The sun., 1903-05-17
PAIL DOT WERS WORK.
brilliant Record Made b! Him AS Governor
General In French IndO-lhina.

| Years ago a Young man named Paul
! Do,mer was tyresetter in a Paris printing
| office He was intelligent. s'udious and
| soon showed that hp also had executive
| ability aid great ambition. tn a short
| time he became the foreman of the office.
He made acquaintaEces among some
Of the Government employees. who soon
discovered @hat he had business quail
fcations of a high order, and in the course
Of ime he entered the Government consular
service. in which he rapidly advanced. In
1897 this former compositor was appointed
Governor General OF French Cochin China.
a colony which has 25,OO0OOO inhahitants
ard surface three times as large ss that
of France.
Here was his great opportunitv and most
wonderfully did he improve it. To-day
he is known to all France. When he pays
fying vista 10 the mother country he is
ieted and dined by chambers OF commerce
and honored wherever he goes What is
said Of him here includes only his first five
Years as Governor General 70 the end Of
1901, and is based largely upon the French
repor of the situation in lrdo-Chna at he
end Of 1901,
When Douner became Governor General
IN lNJT, ne IOtIlu 'ilt am
conditions of the colony in very bad
way His first task was to study the causes
Of this lack Of prosperity and to devise
ways ard mears for improving the situa-
ton.
The greatest service he rendered to Indo-
China was to combre in ore office the
government Of the whole country in all
matters which related to the common
interest Before he took charge of affairs,
Tonkin, Annam, Cochin-Chira ard Cam
bodia we're little governments, each dis
tnct from the other. mismanaging their
own finances and usually failing to carry
out their own enterprises.
Doumer proceeded to merge these gov
ernments into one so far az they embraced
interests that were common to all of them.
French Indo-China. The taxes devoted
to the public works flow into one treasury.
The railroads, canals. harbors, land sur
veys and many other features Of colonial
interest are controlled by the General Gov
ernor.
This change in the administration has
resulted in great economies and a wonder ,
f,ll development Of public improvements. !
Frances contri button to the support Of
the colony has been reduced by millions OF
have been wiped out, sinking fund Of
40 900 900 francs has been created and the !
colony is paying l4,00o,O0o francs a year |
toward the support OF the military esta b.
lishnent. which before 1897 was wholly
burden upon the taxpayers Of France.
This is wonderful improvement over
the conditions existing in 1897. when there
were four little governments. each loaded
with debt, and Tonkn on the verge of bank
ruptcy
to carry out important public works. But
since Doumer took Office, the imposing
bridge over the Red River at Hanoi and
other fine bridges at Hue and Saigon have
.ls hnr IL. tv,Ns,
hundreds Of miles of good roads constructed
and the building Of lighthouses along the
coast is now in progress
Previous to 1897. there was only ons
small railroad. At the end OF 1901 lndo-
China had l .ass miles Of railroad in opera-
tion and 800 miles of track were to be
built as rapidly as possible. at a cost of
about 200, 900 600 francs. The telegraph
lines had heightened from S,i00 miles to
4 ,l6O miles.
These improvements and many others
have had a remarkable effect upon the de-
velopment OF trade In five years the
exports and imports increased l4s per cent.
In 1901 the value of the imports was 2s2.-
t77,6 $40 francs, and OF the exports 100 oeos,a77
francs.
1t is Frances tariff policy to favor every
thing that is French and close the doors as |
tightly as possible against the manufact-
ures Of other countries. But there are not a
few commodities which France does not
produce, kerosene, for example, and the
result is that other countries sell nearly as
much to Indo China a. France does, though
the mother country is the destination of
most Of the exports. Cd,
In a speech which Mr. Doumer made at
banquet given in his honor at Rouen. he
said that he was e1pending all he possibly
could in public works. He had thus far
900 600 francs in the irrigation !
Of the soil and 2,0O0. 900 francs in cutting |
canals and making rivera nayigable.
The confidence which the French people
In his management was strikingly
illustrated when he asked that the Gov
ernment OF Indo-China he empowered to
create a loan Of $40 900 900 to be used ex-
In the construction OF railroads.
The loan was authorized, the subscription
list was closed the same day II was opened.
and the amount Of the issue was bid for
several times over.
Another phase OF Doumer's work Ia the
Of scientific departniepts
Forty-hve meteorological stations have
been established, topographic survey
organized, and the map Of Indo. China
splendidly executed on large scale 10 now
being issued.
1t was, through the efforts Of Doumer