The fact that this same power was also conferred to some sub-chiefs threatened to unleash new struggles for autonomy. Sub-chiefs saw the decision to give them tax discs to distribute as an act of political recognition. However, an adequate tax collection system was viewed as a necessary catalyst for the transition from subsistence to cash crop production. One-third of the proceeds of the poll tax was put into the Native Treasuries. This leakage may have also obtained in the Bamenda Grassfields but tangible evidence does not yet exist to confirm this.
Social peace is indispensable to any project designed to foster unfettered exploitation.
To this end, the Native Court system was introduced. In Nigeria the post of president of the Native Authority court was filled by an indigene. This is evidence of the characteristic deference of the people within their jurisdictions to these newly appointed presidents. However, the fact that these courts were used not only to settle disputes but also as a venue for tax collection detracts from this argument. Giving D.O.s magisterial powers may reveal a determination to ensure the effective collection of taxes in this early phase of colonialism when a comprador class did not yet exist.