Finally, the committee requested that "dans les Cercles
oû sont établis des comerçants, l'impôt soit
strictement perçu en espèces et non en nature" (in
cercles where European merchants operate, taxes must
be collected in cash and not in crops).
Petition à M. le Gouverneur Merlaud-Ponty,
Gouverneur du Soudan
(Bordeaux, November 1906)
This is a petition from the Bordeaux merchants seeking
compensation from the government following the flood of 1906 in
Kayes. It lists the names of commercial houses operating in
Kayes (and presumably, victims of flooding) in 1906: Maurel &
Prom, Devès Chaumont et Cie., J.S. Buhan et A.
Teisseire Chavanel, La Société Commerciale du
Soudan Français, Ch. Peyrissac et Cie., H.
Mauer, La Compagnie Française de l'Afrique
Occidentale, and two other illegible signatures.
Lt. Gouverneur du Haut Sénégal-Niger W.
Ponty, "Réponse à la lettre collective des Maisons de
Commerce de Bordeaux" (March 31, 1907)
This letter opens by summarizinh the letter sent by the
merchants of Kayes to the govenror, Apparently, there was a
flood in Kayes in 1891 that prompted the government to order the
evacuation of installations along the flood plain. Since the
various merchant houses had their buildings along the river, they
had to move everything and suffered losses. Because of this,
they have been hesitant to return to business in Kayes. They
ask what sort of assurance the governor can give them that this
will not be repeated.
The governor was not moved by the merchants' complaints. He
replied that the last time a flood comparable to that of 1906
took place in 1890, not 1891. Moreover, there were only two or
three commercial houses of secondary importance in Kayes at that
time, because Médine was the seat of business. Under those
circumstances, moving the town seemed like the most sensible way
to avoid further flood damage.
The governor pointed out that Col. Archinard (the military
governor at the time) offered free land concessions to any
company that wanted to rebuild on higher ground. However, the
merchants foolishly continued to locate their buildings near the
market, despite the fact that they knew it could flood, and that
nothing had been done to prevent new flooding.
The governor also observed that the value of those properties
was artificially inflated by the demand for building space in a
small area. ("commun désir des commerçants de
s'établir sur le mˆme point") He reassured the
merchants that the government will soon construct quays and flood
protection devices.
Response of the Bordeaux merchants to letter of March
31, 1907 from the Gouverneur-Général de l'AOF
(Bordeaux, April 16, 1907)
(p1) The Bordeaux merchants apologized for the suggestion
that the government was responsible for the location of the
merchant houses on the flood plain. They admitted that their own
agents did this in order to avoid the additional cost of
transport for goods from the river up to higher ground on the
plateau about 1,000 meters away.
