The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1897. THE BRITISH IN AFRICA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 260, 9 November 1897, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1897. THE BRITISH IN AFRICA.

For the causa that laofes aslfitaßce, For the ■wtoe? that needs resistance, For the future in the distanca, iad the eood that we can da.

The days of chartered company government are evidently numbered in Africa. The system which, laid the foundation of our Indian Empire and has done much to extend British influence into the heart of the Dark Continent is proving- itself unsuited to the changed conditions now prevalent there. So long- as the companies had only to do with the natives of the country they held possession of the task of administration presented no very difficult problems. It was merely a case of European intelligence, energy and resource against African ignorance, laziness and barbarism; and in such a contest there could be little question as to the result. But immediately there appeared on the scene European rivals, despatched by powerful European governments, the position of the companies in possession was materially altered. As foreign Powers assumed control of the neighbouring territories and endeavoured to extend their influence on all sides, the agents of the companies found that the simple diplomacy or occasional display of force which had sufficed to persuade, or overawe dusky potentates was useless. Neither was it possible, as of old, to claim possession of vast undefined areas of country when France on the right hand and Germany on the left were equally greedy of territory. Iv fine, the conditions of occupation had changed from very simple to a very complex, and the administration of the affairs of the company, which had scarcely been more difficult than the management of a large trading concern, suddenly assumed a new aspect, and threatened to involve the administrators in the most serious and delicate negotiations with European Governments.

It would be impossible, of course, for any mere trading company to maintain its status under such

circumstances unless it were supported by a strong Power. We may be sure that neither France nor Germany would respect any claims a company might put forward for posession of territory in Africa if it were only the company itself they had to deal with. The real safety of the company and its power lay in the certainty of the support behind it. Under the present complex conditions of territorial rivalry in Africa it is clear that possession of this kind is eminently unsatisfactory. Not only as we recently saw in the Transvaal may the actions of the company's agents gravely embarrass the protecting Power, but the very indefiniteness of the terms of occupation by which a trading- company has acquired and holds possession of the country invites the interference of foreign rivals. This is precisely what has occurred in connection with the Royal Niger Company in East Africa. For some time now our cable .columns have contained references to the territorial disputes between France and England in this part of the world. These disputes are not of recent date exactly. They have been

simmering for some time past ; and, indeed, until the boundaries between the possessions of the rival European claimants are as clearly denned as the the boundaries of European States they will continue to crop up. The present trouble turns on the contention of the French that the claims of the Eoyal Niger Compony are invalid because they are based on ti*eaties contracted with native chiefs or kings who had no right to make them. The treaties referred to are those entrcl into bj- Captain Lugard in 1595, by which he secured certain very important concessions. The French commander of the adjacent colony of Dahomey asserted that he obtained a certificate from one of the chiefs repudiating the treat}-, and soon afterwards two French expeditions marched into territory which the lioyal Niger Company claimed was under their jurisdiction. This act led to an attempt to effect some amicable arrangement, and a joint commission was appointed to define the boundaries of French and British territory in the disputed area. Evidently, however, France was not satisfied with any prospect of advantage such negotiations promised and quite re-

cently she seized certain trading stations" of the Niger Company. To understand the position' taken up by the French in refusing to recognise ' any treaties entered into by the agents of the Royal Nig-er Company, we must bear in mind that, according to the French theory occupation of a country mustconsist in something- more than the establishment of trading stations in it and the making of trading- arrangements with its chiefs. There must be a military station established. On the strength of this doctrine, which is a most convenient one for the French to advance in the present instance, many of the treaties by which the Company has acquired possession of large parts of the Niger territory would be null and void, and only the subsequent treaties made by the agents of the French Government would hold good. Indeed, it is announced that France will not recognise any of the Niger Companys treaties until they are formally communicated to the French Government by the British Foreign Office. The effect of Great Britain's acquiescing in this demand would apparently be to deprive the latter of many important stations^ for as France would probably only recog-nise the treaty as operative from the date of its official communication, she could claim priority for the treaties she has entered into, although these were contracted long subsequent to the first arangements of the Company with the native chiefs. We do not anticipate, however, that the British Government will accept the French view and quietly forego the fruits of the Company's work in the Niger territory. To do so would be a sacrifice of prestige, and at the same time a virtual denunciation of a system that has undoubtedly extended the borders of the Empire. But this' latest African trouble has so plainly emphasized the difficulties and dangers of the system under the conditions now existing- in Africa, that it is certain the British Government will in future assume a more direct control of the Niger territory, and limit the functions of the Company to trading merely.