form an opinion on this most important subject. The only expressed opinion of which I am cognisant which materially differs from the above is that of Major Hills, and without for a moment wishing to cast any aspersion on undoubted skill as an expert in survey work, it is submitted that in this particular matter his opinion should not be allowed to carry as much weight as that of Pro-

his

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tectorate officers who have been dealing with this question of native land settlement for many years.

Major Hills's Recommendations.

2. It will be seen by a reference to Major Hills's Report (a) that two complete cadastral parties of four men each are recommended, kept up to full strength. This means 10 men for cadastral work, allowing 1/6th for leave. (b) He estimates that this staff will take 25 years to complete the work; this he regards as a hopeful estimate. It will thus be seen that while among those having a personal knowledge of the country he is alone in considering that there is no great urgency as regards the completion of the survey, yet he is of opinion that the maximum period which should be allowed for the completion of the survey is 25 years. Despite this consen- sus of expert opinion it is now proposed, in order to save £2,024 per annum, to post- pone completion of the survey for some 45 years longer.

In this connection I venture to call attention to the concluding portion of para- graph 13 of my annual report for 1907-8, and to paragraph 14 of

annual report my For 1908-9.

Expenditure on Topographical Survey.

3. So long as topographical survey work was swallowing up such a large sum, annually the reluctance to incur any avoidable expenditure on cadastral work was quite understandable. Now, however, this reason has, for practical purposes, ceased to operate, since expenditure on topographical work will, in accordance with the Estimates, entirely cease on 31st October, 1910, and no appreciable saving could be effected in cadastral staff until June, 1910. The total estimated expenditure on topographical survey was £3,819 for 1909-10, and is £3,170 for 1910-11. The grant of an additional £800 per annum for cadastral work, i.e., in addition to the sum asked for in draft Estimates, 1910-11, would, therefore, still leave a considerable net saving, and would enable a constant output of 600 square miles per annum to be maintained. There can be no two opinions as to which survey is of the greater importance for the welfare of the Protectorate,

Reasons for expediting Survey.

1. It will not be out of place to briefly recapitulate the principal reasons why it is advisable to push on with this work at the present time. They are as follows:- (a) The mapping of the estates and the eventual settlement of the land question is the main factor in the peace and development of the country.

(b) Settlement cannot be encouraged, and capital cannot be attracted to the

country until native lands have been demarcated.

(c) The natives are now co-operating in the work of survey, and giving assist- ance in line cutting, the value of which is roughly estimated at £4 per square mile. There is no obligation on them to do this, and with a further increase of knowledge there is little doubt that in time they will refuse to do so. The extra cost of £4 per square mile must then be borne by the Government, which, by the 1900 Agreement, is com- mitted to a survey.

(d) The Protectorate possesses at the present time a small but highly trained, organised, and expert staff of surveyors, who not only possess a know- ledge of this class of survey work second to none, and which can only be gained as the result of great experience, but who are also familiar with the language and with the habits and customs of the natives of the country, to whom also they are well known. Such men are unobtainable out of the country, and, once lost, can only be replaced by a training extending over a considerable period, during which their value to the Government is not half that of a trained assistant.

(e) Owing to the fact that the Director of Surveys is also Land Officer, the minimum European headquarters staff is two. This staff is capable of directing the operations of two or three times as many assistant sur- veyors. Therefore it follows that the more assistants are working and consequently the greater the output, the less is the cost per square mile to be added for headquarters expenses, e.g., the combined salaries of