ABSTRACT
During the War of 1914-18 the Government was fully occupied with matters more important than tribal administration in Freetown. Contemplating the increased native population in Freetown in 1921, the Census Officer expressed the opinion that the inflated condition of the city's population was purely temporary. In Freetown the cost of living soared and in February 1941 a government survey of households in the lowest income category found that rents had increased by 60% in the previous eighteen months and the overall cost of living by 75%. There was little unemployment during 1941 or 1942 and the flood of immigrants from the Protectorate, let loose by the greatly increased opportunities for wage-earning employment, was fairly easily absorbed. The continuing shortage of rice led, before the war was over, to the introduction of a rationing scheme. A census of the African population of Freetown held for this purpose in January 1944 recorded a total of 87,042 Africans in the city.
