Roume conceived colonial development as rational public-works infrastructure.

Evidence

Roume’s reorganization of the Government General revealed a commitment to transforming the federal government into an effective agent of mise en valeur, and a particular conception of how this colonial development could best take place. On the one hand, the creation of the federal budget and the contracting of the 1903 loan pointed to the primacy granted public works. On the other, the division of the federal bureaus into various inspectorates reflected a strong interest in promoting mise en valeur through a rational division of labor. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 162

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the colonial doctrine of ‘mise en valeur’ as rational economic exploitation through infrastructure and divided labor.