AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN THE TROPICS 49 



cane sugar, spices, etc., which are among the necessaries of 

 modern civilised life. The need for these has led to the settle- 

 ment of Europeans at trading stations in the tropics, at Calcutta, 

 Malacca, Calabar and many other places. Once settled there, 

 the insecurity of the traders and the inefficiency of the natives 

 have led to the conquest of adjacent territories, until now most 

 of the valuable areas of the tropics are in European or in 

 American hands. In these hands they are likely to remain, 

 for the reason that the people of the tropics seem unable to 

 form any kind of stable and progressive government, and must 

 consequently, for their own good and that of the world at large, 

 be subject to the strong northern powers. 



These work on the principle of governing the country for 

 the benefit of the governed ; but they must also so arrange 

 matters that the tropical countries shall take their share in the 

 progress of the world at large and produce and export certain 

 commodities for the benefit of that world which cannot get 

 along properly without them. If the countries of the tropics 

 can be made to progress so far that they shall themselves, 

 with their own population, produce these things, so much the 

 better ; but the things must be produced. 



This, then, is the position : it is open to argument that the 

 natives of the tropics have come to the end of their possible 

 progress and that the only way to get the export products is 

 for white people to settle and grow them in the tropics. On 

 the other hand, certain countries in the tropics do export 

 produce grown by their own people; and in others the wealthier 

 natives have followed the example of the white planters settled 

 in their midst and are themselves growing produce for export. 

 These facts may be taken as evidence that under certain con- 

 ditions the natives of the tropics can progress along modern 

 lines and therefore that such progress must be stimulated and 

 encouraged. It is evident, however, that this progress is very 

 slow and therefore, for the present at any rate, the white and 

 Chinese planters must be encouraged or the supply of the 

 necessary useful products from the tropics will sink almost 

 to nothing. 



To understand fully the ideals aimed at, the history of 

 agriculture must be briefly followed. As is the case with so 

 many other departments of knowledge, the tropics show the 

 early stages far more fully and clearly than do the countries 



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