Upper Senegal and Niger, Vol. 1

HAUT-SÉNÉGAL-NIGER

militias and circle guards The 'gardes-cercles' were indigenous paramilitary units responsible for local security within administrative districts known as 'cercles'., to maintain order and security among 5,000,000 indigenous inhabitants scattered over a territory that, from the Falémé [River] to Lake Chad, measures more than 2,800 kilometers and which, from North to South, including the Saharan zone for which we are responsible for policing, rarely measures less than 1,300 kilometers. We collect there, by totaling the three budgets operating in the Colony—the local budget, the supplementary budget of the Military Territory, and the supplementary budget of the railway—nearly 12 million in revenue, not to mention the customs receipts which belong to the general budget.

Beyond maintaining order, a necessary condition for any progress, we ensure the execution of works useful for the economic development of the country, medical assistance to the indigenous people, and the spread of education among the primitive populations In the colonial context of the early 20th century, 'primitive' was a standard term used by administrators to describe non-industrialized societies, reflecting the paternalistic view of 'civilizing' missions. whose tutelage original: "tutelle." This was the legal and moral framework by which France justified its rule, positioning itself as a "guardian" of populations it deemed less advanced. is entrusted to us.

One will admit, if one considers the extent and multiplicity of the task, that we do not overindulge in bureaucracy original: "fonctionnarisme," a pejorative term for an excessive or inefficient civil service.; furthermore, it would be possible to significantly reduce the staff employed at the regional capital if the offices in Dakar Dakar served as the seat of the Governor-General of French West Africa. and Paris, bringing their actions into better alignment with the fine speeches periodically delivered in France regarding decentralization, were willing to make their oversight less narrow and consequently require slightly fewer papers, not all of which are of obvious utility. My experience as a Colonial Governor is not very old, but it allows me to observe that the number of reports, accounting records, and documents of all kinds to be provided to the General Government or the Ministry has tripled in less than ten years. While the rapid development of our young African colonies can, to a certain extent, justify part of this increase, it cannot be invoked for the whole. It is even to be feared that this excess of solicitude may eventually paralyze the progress of our African possessions; it already has the result of delaying by one or more years the resolution of many affairs and the execution of numerous works, without the advantages of this anxious control appearing very clearly in most cases. But this