The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1920-07-21
OVERLOAD Jaw.
Litigation Called Curse ot Gold
Coast Natives. u
10 Disputs Seems TooS Small 81 q
Taken Into Court ouarrsls Amen0
Pstty Chief Provide Fat 5j IN
Fsss Tor Native Lawyers s.#5 NJ y


Sof Africa. Us u paradise Of lawyers.
says Ethel and Olar eridge. spe-
scia1 correspo nde Tents of the London
Daily Telegraph. They write: z
~ point which must be made in5
connection both With Ashanti and the
northern terri cries ist that these ad.s:
Sministrat lions are indepe pendent Of the.
Gold Coast proper, except ii o far
las they acknowled : common gov
5eItnor who resides 1t Accra. They are
1lsos included III the financial esti-
mates Of the colony as a whole, and !
receive military aid II It Is required.
sOf course they work through the Sec ~
sretariat, which Is the channel of CONE !.
munication to the governor Beyond
1 this they are free. They have, their
i own courts, their own police, their
4 own methods Of administering Justice
!. and their own internal legislation. j.
n Now, this may seem q small matter
/ but, IN. all truth, 1t Is pregnant with
/ Importance for the future, Of this col
sony. The matter In q nutshell Is the
simple fact that the courts Of Ashanti
and the northern territories will nc not
.paAnit the #emplO yment Of native or
European barristers under any cir.
arfdmstances. IT, 5s.s Il NJ 4 ii AZ. y$# \
They prefer and quite rightly %,
I 10 deal with the native population.
l be they chiefs or. laborers. y d; ;&S:,
4. Il Now the curse Of the Gold Coast
Ills litigation, " hatever may be said
I. about the total population Of the col:
I ony, there are enough lawyers il the
\ three towns Of Sekondi, Cape Coast
4 and Accraa sto make "a good sized Eng.
I fish country yillage They fairly tum.s
] Bile over one another Yet they are all
\ prosperous, they al have their motors
!; and send their daughters to places
j like ,Cheltenham TO *be educated. H.
How on earth can it be donef 81
4 the natural query. The answer is
/ that the gold mine they are tapping
\ is the national chiefs. In this com:
I nectfon 1t must be remembered. that.
Il with very few exceptions the word
9S.'chief," as here employed may; mean
little more than the headman of a
village. Forever are these; petty des-
4 pots Squarreling over land questions.
4 the delimitations ,of their boundaries.
sand SO forth: y; 8 = ) S. =: - :.
In Ashanti questions Of this nature
& can be pleasantly swiftly and salts!
sfactorily settled within an hour or
two, perhaps. at prac tically s. -
spense to anybo 81 q 81.
l1aSssN Not So upon the Gold Coast The
stand 4 has Get Il the. pace;
theses little Speo ple have money
+ and al soon las they covet their neigh
tTsbors' land they nv 10 u native lawyer;
.sors a4native lawyer, even. more prob.
ably. flies to them, and the intermin-
xble game Of litigation starts. It may.
last three monthss or II may last three
years the latter II the lawyers think
worth while. st : 3 IA. d
Counsel are emplo yed at altogether
f.slisproportionate fees over the most
spettifoggingt matters, and sof II goes
Son until the rival claimants shake
hands over having lat least one thing
4 in common they are Ii bankruptcy.
This is no exaggeration. q n 55 +
DAD In one case at Addah, the time oc.s
aacupied over settling d little dispute,
was fortnight, and the defending
counsel, who lost the case Tor his eli.
ent, received as q fee the sum Of So
900. Another, . ruling chief who shall
DE nameless, since he occupies q very
important position has the doubtful
pleasure Of san oyerdraft Of $40 600.
at. his bank, every penny Of which hasG
been frittered away over lawyers. ss