CO885-9 — Page 364

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

46024

SIR,

160

No. 97.

THE BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received December 14, 1906.)

[Answered by 46024 in Miscellaneous No. 204.]

2, London Wall Buildings, London, E.C., December 13, 1906.

I AM directed to refer to your letter, No. 37558/1906, of the 23rd October last, regarding the reports received by the Board on the occurrence of sleeping sickness near the borders of the Congo Free State and North-Eastern Rhodesia, and to transmit, for the information of the Secretary of State, a copy of a letter of the 1st October† from the Administrator of North-Eastern Rhodesia, forwarding a further report on the subject by Dr. H. A. Noble.

2. Copies of Mr. Codrington's letter and enclosures have been sent to the Foreign Office, the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine, the Royal Society, and to the Tanganyika Concessions, Limited, and I am to add that, in respect to the prevalence of the disease in the Congo State adjoining the North- Western Rhodesia boundary, my Directors have recently discussed the matter fully with Dr. Todd, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who takes a serious view of the spread of the disease along the main routes of traffic.

3. It appears that the question of the prevention of the spread of sleeping sickness is one of international importance, and from all reports it seems that the disease can only be arrested and eventually eradicated by the cordial co-operation of all South and Central African States.

4. My Directors understand that the question has for some time past been receiving the earnest consideration of His Majesty's Government, and they would be grateful if the Secretary of State could furnish them with information as to any action which may be contemplated.

46424

No. 98.

UGANDA.

I am, &c.,

D. E. BRODIE,

Secretary.

COMMISSIONER H. HESKETH BELL to THE EARL OF ELGIN. (Received 3.22 p.m., December 15, 1906.)

TELEGRAM.

[Answered by 46424 in Miscellaneous No. 204.]

No. 73. Referring to your telegram of 9th December, Williams has already left British East African Protectorate. Entebbe water-supply capable of improve- ment. Senior Medical Officer has no knowledge of any illness due to water-supply.

44563

SIR,

No. 99.

COLONIAL OFFICE to MR. J. CATHCART WASON, M.P.

Downing Street, December 27, 1906.

I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th of November,§ and to inform you that, since the date of your question in the House of Commons of the 3rd of August last, he has been in communication with the Commissioner of Uganda in regard to the suitability of Entebbe as the seat of the administration of the Protectorate.

101

2. The Commissioner has referred to a Medical Board the question of the relative advantages of Entebbe and Kampala from the point of view of health. The Board consisted of the Principal Medical Officer for Uganda and the East Africa Protectorate, the Senior Medical Officer in charge of the Sleeping Sickness Extended Investigation Commission, and four other Medical Officers, two of whom are specially engaged in work connected with sleeping sickness. It reported:-

3.

(a) That the township of Entebbe can scarcely be considered as being inside the area infected by sleeping sickness; that the risk of infection is practically nil; and that, therefore, from this point of view Entebbe is a suitable place for the administrative capital.

(b) That with regard to the Peninsula of Entebbe, the risk of infection by sleeping sickness is infinitesimal in the case of Europeans, and that the risk to natives is less than has hitherto been believed, and less than in many other parts of Uganda and Usoga.

(c) That from the point of view of health generally, Kampala is not better than Entebbe, and further, that the site of the present Government station at Kampala is not suitable for a large European official popula- tion, such as exists at Entebbe. The Board found that cases of malaria and blackwater fever were relatively more numerous at Kampala than at Entebbe.

(d) That by means of judicious and vigorous preventive measures, the danger from sleeping sickness in the peninsula of Entebbe can, in the opinion of the Board, be very considerably reduced, that this has already been done in part of the Peninsula, and that, although it may not be possible to eliminate the disease entirely from the Peninsula, the danger could be reduced to a minimum.

In view, however, of the importance of the question, the Commissioner consulted all the Senior Officers of the Government, who were then in the Protec- torate, and found that they were unanimously of the opinion that Entebbe was the most suitable site available for the headquarters of the Government. In this view Mr. Hesketh Bell entirely concurs; and he points out that there are political reasons why it is undesirable to move the seat of Government to Kampala, both because the change would too closely identify the Protectorate and the Kingdom of Uganda, and particularly because the presence of the Protectorate administration side by side with the native administration of the Kingdom would be certain to destroy the prestige of the latter, and remove the only means by which we can at present influ- ence the Baganda to maintain the habits of industry which distinguished them from the native populations of other parts of Africa.

4. These considerations, added to the fact that the removal of the capital from Entebbe would involve great pecuniary loss both for the Government and for private persons have led the Commissioner to recommend that Entebbe should be retained as the administrative capital of the Protectorate. He considers, however, that nothing should be done which would lead to the supersession of Kampala by Entebbe, as the commercial capital of the country, and he proposes that those depart- ments of the administration which come most closely into contact with the people should gradually be removed to Kampala. This change would have the effect of reducing the number of natives who visit Entebbe for business or other reasons, and the consequent risk of their spreading sleeping sickness infection to areas at present free from the disease.

5. After careful consideration, Lord Elgin has decided to approve of the Com- missioner's proposals. With regard to the question of the water supply of Entebbe, to which you have referred in your letter, Lord Elgin will call for a report from the Commissioner, who has stated in a telegram* that the supply is capable of improve- ment, but that the Senior Medical Officer has no knowledge of any illness due to this His Lordship cannot but think that with a proper water supply, with ener- getic measures for the extermination of the tsetse fly from the Peninsula, and by confining Entebbe as far as possible to its purpose as a purely political capital, it will be possible to retain the natural and political advantages of the pace without

cause.

• No. 98.

* 37558: not printed.

† Enclosure in No. 90.

‡ No. 94.

§ No. 91.