Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 / "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"

Among the European settlers in the higher regions much attention is devoted to the production of vegetables, and very large crops of potatoes are raised. Oats, barley, wheat and coffee are also grown. The uplands are peculiarly adapted for the raising of stock, and many of the white settlers possess large flocks and herds. Merino sheep have been introduced from Australia. Ostrich farms have also been established. Clover, lucerne, ryegrass and similar grasses have been introduced to improve and vary the fodder. Other vegetable products of economic value are many varieties of timber trees, and fibre-producing plants, which are abundant in the scrub regions between the coast and the higher land bordering the rift-valley. Over the greater part of the country the soil is light reddish loam; in the eastern plains it is a heavy black loam. As a rule it is easily cultivated. While the majority of the African tribes in the territory are not averse from agricultural labour, the number of men available for work on European holdings is small. Moreover, on some of the land most suited for cultivation by white men there is no native population.

In addition to the fibre industry and cotton ginning there are factories for the curing of bacon. Native industries include the weaving of cloth and the making of mats and baskets. Stone and lime quarries are worked, and copper is found in the Tsavo district. Diamonds have been discovered in the Thika river, one of the headstreams of the Tana.

Trade.?The imports consist largely of textiles, hardware and manufactured goods from India and Europe; Great Britain and India between them supplying over 50% of the total imports. Of other countries Germany has the leading share in the trade. The exports, which include the larger part of the external trade of Uganda, are chiefly copra, hides and skins, grains, potatoes, rubber, ivory, chillies, beeswax, cotton and fibre. The retail trade is largely in the hands of Indians. The value of the exports rose from £89,858 in 1900-1901 to £234,664 in 1904-1905, in which year the value of the imports for the first time exceeded £500,000. In 1906-1907 the volume of trade was £1,194,352, imports being valued at £753,647 and exports at £440,705. The United States takes 33% of the exports, Great Britain coming next with 15%.

Government.?The system of government resembles that of a British crown colony. At the head of the administration is a governor, who has a deputy styled lieutenant-governor, provincial commissioners presiding over each province. There are also executive and legislative councils, unofficial nominated members serving on the last-named council. In the "ten-mile strip" (see below, History), the sultan of Zanzibar being territorial sovereign, the laws of Islam apply to the native and Arab population. The extra-territorial jurisdiction granted by the sultan to various Powers was in 1907 transferred to Great Britain. Domestic slavery formerly existed; but on the advice of the British government a decree was issued by the sultan on the 1st of August 1890, enacting that no one born after that date could be a slave, and this was followed in 1907 by a decree abolishing the legal status of slavery. In the rest of the protectorate slavery is not recognized in any form. Legislation is by ordinances made by the governor, with the assent of the legislative council. The judicial system is based on Indian models, though in cases in which Africans are concerned regard is had to native customs. Europeans have the right to trial by jury in serious cases. There is a police force of about 2000 men, and two battalions of the King's African Rifles are stationed in the protectorate. Revenue is derived chiefly from customs, licences and excise, railway earnings, and posts and telegraphs. Natives pay a hut tax. Since the completion of the Uganda railway, trade, and consequently revenue, has increased greatly. In 1900-1901 the revenue was £64,275 and the expenditure £193,438; in 1904-1905 the figures were: revenue £154,756, expenditure £302,559; in 1905-1906 the totals were £270,362 and £418,839, and in 1906-1907 (when the railway figures were included for the first time) £461,362 and £616,088. The deficiencies were made good by grants-in-aid from the imperial exchequer. The standard coin used is the rupee (16d.).