This document was created by the Digital Content Creation Unit University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2010 COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. No. 284. LAGOS, REPORT FOR 1898. (For Report for 1897, see No. 832.) tyimnti* to totf) tyQum of ^aiclianunt b# OIomman& of pjt fflawtfr December, 1899. 1 LONDON. PRINTED FOE HER MAJESTTS STATIONERY OFPIOB, BY DARLING & SON, LTD., 1-3, GREAT ST THOMAS APOSTLE, 1S.O. And to be purchased, either directly w th- %ny Bookseller, from E'iiiE & SPOTTISWOODE. EAS" TARI>IN'.J- SI: J. FLEET 8?ss*-r, AJ.O. tad 82, ABINODOH STREET, "WEd-*v;n,3I:J.8T S.W.; or JOHN MENZIES & Co., 12, HANOVER STREET, EDINB&BOH, tad DO, WEST ±!ILE STREET, GLASGOW ; or HODGES, FIGGIS, & Co., LIMIT J>, 104, GBJUTTOX grant, A>TOU* 1890. COLONIAL REPORTS. The following, among other, reports relating to Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions have been issued, and may be obtained for a few pence from the sources indicated on the title page :— ANNUAL. No. Colony. Year. 255 Basutoland • • • • • • • • • 1897-98 256 Newfoundland - •»• 1896-97 257 Cocos-Keeling and Christmas Islands 1898 258 British New Guinea ... •» • * • • • • • 1897-98 259 Bermuda • * * • • e • • • 1898 260 Niger.—West African Frontier \ Force 1897-98 261 Jamaica ... • • • ft 262 Barbados .. • • • • • • • • • 1898 263 Falkland Islands • • • • *« * • • * )>t 264 Gambia ... • • • • • • • • • f* 265 St. Helena • • • • • • * • • ft 266 Leeward Islands ... • • • ft 267 St. Lucia... • • • ••• 1* 268 JEP&j x • • • • • • * *» • • • • •«• »•# t'l 269 Tarks and Caicos Islands • * • ••* ••• ft 270 Al£vlt& ••• • • <* • 6-0. • • • ft 271 Gold Coast • • • •0* ft 272 Trinidad • • • «*• • *f 273 Sierra Leone • • • 0 * • • * • ft 274 Ceylon ... • • • ff • • • • • ft 275 British Solomon Islands • • • « ft » • • • 1898-99 276 Gibraltar f • * 1898 277 Bahamas tf 278 British Honduras ....... o • « • • • ft 279 Mauritius and Ro&rigues • «• « • • • • tt 280 Grenada » • • • 9 • ••• tt 281 St. Vincent • • • «9» It Hong Kong • • • ••* tt i 283 Jamaica ... « • * • « e •» • • 1898-99 MISCELLANEOUS. No. Colony. Sabjeot. 1 Gold Coast... Economic Agriculture. 2 Zululand Forests. 3 Sierra Leone Geology and Botany. 4 Canada Emigration. 5 Bahamas Sisal Industry. 6 Hong Kong Bubonic Plague. 7 Newfoundland Mineral Resources. 8 Western Pacific British Solomon Islands. 9 Dominica Agriculture. 10 Virgin Islands Condition during 1897. 11 Grenada " Agriculture in Carriacou. 12 Anguilla Vital Statistics, 1898. COLONIAL BEPOBT8—ANNUAL. .3 No. 284. 1 *. * * * • liAOOS, LAGOS. 1898. (For Report for 1897, m No, 232.) CAPTAIN G. C. DENTON to GOVERNOR SIR WM. MACGREGOR. October 31st, 1899. SIR, I HAVE the honour to submit the Report on the Blue Book for 1898. L—GENERAL REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. 2. The revenue for the year, inclusive of a Parliamentary |£rant of £10,000 in aid of telegraph construction to the Hinter- land, was £206,444, as against £177,420 in 1897. The local revenue may therefore be taken to have been £196,444. This w by far the largest amount ever collected, and no doubt the very large sums expended in wages of carriers employed in the Hinterland, in consequence of the troubles with the French, both by the Imperial and Colonial Government, were to a great extent responsible for the increase. 4277^-800—12/99 Wt 21935 D it 8—6 (B) A 4 COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. LAGOS, 3. The following statement shows the amounts collected under 1898. different headings xn 1898 as compared with 1897 :—- 1897. 1898. £ Customs ... ... ... «•» 159,819 179,792 Harbour, wharf, and light-house dues 673 644 License**, &c„ ... ... ... • ••* 7,793 6,447 Fees, reimbursements, &c. ... ••• 3,089 3,361 Postal revenue •€» 2,147 1,865 Bent of Government property •• •• • •• 389 424 Interest on investments §•© • 2,257 2,125 Miscellaneous § • • • • 0 1,129 1,485 Land sales • •0 • 121 296 Parliamentary grant • f> • • • • Nil. 10,000 Total 177,420 206,444 The revenue for the past five years was : • Year. Amount. £ 1894 • 41 137,01.7 1895 14^049 1896 179,745 1897 177,4-:0 1898 t • • 206,444 Total... £ 842,675 4. The expenditure for 1898 was £203,802, and of this sum the Hinterland telegraph absorbed £11,809. COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. 5 5. The following is a comparative statement of the heads of LAGOS, expenditure for the years 1897 and 1898 :-— im / —1 1898. i 1897. / Governor ... • •• •«» • •0 6,756 5,093 Colonial Secretariat • •• tf • 2,265 5,257 Queen's Advocate • • • • »* • •• • • • 1,072 985 Treasury and Savings Bank • •• • • • 1,861 1,977 Customs • • • • • •• • 4* 5.776 5,500 „ special • • V • •• • •» 90 70 Audit Office ... • •• • •• • •• 993 1,101 Post Office ... • •• **• 1,713 1,806 „ special ... • •• • •• «e« NiL 138 Printing Office • • •• 855 992 „ special ••• Nil. 327 Harbour Muster • •• • •• 2,494 2,483 „ special • • • • • • • • • 168 2,327 Government vessels • • • • •• • • • 7,306 3,231 „ special • • • • • • 12,205 3,426 Engineer's Department Nil. 6,476 Supreme Court • • • *• • • * • 5,877 6,849 • • Ecclesiastical... • oe 12 Nil. Charitable • •• • » v 308 229 Educational ... • •e 2,500 2,373 Hausa Force ... 23,083 24,074 Police tee • •• • 11,223 10,862 „ special... Nil. 111 Prisons • * * • •• 2,586 2,498 Medical ... • ue **• 9,021 10,468 Sanitary 2,296 Nil Botanical •** • •• 834 .COLONIAL REPORTS—ANN UAL. 1897. 1898. £ Registrar-Genera! 307 305 Transport ••<, ••*> «*« «•• 9,373 6,673 Aborigines Interior ... ... * 7,834 9,352 Miscellaneous -'" 6,304 f>,m Pensions ... ... ... ... '... 2,570 3,171 Rents •(*• 582 Land Department .1. ... ... ... NO. 1,438 6. As will be seen from the figures given there was no deficit at the end of 1898, the revenue exceeding the expenditure by £2,642. TAXATION. 7. By Ordinance No. 1 of 1898 the duty on wines, liqueurs, and cordials was raised from Lvto 2s. per gallon, but no other change took place. ASSETS, AND LIABILITIES. 8. The statement of assets and liabilities is, I consider, satis­ factory, as, notwithstanding heavy and unusual expenditure, the amount carried forward o& the 31st December 1898 exceeds the* excess of assets on the 31st December 1897 by over £2,000. PUBLIC DEBT. 9. The only debt incurred by the Colony is in respect of the amount required to construct two bridges connecting Lagos Island with the mainland at Ebutte Metta, and a railway from Ebutte Metta to Ibadan. Legislative authority to raise a sum of £780,000 for these purposes has been obtained, but &t the end of 1898 only £c>5< >,0i)0 had been borrowed. The general revenue is the security for the amount raised, and it is to be paid off from the same source by means of a sinking fund. CURRENCY. 10. Although by Ordinance No. 2 of 1880 the following gold coins, viz., Spanish and South American doubloons and half- doubloons, American double eagle, eagle, half eagle, and quarter eagle and French twenty-franc pieces are legal tender as well as British sterling, the currency is almost entirely confined to the latter. A noticeable point in this connection is that British silver coin is! at a premium on the West Coast of Africa, and as far as I am t^ware it is the only part of the world of which this can be said. \ COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. 7 LAOOS, IL—IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 1898. 11. The values of all kinds of articles imported into the Colony in 1898 was estimated at £8*2,863. as against £758,515 in 1897. 12. The principal articles of import were :— 1897. 1898. £ £ Beads ... ... 1*41 18,488 12,623 Bridge aad railway materials 3,273 33,130 Building materials • •• • •• 18,049 22,621 Cotton goods... *•* • •• 297,615 1339,778 Haberdashery... 16,404 ; 14,429 Hardware • •• 13,980 18,314 Kola nuttf • •• • •• 21,190 23,052 Provisions ' ... • •• • •-> 9,028 . 10,539 Specie ... • • • 69,605 J 148,820 Wines and spirits • • •• 69,476 ! 79,769 i I 13. The imports for the past five years were :- Year. Amount. £ 1894 . 690,794 1895 ... 771,843 1896 ... eat ••• 881,696 1897 ... 758,515 1893 ... 892,863 Total... 8.Sd6,7..1 14. These figures may be said to shew a steady increase in the import trade, as 1897 was an abnormal year owing to the troubles with the French in the Hinterland, and the constant moving about of troope there. COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. LAOOS, 15. The value of the exports in 1898 is calculated at £882,329, 1898. as against £810,974 in 1897, and the following is a comparative "~ statement for the years 1897-98 of the principal articles :— * 1897. 1888. £ £ Cotton goods #... 10,747 22,557 P&lffl Oil •»» «»• eat 97,590 97,337 Palm kernels 308,834 362,539 E&ubbei* 283,184 285,409 16. The value of the exports for the past five years was: Year. Amount. 1894 ••• #•• 891,681 1895 985,595 1896 «#• 975,263 189T ••• 810,974 1898 ?•» M* 882,329 Total 4,545,842 17. In this connection I append a further comparative state­ ment of the three principal exports for the past five years which is of much interest:-— Year. Palm Oil, Palm Kernels. Rubber. £ £ £ 1894... • V * •« • 187,927 440,065 324 1895... • •• 205,553 320,434 269,892 1896... ••• 159,160 343,206 347,721 1897... t»t * 97,590 306,834 283,184 1898*«t 97,337 362,539 285,409 COLONIAL REPORTS—ANNUAL. 9 J 18. From this it appears that the palm oil trade is less than LAOOS, half what it was in 1894 and 1895, h the export of kernels remains much the same. The falling otf in the former is no doubt " due to rubber having become, since 1894, such a very large article of export from the Colony, but owing to the injury inflicted on the trees from the reckless way in which it has been collected, it appears to me almost certain that this will not continue, and that for some years—say five or six—this industry will fall off almost entirely.