232 THE COLONIAL EXPAXSIOy OF FRANCE 



liglit U})on past colonial errors. Artists are turning to new fields 

 with enlarging results, and men of letters are begiiniing to i)aint the 

 life of the new possessions. 



At the same time an important change has been taking place in the 

 French mind in reference to colonial life. With the telegraph and 

 the newspaper, the Frenchman has no longer the aversion to coloni- 

 zation which he had in former daj'S. Soldiers ask to remain in the 

 colonies when their service is at an end. Man}- are happy in their 

 new home beyond the sea. The Comiil Dupleix, in Paris, works to 

 increase their numl^er. The government, with all its changes and in- 

 consistencies, has had a definite })rogram to consolidate the different 

 ])arts of French North African possessions into one vast empire. 

 Everywhere are springing up schemes for new railroads and for 

 the use of watercourses. The railroads of Algeria and Tunis are. ex- 

 tending. That between the Senegal and the Niger River is advancing. 

 Among the schemes most strenuously advocated is the Trans-Saharan 

 Railroad, which would take passengers from London and Paris to 

 Lake Tchad in less than six days, ^^'ith the recent conquest of In- 

 sala, this road is a colonial necessity. The gradual advance of 

 France southward has changed all the conceptions ijreviousl}' enter- 

 tained concerning Africa. 80, too, there has been aroused an ambi- 

 tion for a Greater France, extending from Calais to the Kongo Free 

 State — a France scarcely intercepted b}* the Mediterranean Sea, with 

 Algiers not more distant in time from Paris than Omaha is from New 

 York, and with Lake Tchad within as easy access as is the Pacific Coast 

 from the same citv. This view is not widel}' entertained, but it is 

 rapidl)'^ gaining ground and the people are fast becoming colonialistic. 



Let us now consider the positive, permanent results of French col- 

 onization. It is impossible to pass b}' the French colonj' of Canada. 

 After 137 years of British rule, it is still French and unassimilated 

 by its conquerors. In fact, the reverse in some places is true. There 

 are names of Anglo-Saxon origin, such as Donaldson and MacGregor, 

 borne by men who do not speak English. The French constitute an 

 important factor in the destinies of Canada. Their bi-lingual educa- 

 tion gives them a great advantage. There are those among them who 

 hold high places in literature, some are eminent in the judiciar}' 

 world, some are professors in the universities, and the prime minister 

 is a French-Canadian. The j)oi)ulation of Mauritius, not unlike that 

 of Canada in character and condition, is still verv strong in its French 

 sympathies. It may be said that if the French of Mauritius remain 



