But the Company, instead of
mining, has gone deeply into concession-mongering, and their grants are
scattered broadcast over the country. One of them, the 'Mankuma,' near
Aodua, the capital of Eastern Apinto, extends twenty-six miles, with a
depth of 500 yards on either bank of the Ancobra River above the mouth of
the Abonsa influent. These gigantic areas will give rise to many lawsuits,
and no man in the country has power to make such a grant. The ownership of
the land is vested in a 'squirearchy,' so to speak, and only the
proprietors have a right to sell or lease. When gold is worked the
'squire' takes his royalty from the miner, and he or his chiefs must in
turn pay tribute to the 'king.' Hence the money may pass through three or
four hands before reaching its final destination.
These indiscriminate concessions will be very injurious to the future of
the Protectorate, and should be limited by law. At present the only use is
to sell them to syndicates and companies, and so to pay a fictitious
dividend to the _actionnaires_. Evidently such a process is rather on the
'bear and bull' system of the stock-market than legitimate mining.
I was well acquainted with the late M.
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