Some Day, I Fear When It Will Be Too Late, We Shall Realise The
Foolishness Of Sticking Down On The
Sea coast, tidying up our
settlements, establishing schools, and drains, and we shall find our
possessions in the Rivers and
Along the Gold Coast valueless,
particularly in the Rivers, for the trade will surely drain towards
the markets along the line of the French railroad behind them, for
the middlemen tribe that we foster exact a toll of seventy-five per
cent. on the trade that comes through their hands, and the English
Government is showing great signs of an inclination to impose such
duties on the only stuff the native cares much for - alcohol - that he
will take his goods to the market where he can get his alcohol; even
if he pays a toll to these markets of fifty per cent. But of this I
will speak later, and we will return to the question of transport.
Mr. Scott Elliot, {463} speaking on this subject as regarding East
African regions, has given us a most interesting contribution based
on his personal experience, and official figures. As many of his
observations and figures are equally applicable to the West Coast, I
hope I may be forgiven for quoting him. His criticism is in favour
of the utilisation of every mile of waterway available. He says,
regarding the Victoria Nyanza, that "it is possible to place on it a
steamer at the cost of 12,677 pounds. Taking the cost of
maintenance, fuel and working expenses at 1,200 pounds a year (a
large estimate) a capital expenditure of 53,000 pounds, (13,000
pounds for the steamer and 40,000 pounds to yield three per cent.
interest) would enable this steamer to convey, say thirty tons at
the rate of five to ten miles an hour for 1,600 pounds a year.
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