One hundred years ago
All French accounts agree in stating that the Republican Government intends to pursue a policy of aggression in Madagascar. The claim of France to the territory occupied by the Sakalaves is to be supported by force, and the dominant race, the Hovas, are told that, unless they give way, their own right to in- dependence will be held to have been dependent on an old treaty, and to have expired. This amounts to a pretension to a superiority in the whole island of Madagascar, and, if rightly reported, will be regarded there as equivalent to a declaration of war. As the Hovas are as brave as the Maoris, more numerous, and in possession of a more defensible country, the conflict will be a very serious one, and require twenty thou- sand men for some years. France does not succeed in such conflicts, her soldiers detesting the exile, the heavy sick list, and the work; but it may be commenced, for all that. The French Government has evidently decided, while hampered in Europe, to enlarge its foreign possessions, but it distributes its efforts too widely. It could effect more by confining its expansion to Indo-
China. Spectator, 14 October 1882
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