Even French socialists accepted forced labor with wage protections

Evidence

A second account of the French position at Geneva is provided in a series of reports assembled in I930 by Marius Moutet, a Socialist deputy and future colonial minister under the Popular Front. These reports, while critical of the government’s decision not to ratify the treaty, indicate that requisitioning labor for public works was acceptable, provided local authorities guaranteed workers decent salaries and adequate working conditions. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 1412

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of how French republicanism’s ostensible ideals coexisted with coercion in West Africa, and to later Popular Front concessions.