Word: tillon
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...vote in the Congo); the big corporations, which control one-third of the land area and at least half the Negro workers; and the Roman Catholic Church, which maintains the Congo's schools and most of its hospitals. The state is Governor General Léo Pétillon, 52, a diminutive Belgian barrister who stands but 5 ft. 3 in. in his epauleted white uniform. Known as the "Little Lion" to the 5,000 Belgian civil servants who govern the Congo on his orders, Pétillon has an actor's mobile face, slow limpid speech...
Paternalism. Pétillon stands for "paternalisme," the policy which the Belgians openly proclaim as the secret of their success in the Congo. "The African under stands paternalism." says the Governor with conviction. "It was he who invented it." In the Congo, paternalism means bread but no votes, good government but no opposition; the best Negro housing in Africa but no real freedom of movement. "The emphasis is on economics," says Governor Pétillon. "The fascination of becoming a skilled worker handling precision machinery drives out of the Negro's mind the need for politics...
...This is black man's country," says Governor Pétillon. Before a white man may buy Congo land, he must prove to the government that no native is using it, and that it will not be needed for native settlement...
Small Voice. To most of the hard-headed businessmen who run the Congo government, the signs of a Negro awakening present not a danger but a challenge. "Once advance has begun, you cannot stop it, on any front," says Economist Henri Cornélis, Pétillon's deputy and almost certain successor. The Brussels Cabinet agrees, and the result is that the Congo government is getting ready to give the Congolese a small voice in the colony's affairs. Some time next year, if present plans are carried out, the literate Africans in the principal Congo cities...
...Belgians plan to move slowly-and progress steadily. "We adapt and adjust continually to the Congo's circumstances," says Governor Pétillon. "In the cities perhaps we shall move towards the ordinary concept of democracy, for black and white alike, but in the countryside, we may have to be content for a long time with a modified form of tribalism...