The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-23
The Royal Niger Company.

The purchase by the British Government
OF all til. administrative rights and powers
OF the Royal Niger Company brings to
close a very brilliant and typical chapter
In tho history Of British expansion. In
1877, when the idea OF making Nigeria
British was first conceived, there was no
foreigner, whether trader, soldier. mission
airy or traveller, in the whole basin OF tho
Niger and Lake Chad between the French
colony of Senegal on the extreme west and
the valley Of the Nile on tho extreme east,
or between the scaboard factories ON the
Gulf Of Guinea TO tho south and the Alger-
ian md Tunisian frontiers to the north.
In the early eighties a company OF Eng
lsh traders was formed to develop this
immense district, Of which little was
known except it's unhealthiness. The CON-
pany started with paid-up capital OF
S2,IuO,Oo0 as private venture unsup-
ported by Government backing OF any
kind. In 1886, when three annual divi-
dcn4s Of six per cent had proved its sta
bility, Mr. GLADSrONE'S short-livcd Min
istry granted to 1t a royal charter, with the
right to conclude treaties with native chiefs
and levy customs Gutirs to cover the ex-
pcn~r7 of government.
From that time to this the company has
carried on the dual duties Of trade and ad-
mlnstration. Starting with nothing but
few small trading stations, it gradually ex-
tendod lts protectorate over half a million
Square milns Of territory, containing an
estimated population Of sc. 600, 900. It
bull Up ami equipped an army Of 900
men Mt its own expense. It overcame the
opposition Of the warIko fetish tribes which
surrounded it, II conquered the Emn Of
NupC and tho Sultan Of Iorn, and wher-
ever its hand stretched slavery WIS put
down and the sale OF liquors prohibited.
Nor were the natives the only source OF
difficulties. The French Government, and
later on tho German Government, made
persistent efforts TO forestall the company's
advance and seize the Niger for themselves
These efforts We're frustrated, not by
Downing Street, which showed little in
tercst in the matter, but by the handful Of
civilians who directed the company's affairs,
and particularly by their chief and Gov
ernor, Sir GEORGE GoLDIE. 1t Is due to
him that the British West African empire
is now firmly established reality, that the
French advance across the Soudan has been
finally checked and that the Niger Is
thrown open to the worlds trade instead
OF being the exclusive preserve OF single
nation.
In characteristic contrast to this record
OF private enterprise is the whitening away
Of those neghboring colonies that have
always been under the direct control OF the
Foreign or Colonial Office. In Gambia,
Sierra Leone, Lagos and the Gold Coast
England was possessed OF starting points
from which she might have spread over the
whole Of West Africa But oflcial igno-
rance or Indifference has allowed each Of
these colonies to be stranGled without pro-
test The French, with Senegal as their
basis, raidcd the interior. cutting of the
British hintorlands and combining their set
Elements Ia tho scacoast. 1t was not until
they had pushed their way To the Niger
and occupied Boussa and Nikki. in tho
spring OF 1897. that the French empire
builders met with any real opposition. and
then 1t WAS from the Royal Niger Company
that the opposition came in the first place
1t was the gravity Of the situation that