Holland, and is now for the most part not even carried in British ships. It appears to me that, from a commercial point of view, it were better that we imported Manchester and Birmingham goods rather than foreign products, and that these would tend to raise to some extent the standard of comfort and the plane of civilization of the natives, which crude spirits certainly do not. If to such imports be added—as I should live to see—agricultural and other industrial implements (hand-gins for cotton, hand-mills for crushing oil-seeds and the like), the cost of transport of raw produce in bulk would be decreased, and the productive output increased, with a corresponding gain to commerce, which its advocates cannot maintain to be the result of the spirit traffic. The difficulty which has stood in the way of reform is, that as long as the Colonies of France and Germany, which are sandwiched between the British Colonies on the West Coast, maintain the import and decline to increase their duties, it is said to be impossible for us seriously to increase ours. There has, however, under Mr. Chamberlain's direction, been a steady increase of duties, which has considerably reduced the import, while yielding nearly double the previous revenue, and I trust that this highly satisfactory process may be continued. The amount of liquor imported into the whole of West Africa in 1895 was 5,510,472 gallons, yielding a total revenue of £374,727, while in 1903 it had fallen to 4,348,847 gallons, yielding a total revenue of £731,386. I have elsewhere[1] discussed this question in full detail, and will not add more in this place—the more so that it is not a problem which I have had personally to deal with, since the import of 'trade liquor' is entirely prohibited in Northern Nigeria.
(c) Taxation.—Space forbids me to say more than a very few words on this subject In dealing with uncivilized races, by far the easiest method of raising a revenue is by Customs dues on the coast. The merchant who pays these adds correspondingly to the
- ↑ Vide Nineteenth Century, November, 1897.
