SIR H. JOHNSTON AND CHARTERED COMPANIES.
SIR HENRY JOHNSTON'S Report on the Trade and General Condition of the British Central Africa Pro- tectorate from April, 1895, to March, 1896, has appeared very opportunely at this moment, when we hear so much so emphatically said about the utility—nay, necessity—of Chartered Companies as a means for the extension of the Empire and the administration of its outlying territories. If ever there was a place for which the Imperial arm might have seemed ill fitted, and the assistance of a Chartered Company would appear more than ever indis- pensable, that place is the territory included under the British Central Africa Protectorate. Its enormous dis- tance and inaccessibility rendered it exceedingly liable to the delays and practical deadlocks in government which are generally believed to be inseparable from a system of ad- ministration which is unable to spend a farthing or move a finger without the sanction of the officials of Whitehall ; and the malarious character of the climate in a large pro- portion of its tracts and its remoteness from the" gallery" before which the prancing pro-Consul is ever supposed to strut, should by rights have rendered it almost impossible for the Imperial Government to induce a capable officer to undertake the charge of such an unpromising wilder- ness. On the other hand, the resources, evident and potential, of the country mark it as especially favourable to commercial enterprise, and well adapted for the endeavours of a joint-stock system of exploitation and government.
Nevertheless, it would appear that the opinion now so usually received as to the impossibility of managing the outlying portions of our estate through officers responsible to Whitehall requires some modification. It is based, no doubt, on many glaring errors committed in the past, but it must not necessarily be accepted as impregnable at present, and still less must it be allowed to be glorified into a religion by prophets who are carried beyond the bounds of reason by their zeal in the cause of a powerful group of financiers. Sir Henry Johnston's Report shows clearly enough to those, if indeed there are any such left, who will look at these matters with an unprejudiced eye, that the Circumlocution Office has learnt something from past mistakes and the unsparing criticism that they evoked, and that the Imperial Government can now administer an undeveloped territory with signal success, and has the sense to leave an able officer a sufficiently free hand when once he has proved himself to be the right man in the right place. In every respect the work done in Central Africa is creditable both to the Commissioner and to the Government which selected him for the work and sup- ported him in its execution, and contrasts very strongly with the disorganisation and complete breakdown that have recently marred the administration of a more favourably situated territory by the agents of a joint- stock company. The population has increased rapidly, numbers of natives being attracted to the territory by the security and honesty of the Administration,— in the Lower Shire district "the native population has risen from about 1,000 in 1891, to 14,385 in 1896." Trade has improved considerably, the value of the exports being double that of the previous year's, the amount of "postal matter" transmitted is steadily in- creasing, and the demeanour of the neighbouring native tribes has changed for the better since the recent highly successful campaign. "In the autumn of 1895," says the Report, "a campaign lasting four months was commenced and carried to a successful issue against all the inde- pendent Yao chiefs who dwelt on the south-eastern border of the Protectorate, and who continued to raid our terri- tories for slaves. This campaign culminated in the com- plete defeat and death or expulsion of those Arabs who had created an independent power in the North Nyasa district. Action was also taken against the Angoni Chief, Mwasi Kazungu, who had made common cause with the Arabs, and was attempting to form against us a league of the Angoni Zulus Saidi Mwazungu, who
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was the person who lured on shore the late Dr. Boyce and Mr. MacEwan under a flag of truce and then murdered them, together with most of their native attendants, had fled to the west of Nyasa, and had estab- lished himself very strongly in Mwasi's country. The expedition against Mwasi and Saidi Mwazungu resulted in the occupation of Mwasi's country and in the capture and ex,cution of Saidi Mwazungu."
This excellently conducted piece of work has had its natural effect, and Sir Henry Johnston writes that "it is satisfactory to note the marked change which has come over the Ya.os since their recent defeats at our hands. Kawinga, the chief who threatened Zomba and the Doma.si Missi..0 in the spring of 1895, and who was completely defeatod by the forces under Mr. Consul Sharpe and Captain W. H. Manning, has now tendered his submis- sion, and has of late been behaving in the most friendly way towards us. All his people pay their but taxes, and give absolutely no cause of complaint. In fact, during the Z.trafi War, gawinga supplied us with guides, and ordered one of his sub-chiefs to send a contingent of men to fight on our side, and this contingent (twenty-two in number) -constituted themselves my bodyguard, and took the greatest care of my person and comfort." Altogether, although there is still some possibility of trouble with the Angoni Zulus, the Commissioner may well be congratulated on the results of his work. "The general condition," he says, "of the Protectorate is markedly satisfactory at the time of writing. A sense of peace and security has settled on the natives which has never before been known." The Administration has undertaken, with excellent results, the difficult task of securing for the native fair treatment from his employer. "In no part of the world," says the Report, "is honesty more obviously the best policy than in Africa in dealing with the negro, who has a very clear sense of justice Fortunately now the native begins to understand that, if his European employer does not treat him fairly, he has redress at the hands of the nearest official." Here again is an instructive contrast with the results of joint-stock adminis- tration, as exposed by the complaints of the Matabele chiefs against the conduct of the Rhodesian officials. The Commissioner speaks, in emphatic terms, of the excellent work done by Indians in minor capacities, and relieves the inevitable severity of his Blue-book by relating a story which "in spite of its apparent levity might be quoted here as illustrating one of the many bonds which bind together educated men of all colours who are subjects of the British Empire." It appears that an Indian surveyor met the collector of his district for the first time, and the following conversation was exchanged :—" This is glorious news, Sir, about the Empire, is it not ?"—" What, you mean the formation of some federation league ? "—"No, I mean the removal of all restrictions by the London County Council." As Sir Henry Johnston remarks, "It is not altogether unworthy of comment that the fortunes of a London music-hall should interest a man of Tamil race in the centre of Africa."
The only dark spots on the history of this well-managed territory were a plague of locusts, which might have appeared even under a chartered regime, and the bad health of the European and Indian community owing to an epidemic of malarial fever. The Commissioner con- siders that the dangers from this cause may be very considerably reduced, but he speaks strongly on the in- creasing consumption of alcohol, "which is too obviously prevailing amongst many of the more recently arrived Europeans." He considers that the moderate use of good wine of all kinds and of lager beer is distinctly beneficial to health, but that "the chief bane of British Central Africa is that accursed spirit whisky ; " and though he con- fesses that "paternal legislation is generally of very little use," he would like to exclude from tropical Africa all forms of spirit, except brandy for medicinal purposes. This is merely an interesting detail, on which doctors are likely to differ, but the perusal of the Report as a whole, and the contemplation of the excellent work therein chronicled, cannot fail to force upon readers the suspicion that the history of Rhodesia would have been less bloody, less costly, and more creditable in every respect under the administration of such a man as Sir Henry Johnston, in spite of the trammels which are supposed to bind the hands of officials subject to Whitehall. The Chartered Company's officers had a sufficiently free hand, and com- ment on the consequences is superfluous.
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