CO885-(21-23) — Page 450

Kano Pro- vince all taxes com- muted for

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EL

2. At the present moment the densely populated areas in the neighbourhood of Kano are being assessed for revenue purposes on the site occupied by each indi- Kurdin Rafi," In parts of vidual occupier of land. All forms of taxation, such as “ Zakka,"

Kurdin Kassa," &c., excepting only the cattle tax known as " Jangali," have been in these areas commuted for payment to the Government of a land rent of so much per acre.

The amount of this rent is fixed at present at the full economic rent of a land rent. land of average productivity in the neighbourhood. This rule is applied to all areas occupied, irrespective of the quality of the soil. It is hoped in the future to differentiate between the fertile riverain portions and the less productive uplands; but for the time being it has not been found practicable to do so.

The survey is made by "taki

3. The system which I have explained, it is evident, can be adopted only where a survey, which may be termed cadastral, has been effected. This cadastral survey mallamai." at the present moment is being carried out by natives who, for want of a better term, are called "taki mallamai. The word "mallamai" designates "scribes," the word “taki,” a “pace." These men make a rough calculation of the area of each holding by pacing. The village heads keep a record of the areas and of the names of the occupiers, and the individual pays rent accordingly. The cost of this rough survey is at present borne by the native treasuries, as is that of the machinery required for the collection of the land revenue of the Protectorate generally.

Rates per acre charged.

4. The rate per acre varies where the system has been applied in the Kano Province as follows:-

Kano Town-residential sites.

Aliens Natives

Farm site

Per acre.

£ s. d.

3 14 8

1 17 4

0 1 8

0 1 8

0 1 0

0 0 6

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7.

At the present moment the taki mallamai are being recruited from the more intelligent pupils trained at the Nassarawa School, near Kano, by Mr. Vischer.

8. Major Guggisberg's scheme is in brief to establish three grades of schools Scheme for for the further education of the present taki mallamai :---

training

native

(1) Junior class mallamai pupils (vide paragraph 22 of his memorandum surveyors.

et seq).

(2) Middle class mallamai pupils.

(3) Senior class mallamai pupils.

From these classes he would draw two groups of men sufficiently equipped to undertake work in the field. The first of these he names mallam assessors. The second mallam surveyors and draftsmen. Without going, at this stage, into details, it appears to me that it is well worth considering the advisability of establishing this organisation. I have not had the opportunity of discussing the memorandum fully with Major Guggisberg, and I have not before me the figures which he refers to in Appendix I., but should you concur, I think it would be worth while considering

the advisability of incurring the expenditure of about £2,000, which he mentions in Cost of paragraph 29 of the memorandum under consideration as the resultant increase to scheme. the annual revenues of the Protectorate, would amply repay this outlay. With your concurrence I propose to include this amount in the last nine months* Estimates for

1913.

9. Meanwhile, I would respectfully suggest, as in the despatch referred to above, that the opportunity of Major Guggisberg returning to England on leave may be taken for the discussion of this question. Should you decide that immediate Funds action should be taken in order to put the scheme proposed into effect, the amount mentioned above could be furnished from the Kano Beit-el-Mal funds.

The Right Honourable

Lewis Vernon Harcourt, P.C.,

I have, &c.,

C. L. TEMPLE,

available.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TILL CO. 885

חוז!

22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

Survey,

System applicable only where

strong demand existe for land.

Districts near Kano Farm sites

Districts at a greater distance from Kano Districts in Katsina

In all an area of over 1,200 square miles has been surveyed by" taki mallamai.” 5. The method employed of arriving at the areas certainly is a very rough one; though im- at the same time the systein, imperfect as it is in practice, has an immense value. perfect, of

The individual farmer very soon obtains sufficient knowledge to check the measure- great value.

ments himself, and has, therefore, a ready mode of relief in case he should think that he is being overtaxed, while the amount paid by the individual is brought to account. It is applied only in those districts where there is a strong demand for land, and where, in consequence, there is no opportunity for an individual farmer to increase the size of his holding by breaking up fresh land. I am doubtful whether it would be advisable to adopt such a system in districts where there is a super- fluity of land. It might easily happen, I think, that the farmer, noticing that his taxes varied only as the area he cultivated, might reduce the size of his farms in order to reduce his rent. In such districts a tax calculated on the amenity of the farm sites, proximity to markets, productivity of the soil, &c., rather than on the Industry is area actually under cultivation, would appear the more suitable. stimulated thereby and the size of the farm is increased owing to the necessity of finding means to meet the calls rendered obligatory by the needs of the community. On this point, however, opinions differ. The Emir of Katsena, for instance, whose judgment is very sound on such points, is strongly in favour of land measurement in every case.

He contends that the relief from uncertainty as to the amount payable in taxes granted to the farmer is so great that the size of the farms, even in sparsely However, be this as it may, there are populated districts, will not be diminished.

sufficient areas thickly populated to render the introduction of land measurement a practical question of great moment.

6. Major Guggisberg, in his memorandum, viewing the question from a purely technical point of view, dwells at considerable length upon the lack of accuracy of the survey now being conducted. Without going quite so far as he does. I am pre- pared to admit that there is a great room for improvement, and could this be effected at a reasonable cost, that is to say, could a more accurate land revenue survey be made without unduly burdening the native taxpayer-who will ultimately have to bear the cost of this as of all other administrative machinery-I think it very advisable that this should be done.

Secretary of State for the Colonies,

&c., &c.. &c.

Acting Governor.

MEMORANDUM No. 1 ON THE LAND REVENUE SURVEYS, NORTHERN NIGERIA. I. Existing State of Affairs.

At the present moment there exists a constant and pressing demand on the part of the Administration for survey (of the simplest form) of lands for the assessment of taxes. The demand increases annually at a rapid rate, as the opening up of the country leads to more peaceful conditions than obtained in the past with à conse- quent migration of the people from the walled cities to farm hamlets and a steady expansion of the area under agriculture.

A survey of land for assessment purposes, though only of the simplest form, requires to be executed with a certain knowledge of practical surveying in order to be of such permanent value as to obviate the necessity of a constant re-survey and to enable the Administration to make correct assessment, to organize an efficient system, and to preserve records.

Though the knowledge of surveying required is merely of a rule-of-thumb nature, yet there exist in the Protectorate only a few men capable of carrying out the work in a sufficiently efficient manner. These consist of some mallams who have been partly trained in compass traverses (ie., route sketches) by Captain Kemp- thorne, but their number is so small in comparison with the mass of surveys required. and their knowledge so slight, that they may be considered almost as a negligible quantity.

2. The Nassarawa schools, Kano, have made an attempt to assist the Adminis- tration in assessing land taxes by providing what may be called taki assessors. These are mallams of good class, taught in the school to make rough estimates of the area of lands by pacing the boundaries as pointed out to them on the ground by the local headman," and on these estimates the lands are taxed by the Administration. The estimate is not even a rough survey, as the schools have neither sufficient staff

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| PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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nor materials to train the mallams in even the mildly accurate system of survey which should be used. Although there is no lack of pupils of a good class of mallamai-the Residents send in specially selected men, and the Beiyut-el-Mal pay for their subsistence while at school-yet it would be worse than useless and con- ducive to much ultimate confusion if the schools undertook to teach simple surveying with the present staff.

3. The chief evil of the present system-and, indeed, of any system of simple surveys which are not based on a properly constructed framework--is that nearly the whole of the work done, though useful for the moment, is ultimately lost for the following reasons:—

(a) No boundary marks, such as stone cairns or earth mounds, are left on the

ground.

(b) Each plot of land is surveyed independently of any other plot, so that it is impossible to put together with any accuracy whatever any general plan of the district or sub-district. In the absence of such a plan it is quite impossible for the Administration to organise land assessment on such a satisfactory basis as will insure a complete and regular collection of taxes.

(c) The measurements are so rough as to preclude the possibility of accuracy of individual assessment and renders possible, if indeed it is not a direct invitation to, collusion between the mallam assessor and district headman.

4. Proof of necessity of Lands Surreys.-The gain to the revenue through the work done by the taki assessors is ample proof of the value of even a rough "estima- tion." On the other hand, not only is the work that has been done lost for future purposes, but it is inevitable that in the absence of a general plan large areas of agricultural land may be missed out in the assessment. Results so far tend most emphatically to show that the Administration would gain a larger nett revenue from land taxes by the adoption of a more systematic assessment survey. This subject is fully discussed in paragraph 30.

II. Remedies.

5. The general remedy for the existing state of affairs is the formation of a revenue survey section for each province in which there is sufficient agricultural land to justify the outlay incurred, and the formation of a survey school for the provision of staffs for the various provincial revenue survey sections.

6. Land Rerenue Surrey.-Described briefly, the revenue survey section for each province would consist of a qualified European surveyor and from 10 to 20 mallam assessors, surveyors, and draftsmen. (These are particularly defined in paragraphs 25 and 26.) The salaries and working expenses of the staff would be provided in the Nigeria survey estimates, and would be refunded by the Native Administration. The revenue survey section would be a branch of the Nigeria survey, and would work under its technical rules and organisation, but would be entirely under the Resident with regard to the nature and order of execution of the work in hand,

7. The mallam assessors would be surveyors sufficiently educated in the survey schools to carry out surveys of the necessary accuracy.

8. The framework of the land revenue surveys would be constructed by the Nigeria survey, a fair arrangement, as it will also be required for the general topo- graphical survey of the country.

9. The Survey School should form a part of the Nigeria survey.

It should

be under the charge of a specially selected European instructor. With regard to its technical work and organisation, it would comply with the regulations of the Nigeria survey, but in regard to living arrangements, &c., might be under the control of the Director of the Nassarawa schools.

10. As the object of the school is to supply the land revenue survey with a competent staff, and also to supply the Nigeria survey with mallam surveyors and draftsmen, it would seem a fair arrangement to charge its cost partly to the Govern- ment and partly to the Native Administration, in the following manner :--

(a) The European instructor, proficiency pay of the pupils, and the instru

ments and materials required to be provided in the Nigeria survey estimates.

(b) The two or three mallam instructors required to be provided in the

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Nigeria survey estimates, but the cost to be refunded by the Native Administration.

(c) Quarters, living expenses, &c., of the pupils to be shown in the school

estimates as for other pupils.

11. Transition period.-The Survey School will take one year to turn out its first batch of mallam assessors, and about three years to turn out a sufficient number to make any serious impression on the great mass of revenue surveys which will have accumulated by then under present conditions. The fact that parts of the country not at present under the Land Tax Ordinance will gradually be included and will require revenue surveys must also not be lost sight of when considering the number of mallam assessors required. The capacity of output of a school with only one European instructor is limited, especially during the first three years when thoroughly trained assistant mallam instructors are not available.

or four

When the foregoing circumstances are considered, it is apparent that for three years the Administration will require more assessors than can be provided. 12. Taki assessors. To bridge the gap provision should be made in the Beyut- el-Mal for the employment of taki assessors. The number employed will depend on the funds available, and will steadily diminish as the number of trained mallam assessors increases. The pick of the taki assessors will be selected yearly to form the junior class in the school if they are sufficiently qualified educationally.

To begin with, the taki assessors at present employed will continue their work until the formation of the first junior class. They will then be taken into this class for training as mallam assessors or mallam surveyors as may be decided.

Their places in the field will be taken by another batch of taki assessors, who should be at once trained for their light or simple duties, the pick of whom would in their turn join the junior class of the following year. (For training of taki assessors, see paragraph 21.)

13. Provisional Assessment.-The work of the taki assessors would consist of "provisional assessment," i.e., they would measure the land by steel chains, see that boundary mounds were erected by the occupier, make a rough-figured sketch of each plot, work out the area, and register the name of the occupier, headman, &c.

Their pay would be fixed and found by the Native Administration, and should certainly not exceed £12 to £18 per annum. Their only connection with the Survey School would be that they would receive there their rough preliminary education, and would be on the "waiting list" for the vacancies in the next junior class. They would work as heretofore under the direction of the Resident.

The object of their work is to keep revenue collection active until properly qualified mallam assessors are available for the final assessment on a systematically constructed framework.

14.

III. Denationalisation.

Hausa Language. In carrying out the scheme suggested the greatest care should be taken to avoid denationalising the mallams selected for training.

The Hausa language should be used in teaching, with the addition of a few technical words in English, until at least the completion of the first year in the school. Whether it will be advisable to introduce English into the second and third year courses of those mallams selected for training as surveyors and drafts- men is doubtful. To learn a technical art it is usually, I believe, considered advis- able to teach the student a European language. On the other hand, it would be necessary for a mallam to learn English very thoroughly to understand a text-book on surveying. Speaking without very deep enquiry into the subject, I am strongly inclined to advocate the retention of Hausa by the introduction of a Hausa text-book on surveying. There would be no serious difficulty in adopting this system. I can write a simple text-book for the school which can be translated by an officer appointed for that purpose, as can also be the necessary parts of the survey

hand- book.

15.

Hausa dress should be retained. I consider that some emblem of authority is necessary, the nature of which should be entirely national in character, and should be conferred on the mallam by the Emir when the former has completed his training. The emblem should also be of such a nature as to distinguish the different grades of mallams, as such a step tends to promote honourable rivalry, and, consequently. efficiency.

16. Europeans.-But perhaps the most important step to be taken to preserve nationality, and certainly the most in securing efficiency, is the selection of the right