French Colonies

Inangahua Times, 3 December 1934, Page 1

French Colonies

The hope was expressed by M. Flandin that a great colonial plan would emerge from an Imperial Conference which was meeting shortly. The colonies and dependencies of France (including Algeria and Tunis) have an area which is given officially as about 4,265,188 square miles, with a population of 63,374,000 Algeria, however, is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, and Tunis and Morocco are attached to the Ministry of . Foreign Affairs. For Syria, Togo, and Cameroon, France holds mandates under the League of Nations. The administration of the colonies is directed or controlled by the Ministry of the Coloniea. Most of them enjoy some measure of selfgovernment, and have electric councils to assist the governor. Ihe older colonies also have direct representation in the French Legislature. Some of the colonies have a revenue sufficent for the cost of administration. By far the largest areas are to be found in Africa and off the coast (Algeria, French Sudan, Equatorial Africa, Madagascar, Niger, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Somali'Togo, Guinea). In Asia there are Annam, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Tonking, Laos and Syria. The most important in South America are Guiana and Martinique. In the Pacific Ocean are New Caledonia and dependencies, and Tahiti. The value of the colonies to France may be seen from the fact that they account for about 27 per cent of all French foreign commerce.