Pibres. 



22 



[July, 1908. 



fully covered by insurance. The whole 

 question is being enquired into by the 

 Government. 



Another difficulty arose owing to the 

 silting of the Forcados Bar. All goods 

 passing to and from Lagos have to be 

 carried in branch boats a distance of 

 over 100 miles between Lagos and For- 

 cados, there being barely ten leet of 

 water on the Lagos Bar. and ocean 

 steamers cannot enter Lagos Harbour, 

 and the heavy swell prevents tranship- 

 ment in the offing outside the Bar. 



The silting of the Forcados Bar may 

 be due to the failure of the rains, but 

 the fact remains that ocean steamers 

 had to come home only partially loaded 

 in order to cross the bar, and conse- 

 quently on many occasions large quanti- 

 ties of cotton and other produce were 

 left behind. 



Dredging operations are now in pro- 

 gress in the Lagos Bar, and it is hoped 

 that the deepening of the channel will 

 enable branch steamers to cross the 

 same in future in safety. The Associa- 

 tion have made very urgent representa- 

 tions to the Government that now the 

 Lagos Channel is improved the dredger 

 should be temporarily transferred to 

 Forcados. 



The quality of Lagos cotton shows a 

 considerable improvement in 1JJ07, and 

 is now selling at prices ranging from 

 " pass " to 50 points on Middling Ameri- 

 can. There is no doubt that spinners 

 are discovering its useful qualities. The 

 colour still leaves much to be desired, 

 and the Council are doing all that is pos- 

 sible to improve the same. An extra 

 price is being offered in the Aro and 

 Agege districts for white, clean cotton. 



Owing to the extensions of the railway, 

 a large number of new stations are being 

 opened, and in order to avoid the 

 heavy expense of maintaining a buying 

 centre at each station, the Council have 

 entered into a tentative arrangement 

 with the leading Lagos merchants to buy 

 for the Association. It is hoped that 

 this arrangement will work satisfactorily 

 to both sides. 



3d. Southern Migeria. 



As mentioned in the last report, the 

 Council were considering the question 

 of transferring their headquarters from 

 Onitsha to lllushi, where it seemed there 

 was a greater prospect of success. The 

 whole of the plant has now been removed, 

 and a small ginning factory has been 

 erected at lllushi. Some excellent cotton 

 has been grown on the Association's 

 plantations, and rather more cotton has 

 been produced by native farmers. The 



great difficulty the Association has to 

 face everywhere is to induce the natives 

 to grow cotton at all, and in some dis- 

 tricts this will require much patience and 

 perseverance. The experience of 1907 has 

 only still more strongly convinced the 

 Council of the soundness of the opinion 

 originally formed, viz., that, speaking 

 generally, throughout the whole world 

 cotton must be more or less a black man's 

 crop, and that therefore the principal 

 energies of the Association must be devot- 

 ed to establishing its cultivation as a 

 native industry. 



3e. Northern Nigeria. 

 In previous reports the Council have 

 always spoken of Northern Nigeria as 

 the country of the future. One can now 

 say that it is the country of the imme- 

 diate future, thanks to the decision of the 

 Government to proceed with the imme- 

 diate construction of the railway from 

 Baru on the .Niger to Kano, the Manches- 

 ter of West Af rica. The new Governor 

 (Sir Percy Girouard) has had a large 

 experience of railway construction, more 

 especially in the Egyptian Soudan, and 

 the reports he brings home are most 

 encouraging. He fully expects to con- 

 struct the railway (which is to be 3 ft. 6 in 

 gauge) at a cost of not more than £3,000 

 per mile. What is most important is that 

 none of the gradients for the downward 

 traffic will exceed, in 100, so that heavy 

 train loads can be carried, which means 

 low freights. The Lagos and Gold Coast 

 railways have been expensive to con- 

 struct, and have sharp curves and bad 

 gradients, with the consequence that 

 freight cannot be carried at a less cost 

 than 2d. per ton per mile. Sir Percy 

 Girouard, with his usual energy, is push- 

 ing on the work in a most expeditious 

 manner. The construction of the line 

 was authorised on August 5th, 1907 — an 

 auspicious day for Lancashire — earth 

 works were immediately commenced, and 

 13 miles of rails were landed at Baro be- 

 fore the river began to fall. The base has 

 been completed and sidings laid in order 

 to enable the 150 miles oi rails which are 

 being shipped next autumn to be landed 

 expeditiously. One hundred miles of 

 earthworks are nearly completed, and 

 150 miles of rail will be laid by the middle 

 of 1909 ; a further 150 miles in 1910 ; and 

 in 1011 Kano, the Mecca of the Lanca- 

 shire spinning trade, will be brought 

 into economical touch with the rest of 

 the world. 



In addition to railway transport, Sir 

 Percy Girouard has been studying that 

 much neglected natural highway, the 

 River Niger. Every mile of river from 

 the sea to Lokoja was sounded under his 

 supervision, and he is convinced that 



