ASHANTI.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3559, 6 May 1901, Page 4

ASHANTI.

o An ■animated debate on the recent troubles in Ashanti took place in the House of Commons on March 18th.

Mr Lough criticised the military operations in Ashanti and the policy •which led to them, and said that they had been the first step in the policy of "loot" -which the Colonial Secretary had followed from that day to this. The trouble in Ashanti had been caused by the unsympathetic policy of the. Colonial Office. Mr Buxton criticised the policy of the Government in Ashanti, and said, he believed that in his anxiety to develop this and other similar colonies the Colonial Secretary had moved too quickly, and interfered too hastily with the local customs and laws. The Aihanftis did not trust us, and after our treatment of Prempeh we could not be surprised at it. It -was unfortunate - that the right hon. gentleman did not carry these matters out with greater tact/ discretion, and patience, because ifi was better; to get your own way by those means than by military force.

Mr Chamberlain asked what was the theory of the Opposition 2 It was that all these colonies were enjoying a sort of ely«ian happiness, and that the natives were engaged in peaceful and innocent pursuits, and were drawing towards a higher civilisation, and if left alone no evil consequences could result. But on this peaceful picture the baneful shadow of the Colonial Secretary was cast, and everything was changed. _ War took the place of peace and harmony, and the Ashanti, who was no doubt ploughing the furrows and living under his own vine and fig tree, had his golden stool taken from him, and all kinds of outrages perpetrated upon him by this terrible advent of the :bogey man of the Colonies. All *J"« was romance. There was not an atom of foundation for the story. Ten years ago Africa was a. mere station of outposts-as far- as England was concerned. The interior was left to itself. At all events, we had no there. About that time befan " the scramble for Africa, when Mr Buxton was Under-Secretary, and at the most critical stage of our existence in West Africa, the Colonial Office did nothing. The result was our Colonies being surrounded, and their value destroyed by the advance of other nations. His party then came into office, and found every important and critical question unsettled. Of course, where the policy was one of avoiding war at all costs it was easy enough to keep peace for a time; but meanwhile they were losing their possesA considerable force had to be iaised, and the Government created the West African Frontier Force, the result being that they had to negotiate with Germany and France. Arrangements were tome to, which had not excited much attention, in which this country gained nearly' all that was hoped for, and as much as could be expected under peaceful •;ad -friendly negotiations. This country had secured vast hinterlands, which otherwise would have been shut in, and which bud now become spheres of influence or protectorates <of British colonies, and they had no longer an international question. They had settled questions which the hon. member and his Government left undecided. Mr Buxton said the Government had unfairly, unjustly, and imprudently interfered with the customs of the natives. Jhe only customs the Government inter.jied with were human sacrifices, fetishism, tiiid slavery. ?ilr Buxton said he did not mention those, r,ad it was obvious his remarks did not refer to those things. Mr Chamberlain said he had an. unfortunate habit of desiring to get to close quarters. When the hon. member said the '-'tvernment desired to interfere with the stoms he desired to know what customs. .- Buxton was one of those who continu-

i- attacked the Government because they <M not take sufficient steps to stop slavery. The Government, however, had declared t!:at the legal status of slavery should be ;;bc-lisbed, and this had gone further than ibc hon. member had dared to go. It -.ras not( a question, of tact, discretion, or ■-• tience. When they told these savage • oes for centuries had exercised the ht of slave-raiding,, and who regarded >our in their own person as discredit--,ijie— that from the day when the British Protectorate came there was to be an Absolute prohibition of slave raiding, then t'-cr had to fight- for their principles. VTitk regard to the Golden Stool incident,

cording to the custom of the tribe, the possession of the stool gave supremacy, and therefore ifc was desirable to get hold of this symbol of sovereignty. The Government asked for £12,500 a year towards the expenses of the protectorate, and th*y proposed that the amount should be collected by the chiefs on the understanding that they received 10 per cent, of the amount collected. The cause of the insurrection was not due to the natives objecting to taxation, but their objection to our interfering with their slave-dealing operations. The Government had nofr been hasty, but had pursued a policy of expansion and development. They had during the last five years sanctioned 446 vaL.es of railways, and during that time the exports of' British produce to those territories had increased from £2,000,000 annually to over £3,000,000. That was not a bad record, and iti was one of which he was not in the least ashamed. A Liberal paper, criticising his reply, says :—Mr Chamberlain's de.'ence last night of" the Government policy ia Ashanti was a delightful example of the Colonial Secretary's methods in his best Parliamentary manner. It is always easier to answer an imaginary charge than a real one, and accordingly Mr Chamberlain evolved from the recesses of his own imagination a mythical opposition theory as to a state of "elysian happiness" in Central Africa,, ar.d then proceeded to demolish the phantom of his owp upraising. That was easily done, as it had no substance from the beginning. The re-! charge of the Opposition against the Gcv.nunent policy in; AshsnU has nothing to :"o with the scramble for Africa, or th? partition of the hinterlands. It is si;: \ r y that the local officials in their deal"with the natives were unnecessarily aggressive and ill-informed. This is a definite charge, which, with all his vapourings, Mr Chamberlain did not attempt to meet.