474 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 



reasserts herself and man returns to his normal avoca- 

 tions. The interesting" feature in the recent life-history 

 of the Sudan is the rapidity of this process of recuper- 

 ation. 



By means of a few remarks on this subject, namely, 

 the speed of the recovery after the oppressive misfortunes 

 of the past, some light may be thrown on the present 

 state of economic affairs and the possible line of future 

 developments. 



All who have personal experience of work in the tropics 

 will readily agree that it is useless to insist upon perfec- 

 tion of administrative method. It is necessary to take 

 things as one finds them and allow a liberal margin for 

 contingencies. Progress in Africa is not to be measured 

 by European standards. Yet even on this lower plane 

 results rarely justify self-complacency. There is generally 

 ample room for wisdom after the event. 



Subject to these reservations, the grounds on which 

 some claim to efficiency of method in the Sudan may be 

 founded are that the country has already become solvent, 

 the financial support from Egypt, on which it has had to 

 depend hitherto in order to balance the budget, having 

 been dispensed with in 1913. The Sudan now pays its 

 own way. The revenue has increased steadily year by 

 year from .127,000 in 1899 to .1,644,000 in 1913. 



External trade, of which there was practically none at 

 the time of the conquest, approaches .4,000,000 per 

 annum in value. 



Law and order have been established throughout prac- 

 tically the whole of the great area of the country, and, 

 finally, the British Government have recently testified to 

 its confidence in the economic possibilities of the Sudan 

 by guaranteeing the interest on a loan of 3,000,000 for 

 cotton growing and other purposes. 



If one glances suddenly from the picture of past misery 

 to that of present prosperity this happy revolution in the 

 fortunes of the country appears almost miraculous. 



The change is, indeed, remarkable, but it must be 

 remembered that the Sudan is a continent rather than a 

 country, and possesses numerous and varied natural 

 resources arising from the diversity of climate and soil 



