was a sum of £75,181 4s. 4d. standing to the credit of the colony, which was increased to £127,796 2s. 3d. on the 1st of January, 1892, and to £152,766 16s. 7d. on the 1st of January, 1893, and the colony had no public debt. There was no native direct taxation. The Customs dues were lower than they are now. The extremely careful official who drew up the report shows evidence of realising that Customs represent an indirect taxation on the native population, for he says: "In Sierra Leone and Lagos the taxation per head is very much higher (than 2s. 5d. per head), in the former nine times, and in the latter seven times."[1] However, in all three colonies, apart from the attempts at direct taxation, the indirect taxation on the native has considerably increased by now.
The report for 1894 shows the colony still progressing rapidly, the trade of it amounting in value to £1,663,173 19s. 9d., of which £812,830 8s. 10d. represented the imports, and £850,343 10s. 11d. the exports. The expenditure showed a large increase as compared with previous years. It amounted to £226,931 19s. 4d., being £8,670 13s. 7d. in excess of the revenue for the year, and £47,997 7s. 11d. more than in 1893. The principal items of increase were public works, upon which the sum of £54,163 0s. 3d. was spent, and the expedition in defence of the protected district of Attabubu against an Ashanti invasion, which cost £10,778 11s. The Gold Coast assets on 31st of December, 1894, stood at £166,944 8s. 7d.[2] Then came the last Ashanti war, regarding which I beg to refer you to Dr. Freeman's book.[3] No one can deny that he has both experience and intelligence enough to justify
