NIGERIA UNDER BRITISH RULE 471 who receives it will pay half to the British Government in acknowledgment of the authority under which he makes the appointment. As no appointment will be made in future without the concurrence of the Resident, the old abuse of perpetual re-appointments for the sake of collecting more tax will be abolished. Gado, or death duties, will not be interfered with, and will be paid as before to the Native Administration. Legitimate industrial taxes will be maintained as before, but their proceeds will be merged in the general assessment. Caravan tolls, which are being used as a road tax, at present form a monopoly of the British Government, but it is proposed to merge them also before long in the general assessment. All other forms of taxation — forced labour, fines, bribes, arbitrary impositions upon industry, &c. — are to be abolished.

Thus we get in the Mohammedan areas a general assessment covering all the old legitimate taxes upon agriculture and industry, an accession duty, nominal in amount, paid in accordance with traditional custom as a recognition of suzerainty, and the old Gado, or death duties, left undisturbed. The old system of tax-gatherers will be abolished, and the general assessment tax will be collected by the reformed Native Administration under British supervision. A proper proportion of the proceeds of this tax will then be paid by the Native Administration to the British Government, and will constitute the revenue drawn for Imperial purposes from the country.

In working out the details of the reformed scheme it is felt that a certain safeguard has been secured by the co-operation of the emirs and native authorities ; but it is not to be expected that a long-established system of taxation can be suddenly reformed without friction, or even entirely without unintentional injustice, which may be found in practice to press unfairly upon some special section of the people. The new system must, in its nature, be regarded as tentative for some time to come.

If the reports of the provincial Residents are to be trusted, it promises to meet with cordial acceptance