Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-05
GOLD COAST COLONY
Industries and Products Dis
Cussed by the Governor.
WHAT WHITES HAVE DONE
Millions Spent Annually for In
ternal Improvements.
EXPORTS NEARLY $4,000, 900
Establishment of Industrial Schools.
Sir John Rodger Interested in
American Plans of Santa ton.
EXPORTS NEARLY $1O,OOO,OOo

Sir John Rodger. X. c. NJ. G., governor
| OF the British possessions on the west
coast of Africa. has been spending a few
| days in Washington renewing his ac-
quainance with old friends. and particu-
| larly with Secretary Taft. whom he knew
when he was governor of the Malay
federation and the Secretary was gov
ernor of the Philippines. Sir John had
an interview with the President, visited
Mount Vernon. enjoyed much social dis
| tinction and, what was most important
| from his point of view. made an investi-
cation of the colored schools of the Dis
trict of Columbia. escorted by Assistant
| Supt. Roscoe Conkling Bruce.
If you want to understand the infor-
| nation given in this letter. open your at
las and turn to the map of Africa, where
| you will find the town of Akkra. the
capital of the Gold Coast colony. on the
| Gulf of Guinea. 1t is there that Sir John
! Rodger makes his headquarters. He lives
| in an ancient castle in the basement OF
which are dungeons or barracoons, as
| they are called, in which slaves that had
| been sent down from the interior were
| kept until they were shipped to Amer
| lea The castle was built by the Danes
| in the seventeenth century. 1t was occu-
pied by the Dutch. who controlled that
coast through the eighteenth century
| The English obtained control in the nine
teenth century and in 1896 subdued the
native King Of Ashanti, whose name is
| Prempele, and sent him into exile to the
Island of Seychele, in the Indian ocean
north of Madagascar on the east coast OF
Africa.
There was rebellion in 1901 among the
natives. who fought hard to restore the
authority of their king. but We're con-
quered, and have now settled down anG
are making Industrious progressive. val
liable citizens. Sir John says that the
Ashantis were the only compact, we'll
organized tribe on that coast. They had
million and half of population, al
good fighting men, and enslaved the
neighboring tribes for hundreds of years
They are a fine race. men of. intelli-
gence. courage and other manly quail
| ties, and, like all good fighters. they have
| been successful in other things. They
are taking hold of civilized ideas now
and are making rapid progress. They
| have always been dominant people and
| have compelled others to work for them
but at last they are working for them
selves.
Variety of Races.
'There is variety of races on the
west coast of Africa" continued Sir John
Rodger. "The population are not all ne
groes by any means. A large part of the
continent is held by the F'u1anes. or
Fulahs. Semitic race, who probably
came down from Asia. They are scat
tered through the Sudan and very gen.
orally throughout the interior. and, being
industrious, warlike and intelligent. dom
mate the other less intelligent and less
enterprising tribes. They have a ma
tional literature written in Arabic char
acters, their language is a dialect of the
Arabic. and in religion they are Mo-
hammedans.
1.-THE .lauSaS are another race quite
| different from the negroes. and are of
Coptic descent They also are Moham-
medans, are semi.civilized and are enter
prising traders. In the middle ages they
formed a kingdom in Central Africa
which subsequently broke up into small
states. Their language is simple and
| regular in structure and they have a
literature of considerable interest. They
control large extent of country and are
| the best soldiers in Africa.
rs the slave trade eXtinct?" I asked.
practically so. as far as the coast is
concerned, but there is more or less go
ing on in the interior. which we cannot
control and about which we know very
little. 1t does not touch the civilized SIT
Elements and is secretly conducted by
caravans through the interior.
Partition of Africa.
africa has been very generally al
| lotted among the European nations. The
French, Germans, Portuguese, Italians,
Spanish and Belgians have their share
France has more than any other nation
and has done extremely good work in
colonizing West Africa NJ Roume the
governor general. is a great admins
traitor. He has his headquarters at Da-
kar, In SeneSambia and rules empire
south of the Desert of Sahara and at in
tervals down the coast-a larger terri-
tory perhaps than belongs to any other
government The French colonies in
| West Africa are making remarkable prog
ress. The British have Gambia, Sierra
Leone. the Gold Coast. Lagos South and
| North Nigeria and other colonies. The
Germans have Togoland, Kamerun and
| other colonies still farther south. The
Portuguese have some important places,
while the Belgians have the Kongo
Il am aware that the success of the
Belgian administration in the kongo is
a subject of dispute" said Sir John
| Rodger, 'but l hope that the entire ter
ritory of the Kongo valley may come I'M
der the direct control of Belgium. I am
| sure it will be to the advantage of all
concerned and to the welfare of the ma
tives.
NO 1 will not say that there has never
been a fair and impartial book written
on the kongo question. ! vii. not go so
far as that, but I am p'.1.;t..ve that have
never seen one.
Conditions in Liberia.
Liberia is IL very interesting country.
founded, you know. by emancipated
slaves from the United States. and the
people there are getting on very well.
A very important enterprise in the way
of development of the forests mines and
agricultural resources has been undertake
nv syndicate which Sir Harry
Johnson formerly governor of British
East Africa, is the chairman. He is a
man of great energy and capacity and
has been accustomed to that sort of work
in other parts of the continent. The plans
Of the syndicate are made with due re-
gard to the welfare OF the natives, which
Of course, Is the principal thing. l have
never met President Barcley of Liberia
but have heard him highly spoken of by
those who know him. He is a full blood
ed negro OF intelligence and ability, and
think he is giving satisfactory admin
istration. There is future for Liberia
with the assistance of the deyel0pD,ent