CfnrtteU HnttterHttg Hthrarg 3tl)ata, JJem garb BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Cornell University Library CT788.J768 M65 Sir Alfred Lewis Jones. K. C. M. G., a olin 3 1924 029 879 255 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029879255 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES K.C.M.G. Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, K.C.M.G. SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES K.G.M.G. A STORY OF ENERGY AND SUCCESS A. H. MILNE, C.M.G. ILLUSTEATED WITH 12 PLATES " - /V LIVERPOOL HENRY YOUNG & SONS, LIMITED 1914 to PREFACE I make no apologies for the obvious incomplete- ness of this short review of a very full life : in the strenuous race of the present day, memoirs must be written so that he who runs may read. Controversial matter has as far as possible been eliminated ; in the judging of so complex a character — probably never analysed by itself — there must of necessity be personal convic- tions, conflicting perhaps, but sincere. I have endeavoured not to obtrude overmuch the City of Liverpool, which Sir Alfred Jones loved and served so well. Neither have I dared to attempt the invidious task — except where the context demands — of naming many who were his most intimate friends through life, his loyal colleagues in work, or his business acquaintances. In the account of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, it must be borne in mind that this work is not the proper place to give a detailed history of the large number of scien- vi PREFACE tific observations connected with tropical medi- cine, and a layman is not capable of doing so with anything approaching exactness. I under- stand that Sir Ronald Ross is preparing a scientific history of the whole subject, and I have only outlined the progress of the move- ment as it appeared to laymen, like Sir Alfred Jones, who became keenly interested in the improvement of health in the Tropics. I wish to take this opportunity of thanking the relatives of the late Sir Alfred Jones (especi- ally Mr. O. Harrison Williams), Mr. Alexander Sinclair, Mr. J. Craig, Mr. Ellis Edwards, Mr. J. A. Hutton, Mr. W. H. Himbury, Mr. Roy Wilson, Captain A. Field, and all those who have given ready and valuable assistance. In conclusion, the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamber- lain, M.P., who knew Sir Alfred well, only a few days (June 19th last) before his own death, gave me his permission to state here that he would gladly have written a foreword to this book, had his health permitted, in appreciation of the life and work of Sir Alfred Jones. THE AUTHOR. Liverpool, September 1914. LIST OF PLATES Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, K.C.M.G. . Alfred Lewis Jones (age 40) . Oaklands, Aigburth ..... SS. "Faith" (1852) — African Steamship Co. SS. "Abossa" (1912) — African Steamship Co. Myrtle Bank Hotel, Jamaica . Banana Cultivation ..... Lancashire Sea Training Home Bank of British West Africa — Coomassie Branch ...... Bank of British West Africa, Lagos, Nigeria Natives bringing in Cotton for Sale — Marl borough Ginnery, Nigeria Mural Tablet erected to the Memory of Sir Rubert William Boyce Pendyffrin, Llandulas .... Statue erected to the Memory of Sir A. L Jones, K.C.M.G Designed by Sir George James Framjjton, R.A. PAGE Front i spiece facing 1 >> 4 >> 12 a 12 jy IS ?j 24 « 32 >> 50 50 64 S3 104 107 Alfred Lewis Jones (age 40) SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Death claimed Sir Alfred Lewis Jones in the prime of life, in full harness, and with his indomitable brain evolving and revolving fresh schemes for the advancement of all that has tended to make this great empire mightier still. A feeling of almost universal loss was displayed, not only in the Press of Liverpool, but in the Press of the whole of England. It was as if a great driving engine had suddenly stopped. To West Africa, it meant what the death of Cecil Rhodes meant to South Africa — the removal of a great pioneer from the country. The note of Sir Alfred Jones' character was an extraordinary forceful and relentless strenuousness : a determination to win through to the objects he had in view, regardless of opposition and criticism. Men of this spirit must always be the target of opponents and critics, Sir Alfred possessed SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES in a highly cultivated degree that sixth sense of intuition, which so mysteriously approximates to a prescience of the future — he was a prophet of business, as well as an apostle — and he knew that his intuition was true. No failure, no seeming recklessness, frankly speculative to those who did not see as far into the future, no criticism deterred him from forcing his way onwards in every branch of activity. If his career had done nothing else, it would still have remained a striking example and proof that the smallest beginnings often lead to pre-eminent success, and to power. He was, and admitted it proudly, essentially self-made. It was due to a trip in his early boyhood on a West African boat, where he worked his way out, that he first realised that West Africa was to be his metier; and that, boy as he was, he had it in himself to help her to rise from the depths of despond, from comparative savagery to the state of civilisation that she now enjoys. From boyhood onward until his death this aim was unceasingly set before his mind and heart. What was his ambition ? It is hard to 2 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES say. Probably ambition for England. He strongly held that England owed her great position to commerce, more than to the arts of war or the triumphs of genius. He felt that he had it in himself to be a member of the company of those who have won her victories of Peace. Alfred Lewis Jones was born in Carmarthen on February 24, 1845. He came of a good Welsh stock, his father having been the only son of Alderman Charles Jones of Carmarthen, South Wales, and his mother the eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Williams, Rector of Llanedi, also in South Wales. Then, as now, South Wales had, from tradition and environment, the reputation of producing hard-headed and hard-working men of business. Young Jones was destined to show that he was made of the same material as the men who have built up the prosperous industries of that portion of the Principality. In after life his Welsh descent was recognised, and honoured by all the great Welsh Associations. It was the reason for the highly valued honour bestowed on him, when in 1902 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, 3 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Oxford, with which College so many distinguished Welsh names have been associated. At the age of three he was taken to Liverpool by his parents. There was a large family of ten children, of whom seven died early in life. The only survivor, until a few months ago, was his sister, the late Mrs. John Pinnock, the chatelaine of Sir Alfred's house, Oaklands, in Liverpool. Her whole-hearted love for her brother, and devotion to him during his life, and the unre- mitting solicitude of her daughters, Mrs. Harrison Williams and Miss Pinnock, amply explained why Sir Alfred Jones never married. His own humorous explanation was that he had always been too busy a man to marry. He never failed, however, in unvarying courtesy and chivalry to women, and appreciated to the full the value of their friendship. This was no doubt due to his early love and reverence for his mother. He never spoke much of his boyhood days, but when he did, it was plain that her influence was the outstanding memory of a man who never forgot. To the end he treasured a simple ornament — his present to her bought with the first money he earned, and only bought, by sheer SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES importunity, at a price he could afford. So a modest china tea-pot occupied the pride of place in that collection of valuable china and art objects, which accumulation of wealth in after years enabled him to purchase. The memory of the Boy ever remained with the Man. When Jones was about thirteen or fourteen years old, he determined to strike out a line for himself, as he realised that with so large a family he could not expect much financial help — if any — from his father. He chose the career that is always attractive to the venturesome boy — the sea. He determined to ship on board a vessel and see what that step would lead to. Accord- ingly he approached the captains of many ships at the quayside of the Mersey, and offered his service as captain's boy. Unsuccessful at first, he managed to induce a captain of one of the African Steamship Company's vessels to engage him. The captain was reluctant, as West Africa was not a climate suitable for a lad of his age, but he engaged the boy for a voyage there. Evidently Jones justified the arguments he had used to secure the engage- SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES ment, for the captain took a personal interest in him. He saw that he was a smart little boy, and, instead of retaining him on board ship, he induced the agents to take Jones into their office. The Liverpool agents at that time were Messrs. W. and H. Laird. They were brothers to Mr. M'Gregor Laird, who was the pioneer in the Niger trade, and the founder of the African Steamship Company. On the death of Mr. Hamilton Laird, Mr. William Laird took into partnership one of the clerks, named Fletcher. The firm then became Laird & Fletcher, and later on, when Mr. William Laird retired, Mr. Fletcher took Mr. Parr into his business. The firm then became, and, for many years after, remained Fletcher & Parr. Jones slated that in his early struggling days he owed much to Mr. Parr when he joined Fletcher & Parr, with whom he served during the early years of his business life. Mr. Parr assisted him in various ways, and defrayed his educational fees at the Liverpool Institute. Sir Alfred said in reference to this part of his educa- tion : " I vividly remember the time when I was sent to school. I do not think I ever had the 6 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES slightest objection to being instructed." This remark is characteristic. He could have safely added that to the end he was very willing to learn from all, and sundry. At school he appears to have been a studious boy, especially fond of arithmetic, and with a good head for figures generally. He had a splendid consti- tution, and, as a youth, was able, as always, to grapple readily with an unlimited amount of work. He was then fifteen, when he first entered the life of an office to enjoy, as he said, " small pay but plenty of work." He continued his studies at the Liverpool Institute, devoting to them most evenings, for a considerable time. He preferred work to games, except perhaps swimming and sailing. He always had an affec- tion for dogs. There is nothing particular to chronicle about these, or the years immediately following. In his own words, he would com- ment on this period with the brief remark : " Suffice it to say, that I became manager of Fletcher & Parr. When those gentlemen gave up the management of the African Steamship Company, I determined to strike out for my- self." 7 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES So much for Sir Alfred Jones' boyhood days. The chief recollection of all who came into contact with him in his then subordinate posi- tion, is that of a bright, alert, and courteous young man, conscientiously painstaking, and performing his work efficiently. A leading personage in the office of Fletcher & Parr at that time was Mr. John Dempster, afterwards one of the founders of the British and African Steamship Company, and of the firm of Elder Dempster & Co., with whom was associated Mr. Alexander Elder. The latter was Superintending Engineer to the African Steam- ship Company, and brother of the eminent shipbuilder and engineer, Mr. John Elder of Glasgow. These gentlemen founded the British and African Company about 1869, which, from its very commencement, was eminently successful. Alfred Jones, before very long, became the moving spirit in the firm of Fletcher & Parr until the year 1875, when the African Steam- ship Company opened their own offices in Liverpool, under the management of Mr. Alexander Sinclair. When Messrs. Fletcher & Parr lost the agency of the African Steamship 8 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Company, their business was naturally re- stricted, and Jones left them, and started on his own account. After the severance of his connection with Fletcher & Parr, Sir Alfred Jones may now be said to have entered on the crucial part of his career. In 1875 he opened an office in Liverpool under the style of Alfred L. Jones & Co., and started as a Shipping and Insurance Broker. He chartered several small sailing ships trad- ing with West Africa, and achieved im- mediate success. His useful training here asserted itself. He came to business early, stayed late, and took few holidays. Thanks to his capacity for work, and his power of taking infinite pains, he soon had the satisfac- tion of seeing his circle of clients extending, and his business becoming remunerative. The important fact, however, was that he became in- dependent. The success of his new position and venture rested entirely upon his own exertions. As he was now building up a good business, he determined to go into steam, so, about 1878 or 1879, he chartered a steamer. This alarmed 9 B SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the old steamship companies, and the result was that Jones was induced to give up the charter of this steamer, and in 1879 was made a partner in Elder Dempster & Co. The late Mr. W. J. Davey was taken in as partner at the same time. A few years after this Mr. Elder and Mr. Dempster retired from the busi- ness. It was then carried on by Mr. Jones and Mr. Davey. During these few years the firm of Elder Dempster & Co. acquired a number of large cargo steamers. Then, in the year 1890, the management of the African Steamship Company came into the hands of Messrs. Elder Dempster & Co., and Mi*. Sinclair, who was then the manager of the former Company, became a partner in Elder Dempster & Co. In 1907, Mr. John Craig was taken into part- nership. The management of the Liverpool branch of the firm since Sir Alfred's death is now carried on by Messrs. O. Harrison Williams (Chairman), John Craig, David Jones, J. H. Sharrock, E. Bicker Caarten, and William Dempster. They all had worked with Sir Alfred Jones for many years, and it was thanks to 10 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES their assistance that he was able to devote much time to other undertaking's. In the early stages of his connection with the firm, he is understood to have been to some degree financed by friends, who had confidence in the strength of his character, and the shrewdness of his business capacities. As shares in the African Steamship Company came into the market, he bought them up without hesitation, until he practically acquired control of the concern. All the money he could raise, and all the profits he made, were resolutely ventured on extending the operations of his firm. Phenomenal success attended ventures which, when he embarked on them in those days, appeared to be almost suicidal. Sir Alfred Jones chanced to live in a period exceptionally adapted for great changes, to one so willing to take big risks. Shipping in the seventies and eighties of the last century had been carried on very success- fully, on strictly conservative lines. So success- ful indeed had these lines proved, that any policy savouring of radical departure from old habits of business, and business axioms — unless based 11 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES on obvious indications of assured improvement — was looked upon askance. This did not suit his temperament. He felt that progress in the shipping world had not reached — and never would reach — a point of finality. A new era was dawning with the advance of science. He saw the shadows cast before him of coming changes, the flow of shipping from its accepted slow and cautious channels, into wider and faster moving streams. The advent of the telephone, the acceleration of transit, the improvement on all sides of mechanical aids to human progress, appealed strongly to the mind of one to whom the world always seemed to move too slowly. In the capacity of controlling head of a great shipping firm, he was enabled to give full play to his powerful ability, and free scope to audaci- ous ideas. Without hesitation he entered upon venturesome improvements. He built a much improved type of cargo and passenger vessel, in anticipation of the vast strides that the West African trade was des- tined to make, and kept himself well ahead of the times. Relying solely on intuition, at the time of the shipping depression towards the end 12 SS. "Faith" ( 1852 — African Steamship Co. SS. "Abossa" (19121 — African Steamship Co. SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES of 1894, he saw the opportunity of purchasing new ships cheaply, as orders were badly wanted by the large shipbuilding firms. He promptly gave large orders, in face of the risk of the depres- sion continuing, and became possessed of what in itself constituted a small fleet. The more con- servative of his fellow shipowners viewed such a policy with apprehension. It was freely pro- phesied that Mr. A. L. Jones (he had not been knighted then) had challenged the fickle god- dess of chance once too often. The shipping depression would continue much longer, and he would be ruined. By the time, however, that the new ships were ready for delivery, the long lane of depression had reached its turning. Jones' judgment had once again proved correct. His apparently speculative policy showed itself to be a shrewd forecast of the course of events, based on an intelligent reading of the signs of the times. As soon as Sir Alfred became senior partner of the firm of Messrs. Elder Dempster & Co., he extended or opened new branches of the house in England, on the Continent, in Canada, the United States, Grand Canary, Teneriffe, and 13 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES, elsewhere. When he joined the firm in 1879, the two businesses — the British and African Steam Navigation Co. and the African Mail Co. — controlled, respectively, 13 and 8 vessels, the largest of which was 2000 tons burden. In May 1899 the Elder Dempster Shipping Co., Limited, was formed. It had an authorised capital of £1,000,000, and owned 17 large steamers, ranging from 7300 to 3000 tons. In September 1900 the British and African Steam Navigation Co., Limited, was formed, also with an authorised capital of £1,000,000, and acquired 34 steamers. In November 1901 the Imperial Direct West India Mail Service Co., Limited, was formed with an authorised capital of £500,000, and acquired 7 steamers. In 1904 Messrs. Elder Dempster & Co. con- trolled a fleet of steamers totalling 93, with a tonnage of 263,241 tons. In 1909, the year of Sir Alfred's death, they controlled a fleet of 1 09 vessels with a tonnage of 323,734 tons. At the present time the firm controls 112 vessels, the tonnage of which totals 353,054 tons. 14 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Not content with being, as far as this country- was concerned, in practically undisputed control of the West African carrying trade, Sir Alfred kept a sharp outlook on other shipping. To- wards the end of the nineties, shipping was undergoing another severe attack of depression, and an opportunity offered of purchasing the Beaver Line of steamships. This brought Canada into the scope of his operations. Chiefly de- voted to West Africa in his inmost heart, Sir Alfred took the keenest interest in all the British Colonies. He saw the opportunity of entering into close relations with Canada, and promptly purchased the Beaver Line, as a going concern. He immediately started to equip that service with up-to-date steamers. The South African War commenced, and ship- ping quickly revived amazingly. There can be little doubt that the profits on his later purchase, accruing from the special circum- stances of the war, practically repaid the price paid. It did more. It enlisted, in a live per- sonal manner, Sir Alfred Jones' sympathies with another British Colony. He threw himself whole- heartedly into espousing the cause of Canada, 15 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES and from that time the Colony had no keener champion in England, on all and every occasion, than Sir Alfred Jones. He recognised, how- ever, that the Colony was already well served by the existing steamship lines, and, when the psychological moment arrived, he sold his Cana- dian fleet to the Canadian Pacific Railway at presumably a handsome profit. This occurred when the Directors of that great undertaking decided to establish a direct steamship service of their own between Liverpool and Canada. Probably this transaction, from start to finish, entered upon and closed in such a compara- tively short period of time, constitutes the best concrete example of Jones' fearlessness. It gives a tangible instance of the successful issue of a venture, the magnitude and uncertainty of which might reasonably have deterred a less confident man. In 1901, the West Indies and Jamaica, in their turn, especially attracted his attention. Here was a commercial field for the exercise of his ambitious brain. Once a prosperous and valuable commercial asset to England, Jamaica had gradually — through no fault of her own, 16 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES but yielding to natural economic forces — been shorn of much of her earlier wealth and importance. The once flourishing sugar industry- was moribund ; the coffee industry had not at- tained any compensatory eminence ; fruit and tobacco, for the growth of which the island is eminently suited, had not as yet attracted suffi- cient capital. The remedy presented itself to the mind of Sir Alfred Jones, in the establish- ment of direct fast steamship communication between the Island and the Mother Country. In 1901 he inaugurated the Direct West India Mail Service with a capital of half a million sterling. The headquarters of the Company were situated at Bristol. Magnificent steamers were built, and a regular passenger and cargo service installed. As the service carried the mails, a subsidy of £40,000 per annum was given by the Government towards its upkeep. There is no doubt that, in this venture, financial success did not follow. The main object, however, was achieved. As in the case of Canada, Sir Alfred lost no opportunity of calling public attention to, and enlisting public sympathy with the Island. The establishment of a direct mail 17 ....... c , icate! r .lY I' SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES service gave a much-needed stimulus to the trade of Jamaica and the adjacent West Indian Islands. It is too early yet to estimate the ultimate effect of his determined efforts to renew the prosperity of Jamaica. One fact is indisputable : the attention called to the pos- sibilities of the country will eventually tend to rehabilitate Jamaica, and perhaps, it may be hoped, restore her to the high position she once occupied in the ranks of the smaller British Colonies. There were innumerable other shipping in- terests more or less well known, which Jones fostered. He managed the Compagnie Beige Maritime du Congo, a shipping company which controlled the sea carriage of the trade with the vast territory of the Congo Free State. He catered for the French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish trade in their various West African colonies. Innumerable smaller companies were formed by him, to meet the varying exigencies of the West African trade — lighterage, and other boating companies, branch boats, river boats, were all provided by him, wherever openings offered. He conducted 18 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES a service between Canada and Cuba, between New Orleans and Liverpool, between the various islands of the Canaries group, — in fact wherever on the high seas he found an oppor- tunity to utilise the machinery of his principal large lines. He neglected no side issues and services calculated to feed the main line, or to increase the growth of trade. All these ventures were not equally successful financially, but they served their purpose. The large lines controlled by him were brought into greater prominence, and his influence increased correspondingly. In the shipping world he had now become a power to be reckoned with. It became recognised that he had an almost unrivalled knowledge of all the intricacies connected with the con- duct of a great shipping concern ; that he was a determined fighter, with a clear, definite ob- ject ; and that no reverse would turn him aside, or daunt his resolve to overcome every obstacle in his path. As a shipowner, he com- manded admiration and respect, not only in this country, but abroad. Doubtless he made some enemies, but he assuredly more than 19 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES counterbalanced these — if indeed any enmity against Alfred Jones lasted long — by the host of assured friends in his own noble profession, who realised as much the magnificent daring of the man, as his sound practical knowledge of shipping, and of all the complicated web of the great sea trade of England. Although his walk in life was that of a shipowner, Sir Alfred Jones' character was too complicated to be content with one branch of work alone. If he had not felt a direct call to devote his main energies to shipping, he would have been an equal success in many another commercial role. He fully realised this, and he set himself to utilise the know- ledge by devoting his extensive powers in any direction that promised to be to the advantage of his shipping business. Take, for instance, his venture in later years, in 1900, as a colliery proprietor. He started the large concern now known as Elders Collieries, Ltd., with a view to having his own supply of coal for his own ships. He also built in Liverpool the African Oil Mills, in rivalry with the great oil-crushing mills of the Continent. 20 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The success of a steamship line must be mainly dependent on cargo. The controllers of most great lines are as a general rule content to deal mainly with the provision of adequate transport, and the efficient management of the ships. This task alone is sufficient to occupy the time and energies of most. Exploitation of undeveloped lands, with the ultimate view of cargo, is generally left to other agencies, or to the general public. With Sir Alfred Jones it was different. His vessels plied between West Africa and other tropical climates. West Africa in his earlier days teemed with vast untapped natural resources. Palm oil, palm kernels, rubber, timber, maize, fibres, and other produce could be exploited there, given the men and means. He applied himself with unremitting energy to harvest these great fields. Companies were formed, firms assisted, trans- port facilities offered, and from morning to night he worked unceasingly to increase the output. On every opportunity — and they were innumerable — he preached the gospel of the opening up of West Africa. West Africa was not slow to respond. A comparison of the trade 21 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES of that country to-day, with its trade of thirty years ago, is alone a mighty memorial to the genius of one man, who devoted himself heart and soul to the development of the country to its fullest extent. In his constant, never flag- ging mental review of new, or comparatively unknown tropical products, which could profit- ably be fostered, there flashed upon him the possibilities of the banana trade. He was quick to grasp its importance. As was charac- teristic of the man, to grasp an idea, with him was to act on it at once. At that time, the banana was practically a luxury in this country. Fruit traders did not consider it of sufficient value to stock to any large extent. It was unknown to the man in the street. Conse- quently the fruit was expensive, and the imports extremely insignificant in quantity. The inspir- ation came to Sir Alfred Jones in 1884, when he paid a trip to the Canary Islands, to consider the establishment of a coaling station there for his West African ships. The Canaries were only a few days' voyage from Liverpool and lay on the direct route. All the West Coast vessels of the Elder Dempster line called there. Jones, 22 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES therefore, had a personal interest in the beautiful islands. Their beauty then was only superficial. The islands were poverty stricken, and acute distress reigned. With the decline of their main industry — cochineal — owing to the advent of aniline dyes, the inhabitants had lost their trade. The banana industry there, such as it was at that time, languished for lack of funds. There was a large quantity of labour available and ample room for an enormous increase in the production of the fruit, but no capital to en- courage its growth on a large scale. The fruit easily lent itself to an export trade, as it was not troublesome to load, and ripened slowly. Sir Alfred saw the possibilities. In addition, and this is an important point, he was always a great advocate of fruit diet, and con- sidered that fruit should be more generally eaten in England. He determined to bring 1 the banana within the reach of the poorest. On his return he started operations on a large scale. He formed fruit companies, advanced capital to the willing planters in the Canary Islands, and provided every possible facility for carrying the fruit. On one occasion, when the first-class 23 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES accommodation on a vessel happened to be com- paratively unoccupied, he transferred the second- class passengers to the higher priced quarters, and utilised the second-class accommodation for the time being to carry home a large consign- ment of bananas. He subsidised retailers on this side to enable the fruit to be sold cheaply, and devoted an enormous amount of time and trouble to popularise the banana. The results of his efforts are now well known. At the present time the banana is welcomed in the poorest household, as a nourishing fruit within the purchasing power of all. It is as widely distributed to-day as it used to be scarce twenty years ago. This benefit is practically due to the forceful determination of one man alone, for there were many obstacles to overcome and pre- judices to be encountered, before the exotic banana came to be added to the list of everyday fruits in this country. Sir Alfred's services to the Canary Islands were not however confined to bananas, tomatoes, and potato growing alone. The Hotel Metro- pole was built by him at Las Palmas in Grand Canary with a view to attracting visitors to 24 < SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the beautiful island. Series of inexpensive trips were arranged by his firm in connection with that hotel which were largely patronised. Pro- bably the greatest pride he had in this hotel was not the revenue it brought to the firm, but the magnificent opportunity that it afforded him to send there as his guests, in quest of health and rest, many who were finding life hard. Innumerable deserving workers in different roles of life, overworked clergymen, tired hospital nurses, ailing clerks, jaded slum workers, poor club- waiters — he was no distinguisher of persons — owe Sir Alfred Jones a heavy debt of grati- tude for a timely holiday there. Abrupt, humorous, brushing aside thanks, his invitations generally assumed the guise of a command, with the impetuous conclusion "your berth is ready ; the boat sails to-morrow." This generous habit of kindliness was not confined to his vessels going to the Canaries. Many a man, and woman too, owe restored health to a trip to the West Indies or elsewhere, thanks to his warm thoughtfulness. Anywhere, indeed, where a vessel went flying the Elder Dempster flag, 25 d SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES his patients would be peremptorily ordered. The provision of increased hotel accommodation, and the consequent influx of visitors, tended to help to restore prosperity to the Canaries. The establishment of a coaling station there, primarily to cater for the needs of the vessels of his line, the installation of plant for ice manufacture and cold storage, and other outlay, brought fresh advantages to the island. The establishment of the Grand Canary Coaling Station at Las Palmas is illustrative of his methods of quick decision. He wanted supplies of coal at a certain time, but was unwilling to pay the price asked. Strong representations were made by him to the agents to let him have the coal at the price he was willing to give. They declined to recede from their posi- tion. Without delay Jones secured suitable wharfage accommodation at Las Palmas, had the necessary plant erected, and despatched a steamer with 6000 tons of coal there. This venture rapidly grew, and brought more money into the island. It is but fitting, therefore, that Sir Alfred's name should have become so intimately connected with the prosperity and 26 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES popularisation of those beautiful possessions of the Spanish Crown. His services in this con- nection were recognised by the Spanish Govern- ment, when it conferred on him the decoration of Knight Commander of the Order of Isabella la Catolica. During his rapid progress towards the dual goal of powerful shipowner and a force in the commercial world, Jones was at first compara- tively unknown beyond his own immediate circle of fellow shipowners, and the men of business intimately associated with the West African trade. His wider sphere may be said to have opened up, when he first appeared in a prominent public position in connection with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. About that time a great change was quietly beginning to take place in the departmental traditions of the Government of the country. The old order was giving place to new, and a tendency to select men of affairs, as well as of intel- lect, to assist in guiding legislation, was gain- ing ground. The apparently insurmountable barriers, that in early Victorian days intervened between statesmanship and commerce, pure 27 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES and simple, were gradually being lowered. Especially was this change noticeable in the altered position that Chambers of Commerce now began to assume in the eyes of Govern- ment. The practical business element in the Cabinet and the Government Departments, of which there had always been a leaven, no longer looked on associations, self- constituted and voluntary, such as Chambers of Commerce, as merely academic institutions — sometimes useful it is true, but on the whole a negligible quantity. They began to see the possible advantages of such commercial institutions. The Chambers of Commerce of large cities have ample opportunity of focussing the carefully considered judgment of probably conflicting interests, on the many complicated matters of statesmanship, vital to a commercial nation and drectly affecting trade. Sir Alfred Jones, with unerring instinct, saw that the time had come to infuse fresh life into the Chamber of Commerce with which he was associated. He Hung himself wholeheartedly into the task. He realised that the magnitude of the commerce of Liverpool demanded the best that was in 28 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the power of its Chamber of Commerce. Its rapid growth, both in membership and influence, when he began to assert his personality and energy, proved the correctness of his judgment. It did more. It gave him the opportunity he had waited for, the official position as President, which brought him in close personal contact with the Secretaries of State, and gained the friendship of permanent officials. In his eyes, personality in all affairs of life, business as well as social relations, counted for everything. No written correspondence had the same value to him as one short interview. He knew his own powers of pleading. He was at his best in an interview. He never owned defeat, and states- man after statesman frankly testified to the per- suasive magnetism of the man. Naturally the statesman on whom he directed his artillery without cessation, in season and out of season but always to the keen delight of both — as both were working for the same end — was Mr. Joseph Chamberlain. West Africa was very dear to Sir Alfred. His life was bound up in it. His uncurbed temperament chafed when he ruminated on 29 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES what he considered official neglect of past Governments and generations. When Mr. Chamberlain arose as the great champion of the Colonies, Sir Alfred saw that his own op- portunity had come. The new spirit abroad was only a part of his own spirit, and he laboured mightily with the Colonial Office for West Africa. The Chamber of Commerce gave him the support and position that he required. He worked from morning to night to enlarge and strengthen its African trade section, until that section became a force to be taken into account by all and sundry administering the West African Colonies. It is no exaggeration to say that no far-reaching legislation, or new West African policy was allowed to pass unchallenged. No effort was spared to attune the governing of West Africa to the needs of the trader, in accordance with the exigencies of capable ad- ministration. Deputation after deputation waited on the Colonial Office. Governors and officials were, so to speak, commandeered on arrival at the Port of Liverpool or departure thence. They were entertained royally by him ; frank and 30 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES free discussions on subjects of policy were ever the order of the day. Sir Alfred was never afraid of returning to the charge. Transport, health, agriculture, education, and progress — always progress — were the texts, year in and year out, at all these discussions. West Africa to-day is reaping the fruit of his pertinacity. The accumulated effect of these gatherings was to create an excellent and valuable understand- ing between the administration of the Colonies, and the men who carried out the large com- mercial undertakings there. Many a tangled skein was unravelled, and differences adjusted. Sir Alfred, however, by no means confined his interest and efforts in the Chamber of Com- merce to West African matters. His heart was in the City of Liverpool as well. Nothing would satisfy him but that Liverpool should justify the prominent position in the world which its great commerce, its geographical ad- vantages, and the magnificent spade work of its earlier builders, had thrust upon the city and the port. As President of the Chamber of Commerce he devoted himself heart and soul to the advancement of the city. There was 31 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES hardly a single movement of note started in Liverpool with which he was not in some way or other connected. He associated himself with many religious movements, and was a warm and generous supporter of the great Cathedral now in building. He supported nobly the churches and church objects with which he had close relations. He was keenly interested in the Hospitals of Liverpool ; in the University and all educational movements ; in the formation and advancement of the Liver- pool Geographical Society ; in the Seaman's Orphanage ; in the Sea Training Home for boys at Liscard, the value of which both to the boys and the nation cannot be overesti- mated ; in the Liverpool branch of the Navy League ; in fact in every charity, and especially the movements for the alleviation of the lot of those who go down to the sea in ships. In all these many-sided activities, although his purse was ever ready, it was not his financial assist- ance that counted for most. It was the man's extraordinary power of breathing life into dry bones. Were a good cause flagging from lack of support, Jones took it up with a headlong 32 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES rush, and carried it on to success by sheer auda- city and a series of almost dramatic explosions of energy. He worked for it as if that cause alone was the main object of his life. His enthusiasm was contagious. Apathy disap- peared, and dry bones became palpitating, work- ing life. Take the Lancashire Sea Training Homes as one of many instances. The Lancashire (Navy League) and National Sea-Training Homes, now an institution of national importance, owes its inception of eleven years ago, and much of its present success, to a few far-seeing men of various interests in Liver- pool, among whom he was the most prominent. Certainly he was the driving power in the early days of the history of this organisation, when, like all other newly established schemes, it had to surmount apathy and to make itself known. The period of stress encountered by all theories in process of change into realities, was, in the case of this sea-school, but short. That this was so is owing to his insistence, and that of his friend and colleague on the original Com- mittee of Administration, the late Sir John Gray Hill. 33 e SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES With the late Lord Lathom as President, Sir Alfred Jones as Executive Vice-President, and Sir John Gray Hill as Committee-Chairman, the Institution was started. There have not been found wanting men of distinction and in- fluence to take up their task, when they laid it down. Originally " The Lancashire Navy League Home," this Institution was at first regarded as likely to have as its sphere of work principally Liverpool and Lancashire. It was, in its in- fancy, the outcome of the energies of the Liver- pool Branch of the Navy League, and, as such, owes a debt of gratitude to this local association, of which Sir Alfred Jones was Vice-President. But it became quickly evident, as it was de- signed to do by its founders, that its objects were national, and that its scope must be widened. Briefly, the objects were twofold. In the first place, Sir Alfred Jones knew well that the British shipowner required seamen for his crews of a good moral and physical standard to meet modern requirements. The sole reason for the recruiting by the British Mercantile Marine of great numbers of aliens was an insufficient supply 34 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES of British seamen of the desired type. It was not because British shipowners preferred the foreign seamen. He knew, also, that the con- ditions and pay of the Merchant Service were now become such as to make the profession of the sea a suitable career for young Britishers of the class desired. Furthermore it was believed that there would be no lack of material for this new educational machine. To quote briefly a leaflet issued by the In- stitution, the help of the public was asked for this scheme on the grounds, firstly, that it is a national work, and any British boy of good character, health and physique would be eligible for admission. Secondly, it is an economy to make a national asset of a poor boy, who very probably would otherwise become a burden on the ratepayers. Thirdly, it is true charity ; open to any poor boy of character, who had it in him to resist the temptations of poverty, and had the makings of a man. Such lads deserve help. Fourthly, it is in its scope absolutely tolerant. Boys of all creeds and sects are eligible for admission. It soon proved itself efficient. Governmental 35 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES and private inspection admitted publicly the complete success of the system and methods. More applications are now received from ship- owners for boys than can be supplied. This is the best possible testimony. There is no waste of money. No money is spent on advertisements or charity commissions. All gifts go to the ex- penses of the maintenance of the Institution. The main feature of the scheme is briefly that each boy, on his return from sea, is met, and not allowed to drift to the streets. His sea-kit is put in order, he is protected from outside evil influences, and his money is banked for him. He is offered a home at the Institution until another ship is found for him, and he is signed on for another voyage. This continues for two years after his training. Sir Alfred Jones and his colleague realised that it is an Imperial peril that there should be 40,000 aliens manning the British Mercantile Marine. These by this scheme would be re- placed by efficient British seamen. The scheme provides accommodation for three hundred lads in the Home at any one time. There are at sea at the same moment 36 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES about double the number of boys, still belonging to the Institution. This continued association with the Home forms the most important part of the scheme, and its recognition, and its success on the shores of the Mersey, point the way to the solution of the Sea Training problem. A striking testimony to the excellent work carried on by the Home is found in the follow- ing circular dated Liverpool, June 26th, 1912, signed by some of the most influential ship- owners of Liverpool, representative of practically all the sea routes of the world. " We, the undersigned Shipowners of the im- portant Lines specified, beg to certify that we have practical and complete knowledge of the character of the work being carried on by The Lancashire and National Sea-training Homes at Liscard ; the scheme and methods of this in our considered opinion are eminently satisfac- tory and calculated to achieve the objects aimed at by its Board of Management. " Having employed the trained lads from this Institution ourselves, and considered the Reports of our Masters, Officers and Marine Superin- tendents, which are unanimously satisfactory, 37 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES we have no hesitation in saying that the sea- education imparted to the lads is thorough and efficient in every respect. " We particularly approve of the feature of the scheme which ensures the lads being met on return from voyages by an official of the Insti- tution. The lads are taken back to the Homes, their wages banked, their outfits repaired, and they are thus protected from the evil influences of the port while on shore between voyages, and this continues for two years after a lad finishes his actual Institution sea-schooling. " We commend the discipline and tone im- parted to the lads, whose superior physical and moral standard does the greatest credit to the Institution. " In the handling of boats, and in a thorough knowledge of all branches of elementary professional seamanship, these lads are pre- eminent. " We are emphatically of opinion that this Institution should not be hindered in its pro- gress or development by lack of adequate funds, which prevents it meeting the demand of Ship- owners for its trained output, or accommodat- 38 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES ing the qualified British lads for applying for admission. " It is on the British Mercantile Marine that this country depends for its very existence as a community and nation." This is a great tribute to Sir Alfred Jones, the moving spirit. The expenditure of so much energy was a great demand on his time. To give himself sufficient time for all he undertook, Sir Alfred economised his hours and minutes with iron determination. An early riser, he was always up and doing long before most people. By breakfast time — an historic meal with him — he was ready to meet the first of his constant stream of guests, each usually invited for the purpose of a special discussion. He was never alone. On his way to his office he was ever transacting work, even walking through the streets. Accumulations of routine work he invariably dealt with in his ceaseless train journeys. In these he was sur- rounded by secretaries, or those to whom it was imperative to secure— what appeared faintly possible — an uninterrupted hour of his time. 39 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES He was accessible to everyone, on any subject. Keenly alert, uncannily intuitive, he dealt with one and all, with a swiftness that cleverly con- cealed itself. Such a training of a natural gift gave him ample time to carry out the various and very onerous duties he cheerfully accepted, especially if called upon to assist in the growth of Liverpool. How well Sir Alfred Jones filled the posi- tions that he held, is shown by the fact that in four great posts which he controlled at the time of his death he was immediately succeeded by men of conspicuous ability and recognised standing throughout the Empire. The place he occupied in his own firm was filled by two, well known in the shipping world, Lord Pirrie and Sir Owen Philipps : as Chairman of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine he was succeeded by Sir William Lever (and later by Mr. F. C. Danson) : as Chairman of the Bank of British West Africa by Lord Milner : and as President of the British Cotton Growing Association, and of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce he served so long, by the Earl of Derby. It was whilst holding 40 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the last-named position that Sir Alfred one day suddenly determined to become a banker as well as a shipowner. His career as a banker is interesting and indicative of the man's versatility. The in- tricacies of finance had always exercised on him a peculiar fascination, from the time that he began to handle large amounts of money and embark on great ventures. All the large Colonies and Dependencies of the Empire had their own national banking systems already established. The idea of starting an institution on similar lines for West Africa had long been simmering in his brain. Some twenty years ago the idea took definite shape, when Mr. G. W. Neville (now a Director of the Bank), his capable and trusted represen- tative in Lagos, who had long advocated the possibilities for the establishment of a British West African Bank, showed him that the time was ripe. No sooner was this appreciated by Sir Alfred than, with determined impetuosity, he immediately launched himself on the sea of Colonial banking. An experienced banker might well have hesitated. West Africa had 41 F SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES not yet made such progress as to attract the attention of bankers or capitalists of world- wide renown — West Africa bristled with diffi- culties. To initiate such a scheme required a daring brain, an iron nerve, and a thorough knowledge of the country and its trade. Above all, a personality known to the natives was an absolute necessity. This the new banker and his representatives on the coast possessed. It was in 1894 that Sir Alfred seized the oppor- tunity. He founded the Bank of British West Africa Limited. Again, as in his hazardous ship- ping ventures, the cautious and the experienced prophesied disaster. Vested interests that would have to be adjusted loomed ominously large : the customs of the native — always difficult to uproot — were as strongly established in their barter system, as their religious beliefs were entrenched behind Ju-ju : a bank teller at the conventional wire lattice, in an African man- grove swamp, seemed almost a touch of comic opera. But Sir Alfred looked ahead. The pioneer bank was floated, and to-day, as a result, a standard money currency has been introduced throughout the length and breadth of the British 42 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES West African Colonies. Thanks to the confi- dence in its founder, engendered as a result of the closest personal contact at many interviews in the Colonial Office, where the venture was discussed from every possible point of view, the Bank was entrusted with the Government Account. This fact alone gave additional confi- dence to the native, whose attitude towards the movement meant success or failure. From the first the Bank assumed a semi-official aspect, and the Government had no cause to regret their action. As the Bank has contributed in no slight degree to the development of West Africa, and to the fostering of languishing industries there, the folloAving resume of the history of the Bank, from the date of its foundation until the date of Sir Alfred's death, furnished by one well fitted to review its history, is of general interest. It shows the aim and object under- lying the scheme. It proves in fact that what appeared enthusiastic impetuosity was really a deliberate act carried out with great caution and sure foreknowledge of events. The first ob- stacle to be met and overcome, as has been 43 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES mentioned, was the hostility of vested interests — that is, the attitude of large European mer- cantile houses to the advent of a bank. This attitude is not difficult to understand. Twenty years ago all the West African posses- sions of the British Empire were entirely without banking facilities. A standard money currency was unknown to the millions of natives inhabiting the coast line and hinterland of the British West African Colonies, and practically the whole trade of those Colonies was conducted upon a system of barter. The only use for a money currency at this period was for the payment of customs duties by the European merchants. Even for this purpose money played but an insignificant part, as the Government were in the habit of accepting from all the more important commercial houses drafts issued by themselves on their European houses for the payment of the greater portion of the Customs duties, although this method of pay- ment was obviously undesirable from a sound financial standpoint. Almost all of the trade was in the hands of a very few powerful firms, and practically the 44 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES whole of it was conducted on the system of barter, at a considerable profit to the European merchants. The introduction of the English silver currency as legal tender to any amount in British West Africa has changed all this. It is an incontrovertible fact, however, that the establishment of a money currency in a vast country like British West Africa, with its almost limitless wealth and resources, was of paramount importance as a civilising factor. Indeed, it may rightly be held that currency more than anything else tends to the rapid development of the commerce and resources of any country just awakening to the benefits of civilisation. The introduction of a properly constituted bank in West Africa had at once an immediate and striking effect. It began to broaden the basis of trade and, by providing financial as- sistance to the smaller European merchants, brought the trade of the country into the hands of the many instead of leaving it in the hands of the few. It also brought the natives to realise the benefits of a money currency com- pared with the old system of barter. 45 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The most obvious and important advantages obtained by the natives of West Africa through the introduction of a money currency may here be briefly described. In the years preceding the establishment of a bank, the natives from the interior of the Colonies were in the habit of bringing down to the coast towns the raw products of the country (palm oil, palm kernels, rubber, ivory, gum, etc.) for the purpose of exchanging such with the European merchants. Payment for these products was made by the European houses, principally by means of manufactured goods of all descriptions, rice, tobacco, spirits, brass rods and small copper rings, known as manillas. It is obvious that this method of exchange could not prove of lasting benefit to the native, as there was naturally a limit to the demand for such commodities. It follows, therefore, that only a limited advantage was to be gained by the natives in fostering and pre- serving the cultivation of the products of the country. With the establishment of a standard money currency and the introduction of a bank, how- 46 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES ever, these obvious disadvantages rapidly dis- appeared : the natives were not slow to realise that money had a value far greater than any other form of exchange, providing as it did the means for the acquisition of wealth in a practical form. The Bank offered an inducement (in the shape of a generous interest allowed on monies placed on deposit) for the encouragement of thrift, and as, shortly after Sir Alfred Jones' death, the natives had in the custody of the bank some £1,200,000 sterling on current accounts and fixed deposits, it will at once be seen how the altered conditions have been understood and appreciated. Through the medium of the Bank, silver coin from the year 1894 to the present time has been poured into our West African posses- sions — over five million pounds sterling having been shipped to West Africa during this period. Just as the Bank of England is deputed to control the silver currency in Great Britain, so the control of the silver currency in British West Africa from 1894 to 1912 was very wisely left by the Royal Mint and the Colonial Office 47 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES solely in the hands of the Bank of British West Africa. Only those versed in the diffi- culties connected with a purely silver currency, can appreciate the onerous responsibilities of such a control. When the stocks of silver in one colony became excessive, the Bank (at its own expense) moved the redundant coin to another colony where silver was required, and thus prevented the undue inflation of the cur- rency which would otherwise have arisen through indiscriminate importation. It may be mentioned here that in July 1913 a Special Silver Currency was adopted by the Government for use in the British West African Colonies, and the control of the currency is now vested in a Currency Board in London. The Bank of British West Africa, however, are the agents in West Africa for the Currency Board, and still continue, therefore, to deal with the movement of the coin, although they are now relieved from the onus of responsible control. In practically all the British West African Colonies the year is divided into two seasons — a very rainy season and a dry season. The 48 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES latter as a rule lasts from four to six months (from November to April), and it is during this period that the bulk of the produce of the country arrives at the coast towns from the interior for sale and shipment to Europe. The Bank at such times is called upon to supply from its various coast branches very large sums of money to the European mer- cantile houses in order to finance their pur- chases of produce. It will thus be readily understood, that it is imperative, in the in- terests of the trade, for the Bank to provide its various West African branches with ade- quate resources for all possible demands, which have to be provided for, apart altogether from the permanent cash reserves, necessary at all the Bank's branches, to meet the demands likely to be made on current and deposit accounts. For this purpose, some months prior to the commencement of each produce season, the Bank at its various branches in West Africa gradually increases its normal reserves by ac- cumulating British silver coin ; in addition large sums are shipped out annually from Eng- 49 G SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES land by the Bank, in anticipation of the trade requirements. This part of the banking business of West Africa alone requires the most careful and in- telligent consideration, and it is interesting to note that, at no time in the history of the Bank in West Africa, has it failed to supply the demands of the community for silver. From the establishment of the first branch in West Africa at Lagos, the Bank of British West Africa rapidly opened other branches in Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia Colonies. At the present time this Bank has branches and agencies in every town of importance on the coast line, and in the interior throughout the whole of British West Africa. It would be impossible for even those who are experts in banking conditions in Great Britain to realise the difficulties and anxieties encountered in conducting a great banking busi- ness in West Africa. Special knowledge (born gradually of an intimate acquaintance with the conditions of the country and the habits of the natives) is an absolute essential for success. 50 Bank of British West Africa — Coomassie Branch Banh of British West flfrtca. Aitessirs Urto , ..Hempiw'^^^i ^J^ hen, > i 3 e ™ : . ' '.' "* ; Bank of British West Africa, Lagos, Nigeria SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES An important factor in the success which the Bank of British West Africa has attained, is that all its senior officials, both at home and abroad, have been in the service of the Bank from its inception. It is impossible adequately to describe in a short summary the benefits which have accrued to the West African possessions of the Crown by the introduction of a money currency and banking facilities, but some of them may be very briefly indicated. (a) The abolition of the barter system under which the commercial possibilities of a country cannot develop. (b) The substitution of a money currency, through which the natives have learned the value of money and the advantages of thrift. (c) The expansion of trade owing to the facilities the Bank offers in financing mer- chants (1) in England by advances on their outward shipments of merchandise, and (2) in Africa by advances against the homeward ship- ment of the produce of the country. (d) The advantages gained by the Colonial Governments in the immense saving in ex- 51 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES penditure effected in the Treasury Departments, owing to the Bank taking charge of the revenue of the Colonies, and undertaking the trans- mission of Government Funds to and from London. Among the most remarkable instances of the commercial development of West Africa are the birth of the cocoa industry on the Gold Coast and the commencement of cotton grow- ing in Nigeria. The unprecedented increase in the export of cocoa, and the steady growth in the output of cotton, have only been rendered possible by the banking facilities now obtain- able in West Africa ; and the more important European houses engaged in the West Africa trade are now the first to bear testimony to this. Once again had Sir Alfred Jones proved his wholehearted devotion to West Africa, and the Bank now stands prominent among the many monuments to that devotion. Of his other movements designed to develop and civilise those vast regions teeming with endless possibilities, it can only be said that their name is legion. He specially entered heart 52 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES and soul into the question of the improvement and cheapening of transport. In a land where the main vehicles of transport were the head and shoulders of the native carrier, the possi- bilities of railways were practically limitless. But the climatic dangers, the engineering diffi- culties, and the vast expenditure inevitable had been enough to deter the boldest colonial govern- ments. With the advent of Sir Alfred Jones and the African Trade Section of the Chamber of Commerce this crying need for railways was speedily carried to the forefront. Needless to say, Sir Alfred Jones owed much in this, and other matters, to the loyal and wise support of his valued colleagues on the Committee of the African Trade Section, espe- cially Mr. Holt, Vice-Chairman of the Section for eighteen years, Mr. Barker, Secretary of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce for thirty- one years, Mr. Cotterell, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Stuart, and others. All bore names well known to the natives of West Africa, and all had the interest of the land of their com- mercial adoption close at heart. Some of the earlier members of that Section are gone, but 53 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES a few are still happily with us. It would be impossible to name all his co-workers, but each, in different ways, devoted himself whole- heartedly to assisting in the development and furthering the progress of West Africa. When the history of the commerce of that region is penned in the years to come, their names, as well as the name of Alfred Jones, will be written large. Successive Colonial Secretaries had never been actively adverse to the construction of railways : the Permanent Staff from time to time were always alive to their advantages. The financial difficulties were the real hin- drance. The combined pressure of the mer- chants and their customers — on whom as taxpayers the cost would mainly fall — was lacking, to give the necessary impetus. Sir Alfred Jones saw to it that the impetus should be given. The correspondence on the subject of the construction of railways in West Africa alone, filed at the Colonial Office, must be a striking proof of the energy with which the merchants of Liverpool, London, Manchester, and elsewhere took the matter in hand. A 54 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES comparison of the railway map of West Africa of to-day, with that of yesterday, is a revelation of what has been done. It will no doubt be as much enlarged by the railway map of to-morrow. Jones held a strongly de- fined view about the selection of railway routes. He always maintained that the Cape to Cairo Railway was not the first necessity in the linking up of the African Continent. He clamoured for a multiplication of short routes, running here, there, and everywhere from suit- able trade centres in the Interior to the Sea. The great main linking-up route, he held, should have come last. Time will show whether his judgment was correct. In West Africa, fortun- ately, the problem of suitable railways presented few difficulties as regards choice of routes. The rich trade centres there were within accessible reach of the sea, or rivers, and the main rail- ways were bound in consequence to tap those regions. Another matter of great importance to the development of the country was the improve- ment of the harbourage and wharfage ac- commodation at the various ports, and the 55 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES development of inland waterways. The African Trade Section concentrated its energies on the improvement of the Port of Lagos especially, by the deepening of the bar. Lagos is the most important harbour in West Africa. Sir Alfred Jones was indefatigable in working for this port. Very large expenditure has been in- curred in connection with this undertaking, but in view of the value of the Port of Lagos as a distributory centre for the West African trade, it has been amply justified. The bar has at last been deepened, so as to admit the passage of ocean-going steamers. In all these schemes he followed his invariable practice of making the acquaintance of the experts, and bringing them into personal contact with those in the trade. The result was to impart much of his own enthusiasm and invariable optimism. When the opinion of experts appeared to fore- shadow insurmountable difficulties, he never flagged. He firmly returned to the attack on different lines, until the threatened difficulties were surmounted. To justify the improve- ment of transport and harbourage facilities, he laboured hard to encourage and foster the 5G SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES great industries of West Africa — rubber, palm- oil, palm-kernels, fibres, maize, cocoa, gum, cotton, timber, gold, ivory, tin, and all the other untapped wealth of a particularly rich country. The temporary set back to the gold-mining industry in South Africa during the war, brought the goldfields of West Africa into unexpected prominence. For a short period the new source of gold production was full of promise. West Africa, however, from natural causes appears not to be ripe as yet for the general successful exploitation of its gold resources, although its possibilities in that direc- tion are by no means negligible. At the time under review, however, the essential collaterals were lacking, such as cheap transport facilities, suitable labour, machinery, and combined organ- ised effort on a large scale. Future prospects however are bright, and a day will probably come when gold will be found in quantities sufficient to justify the name at least of one of the British West African Colonies. Constantly conning over the various eco- nomic products of West Africa, Sir Alfred's mind naturally became riveted on cotton. 57 h SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Living in Lancashire, realising the enormous importance to the Empire of the cotton in- dustry, and the appalling results of a cotton famine — he was sorely galled with his acute imperialistic yearnings to know that England is almost entirely dependent on America for the supply of raw cotton. In his constant endeavours to read the future from the signs of the present, he saw that it should by no means be beyond the bounds of possibility that the source of supply might be cut off, and England be left helpless. It galled him especially to think that one particular quarter of the globe, ruled by England's great com- mercial rival, should have the monopoly of supplying raw cotton to England, when all around, in climates tropical, sub-tropical, tem- perate and intemperate, lay British Colonies and Dependencies. It had been no one man's business to exploit these in an organised cam- paign for the purpose of cotton growing. It had been the dream of many. Sir Alfred Jones made it his business. He founded the British Cotton Growing Association. Again he plunged in media* res with the same old 58 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES reckless impetuosity. Eut the country by this time, and Lancashire in particular, was learn- ing that his impetuosity was in reality the genius of the accomplished and experienced stage manager. It did not follow that although the object he had in view appeared to be un- attainable, and chimerical, it would necessarily so prove. Even Rome was not built in a day. It will be many a day before the British Cotton Growing Association can perform the task its founder and his colleagues on the Board mapped out for it. There are many who predict that the day may never come. It was this species of adversary that enticed Jones and stirred his blood most. The pas- sive resistance of apathy woke the fighting spirit more effectually than active hostility. The more visionary his schemes appeared to others, the more real they seemed to the dreamer, and the more determined he became to translate them by instant action into reali- ties. The enthusiasm of the man was, as always, infectious. He was one who believed that in the material, as well as in the spiritual world, mountains can be removed by faith. 59 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The whole secret of his indomitable persever- ance to attain his ends, lay in his unconquered belief in ultimate success, although not neces- sarily in his own time. Sir Alfred founded the British Cotton Grow- ing Association in 1902. He immediately started to convince the Government of the day that the movement was a valuable step forward, and eventually bound to benefit largely all the participating colonies and dependencies. The Association was originally constituted as a voluntary body with a guarantee fund of £50,000, which was subsequently increased to £100,000. In August 1904, it was recon- stituted on a permanent basis as a company with a Royal Charter, the capital being £500,000. Sir Alfred Jones was the first President. It was stipulated that no dividends should be paid for seven years, and the work is still carried on on a semi-philanthropic basis. The Association is representative of capital and labour and of all of the various branches of the cotton trade and the allied industries. The Association works in hearty co-operation with 60 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the Colonial authorities, and conferences are held periodically at the Colonial Office under the chairmanship of the Under Secretary of State. The Association is also in constant communi- cation with the Colonial authorities on all the various questions connected with cotton-growing and is able to offer valuable and disinterested advice. The Association receives a grant of £10,000 per annum from Imperial Funds to be spent upon experimental work. The work consisted originally of inquiries into the possibilities of the various colonies, and a number of experts were sent out to different parts of the Empire. Practical experiments were also carried out in many Colonies. The Association now concentrates its work on those parts of the Empire which offer the best possibilities of large results in the immediate future, as follows : — (1) India; (2) Uganda and Nyasaland ; (3) West Africa ; (4) The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ; (5) The West Indies. Mr. Arthur Hutton, the Chairman of the Gl SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Association, has recently published a most inter- esting account of the growth of the movement. The Association has spent over £3000 in India, viz., half of the cost of some practi- cal experiments with tree- or perennial cotton, which unfortunately were not successful. Its principal work as far as India is concerned now consists of reporting on samples and advising on technical points in connection with cotton, but in 1904 representations were made to the Government of India which have led to impor- tant results. The principal steps then recom- mended by the Association were as follows : — (a) The establishment of farms for experi- mental work and raising supplies of pure seed. (b) The strengthening of the Agricultural Department and the establishment of special branches for dealing with cotton. (c) The organisation of agricultural banks. (d) A botanical and commercial survey of the indigenous varieties in the various districts. The Association subsequently offered to estab- lish buying and ginning stations in Sind in co- operation with the Government, but this offer was not accepted. 62 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The Association has made several grants to the West Indies for payment of experts, erection of machinery, &c, and works in co-operation with the Imperial Department of Agriculture. It superintends the sale of the cotton and also finances and insures shipments, and the planter who consigns his cotton to the Association can depend on obtaining the best possible price. Sea Island cotton of the very highest class is grown, and the crop amounts to about 6000 bales per annum, which is all that is required at present. As there were no experts on the staff of the Agricultural Departments the Association origi- nally carried on the scientific as well as the commercial work, and its experiments with exotic seed were very successful. The scientific work is now carried on by the Government, and the Association purchases the cotton from the natives with the co-operation of the merchants. The Association has also erected large baling and ginning factories in various parts of Africa. Cotton-growing in West Africa is carried on solely as a native industry, and the Association endeavours to get into as close touch as possible 63 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES with the producer and so ensures that he receives the highest possible price. The Association has absolute control over the supply of seed for sowing, and in consequence of selection by it Lagos cotton is to-day the most regular and even in quality of any cotton produced in any part of the world. West African cotton can however be improved, as it is rather short and rough and gives only about 27 per cent, of lint, but it is remarkably strong. It would be an advantage if a variety could be established of a rather longer, whiter, and silkier character, and which would give at least 30 per cent, of lint. The great difficulty in West Africa was trans- port, and largely in consequence of representa- tions from the Association the Lagos Railway was extended to the Niger and a line constructed from Baro to Kano. The experiments in Gambia and Sierra Leone were given up, and only poor results were ob- tained in the Gold Coast Colony. The best results have been obtained in Nigeria, where the crop amounts to 16,000 bales per annum. The cotton is worth about Id. to \d. per pound more than Middling American. The Association 64 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES has established a standard bale of 400 lbs., and its ginning and baling factories are probably the best equipped saw-ginning factories in the world. Better results have been obtained in Uganda than in any other colony, but the Association has no branches there, but works through its agents, the British East Africa Corporation. Various varieties of seed were indiscriminately distributed, and the cotton was much mixed and also liable to stains. There was no properly equipped Agricultural Department, and in con- sequence of representations from the Associa- tion, experts were appointed and the quality was much improved. The Association assists in financing and selling the crop, and also supplies machinery, &c, on easy terms of payment. It is constantly in communication with the Colonial Office with reference to various points in connection with cotton, such as transport facilities, cotton rules, varieties of cotton, buying prices, &c. The production in Uganda has increased from 500 bales in 1906 to 29,000 bales in 1912. In 1913, owing to a misunderstanding about the issue of seed, the crop was only 20,000 bales. 65 I SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The quality is rather better than Texas, and fetches from \d. to \\cl. per pound over Middling American. Cotton-growing in Uganda also is solely a native industry, and there are no plantations owned and managed by Europeans. The cotton industry in Nyasaland commenced on plantations belonging to Europeans who re- ceived large financial assistance from the As- sociation. Transport difficulties were very serious, and the Association and its friends assisted in raising the necessary capital for the railway from the Zambesi to Port Herald. In 1910 the Association established its own branches, and since then cotton-growing as a native in- dustry has rapidly advanced. The crop in 1912 amounted to G800 bales. The cotton, though not long in staple, is very fine and silky, and is worth from id. to 2\d, per pound over Middling American. Nyasaland seed has given good re- sults in other Colonies. The Association also co-operates with the North Charterland Exploration Company in en- deavouring to establish cotton-growing in North Eastern Rhodesia. 66 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES In 1912 a deputation from the Association visited the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and reported most favourably on the possibilities of that country, and particularly with reference to the Gezira Plain, which in their opinion offered " one of the finest cotton propositions in the world." In its report it stated that there seemed to be no reason why in the next few years one should not raise annually 10,000 bales or more of really high- class Egyptian cotton, with the prospect of the production increasing to 250,000 bales within ten to fifteen years, and with further possibilities later on of a production of 1,000,000 bales or more. The Government experiments at Tayiba were eminently successful, and the Association organ- ised a deputation to Mr. Asquith on January 23, 1913, when it was urged that the Imperial Government should guarantee the interest on a loan of £3,000,000 for the construction of irri- gation and other works. The Government promptly agreed to the Association's request. Lord Kitchener is taking the deepest interest in the question. The Association has spent £170,000 on in- 67 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES quiries and experimental work, and has aroused the interest of the whole Empire in the possi- bilities of cotton-growing, and it has started one of the greatest Imperial movements of modern times, which will go on for ever. In 1903 the production of cotton in new fields in the Empire amounted to only 1900 bales, worth £29,000. In 1913, 76,800 bales were produced, worth £1,170,100. Since the commencement of the Association's work in 1902, 360,640 bales have been grown to the value of £5,195,100. As far as is compatible with the objects for which the Association was formed, the work is run on business lines, as it is essential that it should pay its way. It would be a mis- fortune for the Empire if the Association had to suspend or curtail the work in any way. The business has grown very rapidly, and in 1913, 47,466 bales, worth £661,277, passed through the hands of the Association, and at one time over £250,000 was advanced against cotton crops, machinery, &c. The Association assists planters and others by financing, insur- ing, and selling cotton and seed, and supplies machinery, &c, on easy terms of repayment. 68 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The Association also assists Agricultural De- partments by reporting and advising on samples of new growths, and constantly gives advice to planters and others on various matters con- nected with cotton-growing. In 1913, 62,113 letters were received and despatched — an average of 207 per working day. There is a large and efficient staff in Manchester and Africa, and the work is organised on a sound commercial basis. The Association has also assisted in the for- mation of other cotton-growing and buying companies, and, together with its own capital of £500,000, the total amount raised for cotton-growing under its auspices amounts to £1,125,000. The work, however, continues to grow rapidly, and the provision of large sums of additional capital is a very pressing one. The growth of the business of the Associa- tion in the past few years is instructive. These are the figures : Bales. Value. 1908 16,713 £224,888 1909 20,028 225,078 1910 21,388 296,160 1911 27,673 373,583 1912 40,094 507,122 1913 47,466 69 661,277 SIR^ALFRED LEWIS JONES These figures seem as the proverbial drop in the bucket when compared with the correspond- ing figures of American-grown cotton, but if the same ratio of increase is maintained, and every six years the business of the Association is trebled, the dream of Sir Alfred Jones will yet come true. The last Annual Report of the Association deals with cotton growing in India, the West Indies, the Gold Coast, Lagos, Southern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria, British East Africa, Uganda, Nyasaland, Rhodesia, South Africa, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan — the map of Africa in fact — and Australia. Perhaps a result of the formation of the British Cotton- Growing Association — practically the last enterprise of the first magnitude initiated by Sir Alfred Jones — may be the restoration to prosperity of the West Indian Colonies, and of Jamaica, the task which, it has been shown, his restless mind long before set itself to perform, as far as it lay with one man to lead the way. The interest that Sir Alfred Jones took in commerce was by no means confined to Liver- pool, England, West Africa, the West Indies, and the other Colonies. As President of the 70 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, the commer- cial relations between this country and all other countries constantly exercised his statesmanlike qualities. In the multitudinous interests repre- sented on the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and in the world-wide trade of the Port, West Africa occupies only a part. In the inter- ests of trade with many other countries he headed innumerable deputations to the Foreign Office, the Board of Trade, the Treasury, the Post Office, and other large Government Depart- ments, and voiced the views and wishes of the constituents of the Chamber of Commerce. Only a short time before his death, in the space of less than four weeks, he entertained at Liver- pool, as guests of the Chamber, in succession, a large deputation of French commercial dele- gates, a number of members of the Russian Duma, including M. Homiakoff, the then Pre- sident of the Duma, the German Colonial Secre- tary of that r-day, Herr Dernberg, and a large deputation or the Turkish Chamber of Deputies headed by the Minister of the Interior, Talaat Bey. He entertained these distinguished guests on each occasion in a manner befitting their 71 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES distinction, and left no stone unturned to interest them in the various systems on which the com- merce of the Port is carried on. He did more : at every opportunity he estab- lished close personal relations between the Chamber of Commerce and its influential visitors. A succession of cabinet ministers, foreign ambassadors, soldiers, statesmen, permanent officials, governors, great commercial magnates, and men distinguished in all walks of life, were invited to Liverpool by him, and entertained as guests of the Chamber of Commerce, or other bodies over which he presided. The leading citizens of Liverpool were associated with him in these entertainments, and such visits resulted in many indirect ways for the good of the Port. He was always on the alert for foreign competi- tion, and constantly visited other ports. There he brought a keen outlook to bear on any new methods, machinery, or management, however unimportant, which he considered might with advantage be adopted in Liverpool. His grasp of detail and memory of apparently insignificant trifles were abnormal and often disconcerting. He appeared to be possessed of two complete 72 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES working brains, which, when occasion demanded, could work simultaneously in different directions. In any case he had a great power of dealing with entirely different subjects almost simultane- ously, and later proving that he had assimilated all he desired in its smallest detail. He was always striving after something new, something striking, something that would endure, and bring additional lustre to the crown of the British Empire. At last the great idea came to him. His greatest mission in life was to be, not the acquisition of wealth, power, or fame, but the devotion of his unrivalled powers of organisation, energy and intellect, to the conquering of the greatest enemy to human progress in the Tropics — Disease. The question of the awful toll that human life had paid in West Africa had always been before him, but his course of action had not yet evolved. It was Mr. Chamberlain who applied the match to the slumbering explosive forces, and Sir Rubert Boyce who fanned the flame. On March 11, 1898, Mr. Chamberlain ad- dressed a circular letter to the General Medical 73 K SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Council and the leading Medical Schools of the United Kingdom pointing out " the importance of ensuring that all medical officers selected for appointments in the tropics should enter on their careers with the expert knowledge re- quisite for dealing with such diseases as are prevalent in tropical climates, and that it was very desirable that, before undergoing such special training, the future medical officers of the Colonies should be given facilities in the various medical schools for obtaining some preliminary knowledge of the subject. ... I would be prepared," he added, " to give prefer- ence in filling up medical appointments in the Colonies to those candidates who could show that they had studied this branch of medicine, especially if some certificate or diploma to that effect were forthcoming." As the result of this letter the General Medical Council replied as follows : — " That, while the Council is not prepared to recommend that tropical medicine should be made an obligatory subject of the medical curriculum, it deems it highly advisable, in the public interest, that arrangements should forth - 74 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES with be made by the Government for the special instruction in tropical medicine, hygiene and climatology of duly qualified medical practi- tioners, who are selected for the Colonial medical service, or who otherwise propose to practise in tropical countries." On May 28, 1898, Mr. Chamberlain ad- dressed a circular to the Governors of all Colonies. After summarising the steps that had been taken, he went on to say : — " The great mortality among Europeans in such climates as those of the West African Colonies and Protectorates has not failed to attract my notice from the first, as it had that of my predecessors in office, and towards the end of the year 1897, largely through the interest taken in the matter by Dr. Manson, who had succeeded Sir Charles Gage-Brown as medical adviser of the Colonial Office, my attention was more definitely directed to the importance of scientific inquiry into the causes of malaria, and of special education in tropical medicine for the medical officers of the Crown Colonies. " In pursuance of the second of these two 75 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES objects, it was clearly advisable (a) that a special Training School in Tropical Medicine should be established, where officers, newly appointed to the medical services of the Colonies and Pro- tectorates, might be given systematic instruction, with special facilities for clinical study, before leaving England to take up their appointments, and where doctors already in the service might, when on leave, have opportunities of bringing their professional knowledge up to date ; (b) that all the leading medical schools in the United Kingdom should be invited to give greater prominence than hitherto in their schemes of study to tropical medicine ; (c) that the medical reports periodically sent from the tropical Colonies and Protectorates should be recast on one uniform type, designed to throw light on the diseases which are most prevalent in tropical countries and to indicate the methods likely to be most successful in preventing or curing such diseases." The result of this circular was the official formation of the London School of Tropical Medicine. A totally unexpected result was the for- 76 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES mation of the Liverpool School. It is from his connection with that School, and the great movement in Tropical Medical Research, that Sir Alfred Jones will best be remembered by posterity. Detractors he has doubtless had — as every successful man must have — in other walks of life, but here he has none. The story of the rapid advance of knowledge in the vast fields of tropical medicine, and of the important part that sanitation is now playing in the fight, by the rapid growth of organised campaigns against disease- carriers, commenced by the anti-mosquito war in Africa and India, and extended against the common house-fly in England — reads like a romance. It is, in- deed, a fairy tale of science. The literature of the story is increasing at an incredible rate, and the tale has, even at this early stage, already been told and retold in books, pamphlets, and articles. Its interest is, however, always new. As year succeeds year, the progress of the fight engrosses the attention of the lay mind to an extent pro- bably achieved by no other medical movement of so short a growth. The first forward move in tropical medicine has been attributed to the 77 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES parasitologist, in the identification of the organism and the discovery of the animal parasite. Discoveries, such as those of the malarial parasite and the parasite of sleeping sickness, arrested the attention. In logical sequence followed the investigation of their life history. This in turn led to the discovery of the carriers of the parasites named and many other parasites. Most notable of all these disease- carriers, as it is the most notorious, is the deadly anopheles mosquito that transmits malaria. The ravages of malaria on human life are appalling. Other carriers of disease also were relentlessly tracked down. It is now within the knowledge of laymen that tsetse-flies carry sleeping sick- ness ; ticks, cattle fever, and a relapsing fever in man ; the Stegomyia mosquito, yellow fever ; and the rat fleas, plague. The field of work thus opened to the labour of the sanitarian in the Tropics at once becomes widened. With the fresh knowledge acquired, the ordinary general principles of precautionary measures against bad drainage, impure water, putrefaction, and similar dangers to life, have been of necessity extended in directions undreamed of only a 78 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES few short years ago. The needful stimulus to this extension of tropical sanitary measures has been promptly supplied by the great Schools of Tropical Medicine. They have stirred up public opinion, and trained by their preaching many a lay student whose name has never appeared on their registers. It has been stated above that the foundation of the study of tropical medicine was laid by the early work of the parasitologist. The superstructure has been claimed for the work of the bacteriologist. Much of the present work in the investigations of animal parasitology, as affecting tropical diseases, is due to the discoveries of Pasteur in bacterio- logy, and to the experimental methods followed by him and his school. He gave an impetus to that particular form of research which quickly penetrated into every department of medicine, and was seized upon by none more readily than the scientific investigators in the Tropics. Following the lines of Pasteur, Laveran in North Africa worked at malaria, Haffkine in India at plague, and Roux in Egypt at cholera. Ele- phantiasis, yows, yellow fever, Malta fever, sleep- ing sickness, blackwater fever, and innumerable 79 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES other deadly diseases that go to fill the grave- yards of the white man in the Tropics — all sooner or later began to yield up their terrible secrets to the relentless investigator. The bene- fits that each new discovery has brought to the science of medicine, valuable as they are to medicine, are almost outweighed by the advan- tages that are daily accruing therefrom to civilisa- tion. In the case of that very important section of the community of Liverpool which depended on West Africa for its very existence, this was soon demonstrated. In their trade European staffs had to be maintained in unhealthy regions. The toll of human life was pitiable — " The Bight of Benin, where few come out that ever go in," was too true. The constantly recurring expenditure, resulting from the steady flow of invalided employees, necessitating replacement by others, alone constituted a serious menace to successful commerce. In the executive service of the Colonies, capability of resisting disease was almost as necessary as administrative ability. On every side the risks of the African trade were but too obviously enhanced by the risks 80 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES of health, and even of life itself. It was this intimate knowledge of the climatic dangers of a country, geographically so near, that impressed the Liverpool merchants instantaneously with the possibilities for good in the establishment of a School of Tropical Medicine. Sir Alfred Jones knew that he had, in his own city, a wealthy generous public to support such a movement, whenever the lead was given. It stands to the credit of Liverpool citizens, that the movement met with the cordial support of many who had no direct interests in tropical countries. The humanity of the cause appealed with greater force, and more effect, than any material incen- tive. The results already repay the confidence shown ; the limelight, turned on dark unknown quarters, has already had a beneficial effect on the conditions of life in West Africa. Better housing, better food, better attention to the all-important question of home comforts, have followed closely on the footsteps of the scientific researcher. He has demanded these. The type of employment, too, offered in the Tropics has also improved, as the prospects there improve. Insurance companies tender 81 L SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES more attractive terms. The outlet for brains and energy has been widened. Not that the magic wand of tropical medicine has changed all things in the Tropics — the African swamps are not yet sanatoria ; disease still stalks abroad, but it has been forced into the open. Who can predict, if the labours of the men who have gone, of the men who are still with us, are carried on with the same enthusiasm, with the same determination, and the same success, what the Tropics of a hundred years hence will be ? Perhaps a region at last safely habitable, as far as human skill can accomplish it, against the forces of Nature, for the white races to whom its doors are so nearly barred to-day. Sir Alfred Jones may have been a dreamer, but dreams have come true. Mr. Chamberlain's circular, as stated previ- ously, led to the initiation of this, the greatest life work of Jones. If any city knew the ravages of deadly tropical climates, Liverpool, with West Africa at her gates, knew it to her sorrow. Not to West Africa alone, however, but daily to the yellow fever districts of Southern America, plague-infested Eastern ports, malarial swamps 82 Mural Table ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF SlR RUUEKT W'l I 1.1 AM Bi IYCE SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES in the West Indies, and all the fever-stricken ports of tropical countries, traded the ships of Liverpool. If Mr. Chamberlain, knowingly or unknow- ingly, set a torch to a powder barrel, the late Sir Rubert Boyce saw to it that the supply of powder never ceased. Boyce's share in the work will never be forgotten. If possible, his energy outdistanced even that of Jones. With the advent of Sir Ronald Ross, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine was fairly embarked on its work. These four names will always be recorded in the School's history — Chamberlain, Jones, Boyce, and Ross. It must not be inferred that tropical medicine had in past years been neglected. Far from it ; men like Manson, Laveran, and many another, had made a life study of the subject, and had done the early toilsome work, without which the new movement had not come to maturity. But these men worked alone and unaided. Above all, they worked without the invaluable assistance of the men of commerce. The era of the alliance between commerce and science had not yet dawned. It is the vast strides that 83 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES science has made in the study of tropical medi- cine, more than in any other province of its domain, that have vividly thrown on the screen the dependence of commerce on the assistance of science, a force apparently so dissimilar. Science, also, understands commerce from a new standpoint. The horizon has widened. The scientist is able now confidently to rely on the powerful aid of the long purse, and the trained organising acumen of the man of commerce. In sketching Sir Alfred Jones' connection with Tropical Medicine, reference has been strictly confined to the Liverpool School alone, of all the sister movements, and its history. It was with the building up of that School only that he was concerned. The first step in the formation of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine shows Sir Alfred Jones in his usual dramatic, im- petuous light. One evening, at a hospital dinner, he made the unexpected announcement that he would there and then start a School of Tropical Medicine with £350 a year for three years. 84 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Barely a dozen years later he viewed with calm assurance the collection and expenditure of some £120,000 that had been the result. It was the only result that he had expected. This amount has, since his death, been hand- somely increased, by the gift of a magni- ficent sum from the Executor of his estate — Mr. O. Harrison Williams — who has thus most generously interpreted the mind of the founder of the school. In fact in every direction the Executor has given effect to the great spirit of philanthropy which animated Sir Alfred Jones in every walk of life. In the Appendix attached is given extracts from the will of Sir Alfred Jones, and the allotment of much of the estate. As a result of his wishes the large amount of some £70,000 has been appropriated for the assistance of clerks in his service. This was his special desire. The scheme originated at a meeting of the Royal Southern Hospital, in the end of 1898. Sir Alfred Jones, who had already privately been consulted by Sir Rubert Boyce as to the possibilities in Liverpool for the foundation of a movement on the lines suggested by Mr. 85 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Chamberlain, announced publicly his intention of forming a School of Tropical Medicine, to be allied with the University of Liverpool and the Royal Southern Hospital, for teaching, for research, and for healing. He guaranteed, as stated above, £350 a year for three years, to give the movement a start. The idea was en- thusiastically received. A representative com- mittee was formed without delay, and the public were canvassed for financial support. The movement appealed to commercial men with unexpected force. Subscriptions came in freely. The services of Sir Ronald Ross, who was then in India, engaged in working out the theory of mosquito-borne diseases, were enlisted by cable. The School was formally inaugurated on April 21st, 1899, at a note- worthy banquet, at which Lord Lister was the guest of honour, and a large body of dis- tinguished medical men of the day were present. In the summer of that year, 1899, the first expedition of the School was despatched to West Africa. It consisted of Sir (then Major) Ronald Ross, Dr. H. E. Annett, Mr. E. E. 86 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Austen of the British Museum, and Dr. Van Neck, a Belgian scientist. Shortly after its arrival in Sierra Leone, on August 20, 1899, Sir Alfred received a laconic telegram from Major Ross : " Anopheles dis- covered." In those days that telegram con- veyed little meaning to the uninformed lay mind. Now its significance is almost incredible. Expedition after expedition followed in quick succession. The reports of the School, at first published as memoirs, now embodied in the Annals of the School, were published in suc- cession, regardless of expense. The School began to be known all the world over. In 1905 it was granted a charter of incorpora- tion. Previously to this the School had received, in the year after its foundation, the official recog- nition of H.M. Government, as an institution for the training of medical men, appointed to posts in British tropical colonies. It also received a financial grant from the Colonial Office. In 1902, the Duke of Northumberland accepted the position of Honorary Vice-President. In 1904, H.R.H Princess Christian of Schleswig- Holstein paid a visit to the School, and graci- 87 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES ously consented to become its Honorary Presi- dent — a position which Her Royal Highness still occupies. The School now had become an object of deep interest to many, especially in view of the ela- borate research work it was conducting in the Tropics by its expeditions. Many distinguished guests were entertained by Sir Alfred Jones, and, amongst others who paid special visits to the School, were our present Queen, the Duchess of Albany, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. A. Lyttelton, the Earl of Crewe (successive Secretaries of State for the Colonies) ; the Duke of Marl- borough, Mr. Churchill (Under Secretaries of State) ; numerous Governors of Colonies ; re- presentatives of foreign countries ; distinguished scientists, such as Lord Lister, Professor Ehrlich, Professor Osier ; heads of Government Depart- ments, and many others. The opportunity afforded by such visits was always taken ad- vantage of by Sir Alfred Jones, to arrange some public function in connection with the School. These functions had the result of bringing the importance of the work undertaken more pro- minently before the notice of the commercial 88 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES world. The result was an increased practical interest in that work all over the world, and financial support from wealthy donors. The main object of the School is to give a practical training to medical men proceeding to the Tropics, in the special subject of tropical diseases, or to enable them to familiarise them- selves, while on leave, in a practical manner, with the results of the most recent researches in all branches of tropical medicine. As has been shown, the advisers of the School determined from the first to embark upon a policy of ex- tended investigations in the actual Tropics, by skilled observers, of various tropical diseases. Hitherto, except in cases of some special out- break, no such investigation had been carried out on a very large scale. The Royal Society, the Colonial Office, the London School had all pursued the same plan, but not to such an extent as was now contemplated. It had been left, on the whole, to a few ardent researchers, who hap- pened to be domiciled in tropical countries, to work out such investigations, at their own ex- pense and with such limited scientific resources as lay to their hand. In addition, these workers 89 M SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES were generally hampered by having to attend to their special duties. Too much credit cannot be given to these men, whose patient, self- denying work in the past has provided the material that has relieved organised research expeditions of so much, and cleared the ground in advance. The geographical position of Liver- pool offered unequalled facilities for arranging research expeditions. Many important lines of steamships serving the Tropics had headquarters in the Port, and the owners of the lines were valuable supporters of the expeditions. In this way the expenses of transport of the members of the expeditions, and of their scientific equip- ment, were readily settled, and a heavy drain on the funds of the School obviated. Many of these lines, and merchants in Liverpool, had houses in the Tropics, where accommodation was freely offered to the expeditions. The Govern- ment departments concerned were equally help- ful. Aid was given by the Governments of foreign countries where territory under their control was selected as the base of the research operations. It is a great tribute to Jones that in little over fourteen years the Liverpool School 90 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES has been able to equip and despatch no less than thirty expeditions to study disease in the Tropics. In addition, the services of experts of the School have been requisitioned for some six or seven expeditions on similar lines, but financed by other bodies. These expeditions have penetrated, in Africa alone, to the Gambia, French Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Lagos, Northern and Southern Nigeria, the Belgian Congo, Nyasa- land, Central Africa, Rhodesia, and Egypt ; to New Orleans, Central and South America ; to Panama, the West Indies, Mauritius ; and, nearer home, to Greece and Malta. Many of these places have been visited several times. In Brazil alone, there has been practically an un- broken continuity of research work into yellow fever carried out by the School since 1900. Sir Alfred Jones welcomed and fostered the forward policy. He felt that real practical work was being performed, and that each fresh expedition added something to the rapidly grow- ing knowledge of the different maladies. He was specially interested in the great advances made in the detection of the carriers of the dis- 91 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES eases, and of the inevitable result — not the least valuable of all — of that knowledge, in the improved sanitation of the Tropics. In 1904, Ross (whose previous successful mission to the Suez Canal had already begun to bear fruit, in the great reduction of malarial fever at lsmailia, amongst the employees of the Canal) proceeded, at the special invitation of the Panama Canal Commission, to Panama, to inspect the marvellous sanitary campaign that the Americans were conducting in the Canal zone. On his return he prophesied complete success for that campaign. The prophecy has been amply ful- filled. In 1912, the School sent a special ex- pedition to report on the American operations. The expedition duly reported in the Annals of Tropical Medicine of the School. As enor- mous interest is now being evinced in that stupendous undertaking, and the great part played therein by the Tropical Medicine move- ment, the report of the commissioner sent by the School in 1912 is worthy of a short re- capitulation. It shows in a concrete form the possibilities that have sprung into realities from the great discoveries of the researchers into 92 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES tropical disease. It is indeed a noticeable tribute to the value of the co-operation of commerce with science. Incidentally also it is a tribute to Sir Alfred Jones, who never lost sight of the value of that co-operation. He cared not whether it was his own School that was doing the work of opening up the Tropics for white habitation, or other Schools — the British Government or other Governments — so long as that work was carried on rapidly, relentlessly, and without cessation. The special commissioner of the School brought back a glowing report. No one who had lived on the Canal zone before the Ameri- cans took it over could possibly realise fully the great changes that have been brought about. The An con cemetery, which is a forest of tombstones, erected chiefly to French victims of disease, is a mournful reminder that in by- gone times the risk of death there was very real. In an unhealthy tropical country like West Africa, there is always a feeling of inse- curity. People are constantly ill, many die. Mosquitoes abound, and the annoyance alone of their bites is incessant. Mosquito nets may 93 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES be used, quinine may be taken every day, and the greatest care taken to drink only filtered water, nevertheless the feeling of insecurity against malaria and dysentery is never absent. So it was in Panama less than ten years ago. Formerly mosquitoes were a plague even on board vessels lying in Colon harbour. Since the American occupation this is all changed, and no mosquitoes now come aboard. The expedition arrived on the Canal zone, fully equipped, among other things, with mosquito nets and abundance of quinine, both of which are indispensable in tropical expeditions ; it was soon realised that neither the net nor the quinine was required. There were no mos- quitoes to be found, and every American house was mosquito proof. During three months' stay in the zone — the latter part of the rainy season and the commencement of the dry season — not a single mosquito bite was ex- perienced, and in consequence the supplies of quinine were untouched. The water supply was good, and was regularly examined bacterio- logically. Healthy European women and children were 94 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES met everywhere, no one seemed to be ill, and there was a feeling of freedom from disease as real as anywhere in Temperate climates. The commissioner had been in Sierra Leone, For- cados, Bonny, and Old Calabar on the West Coast of Africa, also in Trinidad, British Guiana and Jamaica, and in all of these places had suffered from mosquitoes, even where his visits had been of very short duration. The difference in the Canal zone was marked, especially as regards the presence of white women and chil- dren. This shows what may yet be done for West Africa. In that region there are prac- tically no white children and few white women, owing to the climate. Panama, however, once even more notorious as the white man's grave than West Africa, is now as healthy as many Temperate countries, and the favourable reports which may now be read concerning this change are in no way exaggerated. Traders, whose occupation has brought them repeatedly to the Canal zone during the last ten to fifteen years, one and all express astonishment at the great changes which occurred for the better in so short a time. 95 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Panama itself is situated near the Pacific end of the Canal, and has a population of about 37,000. There was a yellow fever epidemic raging there from July 1904 to December 1905. This, however, saw the end of the dis- ease in that town. The Americans, in a little over a year, succeeded in eradicating it entirely, and the conditions are now such that it could hardly exist there again. This alone is a triumph, which must already have produced a financial return. Previously the town had been an endemic yellow fever centre for centuries. In little over one year the disease was stamped out, and not a single case has occurred there since ! The methods adopted to control the epidemic are instructive. They consisted in isolation of all cases (as well as suspected cases) in mosquito-proof quarters, and in the thorough fumigation of all dwellings which housed any such, in order to destroy the mosquitoes infesting them. At the same time a campaign was started to destroy the breeding places of the yellow fever carrier, the Stegomyia fasciata. At that time every house in Panama had roof gutters and water tanks 96 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES or barrels, this being almost the sole water- supply of the town. There was no proper drainage or sewage system. The streets were unpaved, without proper gutters, and in the rainy season became a hopeless quagmire. The conditions, therefore, favoured greatly the breed- ing of the Stegomyia fasciata. The Americans employed no makeshift methods in remedying these defects. They brought in a proper pipe- borne water-supply from a reservoir. They installed in every house modern sanitation, with a pipe-borne sewage system. They paved and guttered every street, and removed as far as possible all the roof gutters from the houses, and abolished water barrels. They enforced strict sanitary regulations on the inhabitants of the town, and established a health department to see that these regulations were carried out. In addition, the ground floors of the houses were rendered uninhabitable to rats by cement- ing ; channels of cement also were constructed next to the pavements, in order to catch the rain from the eaves of the houses. These drastic measures were doggedly enforced on the inhabitants of Colon and Panama. 97 n SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES The inhabitants, accustomed to live in a slovenly way without interference, as their ancestors had lived for centuries, were naturally indignant with this apparent tyranny, but they are rapidly becoming satisfied. Those who have families see an unprecedented freedom from disease among their children. The people realise the good that has resulted. The sani- tation of Colon and Panama may be said to be at the present day as up-to-date as in any town in Europe. Colonel Gorgas, to whom the great scheme of the Canal owes so much, says, in a report issued in 1911, that the health conditions at Panama when the United States took charge in 1904 were very bad. He goes on to say that for four hundred years the Isthmus had been considered the most unhealthy spot in the world, and the mortality records would sustain this opinion. . . . "At one time the construction company of the old Panama Railroad imported 1000 negroes from the West Coast of Africa, and within six months these had all died off. At another time, for the same reason, they brought over 1000 Chinamen, and within six 98 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES months these had all died off. One of the stations at present on the Panama Railroad is called Matachin. The tradition is that this name is derived from the Spanish words mata, ' killed,' and chin, ' Chinamen,' because this was the point where the 1000 Chinamen were housed and where most of them died. . . . The French lost 22,189 labourers by death from 1881-1889. This would give a rate of some- thing over 240 per thousand per year. Our maximum rate in the early days was 40 per thousand; our rate at present is 7 '5 per thousand. . . . The malaria sick rate has been reduced from 821 per thousand to 187 per thousand. But most important of all, yellow fever has been entirely banished. There has not been a single case since May 1906. . . . The sanitation has cost less than 1 per cent, of the total appropriation for all purposes. " This success at Panama must induce other tropical countries to try the same measures ; and thereby gradually all the Tropics will be redeemed and made a suitable habitation for the white man. But if this is to come about, it must be shown that it can be done at reasonable cost and 99 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES within the moderate means of the tropical region. Considering the results and difficulties surround- ing the subject, the sanitation of Panama has not been costly. When the Canal shall have been finished, it can be shown that sanitation cost about 365,000 dollars (£73,000) per year. For a population of 150,000 this means an expendi- ture of about 1 cent (one halfpenny) per caput per day, and this sum is well within the means of any tropical country." In a previous report he made the following interesting comment : "I do not believe that posterity will consider the commercial and physical success of the Canal the greatest good it has conferred upon mankind. I hope that as time passes our descendants will see that the greatest good the construction of the Canal has brought was the opportunity it gave for demon- strating that the white man could live and work in the Tropics, and maintain his health at as high a point as he can, doing the same work, in the Temperate zone. That this has been demon- strated none can justly gainsay. . . . We there- fore believe sanitary work on the Isthmus will demonstrate to the world that the white man 100 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES can live and work in any part of the world, and that the settling of the Tropics by the Caucasian will date from the completion of the Panama Canal." These were words that Sir Alfred Jones would have heartily echoed, and no apology is made for giving so much attention to the Panama Canal, although the share of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in connection therewith is not so marked as elsewhere. The sanitation of the Canal and its results present an unequalled example of the progress of Tropical Medicine. All over the tropical world sanitary triumphs are to be met with in a greater or less degree, and stand as monuments to tropical medical research. But there are two imperishable monuments to the devotion of workers of Jones' School : they are the lonely graves of Walter Myers on the banks of the Amazon, and of J. E. Dutton in the silence of the interior of the Congo Free State. Both were scientists of the greatest promise. Both died of the fell tropical malady they were investigating for others. Their deaths have been commemorated by the foundation in the University of Liverpool of the Walter 101 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Myers, and Dutton Chairs of research into Tropical Parasitology and Entomology — founded by the School they served so well. Expeditions such as those sent by the School, and other bodies, besides adding to the knowledge of Tropical Medicine, have been useful in training an experienced band of scientists, accustomed to investigate disease under the varying climatic conditions of the Tropics. Their number is daily increasing. The results of its various expeditions are all duly recorded in the publications of the School. The literature issued since its formation consti- tutes a large contribution to the rapidly-growing literature dealing with Tropical Medicine. The whole atmosphere of the School has been that of enthusiastic work on the part of its scientists ; its organising and administrative committee of business men ; its sponsors in the University and Hospital ; and of every member of the staff, from highest to lowest. This is clearly traceable to the whole-hearted enthusiasm of its Founder. Sir Alfred Jones never ceased for a moment in urging on the movement. He was open to every suggestion : quick to grasp and instant to 102 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES perform. His brain, his energy, his time, his money — all were freely given. His connection with the School was recognised in his life-time in the formation at the University of Liverpool, by the School, of the Sir Alfred Jones Professor- ship of Tropical Medicine. His memory, now that he has gone, is to be perpetuated by the magnificent new buildings of the School, in course of erection, for teaching and research ; and in the special tropical ward now being con- structed in the Royal Infirmary of Liverpool — both of which will bear his name. Not that bricks and mortar are needed to perpetuate the name of Alfred Jones on the roll of fame of those who have fought the dread forces of tropical disease. In 1901, His Majesty King Edward VII, recog- nising the value of the service that Sir Alfred Jones had rendered to the Empire, not only as a commercial man but as the founder of the School, bestowed upon him the distinction of a Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George. His fellow-citizens showed their ap- preciation of the honour by making him the guest of honour at a large public banquet, at 103 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES which were present representatives of all the leading public bodies in Liverpool, and Consuls. In addition to the Liverpool School of Tropi- cal Medicine and Chamber of Commerce, there was hardly any prominent association or society in Liverpool (except perhaps the Corporation, as he never entered municipal life, owing to the pressure of the many calls upon his time), with which, in one way or other, he was not promi- nently associated. Religious, educational, social, scientific, or commercial, he was always ready and eager to help, either by money or personal co-operation. An outstanding feature of his financial ventures was that he always ran the pecuniary risk alone. He practically never joined outside companies, or invested in ventures which threw the bulk of the risks on the public, and not on himself. He took especial interest in the village of Llandulas, where he had his country cottage, Pendyffrin. In later years he spent there much of the little leisure that he allowed himself, and ruminated over fresh schemes in its lovely surroundings. In politics he was a Conservative and a Tariff 104 Si J , SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES Reformer, but he cannot be said to have taken a deep interest in politics. He certainly never took an active interest, although he loyally supported his party. In charity his heart was catholic. A member of the Church of England, he knew no creed where religious work needed assistance. He was above all interested in every- thing that made for the welfare of the seaman. In all these things he gave of his best. His energy was marvellous. The mind was never at rest, and the body was never spared. Looking back at all the work he accom- plished, and the physical tests of endurance to which he daily submitted himself, it is mar- vellous that he maintained his physical strength as long as he did, in such robust plenitude. His mental strength he maintained to the end. The first sign of physical weakening came after the terrible earthquake in Jamaica. There can be no doubt that Jones never really recovered from that shock. In 1907, he and a party of friends made a trip to Jamaica, mainly with the object of investigating the possibilities there of cotton growing. His interests in Jamaica demanded a personal visit. 105 o SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES He was concentrating all his energies and abili- ties on the exploitation of the island and its resources. Whilst sitting at a conference in his own hotel — the Myrtle Bank Hotel, in Kingston — without warning, the awful earthquake took place. The hotel came down with a crash. Jones barely escaped by crawling out on hands and knees. Men were annihilated at his feet, and the ghastly terror of nature's most nerve- shaking phenomenon was over all. His coolness and resource never failed him. That night the deck of his vessel was converted into the operat- ing theatre of a hospital. It was obvious to all on his return that he was not the same man. He worked more fever- ishly than ever, but his friend, A. F. Warr, and his right hand and valued colleague, W. J. Davey, had died but recently, and it was clear that the death of those two, with whom he had worked so long, was telling upon him. In the end, however, his death came sud- denly, and as a great shock to all. Only a few days previously he had, as President of the Chamber of Commerce, entertained Sir Hesketh Bell, then recently appointed Governor 106 STATUE KKKCTKH TO THE MEMORY OK SlK A. L. [ONES, K.C.M.G. I H/signed by Sir George James FrampLun, R.A. SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES of Northern Nigeria. It was apparent to all present that he was very ill, but he insisted on going to London to fulfil engagements. It was not to be. He had to return at once, and barely three days later, on 13th Dec. 1909, at the age of sixty-five, he passed away at his residence, Oaklands. The great heart failed him at last. The funeral, which was conducted by the Bishop of Liverpool, at Mossley Hill Church, Liverpool, was most impressive. The leaders of all branches of the city's interests attended to pay the last honours to a great citizen, but not the least striking feature was the large attendance of those in the humblest positions. Sir Alfred Jones always remembered the time when he was struggling for betterment ; never in the most successful moments of his career did he forget the friends of other days. A public subscription was made to pay a due tribute to his memory. A beautiful allegorical column, the work of Sir George James Frampton, R.A., was unveiled in his memory by the Earl of Derby (now President of the Chamber of Com- merce in succession to Sir Alfred) on July 1913. 107 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES It stands by the river Mersey that he loved so well ; his face on a bronze medallion has the keen eyes turned to the West, gazing at the route his ships so often sailed, with unseen West Africa in the far distant background. The inscription on the memorial reads : In memory of Sir ALFRED LEWIS JONES, K.C.M.G. A shipowner. Strenuous in business, he enlarged the commerce of his country by his mercantile enterprise, and, as Founder of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, made Science tributary to Civilisation in Western Africa and the Colonies of the British Empire. In concluding this appreciation of the energy and success of Sir Alfred Jones, and giving the halting review of the great work that he ac- complished for West Africa, the Tropics, and England, it is felt that the account is necessarily conspicuous by many omissions. The reason is not far to seek. Jones never worked by rule of thumb. He glanced off at tangents. He complicated his various spheres of work with extraneous matter. His char- acter was complex to a degree. He never 108 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES explained it to any, even his greatest intimates. Consequently on occasions, no doubt, he invited enmities, as dominant determined men do, and always have done. To his friends, his motives and his methods were at times obscure and puzzling. His connection with the Congo Free State, for instance, estranged many, much against their will. His frank and free approval of ad- vertisement was disapproved of by others. It is not within the province of a short monograph — even if it were possible to disentangle the in- tricacies of his character and work — to give the detailed history of the various steps in his progress to the position he ultimately attained. Such a history, to be valuable, would be the long and tedious history of a great Shipping Company, of a Bank, of a Chamber of Com- merce, of a School of Tropical Medicine — in fact, of so many undertakings, that the personality of the man would of necessity have become obscured. And it is his personality that interests most. Of a physical build that suggested breasting the winds — a massive head, with a keen eye — an abrupt and, if it were not for the twinkle in 109 SIR ALFRED LEWIS JONES the keen eye, an almost disconcerting manner — alert, humorous, engaging, yet under all a dis- tinctly Napoleonic man, — he arrested attention ; attention grew to interest, and interest quick- ened into affection. He radiated the joy of life, inasmuch as physically and mentally he was essentially a living man, and enjoyed life. Above all, the keynote of his whole being was work. Work was his one and only thought — not even displaced by love of power, acquisition of wealth, or high ambition. No more fitting words to describe himself could be said of Alfred Jones than those that he unexpectedly used on a tragically sad occa- sion, as he turned feverishly to work — " In the midst of Life we are in Death ! Yes ! But in the midst of Death we are in Life." 110 APPENDIX Extracts from the Will of Sir Alfred Lewis Jones, proved January 8, 1910 3) tlrtlige atlU beqitcatl) all my real estate of every tenure and all my personal estate and effects whatsoever and wheresoever not hereby otherwise disposed of (in- cluding as well real as personal estate over which I may have any general power of appointment or disposition by Will) UtttO and to the use of my trustees their heirs executors and administrators respectively according to the nature thereof upon tCUSSt that my trustees shall sell call in collect and convert into money the said real and personal estate and premises at such time or times and in such manner as they shall think fit (but as to reversionary property not until it falls into possession unless it shall appear to my trustees that an earlier sale would be beneficial) and so that they shall have the fullest power and discretion to postpone the sale calling in or conversion of the whole or any part or parts of the said premises including leasehold or other property of a terminable or wearing out nature during such period as they shall think proper without being responsible for loss And shall out of the moneys to arise from the sale calling in and conversion of my said real and personal estate pay my funeral and testamentary expenses and debts and the legacies bequeathed by this my Will or any Codicil ill APPENDIX hereto and make provision for the annuities so be- queathed and the duty on any legacies or annuities bequeathed free of duty And shall at the discretion of my trustees invest the residue of the said moneys in the names of my trustees in manner hereinafter author- ised with full power to vary and transpose such invest- ments into or for others of the kind so authorised and shall stand possessed of the said residuary moneys and the investments for the time being representing the same (hereinafter called "the trust funds") Upon the trusts and with and subject to the powers and provisions herein- after contained concerning the same. 31 Declare that my trustees shall stand possessed of the trust funds upon trtljSt for such charitable purposes and objects in England (or any British Possession on the West Coast of Africa) as my trustees may in their absolute discretion think fit. Jfor the purpose of giving effect to the trusts contained in the last preceding clause hereof 31 tlirett that my trustees shall settle and carry out a scheme or from time to time settle and carry out schemes (including any interim scheme or schemes) providing for the application of the whole or any part or parts of the trust funds and the income thereof for such charitable objects as aforesaid. jfOT the guidance of my trustees but without in any way restricting their powers 31 tietlate that any such scheme as aforesaid may include all or any charitable purposes or objects coming under the following descrip- tions — (a) The technical education of natives of the West Coast of Africa 112 APPENDIX (b) The advancement benefit or support of education or science (c) Original research of all kinds into the cause of disease on the West Coast of Africa (d) Relieving the poverty of any person who may be related to me in any degree and who may be poor and generally any charitable object which may benefit directly or indirectly any such person or persons (e) Relieving the poverty of any deserving person who shall at my death be or have been in my employ or in the employ of any firm or Company in which I shall be or shall have been a member or director and generally any charitable object which may benefit directly or indirectly any such persons or person ( f) Any charitable object which my trustees may think would benefit Liverpool or the West Coast of Africa. Bequests exceeding i?2000 have been made by the Executor of the Estate to the following objects, viz. : The Incorporated Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The Elder Dempster Superannuation Fund Associa- tion. Technical Education and Mission Schools in West Africa. Garston Hospital. A proposed new Church in Liverpool. Scheme for Physical and Military Training at Hinderton. 113 P APPENDIX Elder Dempster & Co.'s Old Employees 1 Fund. Fund for the Benefit of Poor Relations. Liscard Sea Training Homes. Liverpool Council of Voluntary Aid. Missions to Seamen. Bank of Africa Officers' Provident Fund. St. Anne's Church, Aigburth. Parish of Llandulas. Hospital for Women, Liverpool. Homes for Aged Mariners, Egremont. Home for Epileptics, Maghull. Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution. Church of England Homes for Waifs and Strays. Liverpool Children's Infirmary. St. Mary's Church, Walton, Liverpool. Trustees of Liverpool Cathedral Fund. Leasowe Sanatorium for Crippled Children. University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. University College of North Wales, Bangor. Victoria Central Hospital, Liscard. ITE| $ ' "' Printed by Bat,lantyne," j Hanson &* Co. at Paul's Work, Edinburgh