1 MARCH 1924, Page 10

On the economic side France is leaving no stone un-

turned to develop the resources of her African Empire and to make France and the French colonies independent of the outside world. Plans for the construction of the trans-Sahara railway to connect the North African colonies with French West Africa are being pushed for- ward ; an attempt is being made to develop cotton- growing in the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo ; and efforts are being made to acclimatize Merino sheep both in the Niger Valley and in Morocco. M. Loucheur anticipates that ten years hence France will be independent of foreign imports of wool.