REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 237 



kings and chiefs — their main objection to the bills being that 

 each sought to infringe upon the inherent rights of the natives 

 of the country in the ownership of their land. An attempt had 

 apparently been made to show on behalf of the Government 

 that there were waste and unoccupied — i.e. ownerless — lands in 

 the country, but such a contention could not be upheld and the 

 various bills never became law. The present bill, it is asserted, 

 introduces the same encroachments under the name of manage- 

 ment. The bill, if passed, would give the Governor in council 

 power to declare certain land subject to forest reservation ; 

 to prohibit the taking of timber, rubber, etc., during certain 

 periods ; to constitute forest reserves and to manage native 

 forest reserves. On behalf of the natives it was maintained 

 that they could not understand the difference between manage- 

 ment and confiscation. The bill, they believe, would give the 

 Government the whole power of management, and would sweep 

 away the owners' rights to impose their own term.s and conditions. 

 It would seriously affect their inherent proprietary rights in 

 the soil of their native land, and would tend to annihilate 

 their social and political organisations and institutions. The 

 Governor, in replying to the criticisms of the bill, said that he 

 thought the objections raised were based upon misapprehension 

 of its terms, and he pointed out that the sole object of the bill 

 was to prevent the wasteful working and destruction of the 

 forests of the Colony — the Government having not the slightest 

 intention of taking away the lands of the people. 



The writer of the pamphlet goes on to draw conclusions 

 from the facts that had been brought out in the discussion, 

 insisting first of all that the land question on the Gold Coast 

 and the principles appertaining to the tenure of the land had 

 been finally settled by the Home Government long ago, and 

 that it would be almost impossible to convince the natives that 

 management such as is proposed under the bill would not be 

 a practical alienation of their rights in the land. It would be, 

 he says, a disastrous error in policy to seek to alter in any 

 material way the system of land tenure on the Gold Coast after 

 the failure of various attempts which had been made in the past, 

 because it is inconceivable to the native mind that any 

 jurisdiction can exist without land and without the right and 

 power of active management of such land. Take away the 

 control of the land by the kings arid chiefs and you have 



