IN ALGERIA

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 74, 28 March 1930, Page 3

IN ALGERIA

FRENCH COLONISATION

A CENTURY OF PROGRESS

EFFORTS AND RESULTS

By M. Kaymond Le Rouge, (Copyright.)

A. dualism characteristic of French colonisation all over the world; while native population is permitted to retain its own religion, customs, and ideals, increasing' from 1,200,000 to 5,000,000 and being given all opportunities and facilities to develop in every way, nearly 1,000,000 European settlers have established themselves comfortably in Algeria, the two different elements, Moslem and Christian, living peacefully and friendly side by side.

From 1830 to 1930, or from the days of Charles X.- to the present time, the world made greater progress than during the years between Sesostris and. Charles X. and the history of the conquest of Algeria which took place between these two dates, would be a splendid background for the description of those inventions which have had the most outstanding effect on modern life. They would help one aa well to understand the rapidity of French colonial development, which owes them its facilities. We must remember that the Romans, who surely could never be accused of any lack of diligence, worked for .almost three centuries to raise the most fertile regions of Northern Africa to the level . or* Italy. But, taking into -account tho coefficient of speed, peculiar to modern, life, it must be realised that the transformation of tho ancient Barbary States into these three fine Algerian provinces, which make France extend to-day beyond the Mediterranean, is an accomplishment of which the authors may well bo proud. They are the more to be congratulated sine© their undertaking was made in the face of great-difficulties.

WELFARE OF NATIVES.

Iv Algeria the French found them* selves in a comparatively well-popu-lated country, - whoso inhabitants, obliged by the- necessities of their pastorial life to change their pasturelands almost continually, really occupied thewholo country. They cultivated part of it, and the rest was left, to the wandering flocks _ for grazing. At thu . very beginning the French" were forced by the hostility of certain tribes into several campaigns of violent subjugation which also had the advantage of reducing this waste of land. Without undertaking a war of extermination, contrary to the laws of humanity as well as to the French .conception of. conquest, the French Government had to recourse to procedures other than, force. The colonisation began to spread over the domanial land belonging to .the Regency Government, or dependent on the private patrimony of the Dey, which had become French possession by right of conquest. But these stretches only represented a small part of Algerian territory, and the rest, divided into private: and community /properties, whoso legal owners demanded tho rights accorded them in the Koran, could only be taken away from them, after long negotiations and heavy financial compensations. Besides, France could only take partial possession of this land, since eviction of the* natives by law could have been as reprehensible as their violent suppression; aiul would certainly have brought about social complications perhaps impossible to solve. The subordination of this people' was necesarLly limited by their aptitude towards. modifying their own conditions' of existence, by giving up their pastoral life for permanent settlement on the land, and by the substitution, where possible, of intensive ifor extensive agriculture. There follows the necessity of undertaking the education of the native, of encouraging him in his own interests to establish himself on the land, and to increase its yield, in such a way that the progress of colonisation Avould not restrict his means of living, but would, on the contrary, prove acceptable to him because of the chance it offered to enlarge hia income. This • problem, presented in these* complex terms by a Government who wished to show leniency in the exercise of its power over to the conquered people, forced the French to find a solution to the difficulty; and success attended them, for they put into their efforts a confidence and finish of execution which would bs hard to equal. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY. Now that France has introduced almost a million Europeans into this corner of Africa, and made it. possible for* them to live there, the primitive native population,' whose conditions have been much bettered by the influence of. their new neighbours, haa grown from 1,200,000 to . 5,000,000. While retaining their originality, the two groups' of people have fallen into their separate classes and developed side by side. The prosperity of Algeria ,to-day 13 at the same time the result and the guarantee of their close collaboration. It is enough to consider, that on the eve of the French landing at SidiFcrruch in ISSOj the Begency trade was worth about Fes.-50,000 (.£2000), while at tlio present time it is nearing nino billions (£70,000,000).. The African,has grown to admire tho Frenchman, as a settler, builder, innovator, and benefactor; aud, what is more, to love the very civilisation he was so unwilling to accept at first. Ha is grateful now for that superior strength, which has drawn him out of his'natural'barbarity, and set him on the road towards his own salvation. Aa he contemplates his country to-day, with its abundant harvests, dispelling all though of famine, with its former pestilential marshes drained, it's streams regulated, its roads, ports, and railways multiplied, he realies the practical value of the partner his submission brought him. Again, when he sees this partner strete" out his hand to him, create hospitals and dispensaries to cure him of his ills, schools to educate him, and last of all protect and establish, those mosques which are the homes of his religion, he is made to feel and appreciate the human value and tho spirit of brotherhood, shown in tha attitude of his conqueror.