The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1895. THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10653, 14 May 1895, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, MAY 14, 1895. THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA.

I Recent rep'orts regarding French | encroachments in Africa are likely |to give rise to uneasy apprehen- | sions of trouble. It may be accepted I aa true, in a general sense, that, as | Lord Dufferia lately declared at a I Chamber of Commerce banquet in Paris, Africa is. “ not worth fighting for;” but the overcrowded nations I of Europe nearly all hetray a feverish | desire to secure a slice of its territory. llt ia a scramble for a continent that is now going on, and the hold schemo of Mr Cecil Rhodes | for obtaining tho lion’s share for England ia doubtless responsible for tho access of activity on tho part of Franca which has led to the present difficulty in the valleys of the Niger and the Nilo, Franco has already largo African territories in Tunis, Algeria and Dahomey, with tho back countrv over which she has some sort of shadowy claim. Portugal has long had African possessions; but among more modern achievements at tho game of “ grab ” may be noted tho German annexation in theOameroons, tho rights acquired by Belgium over tho Congo country, tho effort of Italy to wrest territory from Abyssinia and the Spanish campaign against Morocco. Evidently tho nations think Africa worth spending blood and treasure upon. Probably what Lord Dufferiu intended to convey was that it was not worth while for European nations ( to fight with each other about its possession ; yet that ia the very contingency that just now seems to be imminent.

The French “ Jingoes,” whose views are expounded by M, Dolonclo, ara enthusiastic on tho subject of African annexation, and they hope by a bold stroke in the centre of the Dark Continent to pay out England for her ascendency in Egypt. Hera is what M. Delonclo wrote on the subject in the Mai,in of February Ifi: —“In Africa we have managed so ably that our Empire now extends from Algiers to tho Soudan, to tho coast of the Niger, to Lake Tchad, to the Congo and to tho Nile. Ouiy last week M. Hanotaux signed with the King of the Belgians a treaty, the practical effect of which cuts right across the famous route from tho Cape to Cairo, which England dreamed of making an English route from end to end.” That is a programme which is in direct conflict with English rights and interests, as Sir Edward Grey told the House of Commons in March last. Sir Edward discredited tho rumour that a French expedition had been sent to occupy tho Nilo Valley, and ho declared that a French advance “ from tho west side of Africa into territory subject to British claims, would be not only an inconsistent and unexpected act, but also an unfriendly one, and would bo regarded as such by the Government.” Yet there seems no reason to doubt that this has substantially taken place. An expeditionary force, loci by.the French Governor of Dahomey, has penetrated into territory; .'Withift,

the British sphere, has set up stations, and has made treaties with native chiefs. That this has been accomplished without a warlike collision must ba largely duo to the forbearance of the British Royal Niger Company, which has jurisdiction over the territory invaded, and '’has a native army a thousand strong, well armed and officered by Englishmen. It is not two years since there was a conflict between French and English troops at Warina, in the debatable ground which constitutes the hinterland of Senegal and Sierra Leone, and there is a danger that at any moment a similar collision may tako place on the banks of the Niger, despite the excellent understanding that obtains between the Governments of England and France. The Warina incident was still the subject of diplomatic discussion in March last, and the doubtless be a definite delimitation of boundaries such as will obviate any future difficulty.

There are indications that Prance is not acting in good faith in the matter of her expeditions towards the head waters of the Niger and Nile. Evidence of concerted action with a view to defeat the Rhodesian dream o! a British highway from Capetown to Cairo is afforded by the fact that M, Savorgnan de Brazza, the Commis-sary-General of the French Congo, some time ago set forth a scheme “ for France to go as far as Lake Tchad and draw around her the population of Darfur, and thence proceed eastwards.” This is exactly on the lines of M. Deloncle’s aspirations, and the action of the Governor of Dahomey in annexing the Dahomeyan hinterland right up to the Niger is part of the same plan. The French Government at first denied that anyone belonging to that nation had been at work within the sphere of the Royal Niger Company; then, when the facts could not be gainsaid, it advanced the plausible plea that the expedition was composed of “private travellers." These are tactics more suggestive of the wily Muscovite than of the chivalrous people who have a standing sneer at perfide Albion. The Russian Government has a convenient way of despatching semimiiitary expeditions to Asiatic countries, which expeditions, if they are successful in “ sneaking ” territory, are recognised as official, but if they are found out, they then disclaimed as mere private scientific undertakings. The “privatetraveller” theory provides a convenient back door by which the French Government may escape from the embarrassment of being found out in an attempt to steal what was handed over to England by solemn treaty. Among the “ resources of civilisation,” the diplomatic lie is, at any rate, preferable to a declaration of war. The mala fides of France is also apparent in the suggestion of M. Deloncle that an International Congress should be called to decide between the conflicting claims of Prance and England in the Nile Valley. It is as though an area sneak, when caught in the act of pilfering, should suggest au appeal to arbitration to decide the ownership of the stolen articles.

The country administered by tbe Royal Niger Company lias an area of half a million square miles, and a population estimated at twenty millions. The boundaries, which are but roughly defined, extend from the Grulf of Guinea to Late Tchad, where the French, and English lines meet at Barrawa. In 1893 the exports from the Niger region were valued at nearly a million sterling, comprising gum, ivory, palm oil, hides, &c. The British Protectorate over the Niger country was only assumed in 1884, though it is nearly a century since the explorer Mungo Park, made the region known. It was in 1886 that the charter of the Royal Niger Company was issued. The administration is under an Imperial Commissioner, a post which is at present filled by Sir Claude Macdonald. This portion of Equatorial Africa is not at all suited for European settlement, and its value for purposes of colonisation is practically nil. If, therefore, no more were in question than the ownership of a few thousands of miles more or less of malarial jungle, there would be no need to apprehend trouble between England and Prance. But, as we have endeavoured to show, the movements on the banka of the Niger have a deeper significance. They are aimed at British influence in Egypt; they are so understood in France; and the Anglophohiats of that country will do their best to prevent a relinquishment of _ any advantage which the so-called private travellers may have gained in Africa. There is, however, still hope that diplomacy may effect a peaceful' settlement of the difficulty that now threatens to engender excited and angry feelings.