Evening star., 1928-04-29

vious mutuaiity OF advantage in the
DEVELOPMENT of this trade to its maxi
mum possibility Is so eyident and Is Sc
firmly fixed as the purpose of the Ead-
erS of each Of the respective govern
ments and commercial communities
that the misunderstanding involved are
certain to be adjusted and the substan-
tial progress already made TO be car
ried to new high levels.
Frances Colonial Empire.
Frances colonial empire comprises
4 500 900 square miles exclusive Of man.
dated SYRIA, which is more than half
again as large as our 48 States. True
the French possessions lie almost en-
tireiy In the tropics. and much of this
vast mileage Is nothing but sandy wastes
and as yet impenetrable jungleS But
In these DAYS of miracles Of tropical
medicine. dry farming, irrigation and
immeasurably improved metallurgy and
mining practices. one %o'lsd be short
sighted indeed to put down these still
unexploited areas as unproductive SIM
ply because their potentialities are as
yet unknown.
That vast western lobe of Africa pro-
truding into the Atlantic. plus broad
wedge far INTO the heart OF he lJark
Continent, is almost entirely under he
trieolor, and though the bulk 0f IL Is
bare and still nearly nameless on the
map. the astonishing mineral develop
ments that have been made in post
war years around its northern End
southern fringes are of such evident
potentiality that better Judgment urges
restraining the temptation To dismiss
the economic significance of the region
as "problematical."
6O.OO0.oOO Population.
The census figures OF 1896, as inter-
preted by Vice Consul Cameron al
Paris, show q total population of nearly
| 60. 900, 900 IN the French colonial EN-.
pire. These figures are Of ~ol,rSe. only
very roughly approximate because of The
obvious difflculties OF enumeration In
| widely scattered native settlements and
| IN the Mohammedan colonies, where nu-
! merous peculiar problems were encoun.
! tered by the census tabulators, BY far
the largest unit Is indo-chint. with q
population OF about 2l.O00.000 West
Africa is given about 1880 900, AlgierS
about 6o00, 900. Morocco something over
1000 900. Madagascar aoout $500 600
with Equatorial Africa nearly the same.
| and Syria, Tunisia and Kanerun each
about 2.000,00
The last remaining its Il ,he once
vast French empire III America name.
, ~. French Guiana. now chiefly con-
spicuous as a penal colony Guadalupe
| Martinique famous as the birthplace oi
the Empress ,losephnel, and the iWu
tiny rocky lslets OF st. Pierre and
Mlquelon, lying OF the coast of Ncva
Scotiar-~haye total population ot only
| about half a million
Importance Of OntpOsts.
The first question is, of course, how
| important are these widespread out
posts III the picture OF the trade of The
mother country Has crane Neen able
| to maintain that very substantial pre-
| dominance which Is characteristic oi
the trade OF Britain with most Of her
colonies and dependencies This has
not been the case In the farther colo.
MES, those In Asia, Central and West
| Africa, Madagascar and America, where
| the French share Is approximately 81
per cent IN the total import trade,
In North Africa, MoFooea, Itnis and
| Algeria. however. her share Ii much
| larger, approximating ~ per cent NJ the
total impnrtationg, which Indicates the
intensity with which the French have
been rultIyating their opportunities IN
those nearby areas 1t Is quite evident
furthermore, that the seallng II growing
that opportunities there are, Still unde-
yelapea tor French Export and more
intenaive drive Is under way.
Viewed from another angle, namely,
The Importance OF the enlanial trade IN
Continued on Fourth Pasel