Cotton in British West Africa, Including Togoland and the Cameroons (Classic Reprint)

Special Introduction By LORD MILNER THE necessity for the development of the supply of raw materials from within theB ritish Empire can hardly be over-estimated. Although it is now many years since Mr. Joseph Chamberlain first pointed out what boundless possibilities our Colonies ofifered, and what little advantage had been taken of them, it still needed the late War to awake us to the great importance and potentialities of our Colonies. Practically all the Colonies under direct Imperial control are, from a European point of view, backward countries. We must look upon ourselves as trustees and take every opportunity to develop to the fullest extent the natural resources of these countries. Opportunities for the increased production of raw materials within theE mpire exist on every hand. There are many Colonies, three or four times as big as theB ritish I sles, whose natural resources are still practically untouched. This is the case in every Continent. The minerals of such countries as Nigeria, the late German Colonies in East and West A frica, and further east in Burma, have hardly been exploited at aU, while new regions capable of producing oils and fats and cotton are still being discovered. This being the case, it is plainly of great importance to collect in a handy and comprehensive form all that is known up to the present of the resources in raw material of any of our Colonies. The Federation of British Industries has realised the necessity for collecting such information, and is issuing short memoranda on various important raw materials in different parts of theB ritish Empire. One such memorandum has already been issued dealing with Rubber in Malaya. A second, dealing with Cotton in West A frica, is now offered to the public. The information contained in it relates not only to theB ritish Colonies in West A frica, but to the late German Colonies, Tog
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