The large territories on the great river Niger, which, under
the Conference held at Berlin for the distribution of Colonial possessions in Africa, were assigned to Great Britain, are to be governed by a Company. A Royal Charter, published in the London Gazette of Tuesday, bestows on the National African Company (Limited) powers of governing and defending the territories it has acquired from native Princes, covering the entire "basin of the Niger," equal to those possessed by the old East India Company in India. They can, for example, raise troops, issue a coinage, and pass laws. The consent of the Secretary of State is, of course, necessary to all their acts, and the Company cannot divide the produce of Customs duties as profits, or other taxes, but must expend them upon the administration of its territories. It is curious that both in Africa and Borneo we should fall back upon this old device ; but it has some advan- tages, not the least of which is that it removes these rude regions, while they are being civilised, from the direct control of Parliament, and keeps the administration in experienced hands. The National African Company may possess a great empire by- and-by, if they know how to manage Negroes without enslaving them; and their Chairman will have more power than most Kings.
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