THE FRENCHMAN'S BURDEN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7947, 27 February 1904, Page 2

THE FRENCHMAN'S BURDEN.

* THE BIG COLONIAL EMPIRE OF FRANCE. JTS SIZS, POPULATION AND COST. (By FRANK G. CARPENTER, in the NewOrleans "Times-Democrat.") I have been looking into the Frenchman's share of the white man's burden. ' It attracts but little attention 1 outside his own country, but it is a big load,, and it costs aim more than £4,000,000 a year. There is a Minister of the Colonies at Paris who has charge of the expenditures, and in addition the province of Algeria and that of French India have representatives in the Chamber of Deputies to present th& special wants of their countries. A, BIG, COLONIAL EMPIRE. Few people realise the extent of the French colonial possessions. They aregreater than those of any other nation excepting Great Britain. They axe twenty times as large as France itself j they cover an area 'greater than all Europe, and in Africa alone- they are as large as the United States proper. France has more ground in Asia than in France, its South American possessions are as big as the Stats of New York, and it has also islands in the West Indies, in Australasia, and the South Seas. Parts of its territory are thickly populated. In all there are more than 60,000,000 inhabitants, of whom the majority are as barbarous jib any. people on the face of the globe. FRANCE'S MOST PROSPEROUS OOL- . ONY, The best of all the.Frenoh colonies ia Algeria. ■ The French like it most and they are spending the most money on it. They are building railroads throughout the prin. cipal parts of it, and they have already constructed about 2000 miles of waggon roads, AH of the ports are being improved, and every town of any size has now its French quarter. The country has a good postal service, and there are more than 600 telegraph offices, through which 2,000, OQO messages are sent every year. , Algeria has already considerable commerce, its imports and exports approxij mating twenty million pounds a year. The most of this trade is with France, and the French look upon' the country as their chief granary and market garden. It lies just across the Mediterranean, so near that fast steamers can reach it in twenty-four hours and that the> ordinary every-day pasj sage' is twenty-seven hours. Winter vegetI ables and tropical fruits are now* sent by the j shipload to Marseilles, and thence distributed to all the cities of France, and even to Paris and London. The time Paris is less than forty hours. ALGERIA IN X903,, i first let me tell you something about AJgeria. It is one of the best countries in Africa. Watered by the moisture from the Mediterranean winds, it hea a rioh soil, and one of the- most delightful climates on the face of the globe. It is a land of mountains and valleys, backed by the sandy plateau-? of the Desert of Sahara. Its popui&tiotn comprises about four million; oj whom three huadwd thousand are, French. '!'he natives are Berbers and Arabs, with an admixture of Moors, Turks and' negroes. The Berbers belong to the same race as our own. They aye farmers and very industrious. The French use them as labourers, ' and with their aid ore setting out vineyards, pli,ve groves and orange orchards.' They also cultivate the soil for themselves, raising rioh crops of wheat and other cereals, One of the chief exports of Algeria is figs, of which 27,000,000 pounds are exported in a year, and , another is dates, which come from, the date palms scattered over the ooun'try, and especially throughout; the oasea of the Sahara. In Algeria the French have materially im« proved the" condition of tho people. They have established primary schools in every part of th« country, and also schools of \ higher education and communal colleges. There are 100,000 students in the primary schools, about 5000 in the high schools and a lrt-pge number in tho colleges, About £200,000 is now being annually spent on education. jAFRIOA'S FRENCH METROPOLIS. SChe capital of Algeria is Africa's French 1 (metropolis. It is the city -of Algiers, containing about 100,000 people, being considerably smaller than cTunis, but far more important in commerce and trade. The French have spent large sums on the harbour and in beautifying the city. A long pier has been built §o that the largest steamers can come in without danger, Great warehouses have been constructed, and ttere are fine hotels- and good business buildings. The town has street cars and electric lights, and altogether the lower parts of it look like Paris than Africai. The same condition prevails -at Oran, the chief port of Western Algeria, and at Constantine, a thriving city in the east, each having its French charter. < :; ; FRENCH TUNISIA. Adjoining Algeria is Tunisia, which is now under the protection of France. It has an African Bey as its nominal ruler, but ib is the French Governor who tells, bim'how to act, and handles thecaab. A great many improvements are being made there- since the French took charge of the country. The canal which has been built connecting the c|fy- of Tunis directly with the *ea has greatly iinjrroy^d coawmerce, and to-day there are large .wharves along the banks Qf the canal, clipped with modern lifting engines, cranes and port railways. Tunis is the biggest city on the African seaboard, and its trade is with all parts of the Mediterranean Sea, and especially Europe. It is connected by railway with Algiers, and Oran, and by caravan wit l - -U parts of the Sahara. ' The population of Tunisia is almost 2,000,000, consisting chiefly of Bedouin Arabs, Berbers and about 60,000 Jews. There are also 40,000 Frenchmen and 82,000 .ether foreigners, of whom 67 2 000 are Itall■•ans, '■■■■ ' s , ■•• The French have been doing much to de- , Hlop education there. They have established a large number of schools in Tunia, of in the interior have 500 primary schools, of which onO'third are for teaohinggirfs. The bulk of tl>e population is Mohammedfln» and these girls' schools ore to a large extent a new thing. Tunisia hw now 600 miles of tjj-ilwuy and several thousand miles of tele.jgraph lines, ' ■•-I THE FRENCH IN THE SAHARA. HOne, of the queerest possessions of the French is the Desert of j Sahara. They claim to own the whole western half of it, .having a -ternfcory fcbout half aa large «*^ the United States propar,' comprising hundreds of oases and the best caravan routes. A; Wg trade is earrled on aorww the French ;Sahiir*irointh«. iieh countries of the Soudan south of it to Algeria and/ Tunisia, and H ia now proposed 1

to build a railroad over these sandy wastes. It will go from the Mediterranean southward into the Sahara, and will then branch out, one line going to Lake Chad, where it will connect with a line to Dahomey and the Atlantic, and the other going in a southwestwardly direction to Timbuctoo and the regions of the Upper Niger. The road caij never be more than a military one, and 1 it is doubtful whether it would pay its running expenses. IN THE DESERT. To-day all travel across the desert is by camels. The 'beasts are raised 1 especially for freighting, and there is a regular business of breeding them for caravan travel. There are freight v - animals and passenger animals,- the latter having a gait a* easy as that of good saddle horse. A good riding camel is worth £20, and a good freight animal can be bought for £10, Many of the caravans have five hundred camels, fifty thousand camels coming every year across the Sahara to Timbuctoo. These caravan routes are as well laid out aa railroad routes. There axe no special tracks, but the guides understand just where to go, and they aim to take in the chief oases on the desert. The French metropolis of the northern Sahara is the oasis of tfoe Biskra, which is reached 1 by railroad from Algiers. Here there is quite a large foreign colony, numerous Frienoh and other' Europeans going there for their health. Biskra is ISO milea south of Constantine, and it takes a day's ride on the train to reach it. The oasis is three miles long > and not more, than 'half a mile wide at ifcs widest place. It is one of the largest of the French oases, having a population of about 10,000, including 1000 French troops and afeoufc 1200 civil Europeans, mostly French and Italians': The place is noted for its dates, of which it has 160,000 trees, producing about 5000 tons of dates every year. The trees are carefully irrigated, and each tree is taxed by the Government. FRENCH SOUDAN AND TIMBUCTOO. The French have an enormous territory, known aa the French Soudan, lying couth of tho western parb of th© Sahara. This strip goes half way across the continent, the British territories of Nigeria, the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone, and also Liberia and the Kamerans being cut out of it. J.t reaches the Atlantic Ocean in several places, and 1 embraces the French Congo, Dahomey and Senegal. This territory is practically unexplored', but it is being" rapidly opened up. A military government has been established at Tirabuctoo and' along the Niger, and tho other province's are governed 1 from Dakar in Senegal. It is at Dakar that the French Governor-QeneKtl of West Africa lives, and there are the chief officers with secretaries and clerks. Each province has a Lieuten-ant-Governor, but all-report to the GovernorGeneral at Dakar. ' Dakar is noted for its excellent harbour, which is now being widened and deepened by the French. The city lies right under the shadow of Cape Verde, and- is connected with $t. Louis, the capital of Senegal, by railway, > It has four French steamship lines, which make regular passages between it and France, and there are British and German, linea to Liverpool ana Hamburg. IMPROVING WEST AFRICA. The French are just beginning to develop their West African provinces. They are laying out railroads in French Guinea and deepening the harbours. They have built a. jetty about a thousand feet long at Conakry, the capital and chief seaport, and they are cutting waiggon road* into the interior, ■ ' - In Dahomey there are 6000 natives now ; at work on. a railroad which will , eventually extend through the country to Lake Chad, and there oonnect with the line across the Sahara to Algiers. Fifty miles | of this road has alreaidy been- constructed, and the work, will be steadily pushed. Railroads are being built in the French Congo, and also from St Louis, in Senegal, eastward. AFRICAN COTTON FIELDS. These West African colonies are unI healthy. Dahomey is hot a^d malarious, and tb,o French Congo is noted for its fevers., | The French can never develop the country except by native labour. They understand this, and are acting accordingly. They have set out plantations in Dahomey some distance back from the coast, and are raising cotton there for shipment to France, The cotton is better than the American, and I am told that it brings o, higher price in. Europe. Cotton fields have been laid out in the French Congo and elsewhere. The labour is cheap, costing not moro than 5d qt lQd a day. In some of the colonies the people are very industrious. Education goes on apace. There are missionaries in nearly all the colonies and mission schools, as well as Government schools. In the Congo colony fifty-six schools have been established, and a proportionate number in. Dahomey and on the Ivory Coast All these colonies trade chiefly with Europe. They buy brightcoloured calicoes, beads, knives, and notions, trading ivory, rubber, patfm seeds and pajjn-oil for them, THE FRENCH IN MADAGASCAR. The French have materially changed the conditions in Madagascar. They have claimed to own that island for hundreds of years, but it is only seven or eight years ago that it was formally declared a (French colony. Th© Queen ww th^n deposed and carried to the French island of Reunion, whence sKe was afterward taken to Algiers. Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. It has more land thaia France, and its population is two and one-half milj lions. About one-third of the natives ore i Hovas, a most intelligent people, who, until the French came, were the controlling element of the island. In. addition to, them are the Sakalavas on the west coast and other tribes -on the east, north and south. In the coast towns there ore many Arab traders and also many negroes from Africa who were brought in as slaves. THE CAPITAL OF MADAGASCAR. The Island of Madagascar consists of a high plateau with a fringe of unhealthy forest around the edges. Its chief port is Tamatave, on the east coast, and the capital is Tananarive, in the heart of the plateau, The French are building a. railroad, from one to the other. It will be over a. -hundred miles long, and thirty-five miles have already been built. Tananarive stands on a ridge 500fb high in the centre of a rich farming country. It has comfortable two-storey houses, and the Hovas, who form its chief population,- have many people of wealth. The public buildings of the Queen ore now used by the French officials, who are introducing modern improvements of all kinds. They have improved the ports, have instituted schools and colleges, and are doing much to better the country, SOME FRENCH ISLANDS. France has a big sized island empire. Just east of Madagascar is Reunion, an island 1 which also belongs to France. It s noted for its plantations of coffee, vanilla and Bpicos. . North-west of Madagascar are the Comoro Islands and the Island of Mayotte, all very rich in sugar, v&nill* and coffee, and in the West Indies are a number of Islands equally valuable, The chief of the West Jndian island's are Guadeloupe sad Martinique. The Jf re-uok also own t&e State of French Guiana, on the coast of South America below them. yrance has also islands in the Pacific. East of Australia it owns New Caledonia, which it uses largely .as a prison settlement. It has the Wallis Archipelago north-east , of tlte Fijis, the Huon Islands north-west of New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands farther eastward, Futuna arid Alan, south of ,the Wailis Jsiands,. and the New Hebrides. It also has a large number of islands in the South Seas,' and especially the Society Islands, thfc most important of which is Tahiti, with an area of 600 square miles and population of 10,000 souls. The French have also small colonies in East India and some very large ones in farther India, such as Tonkin, Annam, Cochin China aad Cawbodia.

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