TAXATION  Oí'  NATIVES  IN  NORTHERN  NIGERIA.  21

furtherance  of  such  a  policy  I  would  not  be  deterred  by  any
initial  loss  of  revenue.  The  tolls  have  yielded  from  a  third  to
a  half  of  the  annual  revenue,  and  it  would,  of  course,  be  difficult ­
  to  replace  this  sum  (¿£40,500  last  year),  but  even  so  great
a  loss  might  be  preferable  to  a  system  radically  unsound.  But
the  greatest  difficulty  in  abolishing  them  is  a  purely  administrative ­
  and  technical  one,  which  British  merchants  in  Engand
have  no  means  of  knowing.  It  is  this  :  The  traders  are  the
wealthiest  portion  of  the  community,  and  their  profits  are
said  to  be  very  large.  They  have  reaped  the  greatest  benefits
from  the  introduction  of  peace  and  security,  and  the  improvement ­
  of  roads,  and  they  are  able  to  pay  cash,  wnicfi  can  be
credited  to  revenue  without  the  difficulties  inherent  in  payment
in  kind.  So  keen  is  the  trading  instinct  among  the  Hausas,
that  already,  as  I  have  said,  there  is  an  undue  tendency  to
desert  the  paths  of  productive  industry  and  to  go  to  and  fro
through  the  country  carrying  goods  on  their  heads  for  the
pleasure  of  making  a  profit  by  barter.  The  problem  is,  how
can  this  class  be  taxed  otherwise  than  by  tolls  ?  And,  so  far,
I  have  been  unable  to  find  a  solution.  They  are  a  class  of
varying  domicile  ;  often  living  a  considerable  time  in  one
town  and  then  in  another.  Many  only  casually  engage  in
trade,  and  at  other  times  are  agriculturists,  &c.  At  best,  they
are  dwellers  in  the  big  cities,  and  in  the  present  stage  of
development  of  the  taxation  question  in  Nigeria,  the  taxation
of  the  great  cities  offers  the  most  difficult  problem  of  all.
Even  were  this  to  some  degree  solved,  how  is  an  assessment
of  their  tax-paying  capacity  to  be  arrived  at?  The  methods
familiar  to  those  who  live  in  civilised  countries  are  altogether
inapplicable  here.  Reference  to  Residents  produces  the
unanimous  reply  that  the  thing  is  impossible.  Such  a  scheme
(they  say)  would  be  productive  of  the  greatest  difficulty  and
friction,  and  would  involve  much  waste  of  energy,  and  when
done  would  not  produce  one-tenth  or,  perhaps,  one-twentieth
of  the  sum  realised  by  tolls.  As  it  is  agreed  by  the  traders
themselves  that  they  are  not  over-taxed  (and  the  Emirs  say
they  are  very  lightly  taxed),  this  would  mean  that  the  class
best  able  to  pay  were,  in  fact,  only  paying  one-tenth  or  onetwentieth
  of  their  proper  share.  I  should  not  despair  of  finding ­
  a  solution  before  long,  but  until  it  is  found  the  traders
should  continue  to  pay  as  at  present.
21.  I  have  pointed  out,  in  my  observations  upon  these  tolls
in  my  Annual  Reports,  that  to  some  extent  they  operate  as  a
preference  to  imports,  since  the  bulk  of  the  caravan  trade
consists  of  local  produce  which  competes  with  imported  goods,
and  that  while  the  latter  is  subject  to  an  ad  valorem  duty  of
10  per  cent,  at  the  coast,  the  former,  except  for  these  tolls,
would  be  untaxed.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  urged  in  reply,  that
an  exemption  should  then  be  made  in  favour  of  all  imported
goods  which,  having  paid  Customs,  should  be  liable  to  no
tolls.  If  this  were  done,  however,  the  receipts  would  decrease,