ABSTRACT

Apart from subsidies, which in some cases were considerable, the money had to be raised by loans, and those loans, whether raised by Governments or by chartered companies, had to bear a xed interest representing a heavy burden in bad times. Other circumstances making colonial nance di cult are the dependence on one or two products with very variable prices, and the / absence of any substantial reserve of taxable capacity to be drawn on in case of need. e results have been economy campaigns sometimes of a wasteful type involving the abolition of posts which had to be re-established before long. Another important factor in Africa has been the almost exclusive dependence on European agencies in all but the very subordinate branches of the services. e development of native services is essential not only to the spread of measures of health and of education but also to the realization of the aim of making the peoples better able to stand by themselves.