NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
THE PROPOSED CESSION
OF THE
BRITISH
COLONY OF GAMBIA
TO
FRAN CE.
FEBRUARY, 1876.
JAMES F. HUTTON,
> \
29, DALE STREET, MANCHESTER.
gtanxfRsfor ;
GUARDIAN LETTERPRESS AND LITHOGRAPHIC WORKS.
1876.
THE
PROPOSED CESSION OF GAMBIA
TO FEANOE.
MANCHESTER DEPUTATION TO LORD
CARNARVON.
On the 31st January, a deputation, consisting of Mr. Edmund
Ashworth (president), Mr. Thomas Browning, and Mr. James E.
Hutton, members of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, waited
upon the Earl of Carnarvon (who was accompanied by Mr. Lowther),
at the Colonial Office, to make certain representations concerning
the projected cession of Gambia.
Mr. Ashworth said he, and the body they represented, looked on
this as a commercial question. They held their annual meeting: on
Monday, and the members were earnestly of opinion that no colony
and no settlement could be spared. It was a place to which they
sent much of their cotton goods, and such settlements ought not to
be lost if English manufacturers were to keep their mills going.
The Gambia river had been an old settlement, and was one the
imports and exports of which were important to their mercantile
interests and their shipping. By transferring it to the French,
English interests would be sacrificed. Some thousands were
invested in the trade and buildings, and in all respects it was of the
greatest importance it should not be transferred without a due con¬
sideration of the interests affected by it.
Mr. Hutton, in the course of a long address, said there were
many important interests involved in connection with the matter,
not only concerning Gambia, but the whole West Coast of Africa,
and his own firm had been interested there during the whole of the
o
century. The question of the progress of the colonies the Chamber
had taken up, and watched attentively and seriously, because of the
large capital invested which would be seriously affected in case of
the proposed transfer to the French Government. The points he
wished to bring forward were, first, the geographical. As regarded
the Gambia, the importance of the river as a means of communica¬
tion with the interior by vessels and boats was well established. It
gave easy communication with the Niger, and by its means native
traders came down twice a year to the sea coast from 1,000 miles
in the interior, bringing their produce and taking back our manu¬
factured articles. These were the most industrious and agricultural
tribes in that part of Africa. When trade was first established those
people were sold as slaves, and England had to take mahogany, bees'
wax, and hides of animals. Those articles had now almost ceased
to be imported into this country, but the natives who came down
from the interior were not to be deterred, and they commenced
growing ground nuts. In 1837 the first cargo of ground nuts, 97
tons, was imported, and from 1837 to 1840 1,000 tons per annum
were exported ; from 1841 to 1849 4,000 tons of the annual value
of £50,000; from 1850 to 1859 10,000; and 1860 to 1869 13,000
tons annually ; and the quantity went on increasing until in 1874
it reached 19,700 tons, of the value of £170,000. Still these values
were rather fictitious in consequence of the Custom-house authorities'
mode of calculating the value. The exports of Manchester goods
from 1853 to 1862 ranged from £16,000 to £19,000 per annum,
whilst in 1874 they reached £30,000. In addition to this, during
the last ten years a considerable trade bad been done with Gambia
via France—goods re-shipped at Bordeaux and other ports. In
1874 the exports of British goods from this country amounted to
£85,000. The average annual exports and imports from 1840 to
1849 amounted to £215,000, from 1850 to 1859 £280,000, from 1860
to 1869 £276,000, and the total trade for 1874 amounted to
£310,000. He quoted these figures to show the considerable trade
with the country. In 1849 the total revenue of the colony was
£6,988; during the eight years from 1859 to 1866 it annually averaged
£16,000; from 1867 to 1874 it averaged £18,000. In 1875 the
revenue was three times what it had been in 1849, viz., £21,000.
With regard to the expenditure this colony was one which paid its
3
own way. It had now a sum lying in London to its credit, and it
only spent £3,800 a year in benefiting the colony itself. The official
expenditure, viz., salaries to governor, customs, magistrates and
police officers, and pensions to retired officials, cost it over £15,000
a year, and the colonial estimates of last year showed a surplus of
about £1,500 to be remitted to the Crown Agents.
The Earl of Carnarvon said they were at issue as to the figures,
because his view was financially absolutely different, it was not an
actual but an estimated surplus, but whether he could put his hand
upon the figures he did not know.
Mr. Hutton said he had received the details from the Customs
in Gambia. He merely wished to call attention to so little being
spent íd the colony ; education, hospital, roads, and public works, for
instance, only costing £3,800 per annum. There was no charge
whatever to this country. The merchants there felt it a grievance
that there was no member of their body on the legislative
council. Three years ago Lord Kimberley promised a deputa¬
tion from Manchester that an increased number of merchants
should be appointed. The only member who had done great
service to the colony was Mr. Brown, who was forced to resign
in consequence of finding himself always opposed by the official
members. He was followed by a German, who was only on the
council a few months last year, and who had also resigned. The
next point on which the Chamber based their opposition to the
transfer was that if once Gambia was made into a French colony,
the French Government would increase the import duties, which at
present were very small in amount. At the end of 1876, on the
expiration of the French treaty, the English merchants feared duties
would be raised to their disadvantage. The consumption of cotton
goods in Gambia and districts adjoining formerly consisted of goods
made in the East Indies, and exported principally from Pondicherry,
but during the last thirty years these had been replaced by Manchester
goods, and the shipments of the Pondicherry merchants brought ruin,
and their trade with Gambia was dying out. The French manu¬
facturers of Eouen and other places also found their goods driven
out of the market, and they had petitioned their Ministry to impose
a heavy duty on English goods. Pondicherry had also asked that
a specific duty should be imposed to the extent of 40 per cent, in
4
value on English goods going into Senegal. This showed the pro¬
bability of duties being increased at the end of 1876. Those duties
which now amount to 2 per cent, on the value would probably
be altered to the Erench métropole duties, and would amount to
something like 15 per cent., therefore if Gambia is joined to Senegal
competition may become impossible and Manchester goods would be
excluded. The next objection he would raise was relative to the
negotiations which took place in 1871 as to the transfer of Gambia
to Erance. The merchants opposed it very strongly. Then they
entered into communication together and were getting all the in¬
formation they could, but they received a written communication
from Lord Kimberley that all negotiations for the transfer had
ceased, and that Her Majesty's Government had abandoned the
scheme, and it was therefore useless continuing correspondence on
the point. Having received that assurance, the merchants continued
their trade and embarked new capital, and had been taken by sur¬
prise at hearing six months ago that it was again proposed
to transfer the colony. British merchants had put their capital in
houses, buildings, trading establishments, and goods lying at their
risk until it now amounted to something like a quarter of a million.
It had been stated that the object of the Erench Government was to
prevent arms, powder, and spirits going into the interior through
Gambia ; that when they were at war with the tribes at the back of
Senegal those tribes received supplies through Gambia. He could
not deny the fact, but no course Her Majesty's Government could
take could possibly prevent it or the Ashantees in the same manner
on the Gold Coast getting their supplies from some source or other,
as there are trading stations along the whole coast of Africa. The
Portuguese hold possessions there through which it would be quite
as easy for arms and ammunition to be supplied to the natives. The
only actual territory the Erench could hand us is Grand Bassamand
Assinee, where there was no trade of any consideration ; in fact there
were onl'y two mercantile houses there, one English and one Erench,.
and the trade only amounted to ¿£20,000 or £30,000 per annum partly
in arms and powder. Another point was that the cession was opposed
by the whole of the English and by most of the Ereneh merchants
as well as the natives of the whole of the coast. The merchants had
been in a state of uncertainty since the report of the projected
5
cession of Gambia, and trade was suffering very materially in con¬
sequence. It had been stated that the whole of the trade.was in
the hands of the French. Such was not the case. The English
merchants at Bathurst carried on the largest portion of the trade.
The greater part of the ground nuts went to Marseilles, because it is
the best selling market; but bees' wax, mahogany, &c., cameto England.
The duties paid for the first eleven months of 1875 were, English
houses ¿611,447, and French houses ¿67,764. During the years 1870
to 1875, local rates and licences paid by English houses ranged from
¿61,000 to ¿61,050 per annum, while during the same period those
paid by the French houses amounted to between ¿6200 and £300
per annum, showing it to be very untrue that the French carry on
the bulk of the trade at Gambia. The assertion is equally untrue
that it is a French colony, administered by Englishmen.
Mr. Ashworth said he should like to add that it had been
stated that Gambia was unhealthy for English people, but Sir John
Mantell who wras a friend of his had resided there for twenty years,
and had experienced no inconvenience whatever.
The Earl of Carnarvon : I can honestly say that I am much
obliged to you for coming here to discuss this question, which I
admit is a very important one in many respects, and nothing could
have been more valuable than the statement you have been good
enough to make to me. Mr. Ashworth stated that all that he really
had desired in a case of this sort was that no sacrifice of commercial
or national interests might be made, and after a due and careful
consideration on the part of the Government I can assure you that
I desire nothing better than that everything should have full
consideration in such cases as this. You probably remember that
at the close of last eession when there was some apprehension
expressed on this subject on the part of the Government, I intimated
that no final steps should be taken until Parliament had an
opportunity of expressing its views upon the subject. That pledge
I need not say I intend fully to abide by, and I desire, especially in
a matter of this sort, to feel myself acting not merely as a member
of the Government, but as carrying with me the sympathy of the
Parliament and the country. Having stated that, I am quite sure
you cannot expect, nor is it necessary, that I should go into the
details of the matters which have been brought before me to-day, as
6
oil many points clearly I ought to reserve my opinion until it is
afterwards called upon for discussion. But there are one or two
points upon which I propose to speak. I should like to correct a
misapprehension which exists on the subject. In speaking of the
negotiations which took place in 1871, and the assurance Lord
Kimberley then gave that this question was abandoned, the expres¬
sion which Mr. Hutton used more than once was "the cession of
Gambia," and I think Mr. Ashworth made use of the same word.
I should wish to have it distinctly understood that whatever the
original proposal of 1871 was, this is not a cession. It is a mere
exchange, if I may say so, for the purpose of rounding off a rather
inconveniently situated property on the West Coast of Africa, and I
am quite sure that such a body as the Chamber of Commerce of
Manchester would not merely look upon such a question from one
isolated point, but take a wider view of it, and consider what was
the benefit to the whole of the interests round the coasts. If we
abandon that point the position in which we are placed is a much
more favourable one. I merely just throw that out with the view of
correcting any misapprehension on this subject. It has never been
the intention of the Government to make a cession or transfer as it
is called. All that is proposed in such an exchange as would allow
us to develop that portion of the West of Africa politically and
socially. Then I will not stop to say anything about the point Mr.
Hutton dwelt on a good deal, namely, the supposed impossibility of
stopping the import of arms. I am not at all convinced it is
impossible to regulate it in a great measure. I am quite sure of
this, and I may say it on the fullest knowledge, there is very great
danger in the large quantity of arms and ammunition which are
being imported, and every one must feel that if a native war was
to break out again we should expend in the course of a few months
the revenue and expenditure of Gambia for years and years past,
added to the total amount of British capital which is now in the
colony, as was shown by the expense of the Ashantee War. As
regards the pacific nature of the tribes, the accounts I get are very
different from the statement of Mr. Hutton. It very often grieves
me to send out men of high qualifications to die on the coast. I do
not mean to say Where a man is very abstemious, and possessed of a
good constitution, he may not spend a good many years there, and
return to enjoy the rest of his life, but these are exceptions. As
regards the pacific nature of the tribes, whatever it may have been
when Sir John Mantell was there, I am bound to say with all
deliberation that the state of the country and the attitude of the
tribes have been such as to cause great apprehension. There has
been war going on during the last twelve months, and on our
immediate frontier, and of such a nature that without very great
care it might easily involve us in difficulties. I can only say of
Gambia what I can say of very many other colonies, that the
administration of them from that point of view must always be
attended with difficulty and anxiety. The different grievances which
were mentioned by the merchants are not wholly new to me. I do-
not now hear them for the first time. The deputation may be sure
I will consider them very carefully, and give every weight to
representations coming from such a body as they represent. One
grievance was mentioned, the absence or rather non-existence of
commercial representation on the Legislative Council. I think Mr.
Hutton said that in 1874, on the resignation of Mr. Brown, Lord
Kimberley appointed a German gentleman as his successor. My
recollection of the transaction is that Mr. Helm was appointed
because no capable Englishman was found on the spot. That show»
that there has been a gradual diminution of English residents of
capacity, intelligence, and position on the spot, able to give their
time and trouble to the Administration, and who had been there
sufficiently long to be acquainted with the wants of the colony.
Then there was another case, where I am afraid we are at issue in
point of matter of fact. It was stated by Mr. Hutton that the
community of Gambia had found great cause of complaint in the
fact of so little of the revenue being spent on public works. I
believe the state of the case to be this, that but little money has
been spent on these public works for this reason, that the colony
itself so far from having a surplus of ¿£1,500 a year has been a long
time a debtor. The figures I have here only go back for two years.
They are the net revenue as I understood it and the expenditure,,
and they give this result. In 1873 the revenue was ¿£19,300 and
the expenditure ¿£24,000, showing as you see a large deficit for the
year. In 1874 the revenue was ¿£22,300, and the expenditure
¿£23,000. How it may be quite true, as Mr. Hutton stated, that
5
there has been a growth of income during the last nineteen or twenty-
years, but I apprehend if the expenditure has grown to a corresponding
extent, it can hardly be considered as showing a very prosperous
state of affairs. I believe myself so far from there having been any
unnecessary expenditure on the spot, the establishments there have
been starved, and from a financial pressure the colonies have suffered
in administration. The amount as produced on the spot really does
not meet the requirements. Take the ease of Sierra Leone which is
practically adjoining Gambia. Sierra Leone is in debt to the Crown
agents in this country to the amount of ¿£25,000, and so long as you
hold the .districts immediately adjoining, so long is it impossible to
obtain the necessary revenue or have it secured without uniformity
of administration, and the result is that we find ourselves in very
much the same difficulty there that we do at Gambia; but once
arrange with the French for the exchange of its territories, by which
we become possessed of those districts where French goods now slip
into the country free from duty, then it becomes possible to have
such a fiscal system as to raise the revenue both of Sierra Leone and
Gambia. I take it I can hardly quite agree with the estimate which
was expressed by Mr. Hutton as to the little value in that point of
view in the French stations. I believe they raise there a very
considerable portion of revenue goods. Arms and ammunition are
imported in very large quantities, for which the Gold Coast
government gets no return at all. Of course we are in this state—
that the French will not consent to give up these coasts without
what they consider their full price. Their full price unfortunately
seems to be Gambia, and of course it is a matter of commercial
calculation whether the price is worth paying. My unquestionable
belief is this—that arguing simply on commercial grounds the
revenue of the Gold Coast would benefit largely indeed 'by the
transfer of the French stations. Of this I have no shadow of doubt,
and it is, of course, for a Chamber of Commerce to consider whether
Parliament and the country really desire the Gold Coast to be
retained and consolidated, possessing, as it does, all the elements of
commercial prosperity ; whether it is desirable to quibble with them
for the lack of these few stations along the coast, which now really
prevent the success of a great reorganisation. Of course it resolves
itself really into this. Sierra Leone undoubtedly, and the Gold
o
Coast probably needs funds for their still further development,
that is to say Sierra Leone certainly needs funds if the Government
is to carry it on. The Gold Coast and Lagos need additional money
for this further development. This can only come either from
within or without. The capital can be produced from within, I am
satisfied, by the internal resources of the country, if once uniformity
of administration can be secured aloDg that coast ; but if that be
impossible, I think there is but one other alternative, which is an
application to this country to pay the whole or some portion of the
expenses. I doubt whether the proposal would be one satisfactory
to the country, especially when they have before them the alternative
plan. Gentlemen, I have thought it only due to you, and especially
to the importance of the body you represent, to give you as full an
answer on one point as circumstances admit. There are, of course,
many other points in the case which I have only touched in part
this morning. I shall have occasion to discuss them during the
next session, and we would far rather find ourselves agreeing than
at variance with such a body as you represent.
In reply to Mr. Thomas Browning's question as to how the
interests of Englishmen in Gambia would be dealt with, his lordship
said of course he must give a rather guarded answer. The best
answer was the statement he had already made in Parliament that
it would be for the Government to consider and provide in the
fullest way for all interests which might be affected.
Mr. Hutton represented that the merchants in Gambia were
willing to submit to taxation without coming for help to England.
They had had no opportunity of discussing the expenditure, and had
possessed no control over it.
The deputation then thanked his Lordship, and retired.
LETTER FROM JAMES F. HÜTTON TO
THE EARL OF CARNARVON.
29, Dale Street, Manchester,
llth February, 1876.
My Lord,—In the interview given to the deputation from the
Chamber of Commerce of Manchester, on the 31st ult., your Lord¬
ship stated that the colony of Gambia has for a long time been a
debtor to this country, and your Lordship expressed a desire to be
informed upon what grounds my statement was made that this
colony pays its own expenses.
Herewith I beg to append a statement marked A showing the
actual revenue for the years 1864 to 1871, and statement B showing
the actual expenditure during the same years. Since 1871 no details
have been published in the Colonial Blue Books, therefore there are
added to the above statements the details of the estimate of revenue
and expenditure for 1873, 1874, and 1875. From the summary C
it will be seen that during the nine years 1864 to 1872, the expendi¬
ture exceeded revenue by .£177, but on the estimates of revenue
furnished me there appears during 1870 to 1874 a sum of £4,400
belonging to the Gambia, and invested by the Crown agents in New
Zealand Bonds, upon which interest was paid to the colony for three
years at 5 per cent, per annum. In 1873 the estimates of revenue
covered expenditure, but in 1874 there was a deficiency of £4,683,
while in 1875 the estimates of revenue exceeded the expenditure by
£1,537, therefore deducting the expenditure from the £4,400 invested*
there should remain a surplus of £1,079 to the credit of Gambia,
and upon this the merchants felt justified in asserting that this
colony is no cost to Her Majesty's Government.
In statements marked D and E, I beg to submit details showing
the increase in the trade of the Gambia. The customs revenue has
thereby increased from an average of £11,372 per annum during
11
1864, 1865, and 1866, to an average of £15,994 during 1873, 1874,
and 1875.
I would call your Lordship's attention to the fact that during
the last five years thé Gambia has had no grant from Parliament, and
that the salaries and allowances paid to the Government officials have
increased from £8,711 in l867to £ll,776in 1875; that this colony has
been called upon to pay the retiring allowances to the Crown officers^
which have increased from £478 in 1864, to £1,144 in 1875; also
that when Her Majesty's Government declined to grant any further
subsidy for the direct conveyance of mails from England, the colony
of Gambia contributed for this purpose £1,000 per annum to the
regular mail line during 1870 and 1871 ; that in 1872 the Governor
of Sierra Leone diverted this payment to a private individual, and in
direct opposition to the wishes and interests of the colony, and he
compelled the mails to be sent by a small colonial steamer via Sierra
Leone; that since April, 1873, the Gambia has paid another line of
steamers £ 1,200 per annum for a monthly direct conveyance of
mails, and has exempted this line of steamers from all tonnage dues.
In submitting these facts to your Lordship I regret to add that it
is the unanimous opinion of the merchants interested in the Gambia,
that the colony has been improperly burdened with an extravagant
expenditure, over which neither they nor the taxpayers have had
any control. In my interview with your Lordship I alluded to re¬
presentations on this point made by the Manchester Chamber of
Commerce in 1873. As evidence that our protests are not new nor
hastily made, I take the liberty of referring your Lordship to two
letters addressed on the l8th March, and on the 22nd April, 1873,
to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, by Mr. Thomas Brown,
then member of the Legislative Council of the Gambia. The
estimated expenditure for 1873, against which Mr. Thomas Brown
protests in these letters, amounted to £16,843. On the Bist ult.,
your Lordship informed me that the actual expenditure of that year
amounted to £24,000, and of 1874 to £23,400, showing an excess of ex¬
penditure over estimates of £7,157 for 1873, and of £1,683 for 1874.
I take the liberty also of enclosing your Lordship two extracts of
letters addressed to me by Mr. Thomas Brown, relative to the acts
of the Legislative Council of Gambia, and I may add that finding no
attention was paid to his representations and protests, and that one
12
mercantile voice at the Legislative Council was useless, Mr. Thomas
Brown who had lived in Gambia over forty years felt compelled to
resign this honourable position, which he had held during a con¬
siderable time.
It is therefore a duty to point out to your Lordship the reasons
why this colony has not progressed rapidly. When in 1870 it was
first proposed to transfer Gambia to Prance, trade became dis¬
organised and unprofitable, the French merchants were not desirous
of it, and preferred the peace of British rule, but the manner in
which this colony has since been governed, and the want of en¬
couragement and protection to trade, have so disheartened merchants,
that on this account only have the French residents in Gambia now
become advocates for the rule and protection of their own govern-
ment. In 1871 the English merchants received from the Secretary
of State for the Colonies, a written assurance that Her Majesty's
Government had abandoned the project of the transfer to the French.
In l874j,hey received from the Governor of the Gambia the same
assurance. I would therefore respectfully ask your Lordship how
it is possible for any colony to flourish or to pay its expenses when
the investment of British capital and industry is necessarily with¬
held during such uncertainties, and under such neglect of mercantile
interests in the colony. It would not be just to hold the merchants
and inhabitants of Gambia responsible for any inadequacy in the
revenue, when their representations regarding the expenditure meet
no response, and when they have no power to control it. Is it
right that their interests should now be sacrificed? having for
years past willingly contributed towards the welfare of their colony
and their home, and having raised the river Gambia from degradation
to a state as civilised as, and of equal real value to any of Her
Majesty's possessions on the West Coast of Africa.
In 1871 it was estimated that the value of the Gambia to
France aa a possession amounted to over half a million sterling, in
addition to a quarter of a million invested by British merchants. I
would respectfully ask your Lordship what territory the French
government offers England which is a tithe of this value. Grand
Bassam and Assinee form the only actual territory, and that con¬
sists of a narrow strip of sea shore, for the occupation of which she
pays an annual subsidy to the chiefs ; it is populated by a few
13
thousand natives, and the river or lagoon there is only navigable for
boats for a few miles into the interior. France maintains no active
government there, there are neither troops nor any establishment ;
no duties are levied ; no Europeans can remain there long ; one
solitary merchant represents the government of France, which
receives from him a small annual payment for the occupation of the
fort as a trading post ; the imports amount to about ¿£30,000 per
annum ; the Ashantces are not allowed by the natives to come to
the sea nor to pass through their territory, so that the prohibition
of imports of guns and ammunition would only serve to drive the
Ashantees to seek their supplies a few miles further to the westward,
where there are only native governments to welcome such an acces¬
sion to their trade. At Popo, Abguay, Whydah, and Porto Novo,
the French have no territory to exchange. These countries belong
to the Kings and Chiefs, who alone can offer them in exchange for
Gambia. At Whydah only, the seaport of the King of Dahomey,
are there any European rights, and those only in the form of old
forts erected in the. days of slavery, but these even questionable
rights are equally shared with France by the British government,
and also by the Portuguese government, who alone keep stationed
there paid officers.
It is said that the Governor of the Gold Coast has given an
assurance that he can raise a revenue of ¿£200,000 per annum on
this coast. But has he counted the enormous cost of raising such a
revenue ? May it not be eaten up as in the Gambia by the heavy
expenditure? Along a thousand miles of coast an enormous staff of
customs officials will be necessary. Will there not be frequent
wars and disputes with the different tribes ? The exchange of the
Dutch Gold Coast settlements" and the Ashantee war are fresh on
our minds. Will the King of Dahomey and the other uncivilised
chiefs submit to our laws and abandon slavery without a struggle 1
Will not trade receive a check and will not the prosperity of the
commerce be endangered? The tables of the exports of Great Britain
to the West Coast of Africa, which I take the liberty of sending to
your Lordship,will show that nearly two-thirds of the trade is carried
on out of British dominions. Such are the annoyances and con¬
stant difficulties to trade raised by officials in Her Majesty's settle¬
ments on the West Coast of Africa, that it is notorious that
u
prosperity declines, and that many merchants withdraw their capital
and trade from ports wherever the British G-overnment is established.
I would also respectfully submit to your Lordship the opinions
expressed upon the proposed transfer in a letter lately addressed to
me by one of the oldest and most influential French merchants who
has large trading establishments on the West Coast of Africa.
Apologising for thus trespassing upon your Lordship,
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant,
JAMES F. HUTTON,
To the Bight Honourable
The Earl of Carnarvon,
Downing-street, London,
15
Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure of Her Majesty's Settlements on
the Gambia, for the Tears 1848 and 1849.
1848.
REVENUE.
EXPENDITUEE.
£ s.
d.
£ s.
d.
Customs Duties....,
... 6,343 14
7
Salaries and Allowances
3,288 15
0
228 0
0
Public Works
897 3
4
Judicial Fines
40 11
8
Subsistence of Native Kings, Ac.
65 5
10
90 2
6
Customs to ditto
160 0
0
Market Fees
48 17
6
Presents to ditto
180 0
0
17 5
9
Eent of Public Offices
150 0
0
73 1
3
Pensioners
10 8
0
Maintenance of Prisoners, &c....
503 2
0
Education Grant
100 0
0
£6,841 13
3
£5,359 14
2
1849.
EE VENUE.
£ s. d.
Customs 6,486 15 11
Licences 244 0 0
Fines, Forfeitures, and Fees of
Court 101 17 6
Fees of Office 14 8 6
Miscellaneous Keeeipts 141 13 2
EXPENDITUEE.
£ s. d.
Salaries and Allowances of
Colonial Officers and Subordi¬
nates, including Office Con¬
tingencies 3,761 0 fi
Pensions, Eetired Allowances,
and Gratuities 74 8 0
Eevenue Services, exclusive of
Establishments 25 0 0
Administration of Justioe, ex¬
clusive of Establishments 46 11 0
Education, exclusive of ditto ... 100 0 0
Police and Gaols, ditto ditto ... 395 0 0
Eent of Public Offices 180 0 0
Transport 35 0 0
Works and Buildings 24 1 4
Miscellaneous 1,509 5 9
Clothing for 150 men (Militia)... 450 0 0
Aborigines 233 1 4
Drawbacks and Eefund of
Duties 155 7 2
£6,988 15 1
£6,988 15 1
A.
Gross Amount of Public Revenue in the Gambia.
1864.
1865.
1866.
1867.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
Estimates.
1873.
Estimates.
1874.
Estimates.
1875.
Estimates.
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
£
. £
£
£
£
Customs, Tonnage, Dues, &c.
11,025
9,187
13,906
19,568
17,635
12,386
15,430
15,280
16,000
14,575
14,883
18,524
Licences
625
592
820
710
990
920
940
850
900
850
963
963
Land Devenue
201
U'3
263
219
224
248
251
182
250
200
176
184
Dents, exclusive of Land
425
326
443
656
883
633
576
572
550
545
516
595
Government Steamer
• • •
80
27
a a a
a a a
a a a
• a«
a a a
a a a
aaa
24
Fines, Forfeitures, and Fees
of Office
116
77
82
72
53
63
133
143
275
250
250
2'S
Parliamentary Grant for Sala¬
ries
2,171
2,173
500
« a a
• a a
a a a
a a a
«•a
• •a
• •a
a a a
aaa
Ditto ditto Steamer
2,500
2,000
500
a a a
• a a
aa a
a a a
• aa
aaa
aaa
a a a
m. .
Postage
• • a
• a •
a • •
...
a a a
• a a
• aa
27
50
50
41
77
Eeceipts in Aid of Devenue ...
• a «
a • ■
• a a
774
1,997
750
1,000
aaa
a a a
aaa
a a •
a a .
Reimbursements ditto ...
..a
a a a
• a •
140
54
56
45
74
50
60
95
96
Bills of Exchange
aa.
2,291
♦ a.
aa a
a • a
aaa
(a a
aaa
aaa
a a »
aaa
Interest of <£4,400 invested by
Crown Agent
♦ » a
a aa
a a a
aa«
a a a
a aa
» a a
216
200
215
a a '
a a >
Auction Duty
• . •
a.a
* a a
aa •
a a a
aa «
• *
aaa
87
20
20
20
15
Miscellaneous
142
201
241
276
252
463
594
47
75
50
72
20
Sale of Government Property.
...
...
•••
...
a a a
...
...
12
20
30
18
35
17,205
14,759
19,080
22,145
22,088
15,519 :
18,969
17,490
Estimated
18,390
Actual Rev.
17,249
16,845
17,034
20,791
ß.
Gross Amount of Expenditure in the Gambia.
Salaries, Allowances, and Con¬
tingencies
Works and Buildings
Roads, Streets, and Bridges ...
Pensions, Retiring Allow¬
ances, &c
Government Vessels
Aborigines
lient
Exclusive of Establishments :
Education
Administrate, of Justice
Hospitals
Revenue Services
Police and Gaols
Sanitary
Charitable Allowances, Draw¬
backs, and Refund of Duties
Transport and Conveyance ot
Mails
Special Servicss
Miscellaneous
1864.
1865.
10,986
754
625
478
1,277
694
362
185
69
576
314
553
358
431
10,540
473
216
456
1,199
500
87
192
45
592
368
797
1,677
17,662 17,151
1866.
10,292
854
544
600
1,095
662
688
200
174
868
111
666
160
768
17,682
1867.
8,711
1,981
779
923
77
463
250
200
148
703
337
692
2,688
712
18,664
1868.
8,456
2,713
423
1,154
132
281
50
200
134
894
483
574
721
867
17,082
1869.
9,822
4,139
459
1,141
113
289
59
211
152
810
212
481
1,374
944
20,236
1870.
11,201
2,536
540
1,150
"065
153
318
235
564
242
941
1,483
265
1,614
21,937
1871.
£
9,663
830
616
1,261
*442
50
216
77
202
227
670
288
327
1,058
736
16,663
1872.
17,874
1873.
Estimates
10,313
640
531
1,280
"450
50
404
82
349
201
697
225
1,100
"¿21
16,843
1874.
Estimates.
11,807
450
408
1,251
1,338
572
50
359
182
292
133
1,179
1,981
255
1,280
*210
21,717
1875.
Estimates.
£
11,776
300
414
1,144
748
595
110
369
192
237
165
1,065
1,200
265
200
*474
19,254
19
Summary of Revenue and Expenditure of the River Gambia.
Revenue
Expen¬
diture.
1
Surplus.
Deficit.
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
Colonial 1 -, Q-q
Estimates. J '
Ditto 1874
Ditto 1875
£
17,205
14,759
19,080
22,415
22,088
15,519
18,969
17,490
17,249
16,845
17,034
20,791
£
17.662
17,151
! 17,682
18,664
I 17,082
20,236
21,937
16.663
17,874
16,843
21,717
19,254
i
£
• ••
í,398
3,751
5,006
*827
£
457
2,392
• • •
4,717
2,968
*625
- £
10,982
2
1,537
11,159 =Deficit of 177
4,683 f Ditto 3,144
• • • J
12,521
15,842 Ditto 3,321
Amount invested by Crown Agents in 1870 4,400
Surplus to Credit of Gambia
1 ,079
] 9
J).
Statement of the Trade of the River Gambia.
1870.
IMPORTS for Great Britain £45,464
Prance 12,962
OtherCountries... 33,670
1871.
¿"39,733
16,241
46,092
1872.
£43,100
24,332
55,656
1873.
£58,098
9,453
46,854
1874.
£63,775
3,402
63,124
£91,996 £102,066 £123,068 £114,405 £130,301
1875.
EXPORTS to Great Britain £22,183 £24,505 £19,290 £15,176 £32,082
Prance 108,114 114,873 9-,083 89,419 139,952
Other Countries... 12,220 ¡ 3,723 9,853 6,222 8,060
SURPLUS of Exports over
£112,517
£153,101
£1-27,226 £110,817
£160,094
£50,521
£51,035
£4,138
£49,793
EXPORTS, Ground Nuts 1837
„ 1838-1840 Average annual exports 900
„ 1841-1849 „ 4,000
1850-1859 „ 10,000
1860-1869 „ 13,000
1874 „ 19,716
97 tons, value £I,0C0
„ 8,000
60,000
„ 100,000
„ 130,000
„ 170,000
First 11
months of
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1875.
EXPORTS, Ground Nuts by
English Houses
French and other Houses ,. ,
6,636
6,732
8,205
8,106
5,613
7,886
6,476
5,053
7,278
12,438
9.750
7,572
Tons
13,368
16,310
12,999
11,529
19,716
17,322
SHIPPING, Vessels entered
and cleared 1859-1866 ...
8 vears annual averaxre
British Total
tonnage, tonnage.
34.000 65.000
>, 1867-1873 ...
1874
7
»
45,000
.. 57,000
84,000
104,000
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
DO. British Vessels entered, tons 36,980
French ,, ... 14,039
Other Countries „ ... 4,027
25,337
21,916
4,600
21,510
16,664
3,215
20,657
15,955
2,367
28,524
15,063
7,269
Tons
55,046
51,853
41,389
38,979
50,856
DO. British Vessels cleared...
French „
Other Countries ,,
41,319
13,522
4,027
25,632
18,037
4,328
21,082
17,841
3,695
20,536
14,581
2,450
28,558
17,303
7,269
Tons
58,868
47,997
42,118
37,567
53,130
First 11
months of
1875.
Duties Paid by English Houses...
„ French Houses ...
£6,293
5,147
8,866
8,823
11,447
7,764
£11,440
£17,689
£19,211
Licences and Rates Paid by
English Houses
,, French Houses
£1,025
208
£944
209
£1,013
299
£1,030
329
11 months.
£1,005 £913
249 229
£1,233
£1,153
£1,312
£1,359
£1,254
£1,142
JE .—Statistics
of the Trade of the River Gambia.
IMPORTS of Cotton Goods from Great Britain
France
Other Countrie
of Guns and Gunpowder , , £
DITTO
DITTO of Kura and Spirits ...£
TOTAL IMPOBT3 (including Bullion end Specie) from
Great Britain
France
Other Countries
EXPORTS to .Great Britain
France
Other Countries
VESSELS ENTERED British.,
Foreign
Tons ,
VESSELS CLEARED British...
Foreign
REVENUE..
Tons ,
1864.
1865.
1866.
1867.
1868.
1869.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
£
7,412
1 9S7
252
£
16,120
868
830
£
20,955
5,631
4,096
£
36,393
11,970
3,736
£
20,438
146
7,653
£
11,356
1,286
5,422
£
11,809
917
2,504
£
12,254
1,942
5,196
£
11,382
2,2.2
6,752
£
22,368
2,642
9,168
9,651
17,818
36,682
52,102
28,242
18,064
15,230
19,392
20,358
34,198
4.563
6.387
4,985
9,913
8,515
4,703
6,247
3,934
4,391
6,466
3,9.6
6,896
1,825
11,203
9,658
7,850
6,636
4,901
4,842
2,852
44,856
17,051
43,125
67,915
16,0.8
44.865
64,8.5
18,384
24,980
104,367
37,566
51,488
67,087
14,080
63,357
46,630
12,148
35,249
45,464
12,962
33,570
39,733
16,241
46,092
43,100
24,332
55,656
58,098
9,453
46,854
105,032
128,808
108,189
193,421
144,524
91,027
91,926
102,066 _
123,088
114,405
26,691
71,056
34,630
29,823
69,741
39,129
19,201
112,619
26,550
34,305
157,644
22,433
23,712
129,956
33,689
28,446
62.342
18,524
22,183
108,114
12,220
24.505
114,873
13,723
■19,290
98,083
9,853
15,176
89,419
6,222
132,377
138,695
158,370
214,382
137,357
109,312
142,517
153,101
127,226
110,817
Tons.
22,353
11,326
Tons.
22,911
11,275
Tons.
7.559
19,103
Tons.
7,744
22,488
Tons.
7.559
19,103
Tons.
35,334
11,062
Tons,
36,980
18,066
Tons.
25,337
26,516
Tons.
21,510
19,879
Tons.
20,657
18,322
31,679
»34,136
26,662
30,232
26,062
46,396
55,046
51,853
41,389
38,979
20.828
11,555
22,717
11,938
8,184
20,570
7,222
20,219
5,857
22,975
35,807
14,302
41,319
17,519
25,632
22,365
21,082
21,036
20,536
17,031
32,383
34,655
28,754
27,441
28,832
50,109
58,863
47,997
42,118
37,567
£
17,205
£
14,759
£
19,080
£
22,415
£
22,088
£
15,519
£
Ia,969
£
17,490
£
17,249
£
19.335
21
(COPY.)
Balhurst, River Gambia,
22nd April, 1873.
My Lord,—Referring to the letter I had the honour to address to your
Lordship on the 18th March last, soliciting your Lordship to -withhold your
sanction to the increase of salaries in the estimates for the current year.
I have now to report that although there was on the 31st of December
last a balance in the colonial chest of over £810, and that the quarter ending
31st March has been a good one, producing, I believe, over ¿£'5,500, which is
above the average, yet the colonial chest is now virtually empty, there not
being over £200 in it, which is not sufficient to pay the salaries at the end of
the month.
I trust this state of things will be an additional reason to your Lordship
not to sanction the estimates forwarded.
I again pray your Lordship to place some more efficient check than now
exists upon the administrator of spending moneys not in the estimates. The
present administration of affairs here, left as it has been so long with acting
officers, has been most unsatisfactory and disastrous to the prosperity of the
settlements.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant,
(Signed) THOMAS BROWN.
To the Right Hon. the Earl of Ki mberley,
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Extract of Letter from Mr. Thomas Brown, of Bathurst,
Gambia.
"Our revenue is squandered away and the tax paying community have no
check over the expenditure. The council consists of four—three government
officials and one mercantile member, who can do no good, for in case of an
even division, of which there is no chance with the present officials—the
government has four votes to one. When official members are absent on
leave, the officer acting for them represents them in council, but when the
one mercantile member is absent, no one represents his place in the council,
and the whole is in the hands of the officials who have no stake in the
settlement- The greatest difficulty is to make ministers in England and
gentlemen of high and honourable feelings believe that the acts of which we
often complain can possibly be committed by the officials. I wish they were
only out on the coast for a short time and saw for themselves the acts of
their officials, they would indeed be astonished."
Extract of Letter from Mr. Thomas Brown, dated Bathurst,
Gambia, 13th January, 1876.
" I enclose you an ordinance No. 9, of 1875, passed in the council here
without publication or notification of any kind to this community. Whereby
it is sought to extend the provisions of the ordinance of the 18th January,
1848 (which regulates the weights and measures within the settlements), to
fifty miles beyond the settlements. As to the British subjects and their Agents
the effect will be this—that whilst the British must trade with the imperial
bushel, the French and foreigners may trade by whatever measure they
please. With the imperial bushel it will be impossible to pay the native
22
customs and presents, -which is always insisted upon, -while others trading by
the larger French measure can pay them, and as the natives insist upon oDe
uniform rate of 2s. per measure, the effect will be to transfer the trade from
the British to the French.
"An imperial bushel oE nuts weighs from 25 to 281bs., the larger French
measure weighs from 38 to 41 lbs., according to the quality of the nuts, and
this varies at the different ports.
"It is disgraceful the way these ordinances are passed—this Wo. 9 was
passed by three acting officers, viz., Captain Cooper, acting administrator, Mr.
Berkeley, acting collector, Mr. Tanner, acting chief magistrate. No mercantile
members and no notice to the public. These three gentlemen met in the
dining-room at Government House, suspended the standing rules of the
council, which requires seven days to elapse between each reading, and at
one sitting read the ordinance first, second, and third time, and sent it to
Sierra Leone. It was by accident I saw the ordinance, and when I, Mr. Topp,
and Mr. Quin separately applied for a copy, Captain Cooper refused it, upon
which I wrote him again, and then we each had one copy sent us.
"Can you get the Times or some newspaper to show up this iniquity?"
Extract of Letter from a French Merchant, dated
November, 1875.
" You are acting most rightly in opposing the cession of the Gambia to
France, bearing in ruind the consequences it may have on British trade.
Measures may be taken which would entirely keep your goods out of these
markets. Nothing seems impossible with us, political and commercial ideas
change so often in France.
" Your government is acting under the pressure of the governors of the
Gold Coast from the Bight of Benin. They know very well that the exchange
of the Gambia for Grand Bassam and Assinee is ridiculous, for no French will
trade there, and the possession of those two points is an expense for France,
nor does her commerce benefit by it. What the administrators of the
English colonies on the West Coast of Africa are aiming at is, to induce the
French government by euch an exchange to give up all interest at Popo and
in the Bight of Benin, so as to allow them to raise duties which would fill
the coffers of Lagos and of the Gold Coast.
"I do not mean to say that it is impossible to occupy the sea coast of
these countries, but we must look forward to the most formidable opposition
from the King of Dahomey, who will never agree to form the customs nor to
give up his territory. At Porto Novo I anticipate great difficulties also, and
it seems quite certain that for along time trade will be stopped,and political
complications will arise among the natives. Quite lately on the occasion of
a visit on that part of the coast by the French squadron, the authorities and
the caboceers of Popo requested the commanding officer to place them under
the French flag, and they claim its protection. The King of Dahomey has
again offered to cede Kotonoo to France. The King of Porto Novo, assisted by
all his caboceers, has also signed a request, claiming the same protection as
had been agreed by his predecessor, and at the same time he bound himself
in writing to cease all human sacrifices, aud he has agreed to all the terms
that would be imposed by France, only requiring that some resources be left
to him to enable him to defray his expenses."
23
Summary of Exports of Great Britain to the West Coast of Africa,
1853 to 1874.
1853 to 1863.
Cotton, Hardware,
Woollen, Beads, To-
and 611k Guds and bacco and
Manufac- Bum and Gun- other Total
tures. Spirits. powder. Articles. Ten Years.
£ £ £ £ £
Gold Coast * 664,120 23,278 99,319 361,021 1,154,338
Gambia 299,178 10,353 127,635 266,316 703,482
Sierra Leone 1,140,426 75,802 112,131 545,709 1,874,068
Totalto British Possessions.... 2,104,324 109,433 3-39,085 1,179,046 3,1-31,888
WeBt 'foreign and other parts..} 3'mm 8e8>552 1'444'417 3'937399 1H>158>6B5
Total £6,612,621 £977,985 £1,783,502 £5,116,445 £13 890,55.3
* Lagos included with Exports to West Coast of Africa, not then being a British Possession.
1863 to 1872.
Cotton. Hardware,
Woollen, Beads, To-
and 8ilk Guns and bacco, and
Manufac- Bum and Gun- other Total
tures. Spirits. powder. Articles. Ten Years.
£ £ £ £ £
Gold Coast and Lagos 2 094 0-34 9-3,525 130,607 925,589 3,243,755
Gambia 246,718 15,871 89.394 359,940 711,923
Sierra Leone 1,414,908 84,082 153,007 764,230 2,416,221
Totalto British Possessions.... 3,755,660 193,478 373,008 2,049,159 6,371,905
WeBt CÄä tad other parts.. ] 3-637 341 l'103>886 1.200.127 4,169,214 10,110,568
Total £7,393,001 £1,297,364 £1,573,¡35 £6,218,973 £16,482 473
1873 and. 18*74.
^Cotton, Hardware,
Woollen, Beads, To-
and Silk Guns and bacco, and
Manufac- Bum and Gun- other Total
tures. Spirits. powder. Articles. Two Years.
£ £ £ £ £
Gold Coast and Lagos 604,127 11,433 30,356 286,657 932,573
Gambia 64,056 2,326 8,971 71,559 146,912
Sierra Leone 396,820 8,420 35,522 192,458 633,220
Total to British Possessions.... 1,065,003 22,119 74,849 550,674 1,712,705
WeSt Cfo?eig°n and'other parts..} 886>167 235'353 240'051 1-271'803 2'633'374
Total £1,951,170 £257,532 £314,900 £1,822,477 £4,346,079
24
[COPY.]
Downing-street,
19th February, 1876.
Sie,—I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, on the subject of the
financial condition of the settlement of the Eiver Gambia, and the
proposed exchange of territory with France on the "West Coast of
Africa.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
(Signed) B. H. MEADE.
James F. Hutton, Esq.
guardian letterpress and lithographic works, manchester.
*PB-IO92-339-33
75-49T ,
C