"Sous le soleil équatorial" (Le Petit Journal illustré, 6 July 1924)
The colour cover of a Paris weekly shows African workers digging a railway cutting while two pith-helmeted engineers study a map, under the caption 'Sous le soleil équatorial'. The text calls the line from Brazzaville to the sea an 'œuvre civilisatrice' that will 'intensify the exploitation of the Congo' and names the engineers' obstacles as terrain, climate and 'difficultés de main-d'œuvre', so the labour question appears only as a logistical problem.
- Date
- July 6, 1924
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Le Petit Journal illustré (Paris weekly supplement); illustration signed RM
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- France
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Herriot Government
- Leader
- Edouard Herriot
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- Empire and colonialism, Labor, Economy and finance
- Event
- Congo Ocean Railway
- Techniques
- Euphemism / doublespeakGlittering generalities
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons (scan from Gallica, BnF), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1924, before 1931; Commons PD-1923 and PD-old tags)
Le Petit Journal illustré, no. 1750, 6 July 1924, illustration signed RM; Gallica (BnF) via Wikimedia Commons
Text on the object
ABONNEMENTS Trois mois Six mois Un an FRANCE & COLONIES 4 fr. 7 fr. 50 14 fr. UNION POSTALE 6 fr. 12 fr. 22 fr. Le Petit Journal illustré PARAISSANT LE DIMANCHE 35e Année - N° 1750 On s'abonne dans tous les bureaux de poste Les Manuscrits ne sont pas rendus RM (signature) Sous le soleil équatorial Notre effort de pénétration par le chemin de fer se poursuit à travers l'Afrique. C'est ainsi que la ligne de Brazzaville à la mer va intensifier l'exploitation du Congo. Mais combien d'obstacles — nature du terrain, climat humide et chaud, difficultés de main-d'œuvre — les ingénieurs ne rencontrent-ils pas pour mener à bien cette œuvre civilisatrice !
Subscriptions: three months, six months, one year. France and Colonies: 4 fr., 7 fr. 50, 14 fr. Postal Union: 6 fr., 12 fr., 22 fr. / Le Petit Journal illustrated / Appearing on Sundays. 35th year, no. 1750. Subscribe at all post offices. Manuscripts are not returned. / RM (signature) / Under the equatorial sun. Our effort of penetration by railway continues across Africa. Thus the line from Brazzaville to the sea will intensify the exploitation of the Congo. But how many obstacles (the nature of the terrain, the humid and hot climate, labour difficulties) do the engineers not meet in carrying out this civilising work!
All printed text is clearly legible at 960 px; the caption is confirmed against the Commons description, which quotes it. The 'RM' signature sits at lower right of the illustration.
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