124 
- EUROPE AND AFRICA 
some others would have us believe, and that it is not yet 
altogether on a self-sustaining basis. The history of East 
Africa has, however, amply demonstrated not only the folly 
of entrusting administrative powers to commercial com- 
panies, but also that it is practically impossible for trading 
corporations to develop vast territories successfully without 
governmental cooperation and support. It is equally evi- 
dent that African protectorates are unwieldy and extremely 
expensive affairs, imposing great responsibilities and heavy 
burdens upon their possessors, which should be undertaken 
only after the most careful consideration of the obligations, 
the risks, the costs, and the profits involved. And when 
one compares the confusion that existed in the early days, 
and the serious blunders committed in both the British and 
German protectorates, with the present orderly and en- 
lightened administrations, one is reminded of the proverb: 
“Fortune brings in some boats that are not steer’d.”