African Exploitation

Both England and France are bending every effort to explore their African lands, develop better means of communication and begin the exploitation of the Dark Continent's natural resources on an expanded scale. The swift development of Africa's virgin resources promises the shortest cut to restoring natural wealth and prosperity, and reducing the huge War debts. The key to the process lies in communication and transportation. The British apparently expect to open up the continent from north to south by the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad and its feeder lines, while the French have established lines of communication by tractor across the Sahara from Morocco to Timbuctoo in the heart of the continent. No one knows what a thorough exploitation of the continent may mean to the world's trade. Since the War, the development of African Copper properties, such as Tanganyika Copper, has already made its influence felt in the world's markets. In time, it is probable that coal and oil resources will be discovered too. The Germans still hold one trump card in African colonization--Bayer 205. This drug, discovered by the same laborious research that produced Salvarsan, is apparently a certain cure for the terrible "sleeping sickness," and as such may make huge areas in Africa habitable. The Germans keep the secret of this drug very well, and intend to use it solely in the promotion of their own colonial enterprises. Meanwhile the French and British chemists are making great efforts to obtain the same drug through intensive research. It may be that the key to the future development of the whole continent of Africa is at present bottled up on the shelves of German chemical laboratories.