“The total amount of the taxes paid by a native unit are divided into four parts. Two of these form the Government share and are paid into the general revenue. The other two are paid into the Beit-el-Mal (native treasury). One is earmarked for the payment of fixed emoluments individually to the Emir, his councillors, his police, his official messengers, the officials told off by him to look after roads, buildings, sanitation, and public works generally, and to the payment of the native Judges (Alkalis). Also to defray the cost of public works such as markets, gaols, etc., road-making, well-making, of education, and of the subsistence of persons who according to Moslem tenets should receive State aid. Also towards establishing a reserve fund, in case at any time, owing to the failure of crops, it should be necessary to remit a portion of the taxes.
“The remaining fourth share is divided among the district and village Heads in proportion to the amounts of rents and taxes for the collection of which each is responsible. In some Provinces the district Heads have been placed on fixed salaries, notably Bornu, but it has not yet been decided as to whether this system should be adopted generally.
“The organisation described in the preceding paragraphs has not been entirely elaborated in the Pagan districts, but in every case efforts are being made, and in many with considerable success, to establish a common fund, administered on the lines described.
“Generally speaking, it has been found expedient to pay the native officials on a generous scale, and it must be said in justice to them that a marked improvement in his work has followed in every case where an official has been granted an assured income. The funds administered by the Beit-el-Mal throughout the Protectorate amounted to over £200,000 during the year under review.”
Typical Distribution of Funds allocated to Native Treasuries, taking Kano as an Example, a Territory of 28,600 Square Miles and with a Population of 3,500,000.
From the same source I also take the constitution of the native law Courts:
“The effect of the payment of the native Judges deserves special notice. The improved position and growing efficiency of the native Judiciary has now been established. In former days the Judges had no fixed stipends and depended for their livelihood on the generosity of the reigning Emir, or on the fees collected through orders from their own Courts. In such circumstances it could hardly be expected that the Courts would be efficient or free from bribery and corruption. It is now generally conceded that the former weakness of the native Courts was caused rather by a radically bad system than by any real lack of men who could, if properly supported, efficiently administer justice.
“In Kano and Katsena a measure has been adopted which it is hoped it will be found possible to extend elsewhere. In these two Emirates the Courts do not execute their own judgments. The Court informs the Head of the district in which it is situated that an order has been given, and should this entail the payment of a judgment debt, the Beit-el-Mal is also informed by the Court. The district Head is responsible for the execution of the order, for the collection of any amount due and for its payment into the Beit-el-Mal. By this means a complete check on both the Judiciary and the Executive is established.
“At the present time in the Northern Provinces almost every district has a salaried Alkali’s Court with considerable but limited powers. Minutes of every case tried in the district Courts are submitted monthly to the chief native Judges at the various Capitals of the Province. Serious cases are referred to the Courts in the Capitals of the Emirates.... Crimes of violence and robbery, which in the early years of the Protectorate were so regrettably numerous, have almost disappeared since the native Courts, with their corollary, native police (dogari), have been given a free hand.”