This is a small excerpt from an article in Harpers from 1895 that has to do with a period of history I’ve been trying to study up on lately, the insurgent Arabs in Algeria who were living under French imperial rule:
“Can you trust these Turcos and Spahis in case of war?” I asked him. To this he replied by telling a story. That he had once been in the position here he was able to save a great Arab chief from disgrace and beggary. That chief had been friendly with him for many years, and was so overwhelmed by gratitude that he brought the general costly present. “I never accept presents from natives,” said the general, in parenthesis. “Whoever accepts a present from an Arab loses his authority at once.” The chief was very much chagrined at the general’s determination, and sought in vain to alter it. Finally, in a fit of uncontrollable emotion, and with a choking voice, he raised his hand solemnly and said:
“General, you have saved me from dishonor. I owe you all I have. Let me make you a gift more valuable to you than any precious stone. It is one word of advice: Never trust an Arab – not one-not even ME!” With which strange, not to say paradoxical, warning the chief disappeared. That happened several years ago,”said the general, “but each day I realize more fully the value of that strange gift. The Arab has his nature, which is not YOUR’s or mine. He may live twenty years with you; respect and admire you; serve you faithfully; even spill his blood for you–but all that counts for nothing. The next year he may cut your throat.” I asked him if he was not satisfied with the progress made towards converting the Arabs to French ways. “I have never heard of a real Arab converted to Christianity or French civilization. In fact, the Arab remains Arab in spite of all the missionaries in Africa. It makes me smile when I hear of societies organized to convert Jews and Arabs.” “But then,” I said, “what is to become of this great Franco-African colony if the Arabs are to remain hopelessly hostile?”
“The locomotive and the telegraph are our best allies here. Look at that map; you see our rail way policy—our military policy. We must cut the desert at right angles with the coast; cut off one tribe of Arabs from the other; make their combinations difficult; make ours easy. “The Arab does not love us – but he is no fool. When he sees a train of cars running daily through his territory he knows that French troops can be massed at any point on that line much more quickly than his own. Where we have railways we have no insurrection.” I remarked that rail ways in the desert could hardly be a profitable investment.
“Investment!” said he, with emphasis. “Who cares for the cost when it is a question of national prestige!’ And this is the last word on the subject of colonial expansion. France has an annual deficit on account of her colony here of many millions of francs; she has costly railways climbing through barren mountain passes and terminating in fields of sand; there is no immediate prospect of improvement…