FOUNDING THE PROTECTORATE 113 
the settlers had only arrived after the proclamation of the Protectorate. Only 
in cases of very lengthy occupation and much cultivation or building were 
claims sanctioned which were unsupported by properly executed documents. 
Even when land had been purchased, and the sale on the part of the chief was 
not repudiated, and the deed of sale was authentic, the concessionnaire was 
required to show what consideration had been paid, and if the grantor was not 
considered to have received fair value for his land the grantee had either to 
supplement his first payment by another, or the area of his estate was reduced 
to an extent fairly compatible with the sum paid. As land was of very little 
value before the establishment of the Administration, and as undoubtedly the 
settlers had conferred great benefits on the country by clearing and planting, 
land was not rated at a high value in these settlements. Threepence an acre 
was the maximum, and this only in exceptionally favoured districts like Mlanje 
and Blantyre. Sometimes the value of the land was computed at as low as a 
halfpenny an acre. Except on very small estates the existing native villages 
and plantations were exempted from all these purchases, and the natives were 
informed that the sale of the surrounding land did not include the alienation of 
their homes and plantations. The fact is, that at the time the chiefs sold land 
to the Europeans they were very heedless of the results. All they desired was 
the immediate possession of the trade goods or money given in payment. The 
tenure of the land in reality was tribal ; that is to say theoretically the chief 
had no right to alienate the land, but he had assumed such right and his 
assumption was tacitly accepted by his people. It was, however, highly 
necessary to secure these people from the results of their chief’s heedlessness, in 
many cases, as they were apt to become the serfs of the white man when he 
began to appear as their over-landlord. One of the results of the land settlement, 
therefore, was to completely free the natives from any dependency on the white 
settler, by restoring to them the inalienable occupancy of their villages and 
plantations. Moreover, in sanctioning the various concessions in the name 
of the Government we reserved to the Crown the right to make roads, railways, 
or canals over anybody’s property without compensation ; the control of the 
water supply; and where mining rights were included in the concession, a 
royalty on the produce of the mines. In each deed (the deeds were styled 
“ Certificates of Claim ”) the boundaries of the property were set forth with 
sedulous accuracy, and it was provided that all these deeds should be even¬ 
tually supplemented by an authoritative survey made by a Government surveyor, 
a process which is fast being completed. On the whole the settlement was well 
accepted by the Europeans, while it gave distinct satisfaction to the natives, and 
was approved without modification by Her Majesty’s Government. Throughout 
the whole settlement I believe I am right in saying that only one dispute 
regarding boundaries was brought into Court and not settled amicably and 
informally in my office. When all these claims had been arranged I concluded, 
on behalf of the Crown, treaties with all the chiefs of the Protectorate, securing 
Crown control over the remainder of the land, which the natives were hence¬ 
forth unable to alienate without the sanction of the Commissioner. In some 
cases large sums of money were spent by the Government in buying up the 
waste land from the natives where it was deemed advisable that a complete 
control over its disposal should be exercised. Except over a small area of land 
which is absolutely Crown property, a percentage on the selling price or 
the rent is paid to the native chief when portions of the Crown lands are 
let or sold. 
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