Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/405

INDUSTRIES— TRADE. 827 ut u fair vuluution. Nor can this method of coloiiisation fail to be affected by the taint of official favouritism. In such cases personal recommendations are all- powerful, for the concessions can never be claimed as a right, and always retain the character of a favour. The concessions generally range from fifty to seventy- five acres, far too much to be projx^rly tilled by one settler ; hence the land is, to a large extent, cultivated by the aid of native hands. The same evil prevails amongst the Arab proprietors, who employ as day labourers the wretched khummes, or " tenants at fifth hand." The direct purchase of State lands is of rare occurrence ; but a general move- ment of exchanges is going on, tending to enlarge the estates of the settlers at the expense of the natives, whose ignorance often places them at the mercy of unscrupulous speculators. Men skilled in legal quibbles take advantage of their superior knowledge to get unfair possession of the territory of whole tribes. To prevent these and other abuses, aiising out of the uncertainty of titles, it would be desirable to accurately survey the Arab lands, determine the limits of each holding, and secure its full possession to the occupant. Such a survey was begun in 1873 ; but at the end of 1884 only 1,750,000 acres, or about a twentieth part of the Tell, had been dealt with — a rate of progress which would require two centuries to com- plete the work. The delay appears to be caused by the influence of a large section of Algerian society, which has a direct interest in leaving questions of proprietor- ship and titles in a general state of muddle. Industries — Trade. European industry is limited in Algiers to the supply of a few local wants, while that of the natives has been paralysed by the introduction of foreign wares. There is an almost total absence of mineral coal, and the reserves of wood and other fuel require to be managed with the greatest economy, while the apparatus introduced to utilise solar heat have hitherto yielded no results of any consequence. Hence it is not likely that Algeria can ever become a great manufacturing country. Its hides, wool, and other animal products supply the workshops of Marseilles ; alfa finds its way to England to be converted into paper ; cork is utilised in the French wine trade ; the Beni-Safi and Ain-Mokhra mineral ores are exported to the foundries of Europe and the New World ; the salines on the coast cannot competo with those of France, while the vast salt deposits in the shotts of the plateaux are used only by the surrounding tribes. The mineral and thermal springs, which are scattered abundantly over the whole region, offer efficacious remedies for the most diverse maladies, but hitherto a few only have been frequented by Eurojieim invalids. The annual movement of trade between Algeria and other countries, France included, already exceeds £20,000,000. Since the year of the conquest, the mean price of its produce has increased threefold, and its exchanges nearly a hundred- fold. But the imports have always exceeded the exports, and this relation must continue as long as Algeria is occupied by a large army supplied from the mother