158
EUROPE AND AFRICA
years were occupied by the company in consolidating its
holdings and in peaceful organization.
The work of the Royal Niger Company thus far had been
admirable. In addition to securing an immense territory
for Great Britain, it had created the basis for a great com-
mercial development; pacified the country by freeing a large
portion of it from slave raids and the incubus of tyranny
and ignorance; established communication from the coast
to Sokoto; and laid the foundations of an efficient govern-
ment. All this had been accomplished without serious blood-
shed, without injury to the country or its inhabitants, and
without arousing the hostility of any large proportion of the
varied population of the region. There remained, how-
ever, much to be done and many intricate problems to be
solved. In large sections of northern Nigeria the submis-
sion of the chiefs was still merely nominal, the people war-
like and restless. The whole of the North had yet to be
consolidated under one administration; the entire country
to be unified by roads, railways, and trade routes; and sev-
eral delicate international questions to be solved.
The British Government was, however, convinced that
the time had arrived for it to take over the direct adminis-
tration of northern Nigeria. Accordingly, on June 15, 1899,
after the conclusion of the Franco-British treaties of June,
1898, and March 21, 1899, Lord Salisbury, in a note to the
Treasury, expressed the desire of the Government to relieve
the company of its political powers. The matter was im-
mediately taken up with Sir George Goldie and an agree-
ment reached on June 30. The charter was canceled; ! and
arrangements were made for the imperial authorities to take
t The revocation of the charter was announced in an Order in Council,
dated August 9, 1899, authorizing payments to the company not to exceed
in all £865,000. The official notice of the revocation of the charter ap-
peared on December 28, 1899. Brit. and For. St. Papers. vol. 91, pp. 124
and 1031.
