Labour 93 



the way in that respect. If the black boy was educated 

 from an early age, great use could be made of him. It 

 was absolutely necessary to remember that the country 

 would never be developed unless the black men who lived 

 in it were educated. White men were not necessary there. 

 The black man could get on without the white man, as he 

 always had done, but the black man was necessary to the 

 white man. It was impossible for progress to be made in 

 the Tropics without the aid of the black man. If the 

 black man disappeared, as he had in some parts, the whole 

 place would become a desert. Having educated him, the 

 next subject that must be dealt with was transportation, 

 and that was being dealt with by the Belgian Government 

 through the building of railways and the making of rivers 

 navigable. Boats must be put on the rivers, and produce 

 carried for the smallest traders at equal rates obtained by 

 the largest, so that all were placed on one level of equality 

 in competition. That policy, in his opinion, would do 

 more for the black man than sentiment. f~Me must be 

 educated, trained, and disciplined ; but, above all, it was 

 necessary to be firm with him and let him understand that 

 the land that he might call his own or not had to be 

 developed and exploited and made to produce the fruits 

 of the soil^' On those lines, which the Belgian Govern- 

 ment were following with great ability, the Tropics would 

 yield their full and abundant harvest for the benefit of the 

 white man in the temperate countries.! 



