The evolution of France under the third republic . han war itself and the hostil-ity of conquered races. It is because we have notunderstood how to take into account either the forceof the past, or the resistance of social classes, JulesFerry wrote;^ it is because we have believed in theuniversal virtue and almost magic property of our laws,of our institutions, of our administrative processes, thatwe have adopted so many false measures in protectorate is modest enough; it does not buildupon a flat surface. The mother-country, released,thanks to it, of the responsibilities of direct
The evolution of France under the third republic . han war itself and the hostil-ity of conquered races. It is because we have notunderstood how to take into account either the forceof the past, or the resistance of social classes, JulesFerry wrote;^ it is because we have believed in theuniversal virtue and almost magic property of our laws,of our institutions, of our administrative processes, thatwe have adopted so many false measures in protectorate is modest enough; it does not buildupon a flat surface. The mother-country, released,thanks to it, of the responsibilities of direct govern-ment, allows it to go its own way, take its own no revolution is demanded of it, it has no tempta-tion to raise one. It is in the very surroundings, theguardianship which is entrusted to it, that it is obligedto find its means of governing. Assuredly, we mayconclude that if the protectorate only has well-de-fined and coherent views, and the system does not 1 Preface written by Jules Ferry for M. Narcisse Faucons book on CARDINAL LAVIGERIE, ARCHBISHOP OF CARTHAGE AND OF ALGIERS. COLONIAL FRANCE. 191 change as often as those who are charged with apply-ing it, this form of rule is destined to become thefavorite type of our colonial acquisitions. But it ishardly necessary to call attention to the fact that therule of the protectorate ought to differ very widely,according as it is applied to the populations of WestAfrica, who possess so rudimentary a notion of govern-ment and administration, or to the peoples of Indo-China, among whom the respect for traditions, andattachment to ancient institutions, is so profoundlyrooted. An empire as extensive and as varied as ourscannot be governed from Paris by telegraph; the at-tempt to do so was childish. The administration ofthe mother-country has often exhibited an ignoranceAvhich was equalled only by its good-will. Instead ofconsidering French Asia as a whole, it has long held tothe idea of separate protectorate
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