6 
COLONIAL REPORTS—MISCELLANEOUS. 
in one or more single taxes to wliicli legal sanction should be 
given by an ordinance of the Government. This involved 
a truly colossal task, for it meant that each Resident should 
visit every town and village in his province, and by the 
help of the native authorities should assess its tax-paying 
capacity. This has 'been the task of the past year, and as will 
be seen from the enclosure, very great progress has been made. 
The basis upon which this assessment has been carried out varies 
very greatly in different provinces (vide enclosure), but gener 
ally speaking it is framed upon the former scale of taxation 
shorn of its later extortions and unauthorised additions. The 
rulers (who share in the tax), are naturally ready to give all 
information, and this can be checked by the information derived 
from the former collectors, from the former fief-holder, and 
from the village itself. Finally, since the village may have 
increased or decreased in wealth and importance, the Resident 
himself exercises an original discretion as to the final assess 
ment. Where taxation had not been formerly imposed (as in 
the Sokoto Province, the Fulani of Yola, and pagan tribes not 
under Fulani rule, but which have submitted to Government), 
the Resident fixes the assessment at his own discretion, subject 
to confirmation by the High Commissioner. In provinces like 
Kano, where it has not yet been possible for the staff to visit 
and assess every town, the authorised taxation of former days is 
temporarily accepted and enforced. As time permits this 
will be verified, and where necessary amended by the staff, 
but in this province the system is reported as extraordinarily 
fair, well organised, and complete. 
Administrative Organisation. 
5. To give effect to the scheme of reform alike in matters of 
taxation and in general administration of a province some 
administrative changes were necessary, more especially in order 
to decentralise executive authority, which had hitherto been 
concentrated in the hands of the Emir and his head slaves on 
the one hand, and in the Resident on the other. Each province 
was now divided into three or four “administrative divisions,” 
according to its size and the staff available, and each of these 
divisions became the immediate sphere of an Assistant Resident 
under the general control and supervision of the Resident-in- 
Chief. The whole province was also to he divided into a number 
of “ districts,” each under a “ district headman,” who was 
responsible for collecting the tax from the village headmen 
(who, in turn, were charged with the duty of distributing the 
tax imposed upon the village among the individuals in propor 
tion to their wealth and ability to pay). The district headman 
was also to be held responsible for good order in his district, 
and it was incumbent upon him for this purpose to reside in 
his district and not at the capital. By this means it was 
intended to put an end to the system of absentee landlords,