Report British Togoland
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c. 452 (b). M. 166 (b). 1925. VI. Geneva, September 3rd, 1925. REPORTS OF MANDATORY POWERS Submitted to the Council of the League of Nations in Accordance with Article 2 2 of the Covenant and considered by the Permanent Mandates Commission at its Sixth Session (June-July 1 9 2 5 J. VI REPORT BY HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT ON THE ADMINISTRATION UNDER MANDATE OF BRITISH TOGOLAND FOR THE YEAR 1924 SOCIÉTÉ DES NATIONS — LEAGUE OF NATIONS GENÈVE — 1925 ---- GENEVA NOTES BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS This edition of the reports submitted to the Council of the League of Nations by the Mandatory Powers under Article 22 of the Covenant is published in exe cution of the following resolution adopted by the Assembly on September 22nd, 1924, at its Fifth Session : “ The Assembly . requests that the reports of the Mandat ory Powders should be distributed to the States Members of the League of Nations and placed at the disposal of the public wrho may desire to purchase them. ” The reports have generally been reproduced as received by the Secretariat. In certain cases, however, it has been decided to omit in this new edition certain legislative and other texts appearing as annexes, and maps and photographs contained in the original edition published by the Mandatory Power. Such omissions are indicated by notes by the Secretariat. The annual report on the administration of Togoland under British mandate for the year 1924 was received by the Secretariat on June 15th, 1925, and examined by the Permanent Mandates Commission on July 6th, 1925, in the presence of the accredited representative of the British Government, Captain E. T. Mansfield, District Commissioner of the Gold Coast Administration. (See Minutes of the Sixth Session, pages 102-116.) The observations of the Commission on this report are contained in document A.14.1925.VL, pages 5 and 6. , The comments of the accredited representative are to be found in document A.21.1925.VI. The references in this report to pages in previous reports refer to the original edition published by the Mandatory Power, which the Secretariat, has not yet been able to have reprinted. ROAD^ MAP OF BRITISH MANDATED NORT H f ' R N MAMP U S S I ZUARAGU TOGOLAND. S c q Ic :- I • 014-inches » 16 Miles N.T.4./ - • — + o Mites G AMBAC N.T.2. Sanaane-Manau W alvta/e SOUTHERN M A M P R U S/S I Nasia DAGOMBA Handings Sambu TAMALE Bimbila Chin c/ir/ K R A C H / ' C h irin q AYR S. J D a d ia s s e I amansu 1 APS./ ATAKPAME orra Worra A k ro s u ) \lkGjasekan 'ebi \j ora da j 'ohoe : V mScB Ataou, s Dale BEto + Go/ok tv,3t% iS ilcb i Dukluqàyb55* Misshohoe Anfoi OElOl À P.S «I28E7 Z /rumeJ f schanij NU ATJA 0 122E Todo Zh$\S£Z 1 E120 HO I2^F, /4J/r«r?iva3e 23E Peki Adaklu HeieknG B atom e \oa*e r 7 W ÿ n L x ifisE Z'\ SoA/oeARS^v rra n k a d u à fe rm a i Apegusu A hunda X-L A -a ^ VV] X REFERENCE. Kpedseg/o j International Kpongi 1\t24 E IO I Boundaries \ Political LOME DENU I Provincial EIÔF^AKUSE XX A d /d o m e /3^ C/ass Motor Roads (Main) Roads generally fit for Motor Car KETA Pioneer Roads Other Roads ÎPreventive Stations /Cocoa Area:- coloured & dotted Blue ADDAH: J Cotton Area - » •• * Green Expprts< Palms indicsted thus Y Y ^ j Maize by A 4 * \Ao/s Dispensaries Vial by & Sons, Lith /92 f113214* '0 2 ') 6 00 . 10.2 5 . REPORT BY HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT ON THE ADMINISTRATION UNDER MANDATE OF BRITISH TOGOLAND FOR THE YEAR 1924, INDEX Historical . 4 Physical Features . 5 Climate . 5 Inhabitants . .. 5 Occupations . 6 Native Institutions . 6 Administration . 9 Judicial Procedure . .. .. 9 Native Administration. 10 Communications . 11 Public Works . - . 13 Agriculture . 15 THE QUESTIONNAIRE. Slavery . .. 18 Labour . 19 Arms Traffic . .. 20 Trade and Manufacture of Alcohol and Drugs .. .. .. .. .. .. 22 Liberty of Conscience . .. 23 Military Clauses. 24 Economic Equality . 25 Education . .. 25 Public Health . 29 Land Tenure . .... 38 Moral, Social and Material Welfare of the People . 38 General International Conventions . 41 Demographic Statistics. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 42 Public Finances. 42 Appendix A. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 Appendix D. .. .. .. 56 Appendix J ............................................................................................................................................... 59 — 4 — HISTORICAL. The following is a brief account of the history of the people inhabiting the British Mandated Sphere of Togoland. In the Northern Section the tribes are found to differ totally from, those in the Southern Section ; while they are less advanced, they are more powerfully built and live in an almost nude state, excepting where some form of dress has been adopted, when thev often affect loose garments similar to those worn by , the Hausa people. Their history is somewhat vague, but tradition points to long periods of migration and its causes, some of these latter being private, family or tribal quarrels, which have practically peopled the land here and there with communities founded by hunters or other individuals of great prowess. It is recorded that when the Ashanti nation was at its zenith, about the middle of the 18th century the tribes inhabiting this section were under the Ashanti sway, and an annual tribute of slaves and cattle was collected by the Ashanti ambassadors, but on the decline of the Ashanti dynasty and the advent of the European the people gradually shook off the yoke, and as time progressed they again became independent. 2. In the Southern Section the dominant race is the Ewe-speaking people, the cradle of whom appears to have been eastward, and local tradition points to the basin of the Kuara River (the Niger), probably a part of the former kingdom of Benin, as having been their former home. It is, however, generally accepted that some four to five centuries ago a general migration westward took place, for which no particular reason can now be assigned. This dispersion would appear to have been in two directions, one to the north-west and the other to the south west. Owing to internal strife the southern group split up, one group settling at Tado, on the Mono River, which divides Togoland and Dahomey, and at NuatJa, further west, between the Haho and Shio Rivers, the other north-west of this locality, where they formed the town of Dogbonyigbo, which town was situated in what is nowr known as the Adele division of Togo, and from this group the Awunas of Keta and the Bey (Behs) of Lome are purported to have sprung. The people of Dogbonyigbo later deserted their own and Joined their kinsfolk at NuatJa, and this latter place, for all historical purposes, may be taken as the home of the Ewe race. Here they remained in unity for some time, but about 250 years ago the persis tent cruelty of the ruling chief culminated in a general dispersal in a south-westerly direction and the occupation by the Ewe people of the Southern Section of the British Sphere. 3. Between this period and 1888 the Ewes became involved in the following tribal wars :- In 1883, the Peki revolt against the Akwamus, and In 1845 and 1868, the second and third Akwamu wars. 4. In 1869 the territory was invaded by the Ashantis, who were assisted by the Akwamus and the Awrunas, under the Ashanti General Adu Baffo, who inflicted many reverses on the various tribes, and on the 25th June, 1869, destroyed the German Mission Station at Ho and captured one M. Bonnat, a French merchant. Flushed with these victories the Ashanti Army, a few days later, destroyed the Mission Station at Anum and captured four SwTiss missionaries: Mr. Ramseyer, his wife and child, and Mr. Ixuehne, whom they eventually removed to Kumasi and held in captivity for four years until released by the expedition under Sir Garnet Wolselev in 1874. This year saw the downfall of the Ashanti dynasty. In 1875 the first Taviepe war took place, in which the Taviepes and the Ziavis became involved. The latter tribe fought under KwadJo Dei V, of Peki. This expedition was caused by the Taviepes having assisted the Ashantis during the invasion of 1868. 5. I n 1886 and 1887 treaties w7ere drawn up by Mr. Riby Williams, then an officer of the Gold Coast Government, in which the maJority of the tribes along the littoral and its immediate hinterland, as well as those adJoining the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, acknowledged themselves as being under the suzerainty of Great Britain and, in many cases, received the British Flag in t o k e n of their allegiance. 6. Togoland became a German Colony by virtue of occupation in 1884 and by Agreements with Great Britain and France in 1885, 1886, 1897 and 1899 respectively, and was administered, as such by the Germans until 1914, when, at the outbreak of war, it was surrendered to the combined British and French Forces. A provisional agreement was then made partitioning | the Colony into British and French Spheres, the former including the seaport of Lome a n d the greater portion of the Atakpame and Palime Railway lines, wdiich are now included in the French Mandate, the division following an arbitrary line running north and south. 7. On the 10th July, 1919, the Anglo-French Agreement was signed in Paris by Viscount Milner and M. Simon and the part therein mandated to Great Britain is being administered as an integral part of the Gold Coast Colony and its Dependencies, as provided for in the Mandate by the League of Nations and prescribed by the Order in Council dated the lit1 October, 1923, entitled “ The British Sphere of Togoland Order in Council, 1923, ” under the provisions of the British Sphere of Togoland Administration Ordinance, 1924, which cam into force on the 1st April, 1924, and a copy of which is annexed as Appendix A to this Repo1 ■ - 5 — PHYSICAL FEATURES.