It must perforce draw public attention to the West
Coast of Africa, and raise the question, "What shall we do with
it?" My humble opinion, expressed early in 1865 to the Right
Honourable Mr. Adderley, has ever been this. If we are determined
not to follow the example of the French, the Dutch, the
Portuguese, and the Spaniards, and not to use the country as a
convict station, resolving to consume, as it were, our crime at
home, we should also resolve to retain only a few ports and
forts, without territory, at points commanding commerce, after
the fashion of the Lusitanians in the old heroic days. The export
slave-trade is now dead and buried; the want of demand must
prevent its revival; and free emigration has yet to be created.
As Mr. Bright rightly teaches, strong places and garrisons are
not necessary to foster trade and to promote the success of
missions. The best proof on the West African Coast is to be found
in the so-called Oil Rivers, where we have never held a mile of
ground, and where our commerce prospers most. The great "Tribune"
will forgive my agreeing in opinion with him when he finds that
we differ upon one most important point.
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