On Friday, August 23rd, Mr. Chamberlain received a deputation at
the Colonial Office on the subject of West African railways. The deputation drew attention to the rapid growth of trade in West Africa. Twelve years ago there were but 25 tons of rubber produced, worth £2,300; now there were 1,500 tons, worth £231,000. If railways could be made, the trade would be still farther developed. Mr. Cham- berlain declared himself in full sympathy with the ideas represented by the deputation. The policy of the Govern- ment was to develop the resources of such Colonies as those in West Africa. The only dominions which can be compared with those of England belonged to the Roman Empire, but the Romans everywhere left traces of their great public works. Great Britain had often neglected this duty to the injury of herself and her dependencies. If England were not willing to invest some of her superfluous wealth in these Colonies, it would have been better never to have gone there. In any case, the West African Railways would be pressed on. Work had begun on the Lagos Railway, and those on the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone were being surveyed. Mr. Chamberlain ended his impressive, and in a sense momentous, speech—it creates a new departure of great magnitude—by dwelling upon the necessity for dealing with the liquor question. That is essential. Not only is the reckless supply of liquor to the natives a scandal to a Christian country, but also a grave hindrance to the sounder forms of commercial development.
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