Page:American Historical Review vol. 6.djvu/503

Frencli Government in tJic ]]'cst Indies 493 abolishment of the " regime of decrees," but he also carried a resolution favoring a like policy for all colonial dependencies of France.' To the influence of the colonial deputies more than to any other cause may be attributed the persistence of the assimila- tion policy in French colonization. By the very act of vindicating their privileges of representation they favor the extension of these principles to the newer colonies ; and as they are not only specially interested, but are also considered specially competent in colonial affairs, their influence has been preponderant. They were not able, however, to prevent the ultimate establishment of a separate ministry of colonies, which they had long resisted. Since 1882 there had been attempts to organize the colonial service apart from the Min- istry of Marine. It was attached alternately to the latter and to the Ministry of Commerce. Under the policy of assimilation car- ried to its logical conclusion a separate ministry of colonies is un- necessary, as each of the ministries in France manages its respective share of affairs in the colonies ; such is the arrangement with respect to Algiers, and this was what the colonial deputies had hoped to attain in their own case. The importance of the newer colonies and the growth of interest in colonial expansion led, however, to the establishment of a separate ministry by the law of March 20, 1894. As this ministry is naturally more interested in the newly acquired vast domains of France in Africa and in Asia than in the older colonies, the influence of the colonial representatives has been diminished in consequence of its creation. No direct beneficial influence of the system of parliamentary representation on the colonies themselves can be traced, except in the matter of obtaining occasional favors of a fiscal nature, such as subventions and exemptions.^ No thorough-going reforms in co- lonial affairs have been suggested or carried out by the colonial rep- resentatives. This is partly due, of course, to the fact that parliament does not as a general rule interfere with colonial affairs, but leaves their management to the executive. The representatives are accord- ingly inclined to view the affairs of their constituencies from a nar- row partisan point of view. We have already alluded to the manner in which the senators and deputies of Martinique made of the strike a mere question for the control of patronage. A deputy of Guade- ' Proces-Verbaux du Congr^s colonial National. Cited in Alcindor, Lcs Antilles Fran^aises^ Paris, 1899, p. 104. ** La nation est obligee en conscience de faire participer ses nouveaux sujets, dans la mesure du possible, aux avantages que lui assure i elle meme la superiorite de sa culture et de son etat social." Proems- Verbaux du Congr^s Interna- tional de 18S9. Cited in De Saussure, Psychologie de la Colonisation Fran(aise, p. 256. 2 Thus, e. g. , Senator Cicero of Guadeloupe obtained a reduction of the charges im- posed upon his colony in 1900. Les Colonies, April II, I900. VOL. VI.— 33.