CHAPTER XXVI

THE COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE FRENCH POSSESSIONS

The logic of facts is gradually bringing home to Englishmen that the French have within recent years revolutionised the commercial position of their West African possessions; of those possessions, that is, which are at present commercially exploitable. But a singular amount of ignorance continues to prevail on the subject, and in non-specialist circles the French possessions are still in a sorry condition both commercially and financially. So far is that deep-rooted idea from the truth, that not only are the French doing exceedingly well commercially in West Africa; but they are doing comparatively better than we are. Moreover, their possessions are actually costing less to manage, and economy in administration is not secured at the expense of requisite public works; quite the contrary. The days when Englishmen could represent the ideals of French Colonial management in West Africa in the light of a custom-house official and a soldier; an expenditure overlapping revenue; constant grants from the mother country; an embryonic trade and a growing budgetary deficit, have passed and gone. In some respects the French are turning the tables upon us. Even so distinguished an authority as Sir Harry Johnston falls into the popular error when he says that “with the exception of Tunis, there is not a single French possession in Africa which is self-supporting or other than a drain upon the French exchequer.” It is a complete fallacy, and it can be proved so up to the hilt. Here and there, it is true, the old, bad, paralytic red-tape conception remains, but on the whole the French possessions north of the Bights are progressing with an astonishing rapidity; able to construct important public works out of their own surplus revenues, and to enter into railway contracts on guaranteed loans of their own raising. Miss Kingsley, in her “West African Studies,” suggested that, granting the possibility of France becoming “commercially intelligent,” she might “pocket the West African trade down to Lagos from Senegal,” and there can be no doubt that if British policy in West Africa continues to be carried out on the present lines, and if French policy in West Africa can escape the contamination of the concessionnaire _régime_ applied with such deplorable results in French Congo, France can and will do an enormous amount of commercial damage to our possessions in West Africa, and on a fair field, in legitimate competition. Senegal, French Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Dahomey are all self-supporting, and the growth of trade in these possessions is in all conscience eloquent enough, as the following figures show:

SENEGAL GUINEA IVORY COAST DAHOMEY

1889 £1,520,000 £320,000 £160,000 £360,000 1899 2,920,000 1,000,000 520,000 1,000,000 1900 3,189,400 973,000[206] 686,300 1,101,084

None of our Colonies can show such a rate of progress as their young (Senegal excepted) Gallic competitors. The increase is really phenomenal. In the French Colonies mentioned the expenditure is well within the revenue. In French Guinea conspicuously so. Would that we could say the same of our possessions! In all these Colonies the French are spending less than we are in the work of administration. In some of them they are nevertheless spending more in public works, and before long their expenditure in that respect will in the aggregate far exceed ours. It will suffice to give one or two instances in support of these general statements.

The position of Dahomey is particularly interesting, because it adjoins Lagos, because Lagos is one of the transit ports for Dahomey, because both Colonies are building a railway in the same direction, and because both Colonies aim at capturing the bulk of the interior trade. Compared with Lagos, Dahomey is, of course, only an infant in years, but an infant of sturdy growth. Its trade has jumped from nineteen million francs in 1893 to twenty-seven million francs in 1900. The growth in its export trade is very noticeable. In 1893 it amounted to £347,258 (8,681,463 francs), and in 1900 had grown to £502,350. In 1893 the export trade of Lagos was £836,295; in 1900 it was £885,111. True, Lagos saw better days in 1896 and 1899 (£975,203 and £915,934 respectively),[207] but the ratio of increase has not been equal to that of Dahomey. In 1894, on an export trade of £821,682, the expenditure of Lagos amounted to £124,819; in 1900, on an export trade of £885,111 the expenditure was £187,124, including £37,214 for public works and £18,169 on account of public debt. In 1900, on an export trade of £502,350 Dahomey spent £119,664, of which £29,000 in public works, and in 1901 contributed £60,000 from its own local revenue for the railway.[208] In 1900 Dahomey spent £8000[209] in military and police; Lagos spent £39,095.[210] For some unexplained reason Dahomey does not export timber, but her exports of palm-oil and palm-kernels are increasing yearly. Dahomey is now actually exporting very nearly as much palm-oil as Lagos.[211] In palm-kernels Dahomey has not yet reached the level of Lagos, but is forging ahead, having exported 24,211,614 kilos, or roughly 24,000 tons, in 1901, against 21,986,043 kilos in 1900, and 21,850,982 kilos in 1899. Lagos shipped in 1900-1901 over 47,000 tons of kernels. Some years ago the French, annoyed at being dependent upon Lagos as the only port of transit for the trade of their Colony (Lagos is connected with Porto Novo, the capital of Dahomey, by a lagoon, and the facilities of the Lagos route were, and still are, for certain classes of goods very much greater owing to the bar service), constructed at Kotonu one of the few wharves which exist on the West African coast-line. This wharf, aided by the duty imposed on the Dahomey transit trade _viâ_ Lagos by the Lagos authorities, has succeeded in its object, and the bulk of Dahomey’s trade now passes through Kotonu instead of _viâ_ Lagos. In this way has Lagos, for temporary revenue purposes, played into the hands of her competitors. The Colony is also building a railway[212] which is likely to prove a most important undertaking. The fiscal policy adopted by France in Dahomey since the 1898 agreement, abolishing the differential tariff for thirty years, has been well calculated to bring about the conspicuous advancement observable, and unless the railway concessionnaire, under his agreement with the local government,[213] is allowed to interfere in the territories ceded to him with the freedom of trade, and with native rights of land tenure, the wisdom of Dahomey’s fiscal policy will continue to bear fruit. Most people will be astonished to learn that Dahomey taxes her trade, in the main, at a lower rate than Lagos, and it is unquestionable that the circumstance acts in the former’s favour and to the latter’s detriment. There is so much misconception about on subjects of this kind, which nevertheless have so direct a bearing upon the prosperity and commercial position of our West African possessions and of their rivals, that it has been thought advisable to give in the Appendix as complete a comparative table as possible of the duties in both Colonies.[214] To that list the reader may be referred. On all articles but cottons Dahomey charges lower duty than Lagos. If Dahomey can manage her affairs, and get a surplus revenue to boot by charging 2_d._ a pound on tobacco and gunpowder, and 11_s._ 4_d._ and 4_s._ 10_d._ respectively on rock salt and sea salt, why in the world cannot Lagos do the same, instead of charging 8_d._ and 4_d._ a pound on tobacco, 6_d._ a pound on gunpowder, and 20_s._ on both classes of salt? The answer is, because the Crown Colony system is infinitely more costly than the French system of administration.

France’s oldest Colony in West Africa, Senegal, despite the periodic ravages of yellow fever, against which it is to be hoped science will now be in a better position to struggle with success, is in a very healthy condition commercially and financially, although rather too dependent upon a single industry, viz. ground-nut production.[215] Its export trade has increased from £517,934 in 1891 to £1,000,000 in 1900; but its expenditure, instead of increasing in similar or greater proportion, as is generally the case with British Possessions; has remained practically stationary, at about £150,000; while surplus revenues have enabled her to agree to pay a yearly subsidy of £36,000 for a period of twenty-two years to the Western Sudan (Kayes-Niger) railway, from the completion of which she is sure to largely benefit. In the construction of public works Senegal is easily ahead of any European possession of West Africa. A railway 250 kilometres long connects St. Louis, the capital, with Dakar, the principal seaport, and the best on the coast. St. Louis, Dakar and Rufisque have all been provided with fresh water. The Faidherbe bridge is a great engineering triumph, and the wharves at Rufisque and Dakar are well organised. Surveys for another railway through the Salum district, with prolongation to Kayes, are being undertaken, and there is a project on foot for improving navigation on the Senegal River. Senegal seems destined to have a brilliant future.

The Ivory Coast has come very much to the fore of late as a possible goldfield, to rival if not to surpass the Gold Coast. _Le Transvaal français_ is the title already given to it by enthusiasts. Prospecting work is being undertaken, and hundreds of permits have been granted. A good deal of secrecy is being observed in connection with the matter, and a wise check appears to have been kept upon the flotation of bogus companies. There seems to be good ground for believing that auriferous deposits exist in considerable quantities, and recent explorations have revealed the existence of many old native workings, and even of a mine actually being exploited by the natives, that of Kokombo in the Baoule district. Experts think that the Ivory Coast will prove particularly rich in dredging propositions. The Baoule, Indenie, Attie and Jaman countries are reported to be the four districts in the Colony which will repay the gold-seekers. Commandant Binger, who has travelled all over the country, is a great believer in its gold-bearing capacity, and in Dr. Freeman’s opinion, South-West Jaman is the gold country _par excellence_ of the entire region; richer than Ashanti and other portions of the British Protectorate.[216] At the Paris Exhibition of 1900 many samples of auriferous quartz from the Ivory Coast were exhibited, from Kuadikofi, Nangu-Kru, Alepe and Adokoi, and also some specimens of native gold workmanship from Baoule and Jaman which point to a high degree of artistic talent on the part of the workmen. Gold dust has been exported from the Ivory Coast for many years, of an average annual value between 1890 and 1897 of £25,000. At present the trade of the Ivory Coast, which is steadily increasing, is chiefly remarkable for its timber export. The ports of Grand Bassam, Lahou and Assinie are among the most important timber-shipping centres on the coast. In 1892 the Ivory Coast exported mahogany to the value of £23,000; in 1900, to the value of £44,000. Nearly all the mahogany comes to Liverpool, which imported in 1899 from the Ivory Coast 4714 logs measuring 2,727,349 cubic feet, and in 1900, 5748 logs measuring 3,697,416 cubic feet. In the old days the Ivory Coast, the “Elfenbein Küste” of the Germans, was celebrated for the article its name implies.

Writing in 1730, Barbot says that “the inland country affords yearly a vast quantity of fine large elephants’ teeth, being the best ivory in the world, most of which is constantly bought up along this coast by the English, Dutch, and French, and sometimes by the Danes and Portuguese.” In quaint language, he goes on to tell us how important the ivory trade of the Ivory Coast was in those days, and how the natives profited thereby. “This great concourse of European ships,” he writes, “coming hither every year, and sometimes three or four lying together at anchor in the road, has encouraged the blacks to set so dear a rate on their teeth (_sic_), and particularly on the larger sort, some of them weighing two hundred pounds French, that there is not much to be got by them, considering the vast charges that commonly attend such a remote trade.” Barbot describes his own trading operations on the Ivory Coast, and speaks of having “six large canoes about the ship full of fine elephants’ teeth, each canoe manned by five or six hands at least—and all lusty, resolute men.” Quoting some Hollanders, the same author writes that “it is scarce to be conceived what a multitude of elephants there is about this country.” It is quite clear that in those days ivory was practically the only product exchanged by the natives against the iron bars and rings, beads, kettles, cotton, brandy, and other articles brought by European traders in their sailing vessels. Now the ivory trade has practically disappeared, owing, no doubt, to the extermination of the elephants in the coastal regions. What small quantity does come down for shipment appears to be brought by caravans from the Western Sudan. This disappearance of a trade which was flourishing enough at one time to become the synonym of an extensive portion of the West African coast-line, is one of those curious facts of which West Africa affords us so many examples. It seems to me that we have one of the most striking proofs of the highly developed commercial instinct of the West African native, in the circumstance that no sooner has one branch of trade fallen off than he replaces it by another. No doubt the initiative is not his own, but the motive power is, and the very adaptability which he displays in meeting the new demands of commerce affords the clearest indication of the progressiveness of his race. Thus in the Ivory Coast; the ivory trade has gone, and has been replaced by the oil, kernel, and rubber trade; and, of quite recent years, by the mahogany trade.

So far, the Ivory Coast is the most backward of the French West African possessions in the shape of public works, although there is a wharf at Grand Bassam; but a very big scheme is in contemplation including the construction of a harbour and railway, the piercing of the sandbank at little Bassam opposite to the well-known “bottomless pit” so dreaded by mariners, and the dredging of the Bingerville lagoon. The future of the Ivory Coast would appear to be in good hands, so far as a very efficient staff of administrators is a guarantee; M. Clozel and M. Maurice Delafosse in particular having distinguished themselves of late in studying the aboriginal tribes, and in laying the basis of an intelligent native policy which, if pursued, will make of that possession a second French Guinea. Just now, however, the military element appears to have the upper hand, and there has been a regrettable collision between the French authorities and the powerful Baoules, which has undone the work of years of pacific endeavour, and which might, in the opinion of those Frenchmen who know the country best, have been avoided. Archæological discoveries of profound interest have been made in the Baoule country, pointing to former intercourse with a more advanced people, whom M. Delafosse thinks must have been the Egyptians.[217]

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE LOCALITY AND NATURE OF HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT SCHEME IN THE IVORY COAST]

French Guinea can serve as a model of what a common-sense, commercial, sympathetic administration is able to achieve in West Africa; and the late Dr. Ballay, its founder and for more than a decade its governor, will rank as the best type of Colonial Administrator, a worthy emulator of his countryman, le Sieur de Brüe, and of our own Sir John Glover. The strides which French Guinea has made since its birth in 1889 are really phenomenal. In 1890, Konakry, the capital, was non-existent. To-day it numbers 10,000 inhabitants, of whom some 300 are Europeans. The trade of French Guinea, which in 1890 only amounted to £300,000, reached in 1899 and 1900 about £1,000,000. It is one of the most cheaply and yet most effectively administered possessions on the coast. Its revenue is buoyant, owing largely to the successful collection of a poll-tax, and although a railway to Kurussa, on the Niger, is in course of construction, the expenditure is well beneath the revenue. A magnificent carriage-road 137 kilometres in length has been built from Konakry to the foot of the Futa-Jallon plateau. Its import duties are, with the exception of one or two articles, lower than in that of its moribund neighbour, Sierra Leone. On the other hand, there is an export duty of 7 per cent. on rubber and gum copal. Its condition as compared with that of Sierra Leone can best be set forth in tabular form:

FRENCH GUINEA IN 1900 SIERRA LEONE IN 1900

Total trade £962,209 Total trade £921,017 Export trade 391,191 Export trade 362,741 Expenditure 116,699 Expenditure 156,421

EXPENDITURE ANALYSED EXPENDITURE ANALYSED

Public works and railway £57,478 Public works and railway £36,084 Other expenditure 59,221 Other expenditure 120,337

It remains to be said that last year (1901) the export trade[218] of Sierra Leone fell from £362,741 in 1900 to £304,010, reckoning specie, and from £317,980 to £265,433, excluding specie, the latter figure being the lowest for twenty-one years. At the same time the expenditure increased from £156,421 to £173,457, only £91,976 less than the purchasing power of the Colony.