Parliamentary Select Committee report on West Africa recommends partial withdrawal

The Parliamentary Select Committee of 1865, chaired by Charles B. Adderley, recommended partial and gradual British withdrawal from West African settlements. Dike argues that in the Niger territories the reverse of withdrawal was occurring simultaneously: British traders and officials were pursuing vigorous expansion throughout the 1860s. The committee was precipitated by cost concerns on the Gold Coast and reflected the free-trade ideology of the Manchester School. William Wylde of the Foreign Office testified that once Britain had commercial establishments in a territory it could not avoid interfering in its politics.