The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of the Congo Free State, by Henry Wellington Wack

Title: The Story of the Congo Free State

Racial, Political, and Economic Aspects of the Belgian System of Government in Central Africa

Author: Henry Wellington Wack

Release Date: March 13, 2023 [eBook #70280]

Language: English

Produced by: Bob Taylor, Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

The Story
of the
Congo Free State

Social, Political, and Economic Aspects of the
Belgian System of Government in
Central Africa

By

Henry Wellington Wack, F.R.G.S.

(Member of the New York Bar)

With 125 Illustrations and Maps

G. P. Putnam’s Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1905

As a student of Mid-African affairs for the past seven years, and a close observer of the rapid progress toward complete civilisation now being made in that part of the world, I have felt it my duty to lay before my countrymen the true and complete story of the conception, formation, and development of the Congo Free State.

At a period of such bitter controversy concerning the government of the Congo Free State as the present, it is necessary that I should explain the circumstances under which I add this volume to the literature of that subject.

During a residence of several years in the United Kingdom, I could not fail to observe the growth there of an organised campaign against the Congo Free State. That a small section of the British public, interested in the rubber trade, should by subtle means seek to delude or should even succeed in deluding, the great British nation so completely as to obtain general credence for its stories of cruelty and oppression alleged against King Leopold’s government failed to move me. It was not my concern, while enjoying the hospitality of England, to criticise the way in which her religious organisations were being used to further the selfish aims of a[Pg iv] small clique of Liverpool merchants. But when, within the past year, I perceived that the campaign of calumny against the Congo Free State was being extended to the United States, I could not longer regard the phenomenon with a merely passive interest. It occurred to me that my knowledge of Mid-African affairs might enable me to place before the American people a complete statement of the actual facts of the Congo Free State, and that my self-imposed task could not fail to be of value at a time when interested partisans were endeavouring to deceive them.

Having obtained an introduction to the King of the Belgians, I informed his Majesty that I believed the American people would much esteem the true history of the affairs of the Congo written by an American, and that if his Majesty would grant me access to the archives of the Administration of the Congo Free State in Brussels, and leave me free to write the story of his enterprise in my own way, absolutely without interference or suggestion from any of his ministers or himself, I would undertake the task on my own account.

His Majesty, having considered my credentials and the nature of my introduction, in due course informed me that all the documents in the Congo Administration Office were open to my inspection. His Majesty added that he had no fear but that the American people, when informed of the truth about the Congo, would appreciate, as he did, that the Congolese civilisation movement is the greatest colonising success in the history of the world. I[Pg v] was admitted into the offices of the Congo Administration and spent many weeks there searching for, translating, and copying documents. Those which had already been translated into English, I adopted in the form in which I found them. When I left Brussels, I again indicated to his Majesty’s ministers, and to his Majesty himself, that I should write the story in my own way. I brought away many boxes of memoranda and documents and at once began to work upon The Story of the Congo Free State. I have not submitted the manuscript or proofs to any person connected, either directly or indirectly, with his Majesty, with the Congo Free State, or with the Belgian Government, neither have I in any way communicated with his Majesty in reference to what I have written. For all I know, his Majesty may entirely disapprove of this history. I should, of course, regret exceedingly to learn that I had displeased the royal host who had extended to me the hospitality of his country during a long and interesting visit. But as I am under no obligation whatever to the Congo officials, nor to his Majesty, and as my original intention of writing an independent history of the Congo was made quite clear to both, I regard myself as absolved from blame should the King of the Belgians disapprove of the straightforward story here presented.

That this story is true, I have satisfied myself in every particular. It is the story of a great colonising undertaking founded upon modern social science. It can hardly fail to interest the reader who admires the courage and daring which small countries[Pg vi] sometimes display in extending their borders and establishing new markets.

Should this book in any way assist my countrymen in thinking out the underlying motives in the campaign against the Congo, and bring them to a knowledge of the real issues at stake, my labour will be sufficiently rewarded.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obligation to the works of Messrs. Stanley, Descamps, Boulger, Johnston, Cattier, and Wauters, and to all who have kindly assisted me with information.

MAPS.

[Pg xvi]

CHAPTER I
GENESIS OF MID-AFRICAN CIVILISATION

The decline and fall of great empires has ever been a fascinating subject of study, congenial alike to students of widely diverse opinions and pursuits; yet it must be clear to all that in human interest the breaking up of an empire is as nothing when compared with its founding. The reason is, probably, that so little is known of the origin of great national communities. The United States is almost alone among nations in respect that its growth, from its inception to its mature ultimate triumph, has been watched by keenly observant eyes, and every particular of its perilous progress carefully recorded. But when the future historian, with comprehensive appreciation impossible in a contemporary, reviews the events of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, one fact will stand well out before him, a unique and very potent fact, fraught with vast possibilities for the[Pg 2] future—none other than the founding, by the wisdom of a kingly philanthropist, of a humanitarian, civilising, free political state in the very heart of savage and cannibalistic Africa.

Consider for a moment how the great Congo Free State has been evolved out of a group of warring tribes (in part cannibal), and inquire what manner of man is Leopold II., King of the Belgians, alone responsible for this wondrous transformation; and who even now, when weight of years and record of achievement might well entitle him to repose, works on bravely, through good and through ill report, for the prosperity and happiness of the twenty-odd million Africans who acknowledge him for their Sovereign.

Thirty-six years ago, when the present Sovereign of the Congo Free State succeeded his father as King of the Belgians, and became known to the world as Leopold II., Africa was generally referred to as the “Dark Continent.” At that period, and for long after, even the most optimistic of statesmen failed to perceive in those vast regions any promising outlet for the congested populations of the Old World, or possible markets for their manufactures. Diamonds, small in quantity and of indifferent quality, had, it is true, been discovered in the southernmost part of that continent, in a region already appropriated by the British. Gold, also, was thought to exist there, but not in paying quantities; while the deadliness of the African climate to Europeans, in all save a few favoured sections, was an universally accepted article of faith.

Foremost among the small band of thinkers who[Pg 3] totally dissented from this view was Leopold II., King of the Belgians. A young man of extraordinarily fine physique, an accomplished linguist, widely read and travelled, and holding advanced liberal views in all matters pertaining to statecraft and social science, King Leopold had early the prescience to perceive in Africa the means to uplift some twenty or more millions of the Negro race from debased savagery to peaceful civilisation, and at the same time and by the same means—the latter a necessarily accompanying incident of the former—found a colony for the surplus population of the small State of which he is King; Belgium being then, as now, the most densely populated of European countries, its people almost entirely dependent on the sale abroad of the products of their industry.

Bold and original ideas rarely find much favour when first presented to the world. The bulk of mankind is conservative; it thinks of yesterday, is oppressed by the troubles of to-day, and lets to-morrow take care of itself. At first, where King Leopold’s ideas for the regeneration of Africa attracted any attention at all, they were regarded with bland smiles as utopian visions, more creditable to the heart than to the head of the princely visionary. But true genius, though it may be hampered and delayed in its onward march, is not to be extinguished either by active opposition or cold indifference. Of such calibre is King Leopold, or there would to-day be no Congo Free State, nor what some past-masters in the obscuration of the obvious are sometimes pleased to call “the Congo Question.”

[Pg 4]

So long ago as 1860, King Leopold, then Duke of Brabant, in a speech delivered before the Belgian Senate, said: “I claim for Belgium her share of the sea,”—apparently a plain and colourless utterance, but really the expression of a vital interest for his country, for which no market spells extinction, and no political power but on Belgian soil means no market for Belgian goods. In 1860 the attention of mankind was just beginning to turn to Africa. Two years before, Sir Richard Burton and Captain Speke had startled geographers by discovering Lake Tanganyika, a revelation to be soon afterwards eclipsed by the further discovery of the sources of the Nile and Lake Victoria, by Speke and Grant. About the same time Sir Samuel Baker, then in the service of the Khedive of Egypt, discovered Lake Albert. The travellers whose fortune it was to make these important discoveries had been preceded by the intrepid Dr. Livingstone, whose marvellous energies on behalf of civilisation and Christianity were, however, chiefly confined to the Zambesi Valley until the year 1866, when he first entered the Congo region and further enhanced his already great reputation by discovering the lakes Moero and Bangweolo. Then came the discovery of Livingstone—himself so long lost to his anxious countrymen—by Henry M. Stanley. That was in 1871, when the armed hosts of France and Germany were engaged in a death struggle, and led Mr. Gladstone to remark:

[Pg 5]

Gladstone was right. To all civilised peoples, but specially to men of Anglo-Saxon speech—Englishmen, who had given lavishly of their millions to free the slaves held in their colonies; Americans, who had poured out their blood like water in a similar cause—the accounts given by explorers and missionaries of the horrors of the slave trade, rampant in Central Africa, were as the smell of powder to the war-horse. Only a few people are interested in geography as a science. A vastly greater number are affected by a widening of the area for trade. But the effectual suppression of slavery is a question that comes home to everybody. No one can stand aside, indifferent to it. The ghastly horrors of the murderous raids made by the remorseless Arab slave-traders upon defenceless Central African villages, so graphically described by travellers, thrilled the civilised world. No effort was needed now to direct public attention to Africa. Africa loomed large in men’s minds; and the question of slavery, fondly thought to be for ever laid at rest by the tremendous conflict in America in the early sixties, again became a vital problem.

Of the numerous activities which distinguish the character of Leopold II., philanthropy has the[Pg 6] greater force. Much that is quite incontrovertible might be urged in support of this statement; but this is neither the place nor time to argue that matter. Suffice it to say here that upon no one did the revelations as to the methods of capture and subsequent treatment of Central African slaves make a deeper impression than upon King Leopold. As a lifelong student of Africa, and a geographer of rare attainments, in personal touch with all the authorities on the subject, his information was as accurate and complete as it was possible for it to be. Though the great European governments had compelled the Khedive of Egypt to exert himself to the utmost to repress slave-trading on the Upper Nile, and the complaisant Egyptian ruler had appointed first one Englishman and then another (Sir Samuel Baker and Charles Gordon, the latter being the ill-fated General of that name) to administer the government of the Soudan, and some good resulted, it was well known to King Leopold that south of the Equator to the Zambesi the slave trade continued to be prosecuted as vigorously as it had ever been in the remote past. How might the evil be stamped out? Or, if such a consummation were too much to hope for within the immediate future, how best might the evil be checked? In considering these questions, King Leopold very rightly concluded that the more thorough the knowledge of Central Africa possessed by Europeans the greater the possibility of success in their efforts to ameliorate the awful misery of its people.

[Pg 7]

Imbued with these views, King Leopold in 1876 called the attention of the principal geographical societies throughout the world to the conditions then prevailing in Central Africa, and invited all expert geographers of international reputation to confer in Brussels. The circular letter of King Leopold convening this Conference, though perfectly explicit in its terms, has, in light of subsequent events, been so distorted to serve personal interests, that no excuse is necessary for reproducing its exact words:

In cordially accepting King Leopold’s invitation, the six great nations of Europe selected their most distinguished geographers and travellers to represent them. Great Britain sent five delegates, all men of distinction in African affairs, Germany sent four, France three, Austria two, Russia one, and Italy one. Belgium had eleven representatives, among them the accomplished Baton Lambermont. The Conference, which lasted three days, was convened in the royal palace at Brussels on September 12, 1876. It was opened by King Leopold in person. The speech made by his Majesty on that occasion follows so naturally his invitation to the assembled gentlemen that it might almost be mistaken for a continuation of that document. The reason for quoting the former now applies to the following exact translation of the King’s speech:

“Gentlemen,” said his Majesty, “permit me to thank you warmly for the amiable promptness with which you have been kind enough to come here at my invitation. Besides the satisfaction that I shall have in hearing you discuss here the problems in the solution of which we are interested, I experience the liveliest sense of pleasure in meeting the distinguished men whose works and valorous efforts on behalf of civilisation I have followed for many years.

“The subject which brings us together to-day is one that deserves in the highest degree to engage[Pg 9] the attention of the friends of humanity. To open to civilisation the only part of the globe where it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness enshrouding entire populations, that is, if I may venture to say so, a crusade worthy of this century of progress; and I am happy to discover how much public sentiment is in favour of its accomplishment. The current is with us.

“Gentlemen, among those who have most closely studied Africa, a good many have been led to think that there would be advantage to the common object they pursue if they could be brought together for the purpose of conference with the object of regulating the march, combining the efforts, deriving some profit from all circumstances, and from all resources, and finally, in order to avoid doing the same work twice over.

“It has appeared to me that Belgium, a central and a neutral state, would be a spot well chosen for such a reunion, and it is this view which has emboldened me to call you all here, to my home, for the little Conference that I have the great satisfaction of opening to-day. Is it necessary for me to say to you that in inviting you I have not been guided by egotistic views? No, gentlemen; if Belgium is small, she is happy and satisfied with her lot. I have no other ambition but to serve her well. But I will not go so far as to declare that I should be insensible to the honour which would result for my country if an important forward movement in a question which will mark our epoch should be dated from Brussels. I should be happy that Brussels[Pg 10] should become in some way the headquarters of this civilising movement.

“I have, then, allowed myself to believe that it would be convenient to you to come together to discuss and to specify, with the authority belonging to you, the means to be employed in order to plant definitely the standard of civilisation on the soil of Central Africa, to agree as to what should be done to interest the public in your noble enterprise, and to induce it to support you with its money. For, gentlemen, in works of this kind it is the concurrence of the greater number that makes success; it is the sympathy of the masses which it is necessary to solicit, and to know how to obtain.

“With what resources should we not, in fact, be endowed if every one for whom a franc is little or nothing consented to throw it into the coffers destined for the suppression of the slave trade in the interior of Africa!

“Great progress has been already accomplished; the unknown has been attacked from many sides; and if those here present, who have enriched science with such important discoveries, would describe for us the principal points, their exposition would afford us all a powerful encouragement.

“Among the questions which have still to be examined have been cited:

“1. The precise designation of the basis of operation to be acquired on the coast of Zanzibar, and near the mouth of the Congo, either by conventions with the chiefs, or by purchase or leases from private persons.

[Pg 11]

“2. Designation of the routes to be opened in their order towards the interior, and of the stations—hospitable, scientific, and pacifying—to be organised, as the means of abolishing slavery, of establishing concord among the chiefs, of procuring for them just and distinguished judges, etc.

“3. The creation—the work being well defined—of an International and Central Committee, and of National Committees to prosecute the execution, each in what will directly concern it, by placing the object before the public of all countries, and by making an appeal to the charitable that no good cause has ever addressed in vain.

“Such are, gentlemen, the different points which seem to merit your attention. If there are others, they will appear in the course of your discussions, and you will not fail to throw light on them.

“My desire is to serve, as you shall point out to me, the great cause for which you have already done so much. I place myself at your disposal for this purpose, and offer you a cordial welcome.”

The object of the Conference, thus clearly outlined by the King, was loyally adhered to by the delegates, their discussions being strictly confined to geography and philanthropy, nothing political or personal obtruding itself upon their deliberations. At the close of its three days’ session the Conference submitted to King Leopold the following declaration upon its labours:

In accordance with the recommendation contained in this declaration of the Brussels Geographical Conference, “The International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa” was formed, consisting of an International Commission sitting in Brussels, assisted by dependent National Committees in each country. The executive power of the International Association was vested in an Executive Committee, of which King Leopold was appointed President. When the British Government selected Sir Bartle Frere for the Governorship of the Cape, it became necessary for him to resign his position as a member of the Executive Committee, the vacancy thus created being filled[Pg 13] by an American, General Sanford, for many years United States Minister at Brussels.

The idea of an International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa, to which the Brussels Geographical Conference had given birth, at once began to grow, and flourished amazingly. Not only were influential committees formed in those countries which had sent delegates to the Conference, but in other countries as well, the United States among them.

To show how keen general interest in the civilisation of Central Africa had now become, it is only necessary to cite a few instances of the powerful support given to the National Committees. In Spain, the King; in Austria, the Archduke Rudolph, heir to the Austrian throne; in Holland, Prince Henry of the Netherlands; in Belgium, the Count of Flanders, brother of the King; all became Presidents of their respective National Committees. Philanthropists, men of science, all who were in any way interested in the world’s progress towards better things, accorded ungrudging support to the work set in motion by King Leopold.

The civilisation of Central Africa had now begun in earnest.

In every case the National Committees of the International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa displayed extraordinary activity; but, as was to be expected, their rate of progress was measured by the Belgian Committee, which met, for the first time, on the 6th of November, 1876, in Brussels, just six weeks after the close of the Brussels Geographical Conference which had decreed its existence. As was fitting in the circumstances, King Leopold was present at the meeting, and delivered upon that occasion a speech which may be regarded as an amplification of his Majesty’s previous pronouncements on the situation, now in some measure become political, in Central Africa.

“Gentlemen,” said King Leopold, “the slave trade, which still exists over a large part of the African Continent, is a plague-spot that every friend of civilisation would desire to see disappear.”

“The horrors of that traffic, the thousands of victims massacred each year through the slave trade, the still greater number of perfectly innocent beings who, brutally reduced to captivity, are condemned en[Pg 15] masse to forced labour in perpetuity, have deeply moved all those who have even partially studied this deplorable situation, and concerting, in a word, for the founding of an International Association to put an end to an odious traffic which makes our epoch blush, and to tear aside the veil of darkness which still enshrouds Central Africa. The discoveries due to daring explorers permit us to say from this day that it is one of the most beautiful and the richest countries created by God.

“The Conference of Brussels has nominated an Executive Committee to carry into execution its declaration and resolutions.

“The Conference has wished, in order to place itself in closer relationship with the public, whose sympathy will constitute our force, to found, in each State, National Committees. These Committees, after delegating two members from each of them to form part of the International Committee, will popularise in their respective countries the adopted programme.

“The work has already obtained in France and Belgium important subscriptions, which make us indebted to the donors. These acts of charity, so honourable to those who have rendered them, stimulate our zeal in the mission we have undertaken. Our first task should be to touch the hearts of the masses, and, while increasing our numbers, to gather in a fraternal union, little onerous for each member but powerful and fruitful by the accumulation of individual efforts and their results.

“The International Association does not pretend[Pg 16] to reserve for itself all the good that could or ought to be done in Africa. It ought, especially at the commencement, to forbid itself a too extensive programme. Sustained by public sympathy, we hold the conviction that, if we accomplish the opening of the routes, if we succeed in establishing stations along the routes followed by the slave merchants, this odious traffic will be wiped out, and that these routes and these stations, while serving as fulcrums for travellers, will powerfully contribute towards the evangelisation of the blacks, and towards the introduction among them of commerce and modern industry.

“We boldly affirm that all those who desire the enfranchisement of the black races are interested in our success.

“The Belgian Committee, emanating from the International Committee, and its representative in Belgium, will exert every means to procure for the work the greatest number of adherents. It will assist my countrymen to prove once more that Belgium is not only a hospitable soil, but that she is also a generous nation, among whom the cause of humanity finds as many champions as she has citizens.

“I discharge a very agreeable duty in thanking this assembly, and in warmly congratulating it for having imposed on itself a task the accomplishment of which will gain for our country another brilliant page in the annals of charity and progress.”

We have here, in his Majesty’s own words, a very lucid and reiterated exposition of King Leopold’s main object in concerning himself with Central African[Pg 17] affairs—the suppression of the slave trade, with consequent moral and material advancement of its peoples. But let it not be lost sight of that, subsidiary to this lofty mission, King Leopold has never disavowed—nay, his Majesty had more than once expressly declared it—his desire to find in Africa new markets for Belgian manufactures, and a wide field for the surplus population of overcrowded little Belgium, where his people might live and where their peculiar genius in the arts and sciences might flourish unfettered by alien laws.

The experience of recent travellers, and particularly of Livingstone and Stanley, had demonstrated the truth of what had hitherto always been disbelieved, viz., that it was possible for the white man to live and maintain his health in Central Africa. This fact alone was of vast importance; but when was added to it proof that the country was fertile, with immense natural sources of wealth, needing only the brain and hand of civilised man to tap them, a prosperous future for the country was assured. England, France, and Portugal, but notably England, had already claimed large sections of Africa for their own, and Italy and Germany—especially Germany—were feverishly anxious to follow suit. But it is doubtful if among all the students of the African problem—and they numbered among them the ablest of every nation—there was at this period another man with prescience to foresee, as we now know King Leopold must have foreseen, the illimitable possibilities of Central Africa. Indeed it is tolerably certain that had the great nations realised[Pg 18] the potential value of this region, their cupidity would never have permitted them to allow its sovereignty to become vested in any single individual with claim to it based upon anything except irresistible material force. King Leopold’s claim, as we have already partly seen, and as will presently be fully demonstrated, had for its foundation a long-cherished and active philanthropic interest in the welfare of its natives, chiefly in the form of the suppression of slavery; the expenditure, out of his Majesty’s private purse, of large sums of money for exploration, establishment of route stations, etc.; and generally for calling the attention of the civilised world to a little-known and less-cared-for region commonly thought to be worthless.

Bacon asserts, in his Advancement of Learning, that “States are great engines moving slowly,” and from the beginning of the world until long past the English philosopher’s time, the axiom was true; but we of the twentieth century inhabit a world as unlike the world that Bacon lived in as modern New York is unlike the city that Washington Irving described under that name. The teeming millions of Europe are ever more and more perplexed by the problem of how to live, and not a day passes but the cruel competition of life waxes fiercer and hotter. New lands, new markets, must be found—the social pressure in the older nations demands it as a prime necessity. Therefore comes it that States are no longer “engines moving slowly.” On the contrary, they move very rapidly; and as all the fat lands of the earth have already been appropriated, future[Pg 19] trouble seems not improbable. John Bull, early in the field, worked hard painting the map red, and now it is not possible to get far away from one or other of his frontiers. The British colossus has many imitators; but these started in the game late, when most of the prizes had been won.

No sooner was it perceived that the Congo region of Central Africa is a valuable possession, than France set up her flag on the Congo, at Brazzaville. The Portuguese, rummaging in their musty archives for traces of their past glory, set up a claim to the Congo River because one of her navigators had discovered the mouth of it five hundred years ago. Germany, too, now exhibited her desire for huge territories in East Africa, and did not betray any marked scrupulousness as to whose rights were invaded in obtaining them. With such neighbours pressing closely upon him, it was no more than natural that King Leopold should cast about him how best he might preserve inviolate the great country to which he had so lavishly devoted his time and money; and he finally conceived the idea of a Congo Free State, with himself as its Sovereign ruler. Without some such clear recognition of Congo territory, and of his own personal rights in respect of it, it was abundantly clear that the first would be filched and the second ignored. For King Leopold to proclaim himself Sovereign ruler of the Congo region was, of course, not sufficient. It would be necessary to secure the assent to that course of all the great Powers interested.

[Pg 20]

It was a momentous time. While the French were establishing themselves on Stanley Pool, Stanley the man was working in the interests of King Leopold, travelling through the Congo country, buying land here and there, establishing stations, and making treaties in the King’s name with native chiefs.

The French regarded Stanley’s proceedings with jealous distrust, and in France the question was raised whether the International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa ought to be permitted to exercise sovereign rights. That history furnished examples of corporate bodies exercising sovereign authority was acknowledged, but there was a large party in France which insistently asserted that no such right pertained to the International Association.

The situation was very complicated. If King Leopold recognised the preposterous claim of Portugal over the mouth of the Congo River, the entire region in which he was interested would be without a free way to the sea, a fatal bar to its proper development.

To deal with Portugal in this matter, even supposing her alleged right to be well founded, would have presented no insuperable difficulty; poor nations like poor individuals being ever open to sell their commodities at something more than their market value. But just at this juncture an unexpected act on the part of Great Britain added enormously to the difficulty. Lord Granville, at that time British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, after having refused to recognise any right by[Pg 21] Portugal over the mouth of the Congo, in return for concessions granted by Portugal to Britain elsewhere, now recognised those claims in an extended form.

This Anglo-Portuguese Convention, made on the 26th of February, 1884, had it been carried out, would have killed at one blow the International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa, and all King Leopold’s cherished dreams would have evaporated like mists before the sun.

But the good work done by King Leopold was not fated to be so ignominiously extinguished. France and Germany combined to denounce the Convention; and even with the British public it was very unpopular, as hard things being said of it in the British Parliament and press as any uttered in Belgium. King Leopold appealed to the British Government to suspend the ratification of the Convention, urging the despatch of a British mission to the West Coast to examine the validity of the treaties made between his Majesty’s representatives and native chiefs in that part of the Congo country which the Convention proposed to acknowledge as Portuguese territory. The British Government granted the King’s request, and despatched General Sir Frederic Goldsmid to the Congo. The result was a complete triumph for King Leopold, General Goldsmid reporting to his Government that the treaties were in perfect order and that the allegations of the Portuguese were baseless. That was the end of the Anglo-Portuguese Convention.

[Pg 22]

Though the Anglo-Portuguese Convention was dead, and nothing remained to fear from it, the incident served to emphasise the great and growing necessity for endowing the Congo region with a clearer and more definite political status than it yet possessed. There were not wanting other, and happier, incidents pointing the same moral. On April 22, 1884, the United States officially recognised the flag of the International Association as that of a friendly Government, in which course it was soon after followed by France, though the latter country made it a condition of its acknowledgment that the Association would never alienate any of its territory without France having the right of pre-emption. Germany, entering upon joint action with France for the first time since the war of 1870, concurred in recognising the International Association as an independent and friendly State; and on the very day that she gave her adherence to it, she invited, through Prince Bismarck, all the Powers interested in the future of Africa to confer in Berlin with the object of regulating African affairs. The invitation was accepted by fourteen nations, whose representatives met under circumstances to be presently described, and gave reality to the grand idea, conceived long before by Henry Morton Stanley and Leopold II., King of the Belgians, of a Congo Free State.

On the 15th day of November, 1884, the International Conference, convened by Prince Bismarck to regulate what that statesman termed “the African question,” held its first meeting. It took place in Berlin, Prince Bismarck presiding. In briefly outlining the object of the Conference, the distinguished president exhibited in no small degree that condensation and lucidity for which his utterances were remarkable.

Proceeding, Prince Bismarck declared that the main object of the Conference was the opening up to all the world of Central Africa. He rejoiced that France was in perfect accord with Germany in this matter. The first thing to be considered in this matter was, he thought, how best to establish freedom of trade at the mouth and in the basin of the Congo. On that subject the German Government had formulated a plan, drawn as a declaration, designed to assure freedom of trade in that region, with equal rights for all nations,—monopolies and preferential duties for none.

Prince Bismarck was followed by the British representative, Sir Edward Malet. No other Power in the world, said Sir Edward, had done so much on behalf of the objects that the German Government affected to have at heart as Great Britain; and he went on to point out that the warm support of his country and Government might be relied upon for proposals which had always formed part of their policy. He hoped that the attention of the Conference would not be devoted entirely to commerce, and that the welfare of native races would receive attention. Freedom of trade should be restricted to legitimate articles of trade, or the natives would lose more than they gained. He apprehended that the[Pg 25] chief difficulty of the Conference would be, not to secure its unanimous adherence to general principles, but to provide means for carrying those principles into effect. It was certainly desirable to establish the validity of effective new occupations on the coasts of Africa.

The Portuguese representative claimed for his country the honour of having introduced the elements of civilisation into Africa, and saw in an increase of commerce in that part of the world the assurance of peace and respect for the rights of humanity. The American representative contented himself by calling attention to the part his country had taken in the opening of Central Africa, and referred with pride to the achievements of Stanley, congratulating his countrymen on being first to recognise the good work accomplished by that great philanthropist, the King of the Belgians. The practical business, however, of the sitting, was the question, “What territories constitute the basin of the Congo and its affluents?” This being a matter less easily disposed of, it was referred to a Commission of eight experts selected by the eight Powers chiefly interested in its solution.

The Commission of eight reported to the Conference at its third sitting as follows:

This report seems as explicit as it well could be, and after much discussion and some slight modifications it was adopted. Baron Lambermont (Belgium) presented a report upon the best means of safeguarding the welfare of the native races, treating with remarkable ability of slavery, the importation of alcohol into the Congo country, and other dangers that threaten uncivilised races at their first contact with civilisation. Count Van der Straeten Ponthoz (Belgium) spoke even more vigorously to the same effect, and between them these two Belgian subjects of King Leopold showed themselves more solicitous for the welfare of the Congo native than the representative of any other nationality present.

The International Conference held its tenth and last sitting on the 26th of February, 1885. As on the occasion of its first sitting, Prince Bismarck presided. The drafting of the final act of the Conference was ably performed by Baron Lambermont. The representatives of the Powers assembled at Berlin signed conventions with the International Association, acknowledging it as a friendly and sovereign State whose flag—a golden five-pointed star on a blue banner—they agreed henceforth to recognise.

Thus the great Bismarck. Sir Edward Malet (Great Britain) said:

Baron de Courcel (France) said: “The new State owes its origin to the generous aspirations and the enlightened initiation of a prince surrounded by the[Pg 28] respect of Europe.” Other members of the Conference were as warm as the representatives of Great Britain and France in their eulogy of the great work achieved by King Leopold, and their opinions of his Majesty’s life-work were admirably summed up by Prince Bismarck in his speech closing the Conference, in the course of which he referred to the consolidation of the Congo Free State as a “precious service to the cause of humanity.”

Central Africa had now become in all essential respects a State. It had been recognised as such by the United States on April 22, 1884, seven months before the opening, and ten months before the close, of the Berlin Conference, but now its geographical limits were defined, its political status fixed, its neutrality assured. The large part played by Leopold, King of the Belgians, in its creation had received full and complete acknowledgment from the foremost geographers and statesmen of the world, who had united in lauding the King, not only for his wonderful achievement, but for the high humanitarian motive stimulating his Majesty through all the years of its difficult accomplishment.

But let no one suppose that it followed, as a necessary consequence of all this, that the future government of Central Africa was to be as plain sailing in smooth water. A new State had been created, it is true, and it had had as its sponsors the great Powers of the world, who had recognised Leopold II., King of the Belgians, as its Sovereign ruler. But it is beyond the ability of States, just as it is beyond the ability of individuals,[Pg 29] to exist without money, and to be entrusted with the government of a territory nearly a million square miles in extent—about a fifth the size of Europe, or a third of the United States—inhabited by twenty millions or so of semi-barbarous tribes, was no light task. The “African Exploration Fund” of the Geographical Society of London contributed £250, and the Belgian Committee collected among their countrymen 500,000 francs—a generous gift, but utterly inadequate for such a colossal task as the civilisation of Central Africa. Belgians, as a people, were in no degree liable for the expense of the philanthropic colonial enterprise entered upon by Leopold, their King, as an individual. The magnitude of that expense will be apparent to anybody who gives the subject a moment’s thought. The payment of explorers,—men of the first rank in intellectual attainment, such as Stanley,—the cost of their equipment (stores, carriers, lake steamers, etc.), the carving out of routes, establishment of stations, purchases of land from native chiefs, conciliatory gifts, and so forth, had seriously depleted the large private fortune of King Leopold.

Though all civilised countries were more or less interested in the opening up of Central Africa, less than twenty thousand dollars was subscribed outside Belgium for that object. It had, therefore, some years before the Berlin Conference, become necessary to raise money for the continuation of the work. On November 25, 1878, the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo was formed in Brussels, with King Leopold as honorary president and Colonel Strauch[Pg 30] as president. The Comité was really a company, and it had a capital of a million francs. Thanks no less to its wise direction than to its sufficient capital, the operations of the Comité were attended with so much success that it soon usurped the place of the International African Association as principal agent of the civilising crusade undertaken by King Leopold. The work of the Comité was consolidated and greatly accelerated by the General Act of the Berlin Conference, assuring the Sovereignty of the Congo State to King Leopold, it being no more than natural that Belgians should have increased confidence in a State secure under the rule of their own King, and be disposed to invest their money therein more freely than when the form of its government was matter of doubt. Though much still remained to be done, the Congo Free State had now been founded, and that fact of itself was sufficient to inspire confidence everywhere, but particularly among the Belgian people, whose King was its founder.

Having narrated the principal political circumstances which eventuated in the founding of the Congo Free State, it now becomes necessary to revert to an earlier period, and sketch briefly the various Belgian expeditions to whose labours are so largely owing our knowledge of the geography of Central Africa, the suppression of the slave trade there, and the establishment of civilising and humanitarian government by Belgians.

It is hardly necessary to say that so great an enterprise was not possible of achievement without loss of life, and much personal sacrifice and suffering; that many men of high intellectual power and indomitable courage fell by the way, martyrs to disease, treachery, and the innumerable accidents by flood and field which ever dog the footsteps of pioneer explorers. The official records of the expeditions, for the most part vouched for by independent testimony (chiefly English), establish beyond possibility of dispute the patient forbearance and humanity of the explorers in their dealings with the natives. The dignity of truth is lost with too much protesting, and that some few mistakes were committed here[Pg 32] and there, the result of over-zealousness on the part of particular individuals, is frankly admitted, such admission in no way detracting from the confident assertion that no exploration of unknown lands had ever before been made which occasioned so small an amount of friction with their indigenous occupiers. A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it. Mistake, error, is the discipline through which we all advance, and the greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.

The first Belgian expedition arrived at Zanzibar in December, 1877, having been three months on its voyage from Ostend. It was commanded by Captain Crespel, an officer of the Belgian Army, and included, besides Lieutenant Cambier, also of the Belgian Army, Dr. Maes, and M. Marno, an Austrian. Some time was spent by these explorers in Zanzibar, purchasing supplies and engaging an escort, before starting for the interior; a task in which they were assisted by the Sultan, Seyyid Burghash, an enlightened ruler, opposed to slavery and sympathetic with the expedition and its objects. Unfortunately, these favourable auspices were not followed by correspondingly happy events. In less than a month after the arrival of the expedition in Zanzibar, Dr. Maes was dead of fever; and Captain Crespel, who was ill from the first moment that he set foot on African soil, survived Dr. Maes only a few days.

Shortly before these two sad events, Cambier and Marno had started on their journey into the interior,[Pg 33] and at once became the victims of every sort of misfortune. Their cattle were tormented and destroyed by the tsetse fly, which in that year assumed the proportions of a plague, and, their route lying through a marshy region, progress was rendered impossible. Two months later they returned to Zanzibar worn out and dispirited, having achieved nothing, only to be greeted by the melancholy news of the death of Captain Crespel and Dr. Maes. Command of the expedition now devolved upon Lieutenant Cambier, who resolved to await reinforcements from Belgium.

It was not until September of the following year that Lieutenant Cambier, accompanied by Lieutenant Wautier and Dr. Dutrieux, ventured to move forward. On the occasion of his second attempt he started from Bagamoyo. His difficulties, if not so great as on his previous journey, would have daunted any ordinary mortal. His native carriers gave great trouble, continually deserting or threatening to desert him, while crossing the Mgonda-Mkali desert. However, after passing through infinite danger and difficulty, Cambier succeeded in reaching the territory of Mirambo, and prospered so well in his efforts to secure the friendship and assistance of that powerful chief that the two entered into a treaty of alliance, and went through the strangely barbarous ceremony of taking the oath of blood; after which, according to African superstition and custom, they became brothers. This was the first example of a Belgian officer and a native chief taking the oath of blood. It was entered into by Cambier only after[Pg 34] he had informed himself that it was a ceremony the sanctity of which the Negro race held to be inviolable, and was therefore exactly suited to his purpose.

The object of the expedition was to found a station on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Having been provided with some necessary supplies by his newly made “blood brother,” M. Cambier was about to resume his journey, of which another hundred and fifty miles remained, when he learned with consternation of the death of M. Wautier, the able lieutenant to whom he had entrusted the difficult task of keeping open his communications with the coast, who had succumbed to the climate after prolonged exposure to torrential rain. M. Wautier was the third Belgian who had lost his life in the cause of African exploration. His place was taken by M. Bryon, a Swiss traveller of much experience, who rendered good and faithful service. But though so near to his destination, M. Cambier’s difficulties were by no means ended. As before, it was his carriers who made the trouble. They were insubordinate, quarrelled among themselves, and deserted in great numbers, on the slightest provocation, and often for none at all. Finally, however, on August 12, 1879, Karema, on Lake Tanganyika, was reached in safety, and the first station of the International Association for the Exploration and Civilisation of Central Africa established by the Belgian Committee. The site chosen for the station was about five thousand acres of land, very healthfully situated, which Cambier obtained by treaty with a local chief. Thus[Pg 35] through difficulty and danger, by the expenditure of energy, money, and of life itself, was the object of the first Belgian expedition successfully accomplished, and M. Cambier set out to return to Belgium. When he reached the coast he was surprised to meet a second expedition, of whose existence he knew nothing, which had just arrived from Belgium. In consequence, M. Cambier decided not to return to Europe, but to remain in Africa for a while to assist, so far as he was able, in this second enterprise. The period was May, 1879. The new expedition, under command of Captain Popelin, of the Headquarters Staff, assisted by Dr. Van den Heuval and Lieutenant Dutalis, had not completed their arrangements for their inland journey when the latter fell ill and was obliged to return at once to Belgium. The expedition had brought with it four Indian elephants, attended by two English keepers accustomed to the management of those animals, it having been suggested to King Leopold that elephants were better adapted for transport purposes in Central Africa than oxen. The experiment proved a costly failure. All four of the elephants died before any use could be made of them, and their English keepers were waylaid by brigands and murdered on their way back to Zanzibar. Notwithstanding these misfortunes, MM. Cambier and Popelin persevered bravely with their task, stocked the station at Karema with provisions, and organised a native guard for its protection.

The third expedition, judged by results, hardly deserves to be called such. It consisted of only two[Pg 36] Belgians (MM. Burdo and Roger), and the health of the former breaking down immediately on his arrival at Zanzibar, he was obliged to return home at once. War was now being waged between the chiefs Mirambo and Simba; but though each of the contestants was friendly to the Belgians, the conflict rendered their position very precarious. In the circumstances, MM. Cambier and Popelin judged it expedient to divide their forces, so as to ensure efficient protection for the newly founded station at Karema, and the route thence to the coast.

While matters were standing thus, a fourth expedition arrived, the strongest and best equipped yet sent out by Belgium, commanded by Captain Ramaeckers, an experienced African traveller, skilled in native wiles, who had been more successful in his dealing with the black man than any other Belgian. Captain Ramaeckers was ably seconded by MM. Becker and De Leu, lieutenants in the Belgian Artillery, and an expert photographer. The moment of the arrival of this expedition was opportune, for the difficulties of MM. Cambier and Popelin, due to the war between the natives, increased daily, and they were in a bad way. Captain Ramaeckers made all possible haste to succour them, and after a perilous journey succeeded in joining his colleagues on the banks of Lake Tanganyika; but he lost by death on the way his brave lieutenant, De Leu, a victim of malarial fever, and the health of the photographer failed so completely that it was found necessary to send him home. Captain Ramaeckers now took over the command from Lieutenant Cambier, who[Pg 37] had carried on the work in Central Africa for three years, and was now desirous of returning to Europe. In that period Cambier had contrived to achieve much valuable work, of which the worth is more apparent to-day than it was in December, 1880, when he resigned his command. But in estimating its value, then or now, the enormous difficulties under which he laboured should never for a moment be lost sight of. These difficulties were so great as hardly to admit of exaggeration. Language is inadequate to convey any just conception of the trackless deserts, impenetrable forests, and malarial swamps, through which the explorers’ route lay, complicated by two friendly but warring tribes, each suspicious of the strangers’ relations with the other.

Popelin and Ramaeckers, unlike Cambier, were not destined to see their native land again. Eighteen months after the departure of Cambier, Popelin died of malarial fever, and a short while after Ramaeckers also, from a like cause. In spite of these terrible losses, the Belgian station continued to exist, and even prospered in its work. The command now devolved upon Lieutenant Storms, then on his way to Central Africa to establish a new station on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika. When Storms arrived and took command he chose as the site of the new station a spot called Mpala, immediately opposite Karema. The chief of the district, who himself bore the name of Mpala, proved friendly to the expedition, and the new station soon became as important as Karema itself. So great was the influence exerted by Storms over Mpala that that chief,[Pg 38] when dying, left the appointment of his successor to be determined by the Belgian officer. Storms showed himself a clever diplomatist, and during his two-and-a-half-years’ control did much to consolidate the work of his predecessors.

So far, we have seen, these expeditions were exclusively Belgian. They owed their inception to King Leopold, by far the larger part of the heavy expense they entailed was met out of his Majesty’s private purse, and the personnel was Belgian almost to a man. Humanitarian in their object, the expeditions had been conducted so humanely that no injury had resulted to any one for which the expeditions could be blamed. With the exception of the two English elephant-keepers, murdered by Arab brigands, the loss of life was wholly Belgian, resulting in every case from the trying climate of Equatorial Africa.

But before any Belgian expedition had started, Henry M. Stanley, the great Anglo-American traveller, had penetrated Africa as far as the mouth of the Congo, and had startled the world by the information contained in his letters addressed thence to the New York Herald and the London Daily Telegraph. In glowing and incisive language Stanley demonstrated the future commercial importance of the superb Congo River, and significantly pointed out that, so far, no European power, except Portugal, had put forth any claim to its control—a claim which England, France, and the United States had refused to recognise.

This pregnant statement excited widespread remark,[Pg 39] but the King of the Belgians was alone in acting upon the startling information. His Majesty invited Mr. Stanley to Brussels to confer with some distinguished geographers, merchants, and financiers; and out of that meeting grew the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo, to which reference has been made in an earlier chapter. Soon after, however, the name of this body was changed to that of the International Association of the Congo. Mr. Stanley was invited to enter its service, and to establish along the Congo a series of stations, designed as bases for future operations, humanitarian and commercial, i. e., suppression of the slave trade and securing the commerce of the Congo country.

How Stanley accepted that invitation, and carried out the mission which the King of the Belgians entrusted to him, is almost as well known as the story of the same intrepid traveller’s discovery of Dr. Livingstone a few years before. With only ten companions (five Belgian, two English, two Danish, and one French), Stanley left Europe in January, 1879. At Zanzibar he hoped to be reinforced by at least some of those who had been associated with him on his previous journey. Meanwhile the steamboats En Avant and Royal, the twin-screw steamer La Belgique, one-screw barge Young Africa, and two steel lighters, were sent direct from Belgium to the mouth of the Congo, there to await Stanley’s coming. Stanley recruited a hundred and forty blacks (Askaris and Kabindas), to say nothing of carriers, whom he obtained as he required them during his progress along the Congo.

[Pg 40]

The first station to be founded was Vivi, and six months were spent in fortifying it. Then came the construction of a road from Vivi to Isanghila—fifty miles higher up the river—required for the conveyance of the steamers in section, stores, merchandise, etc. This proved a formidable task and took a whole year to accomplish. But Stanley and his men proved equal to it, and another station was founded at Isanghila. At that station, fortunately, the Congo was again found to be navigable, and Stanley pushed on to Manyanga by boat, where he founded a third station. It was while at Manyanga that Stanley first learned of M. de Brazza’s having set up the French flag on the northern shore of Stanley Pool, and calling it Brazzaville, a fact previously referred to.

Stanley countered this act by founding, on the plain of Kintamo, near the lake, a station out of which has grown the modern Leopoldville, named in honour of the King of the Belgians, and now recognised as the capital of Central Africa.

The spread of French influence so far as Brazzaville was significant and ominous. Clearly the nations of Europe were waking up to the importance and value of Central Africa. Leaving the expedition in charge of Captain Hanssens, Stanley hurriedly returned to Brussels to report the circumstance in person. That was in April, 1882; and by February, 1883, he was back again with the expedition in Africa, recharged, as it were, with energy, and busied himself in establishing numerous stations.

In all, Stanley served five years with this expedition,[Pg 41] which, notwithstanding his nationality, must in all fairness be accounted a Belgian expedition.

Such, then, were the early expeditions in Central Africa undertaken by Leopold, King of the Belgians. There were other contemporaneous expeditions in the same region undertaken by France, Germany, and Russia, or rather by natives of those countries presumably working in the interest of their respective nations, but their results will not stand comparison with those achieved by Belgians. At one time it was the intention of King Leopold to appoint General Gordon to the chief command on the Congo, and that extraordinary man had agreed to accept his Majesty’s offer; but the British Government had a prior claim on Gordon’s services, who went to Khartoum and lost his life there in tragic circumstances so well known that they need not be recounted here.

It was Diego Cam, an intrepid Portuguese navigator, who, in 1484, voyaging towards the mythical East Indies, discovered the Congo. In the name of his sovereign, King Juan II., he took possession of the country, though it does not appear that he proceeded far into the interior. From n’zadi, the native name for river, the Portuguese formed the word Zaire, and it is by this name that the river was long called. It so appears in the map of Martin of Bohemia, who accompanied the expedition. The globe prepared by this German cosmographer is still to be seen in the museum of Nuremberg. It was not until two centuries later that the river was called Rio de Congo.

On the south promontory of the Delta the Portuguese erected a pillar to commemorate their discovery. This promontory is still known as the Padrão Foreland. It is certain that these Portuguese, who were missionaries before they were explorers, remained a considerable time in the Delta; for they converted the King of Ekongo, as the country was then called, to Christianity. It was to this king that the sovereigns of Angolo traced descent, and it[Pg 43] is significant that their blue banner with the golden star is to-day the flag of the Congo Free State.

About seven years after the first expedition a second was sent out from Portugal, and the ruins of the trading posts then established, called San Antonio and Salvador, are still to be seen. The old Kingdom of Ekongo continued a hundred miles into the interior. It was bounded on the north by N’zadi, the modern Congo, and on the south by the river Coanza. The accounts of the early traders, some of which are still preserved in the State archives of Portugal, abound in fanciful descriptions. To the mediæval mind the forest was peopled with mythical monsters. It was probably for this reason that the superstitious Portuguese kept so near the coast.

In 1534 San Salvador, which until the arrival of the Portuguese was known as Ambassa, became the seat of a bishopric. Here a cathedral was erected, but later the see was transferred to St. Paul de Loanda, which thus became the capital of the Portuguese authority.

In 1784, to maintain their occupation of the Congo, the Portuguese built a fort at Kabinda, about thirty miles north of the mouth of the river. Several slave stations also were established in the interior. From this position they were soon driven by the French, though the latter made no attempt to found a colony.

In 1816 the British Government despatched an expedition to the Congo. James Kingston Tuckey, the leader, explored the river from its mouth to a distance of 170 miles into the interior. In his[Pg 44] description of the country Tuckey speaks of the numerous slave stations along the banks. At this period two thousand slaves were exported annually. Fifty years later this number had increased to over one hundred thousand!

The Congo with its multitudinous branches forms a river-basin unequalled even by that of the Mississippi. This great territory, over fourteen hundred miles in breadth, covers an area of nearly a million square miles. Though mere size is not always a measure of importance, yet this region is unsurpassed, in respect to natural resources, by any part of the world. Second only to the Amazon in volume, the Congo precipitates about 2,000,000 cubic feet of water each second into the Atlantic.

This immense basin has been divided by geographers into three gradual terraces: the first and lowest is near the coast; the second, in the region of the Upper Congo; and the highest in the vicinity of the great lakes. According to the official Act the basin is bounded by the watersheds of the neighbouring basins of the Niari, the Ogowe, the Shari, and the Nile on the north; by the eastern watershed line of the affluents of Lake Tanganyika on the east; and by the watersheds of the basins of the Zambesi and the Loge on the south. Congoland is about 1,500,000 square miles in extent. From its western frontage of 400 miles it broadens eastward until at Lake Tanganyika it has a frontier of about 1500 miles.

The numerous ramifications of the Congo open rapid and economic channels of communication to[Pg 45] the interior. To this magnificent system of waters the country also owes its unequalled fertility. Many of the rivers now practically useless can in time be rendered navigable by the skill of the engineer. Where blasting out channels is not feasible canals can be built to connect the navigable parts of the stream. It is obvious, too, that the effects on that torrid climate of these great rivers, from one to twenty miles in breadth, must be considerable. Without them the country would be an arid desert, another Sahara, deadly to life, both animal and vegetable.

We shall first follow the successive stages of the Congo, as the Chambesi, the Luapula, and the Lualaba, in the huge watershed on the eastern border between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika.

The source of the Congo is in the Chingampo Mountains, in British territory, and about 50 miles from the western confines of German East Africa, whence it issues as the Chambesi. It was Livingstone who, in 1867, discovered the Chambesi. Mistaking it for the undiscovered source of the Nile, he explored it towards the south-west—250 miles—as far as Lake Bangweolo. Thence he followed its gradual curve to the north, first as the Luapula, through Lake Moero, as far as Ankorro; and then as the Lualaba, in a north-westerly direction to Nyangwe, 1300 miles from its source. The river assumes the distinctive name of the Congo first at Nyangwe. It was from this place that Stanley, in 1876, made his famous descent of the river. The journey, which covered 1660 miles[Pg 46] by water and 140 miles by land, was accomplished in 281 days.

From Nyangwe the river flows due north 400 miles as far as Stanley Falls. The country between these two places is peopled by the cannibal Bakumu. With “these insensate furies of savageland” Stanley had many bloody encounters. “At every curve of this fearful river,” he writes in his now famous book, “the yells of the savages broke loud on our ears, the snake-like canoes dashed forward impetuously to the attack, while the drums and horns and shouts raised fierce and deafening uproar.”

From Stanley Falls the river, flowing west and north-west, makes a huge curve, in the form of a horse-shoe, to Equateurville, where the junction of the Congo with the Ruki takes place. Throughout this immense curve, called the Middle Congo, and as far south as Leopoldville, a distance of 1068 miles, the river is navigable. In the contiguous territory live the Balolo, or “men of iron,” forgers of metal instruments. Famous as warriors, they are also noted as clever craftsmen, and are valuable allies of the State.

From the junction of Lake Matumba with the Congo, the river, flowing south-west about 450 miles to Manyanga, forms the boundary between the French and the Belgian possessions. Thence down to Matadi it pursues a southerly course of about 100 miles through the territory of the State. From Matadi, whence it flows westward to the sea, it forms for 30 miles the northern boundary of the Portuguese Congo.

At Stanley Pool the Congo is no longer navigable.[Pg 47] Here, gathering the full force of its waters, the now immense river ploughs its passage for over 200 miles through the Crystal Mountains, whence by a succession of plunges it bounds down to Matadi, 1800 feet below.

From Matadi, unobstructed and triumphant, it hurls the overwhelming volume of its current far into the Atlantic. At its meeting with the sea, the Congo, now over 3000 miles in length, is fully twenty miles wide.

Until a few years ago there was considerable controversy as to the true upper course of the Congo. This has been at last established by the explorations of Delcommune, Bia, and Brasseur; and it is now agreed that the upper course is that continuation of the Chambesi called the Luapula, and not the Lualaba, as was formerly believed.

The Luapula, the boundary between the Congo State and North-Eastern Rhodesia, and navigable for 340 miles above Kassongo, is longer than the Lualaba. It is, however, inferior to the latter in size and in the number and importance of its affluents. The Lualaba rises in the southern part of the Congo territory, about fifty miles west of North-Western Rhodesia. The source of this river was discovered by Lieutenants Derscheid and Francqui.

Along the important tributaries of the Luapula is the Lufupa, which joins it not far below Nzilo. It is at the Nzilo gorge that the first cataracts on the Luapula are encountered. They continue almost uninterruptedly for forty-three miles. Another affluent of the Luapula is the Lubudi, a considerable[Pg 48] river on the left, which, because of its breadth and volume, was at first mistaken for the main stream. The next important tributary—the Lufila—empties into the Luapula at Lake Kassali. It flows through the fertile country of the Katanga.

This region, noted for its mineral resources, is described by travellers as “a land flowing with milk and honey.” It was first explored by that indefatigable pioneer, Delcommune. Until a few years ago the Katanga was ruled by the truculent tyrant, Msiri. Now that this despot is dead, the country is developing rapidly. The climate is far more healthful than in the regions around the Lower or Middle Congo. The fertility of the soil and the advantageous climate augur a brilliant future for this section of the State. The conditions are, in fact, well adapted to the needs of the white race, and here, no doubt, eventually will be established cities no less important and flourishing than those of Java. Already a railway to the Katanga is being constructed. Great deposits of copper are known to exist here, and it is expected that the development of these resources will begin a new era in the history of Central Africa. By the railway, Katanga will be brought within six weeks of the European centres.

In this vicinity also are the Kibala Mountains, which will, no doubt, soon attract tourists from all parts of the world. The beauties of this section are thus described by their discoverer, Delcommune:

We shall now briefly refer to the more important tributaries of the Congo proper, first taking up those that join the river from the south.

Of these the Lomami is navigable for nearly 650 miles. Rising in the Usamba Plateau, 600 miles east of Lake Moero, it runs almost parallel to the Congo till it joins that stream 150 miles west of Stanley Falls. The Lomami varies in breadth from 60 to 400 yards. In places it has a depth of twenty feet, and it is destined to play an important part in the development of this part of the continent. It was on the Lomami that one of those entrenched camps was established which proved so effective in the expulsion of the Arabs and suppression of the slave trade. The many tributaries of the Lomami, some of which are navigable, make that river the natural base also of commercial operations.

The next southern affluent of the Congo is the Lulongo. Rising not far from the valley of the Lomami it flows for several hundred miles in a south-westerly direction and empties into the Congo at Uranga. A northern tributary of the Lulongo is the Lopori. Both of these streams are rendered more important by the fact that, being free from obstruction, they are navigable. They water a[Pg 50] beautiful and exceedingly fertile country, some of which is yet unexplored.

South of the Lulongo and almost parallel to it is the Ruki. It has two upper courses and rises near the great valley of the Lomami. The Ruki is a wide, open river, nearly six hundred miles in length. It empties into the Congo at Equateurville, and because of its several tributaries it renders a large territory easily accessible.

But the largest of all the southern affluents is the Kassai, which ranks in importance next to the Congo itself. The exact course of the Kassai was until recently a matter of considerable speculation. This has now been definitely determined, and the Sankuru, formerly thought by some geographers to be the main course of that river, is now known to be its largest affluent. The Kassai rises nearly one thousand miles south of where it joins the Congo, near the Portuguese possessions in the south-western corner of the Congo State. Its course is north, north-east, and north-west. Navigable from Wissmann Falls, which is situated about midway its length, it forms its junction with the Congo not far above Stanley Pool. Joining the Kassai, near Bokala, is the river Kwango, which, rising in the Portuguese possessions, flows directly northward for several hundred miles. The Sankuru, like so many other of the Congo rivers, rises in the Sambas Plateau. Its course is first due north, then west, and, at its junction with the Kassai, is an imposing stream, almost as deep and broad as the Kassai itself. The Lubefu, a northern tributary of[Pg 51] the Sankuru, reaches almost to the valley of the Lomami.

It is intended soon to build a railroad connecting these rivers, and when this is accomplished a large area not now accessible will be open to commerce. Necessarily such trading stations will, for a while at least, need governmental protection. Hence each station will be in the nature of a military establishment, and will form also the nucleus for a future city. The Caucasian, observing, of course, certain necessary precautions, will find the climate of a large part of this section quite congenial. It is not unlike that of the tablelands of Java or of the highlands of Ceylon. Moreover, the soil no less than the forests and the mineral resources of this vicinity will offer splendid opportunities to the investor.

Necessarily the future of this part of the Congo, as well as that of all regions distant from the navigable rivers, is dependent upon the construction of a railway system which will bring them into touch with the rest of the world. That such railways cannot be built without a great expenditure of money is obvious, but the success of the lines already established and the enormous profits sure in the end to repay the investors are calculated to attract sooner or later the necessary capital. All who have visited this part of the Congo country are agreed that its natural resources are incomparably greater than those of any part of Europe. When developed they will excite the wonder of the world. But this result, so devoutly to be wished, involving as it does the betterment of millions of lives lately[Pg 52] enveloped in densest ignorance, is not to be attained without some sacrifices. Capital, time, and labour must co-operate to bring about this result.

On the right or northern bank of the Congo are to be found several large affluents. Of these, one of the most important is the Aruwimi, which joins the Congo just below Nyangwe. The Aruwimi rises in the Blue Mountains, not far from Lake Albert Nyanza. Thence flowing westward about seven hundred miles, and gathering on its way the waters of its numerous tributaries, it is, when it reaches the Congo, a copious stream over a mile wide. Above Yambuya the navigation of the Aruwimi is rendered impossible by a succession of cataracts, that bane of the African navigator. However, the beauty and the resources of the surrounding country somewhat compensate for these hindering conditions. Here is the famous forest of Ituri, the home of a vast population and the haunt of many species of game. In and around the Ituri occurred some noted skirmishes with the mutinous Batetelas.

About 150 miles west of the Aruwimi the Rubi reaches the Congo at Itembo. Rising in the Mabode about 500 miles north of Stanley Falls, it flows west and south-west for a distance of 600 miles.

Three hundred miles west of the Rubi is the Mongalla. It rises at the northern boundary of the State and, flowing south-south-west, reaches the Congo at Molieka. The Mongalla is a fine, open stream, and on its banks the Government has established a line of important stations. By these the State maintains control of the surrounding territory[Pg 53] and renders possible commerce with a large population. Similar stations have been and are being erected along the smaller navigable streams, and these, when connected with the centres by railroad and by telegraph, as eventually they will be, will make the whole interior equally accessible.

Probably no tributary of the Congo is of more importance than the Ubanghi. It was Van Gele who, in 1886, first explored the Ubanghi country and demonstrated the strategic value and commercial possibilities of this mighty river. The Uelle, which flows in a north-westerly direction, rises in the Blue Mountains. It was discovered by Dr. Junker, the German explorer, and may be considered the upper course of the Ubanghi. Above the Panga Falls, the Uelle is navigable for large vessels as far as Niangara.

After receiving the waters of the Uelle the Ubanghi forms for a long distance the boundary between the Free State and the French territory. Beyond Banzyville the river makes a wide curve towards the north to Waddas, whence it flows almost directly south, joining the Congo a little above Lake Matumba. The rich valley through which this splendid stream, over a thousand miles in length, takes its winding course, comprises an area of 160,000 square miles. Emin Pasha described it as possessing wonderful productivity—“The Granary of Equatoria” he called it. Here the natives, who are instinctively agricultural, raise tobacco, coffee, and sugar-cane in large quantities. The highways now being constructed will give to the industry of this region an[Pg 54] immediate impetus, and the natives, who are skilful in the making of brick, will greatly contribute to the development. It is also proposed to continue the Uelle Railway to the left bank of the Nile. Such a continuous route, amply justified by the resources of this section and by commercial considerations, will be a most desirable consummation.

The Lua, an eastern branch of the Ubanghi, will prove of great commercial importance. Captain Heymans, who first navigated the Lua, explored it as far as Bowara. The Dekere, which also has been partly explored, is probably the upper course of the Lua, and this continuous stream will prove a convenient route to the Uelle.

In this way the great detour of the Ubanghi, in which are the impassable cataracts of Zongo and Mokoangi, can be successfully avoided.

The importance of the Mbomu, a northern ramification of the Ubanghi, is increased by the fact that it forms for a considerable distance a natural boundary between the Congo Free State and the French possessions. Its position, therefore, renders it of considerable political consequence. The Mbomu, although not yet entirely explored, is destined therefore to play, with its numerous branches, a large part in the history of the Congo. The country around is not only of great fertility, but also very beautiful. Here is to be found one of the finest forests in the territory.

By means of the Congo and its tributaries an admirable system of communication is being established, the ramifications of which, supplemented by[Pg 55] the telegraph and the railway, will within a few years render every part of this vast territory accessible. In proportion thereto will increase the authority of the State and its civilising influence. The growth of commerce, and the security and advancement of the native population, are, in fact, coexpansive with the extension of the facilities of intercommunication. The larger rivers—the Kassai, the Kwango, the Lualaba and the Ubanghi—are all patrolled by government steamers.

Of hardly less importance than the rivers of the Congo are the lakes. Besides the larger and navigable lakes are hundreds of smaller ones. There are thousands of shallow pools along the courses of the rivers, as those along the upper Luapula. It was that keen observer, M. Delcommune, who foretold that many of these lakes will eventually disappear. He contended that a combination of causes, chief among which being the dryness of the equatorial climate and the consequent evaporation of the water, will gradually bring about this result. By a succession of experiments, covering a period of more than two years, he discovered a diminution of the water of the Lualaba. This process of evaporation, incessantly continued for centuries, will completely absorb the water in the marshes and pools, and decrease the volume of the great rivers themselves. However, this need occasion no alarm. On the contrary, it is believed that it will aid materially the development of the country. Not only will it dry the pestiferous marshes, but it will also define the beds of the rivers,[Pg 56] whose courses, because of the contraction of their channels, will thus be rendered simpler and more definite.

By the disappearance of the pools and lagoons, now to be found in the vicinity of the rivers, hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable arable lands will be reclaimed. And as this soil, formed of alluvial deposits, is exceedingly fertile, the benefits that will accrue therefrom are incalculable. The famous polders of Holland, and the lowlands of Egypt near the mouth of the Nile, demonstrate the possibilities of such a soil.

But it will not be necessary to wait for the slow processes of nature. Vast areas can be drained by artificial means, and this, since the sun is for ever assisting, can be done without great cost. The lands so drained will possess, besides their extraordinary fertility, other advantages, not the least of which is their accessibility.

The most important lake in the western part of the State is Lake Leopold II., discovered by Stanley in 1882. It is broad but shallow, and is joined to the Congo by the Mfini and the Kassai. On its banks are several flourishing stations. North-west of Lake Leopold is Lake Matumba, from which the navigable river, Irebu, flows upwards into the Congo.

On the north-eastern boundary is Lake Albert Edward, the western part of which belongs to the State. This lake, the haunt of numerous hippopotami, is joined to Lake Albert Nyanza, which is about 150 miles north, by the Semlika, the boundary between the Belgian and British possessions.

[Pg 57]

Directly south of Lake Albert Edward is Lake Kivu. From this lake, part of which is yet unexplored, flows the river Rusisi. This torrential stream dashes through a rocky country, descending 2380 feet in 68 miles. It empties into Lake Tanganyika. On the eastern shore of the lake are Lubuga and Luahilimta, trading stations, established by the State. Lake Kivu is dotted with hundreds of islets, and is situated in the centre of a lofty plateau. Towering from this plateau rises a range of enormous snow-clad volcanic cones, from eight to over fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. Of these the highest is Kirunga-cha-gongo, which is said to be the largest inland volcano in the world. It was first ascended by its discoverer, Count von Gotzen, and later by the English naturalist, Moore. All around Kivu are inaccessible crags, calcined gorges, and arid deserts, showing that the whole region is of volcanic origin. Such is the wonderful clarity of the atmosphere that the outline of every crag and spur of the mountains is visible sixty miles away. The forests of Kivu abound in elephants. Travellers report seeing here as many as a thousand in one day.

Of Lake Kivu Count von Gotzen, its discoverer, has given an excellent account. I quote the following from his work, Durf Afrika von Ost nach West:

Directly south of Kivu, and connected with it by the river Rusisi, is Lake Tanganyika, partitioned equally between the Congo Free State and German East Africa. It is about four hundred miles in length and nearly fifty in breadth. It was Stanley who first circumnavigated Lake Tanganyika, though it had been discovered in 1858, about twenty years before, by Burton and Speke. It was, in fact, the latter who first called the attention of the world to the Congo Region. On the shores of this lake Lieutenant Cambier, in 1879, established, at Karema, the first station of the International Association of the Congo. Cambier was so impressed with the possibilities of this region that, by purchase and treaty, he obtained from its native ruler about five thousand acres of land, and this tract may be regarded as the nucleus of King Leopold’s colony. It was this station on Tanganyika also that afterwards became the basis of operations against the Arab slave-trade.

From Albertville, Baudouinville, and other stations on its western shore a flotilla of small vessels and several steam-yachts now navigate this lake, and to these other and larger craft will soon be added.[Pg 59] A telegraph and telephone line, connecting Kassongo on the Lualaba with Baraka on Lake Tanganyika, was opened in the latter part of 1903. This line will soon be extended to Lake Kivu.

The region around Tanganyika is noted for its beautiful scenery, and a large part of it is said to be unusually healthful. Like Kivu, this lake is situated in an immense plateau, six thousand feet above the sea. The angular inclination and general configuration of all these lakes in the eastern part of the Congo is, in fact, very similar; each lake, however, has its individual scenery, climate, and peculiar flora. Moore found Tanganyika floored with the shells of millions of molluscs, the zoölogical remains of a dead sea. He discovered here also three kinds of sponges. On the eastern shores abound huge swamps and immense tracts of mimosa. The dark red cliffs on the West Coast form a brilliant contrast to the blue African sky and the white clouds. Between Tanganyika and Nyangwe, the old slave-capital of Tippo Tip, the country is tenanted by the Manyema, famous as collectors of ivory. Surveys are now being made for a railway from Beni to Tanganyika. This it is proposed to continue to Stanleyville on the Middle Congo.

Lake Moero, one hundred miles south-west of Tanganyika and the south-eastern boundary between British territory and the State, was discovered by Livingstone. It was first explored, however, by the Belgian officers, Bia and Francqui. This lake, which is one hundred miles long and about half as broad, is now patrolled by a steam-yacht.

[Pg 60]

Only a few years ago the immense basin of the Congo was an untamed wilderness, “a slave-park” Stanley called it, bare to raids of murderous marauders. Bands of predatory Arabs swooping down upon the defenceless natives decimated whole tribes, and carried away men, women, and children by the thousand. The slave-trader stalked like a pestilence through the land, leaving in his wake the smoking ruins of a hundred villages and the charred skeletons of his black victims.

It was not only the natives who suffered from the raids of merciless ravagers; but the Europeans, explorer, merchant, and missionary, were also subject to their tyrannical impositions. And when, as in the case of Emin Pasha, they opposed the designs of these despoilers, they were ruthlessly murdered. Flame and sword, robbery and massacre,—such, until ten years ago, were the chief episodes in the epic of the Congo.

To-day this vast region is not only geographically determined, occupied, and effectually protected, but the power of the Arab raider has been for ever annihilated. Regions which for ages were the scene of carnage and holocaust have now been pacified. Where all was insecurity and turbulence a reign of law and order has been substituted.

Nature has here been so prodigal of her gifts that her very extravagance renders in some respects the task of colonisation less easy. Before roads could be built it was necessary to hew down huge forests; before stations could be established it was needful[Pg 61] to explore and to conquer the wilderness. The paths that plunged into the jungle ended in trackless solitudes. The vastnesses bristled with unknown terrors. There was call for the explorer and the pioneer, but it seemed as if ages must elapse before there was need of the carriers of commerce.

To conduct broad highways from the coast to the centre, through a territory so vast in extent, so dangerous, and so impenetrable, would seem indeed a task for centuries. Such, too, it is safe to assume, would still be the situation had it not been for the magnificent water-system of the region and the great colonising genius who turned its natural destiny to the civilising course of an onward industry. Without these splendid flowing highways of commerce, pulsing from the heart of the continent to the sea, the wonderful progress of the last quarter of a century would not have been possible. Following the lead of the Congo and its tributaries, Belgian pioneers have moved through the great wilderness, planting the plough and the cross, until to-day Central Africa, so long curtained from the eyes of civilised man, lies bare to the world.

It was by this instrument that the siege of the great unknown was prosecuted. It was thus that that citadel of despair, the stronghold of Darkest Africa, was subjugated. And as we look at the magnificent results, and at the still more magnificent future which those results foreshadow, we cannot but conclude that this natural aid to the efforts of a heroic band of explorers was more than the mere manifestation of blind chance.

[Pg 62]

The campaign of exploration planned by King Leopold, and executed by his courageous subjects and his able ally, Stanley, was the first of those remarkable achievements of practical utility that have no parallel in the history of modern colonisation. In the Congo and its affluents these State-builders found a providential and generous auxiliary. These wide rivers, the veins of the civilisation of the Congo, are the key to a situation of which triumphant Belgian sacrifice and valour in Central Africa will yet perfect the sequel.

To the existence of these natural allies, then, is largely due the speedy extirpation of the slave trade, the suppression of cannibalism, the control of the country, the gradual conversion of its populations to the saving influences of civilisation, the effective system of communication between port and port, and the beginnings of the development of those vast resources which already excite the cupidity of nations less successful. Indeed, without such advantage it is doubtful whether the King of the Belgians would have been equal to the onerous responsibilities he so cheerfully assumed.

But now with more than nine thousand miles of waterways open to navigation, few sections of this immense domain are to-day inaccessible. Great areas which but a few years ago were virgin forests are now under successful cultivation. The jungle, once the lair of the cannibal, is safe and peaceful. Where the raider ravished his shrieking victims, the State and the Mission instruct in the attributes of a useful life. Chaos has at last[Pg 63] yielded to order, and another triumph has been added to civilisation in the short term of twenty years. It is a great story, and the Prince who wrote it on the face of Africa need not deign to hear the hiss of envy straining at the gorge. Let Leopold II. find consolation in that rugged philosophy of Carlyle which mocked at the timid temper of his own time: “To subdue mutiny, discord, widespread despair by manfulness, justice, mercy and wisdom, to let light on chaos and make it instead a green flowery world, is great beyond all other greatness, work for a God.”

In view of the confused controversy that has prevailed between the friends and the enemies of the Congo Free State, concerning its legal foundation and its existence de facto before the Conference of the Powers which recognised its statehood at Berlin (November 15, 1884-February 26, 1885), it seems pertinent at this point to examine the issue at some length.

For unknown centuries Central Africa had been peopled with many millions of savage, semi-savage, and barbarian black men, hidden from all civilising influence. Their social condition varied. Many were cannibals, some were living in a rude state of primitive tribal order, others were at incessant war with hostile tribes, all were living in the gloom of an interminable night of barbaric existence. Their only touch with the human family had been through the slave trade, of which they were the object and the victims. The white man knew of their lot in this respect many years before he listened attentively to an appeal for deliverance from the Arab marauders who enslaved them. The natural law of human solidarity had not as yet inspired civilised nations[Pg 65] with an energetic movement to ameliorate the condition of the savage black in Mid-Africa. Indeed, Stanley’s explorations had not gone to completion save for the enlightened and philanthropic moral and material support of Leopold II. When Great Britain declined to provide Stanley with the means to further his brave work, the King of the Belgians, having several years before openly associated himself with sentiments seeking the organisation of a consistent civilising movement in Central Africa, sent for this intrepid explorer and fortified his hopes and plans from his private purse. It was with the highest motives, from an elevated point of view, that his Majesty considered the situation of these cannibal tribes. His solicitude for the Belgians, their economic needs, their legitimate and necessary expansion, gave point to his consideration of a distant land, where great natural wealth lay unrevealed and unused, for the good of the native and his benefactor. A wild life abounded in those parts which by civilisation might be regenerated and brought into the sphere of human usefulness. Here opportunity seemed to throw wide her arms for the Prince with the courage to dare an undertaking which the great Powers and the small had so far deftly avoided. “I will pierce barbaric darkness; I will secure to Central Africa the blessing of civilised government. And I will, if necessary, undertake this great task alone.” So spake his Majesty, when, as Duke of Brabant, he electrified Europe with what Europe, in her narrowed conservatism, regarded as the utopian utterances of an impractical and effervescing[Pg 66] youth. Europe smiled and shrugged her shoulders at the temerity of him who essayed to analyse the heart of Africa and prescribe its panacea.

If this great task had fallen upon a man of ordinary natural powers and acquired means, that part of Darkest Africa which now defies the organised conspiracy of the despoiler would interest nobody save the slave-trader who terrorised the land and polluted the sea with the black man’s blood. To his Majesty’s great initiative in 1876, and to his prescience of mind, his generous hand, and astonishing industry in the cause which inspired him are due those two decades of progress which some regard as a triumph of Colonial civilisation; while others, from motives which need not be examined with a lens, stigmatise it as the curse of Central Africa.

Point of view and interest are important elements in all controversy. Where so much has been charged and refuted, a judicial attitude is sometimes maintained with difficulty. But against the assertion that the Congo Free State is a creation of the General Act of the Berlin Conference, may be arrayed a body of well-settled law which only an unreasoning enemy or a paid advocate would have the hardihood to dispute.

Long before the Berlin Conference had been conceived, acts of government had been effecting organisation and order in the territory now known as the “Independent State of the Congo.” Legislation, one of the later signs of established government, had occurred in the territory [Pg 67]acquired by the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo, of which King Leopold was honorary president and Colonel Strauch president.

The conception of the State was that of the King personally; the character of its governmental manifestations was surcharged with his personality; its being was crystallised by his own touch and modelling. It is error to confound the recognition of the State by the Berlin Conference as the act which created the State. Recognition presupposes existence, and in the case of the Congo Free State there had been, for a considerable time before the adoption of the General Act of the Berlin Conference, a government de facto in the territories under the dominion of the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo. Indeed, before the Berlin Conference had adopted the General Act, the State was qualified to announce, and did notify the Conference, that it had been recognised by all the Powers except one, which, however, soon thereafter followed the example of the other signatories. It was as a State, standing on an equality with the other Powers, that the Congo Free State attended the Berlin Conference and, under Article 37, adhered to an Act which did not deal with the sovereignty of States at all, but confined itself to a consideration of an economic régime applicable throughout the Congo Basin, including the territories therein of Great Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, and the Congo Free State. Events anterior to its introduction to the Conference as a friendly State by Prince Bismarck do not depend for their quality upon the form of that introduction. They are not destroyed by the peculiarity of phrase or the[Pg 68] spontaneous honour which accompanied its entrance into the society of nations. That which does not exist cannot be the object of recognition. Even without the facts of the recognition by the United States of the State’s flag (April 22, 1884) as that of a friendly Government seven months before the Berlin Conference convened, and its recognition by Germany seven days before the opening of the Conference (November 8, 1884), the State contends that it was a State in esse, a Government de facto, fully organised and qualified to maintain itself as such within the territory it had acquired by cession from the native tribal chiefs and by prior occupation.

An examination of competent authorities on this important phase of Congolese civilisation convinces us that the idle contention which questions the State’s independence of the Powers signatory of the General Act of Berlin has been brought forth merely for its cumulative effect, not for its inherent power to sustain itself.

The subject may be approached by two questions: What is a State? What is a Government?

“A State ... implies the union of a number of individuals in a fixed territory, and under one central authority. Austria-Hungary is a State, but, as Prince Gortchakoff once sarcastically remarked, ‘It is a Government, and not a nation.’”

The Constitution of the United States defines the term State as combining the idea of people, territory, and government. Defining the difference between a government in law and a government in fact, Montague Bernard says, in Neutrality of Great Britain[Pg 69] during American Civil War: “A de jure government is one which, in the opinion of the person using the phrase, ought to possess the powers of sovereignty, though at the time it may be deprived of them. A de facto government is one which is really in possession of them, although the possession may be wrongful or precarious.”

In Tharington v. Smith, 8 Wallace, 8-11, the Court said:

In Wheaton’s Elements of International Law, the latest edition of the leading authority on the subject, the author maintains that:

The principles thus indicated would appear to distinguish with marked certitude the vast difference between the State’s existence and its recognition. The latter was a political consequence of the former. At the Berlin Conference no question was raised concerning a fact so patent, nor did the signatories distinguish between the five Powers in possession of the Congo Basin in framing the clauses of the Berlin Act imposing the same obligations on all these Governments. Those obligations related only to their economic régime in Central Africa. The articles of the Act concerning the Congo Basin, which applied to the Independent State of the Congo, were also binding upon Great Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal. This sign of equality is inconsistent with the notion that the Congo Free State is the vassal territory of the Powers signatory of the General Act of Berlin.

[Pg 71]

It has been contended by technicians of the law of nations who are in the service of those who seek to disrupt the Congo Free State, that a State cannot accrue out of a private association, such, for instance, as the International African Association or the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo. But just as events are constantly spoiling theories, so had the flag of the Belgians confounded that contention by demonstrating in a practical manner that a State did exist, and that all the elements of a State government were present in the neighbourhood of Stanley Pool long before the Berlin Conference.

American writers on the subject are of opinion that the North American Indian in his aboriginal state was not a political unit of the United States at the time when the Union declared its independence. In Johnson v. McIntosh, 8 Wheaton, p. 543, Chief-Justice Marshall described their status in the following language:

[Pg 72]

To this may be added the apposite declaration of Mr. Fish, Secretary of State, to Mr. Hackett, June 12, 1873:

The Congo State law to which the foregoing declaration applies will be discussed in the chapter on the State Lands and Concessions. The citation is offered here merely for its general bearing upon the doctrine put forth by certain writers who contend that barbarous races living in primitive conditions upon lands over which civilised government has not been established, attain to the organic level of political units or citizenship upon the recognition of the government which dominates them with either its civil or its military power. That doctrine, it seems to us, is untenable. There is, on the other hand, no doubt that savage races can, by the symbols and the operating functions of government, humanely enforced according to the conditions with which it must cope, be brought to the knowledge of, and obedience to, an orderly civil community. The instruments of civilisation must vary with the various character of the life upon which they are to operate effectively. Yet there are strabismic monitors of African civilisation who, representing no high moral standard in themselves, have laid down a rule of conduct for the Congo Free State which disregards that principle. It has been this narrow view of a liberal civilising scheme[Pg 73] that has caused so much mischievous mewling in Great Britain concerning alleged misrule in Central Africa.

The foundation of the Congo Free State really began with the organised movement and structures of the Comité d’Études du Haut-Congo on November 25, 1878. The expedition of Stanley on August 14, 1879, was an earnest of the Committee’s intention to establish the institutions of a permanent local government with all practicable speed.

The Belgian post of Vivi was the first monument fixed in the wake of Stanley. On February 21, 1880, Isanghila was established, and on May 1, 1881, Manyanga was occupied. In the following December the expedition arrived at Stanley Pool, and reconstructed the steamboat En Avant, which, having been dismantled, had been carried in small sections through the forest to this point above the cataracts. In a short time this pioneer craft bore Stanley up the Congo River to accomplish the dream of Leopold II.

Many stations were established, steamers began running between them, treaties were concluded with the chiefs of independent native tribes to protect the territory so occupied against the claims of subsequent explorers; administrative and police services were required, and all the effective essentials of a central authority and an actual government were then and there established.

At this juncture the Committee changed its name to the International Congo Association and redoubled its activities. The Niadi Kwilu Basin was explored; that important factor in late Congo[Pg 74] prosperity, the Upper Kassai, was brought under the influence of Belgian regeneration, and the Lunda country and districts beyond were taken within the Government’s sphere.

In five years discoveries of great value had been made in Darkest Africa, hundreds of tribes had been peacefully visited, over five hundred treaties of suzerainty had been made with the ruling chiefs, forty stations had been erected and their complement of officers put to the work of administering a definite system of local government, and five steamers on the Upper Congo were regularly communicating the affairs of a Government which now effectively controlled all the territory between the East Coast and Stanley Falls, between Bangala and Luluabourg.[2]

This, then, was the position of the Government in the Congo Basin in 1883, long before the Berlin Conference. The status that Government acquired as a consequence of its administrative acts in, and dominion over, the territory it occupied, has been briefly indicated from the point of view of American authorities on the subject of international law. Before examining the leading European authorities, whose approaches to the subject are peculiar to European experience and learning, it is interesting to observe how consistently the action of the Government of the United States followed the American view of the law on the subject.

Baron A. Descamps’ New Africa, an excellent essay on government civilisation in new countries,[Pg 75] embodies a concise statement of what occurred in the fortunes of the infant State early in 1884, when its progressive work had extended a civilising influence to those regions of the Congo Basin where the Arab slave trade had not retained its devastating sway. The writer says:

M. Ernest Nys, Professor of International Law of the University of Brussels, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal (Conseiller à la Cour d’Appel de Bruxelles); member of the Institute of International Law, a distinguished Belgian, and writer on several branches of the law, sets forth with greater detail the precise form of the recognition of the Congo Free State by the Senate of the United States. M. Nys relates:

In his annual message to Congress the President of the United States raised the question of the relations which were henceforth to be established between the Republic and “the inhabitants of the Congo Valley in Africa.” On 26th May, 1884, Mr. Morgan (Alabama) reported to the Senate in the name of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

On 18th January, 1884, a communication from Mr. Frelinghuysen, Secretary of the State Department, explained to Mr. Morgan how along the Congo the African International Association had created important establishments. On 13th March of the same year a further communication from Mr. Frelinghuysen set forth the opportuneness and the usefulness of recognising the flag of the Association, and added that no principle of international law was opposed to the creation of a State by a philanthropical society.

In his report of 26th March Mr. Morgan recalled the fact that Stanley had concluded at Vivi on 13th June, 1880, the first convention with a native chief, and that since that date nearly a hundred other treaties between tribal chiefs and the agents of the Association had been concluded, in which important commercial arrangements and stipulations relative to law, the maintenance of order, and the delegation of power figured among the provisions. Consequently two hypotheses presented themselves. “If the local rulers,” said Mr. Morgan,[Pg 78] “were qualified to make the cession they did, the sovereign power that they conferred on the African International Association might obtain recognition on the part of other nations precisely because that Association thus proves its existence as a Government by law. If,” he added, “there exists any doubt concerning the sovereignty or the territory or the subjects, the understanding among the native tribes who conclude treaties with the Association offers a sufficient guarantee to other peoples for recognising the Association as a Government in fact.”

The Committee on Foreign Relations made a motion in favour of the recognition of the Association. It is permissible to affirm that at this moment a juridical person already existed, which could claim the principal rights of a State, and which found itself prepared to fulfil the duties of one. The first direction of the efforts of the Committee for studying the Upper Congo had been indicated in July, 1879, in the instructions given to Stanley. “It would be wise,” wrote Colonel Strauch, “to extend the influence of the stations over the chiefs and tribes inhabiting the neighbourhood. There might be made out of them a republican confederation of free Negroes, an independent confederation under this reservation, that the King, to whom its conception and creation would be due, should nominate its President who was to reside in Europe.... A confederacy thus formed might of its own authority grant concessions to companies for the construction of works of public utility, or issue loans, as Liberia and Sarawak do, and also itself execute public works. Our enterprise does not tend to the creation of a Belgian Colony but to the establishment of a powerful Negro State.”[5] But the political idea was not slow in taking a precise form. If in Mr. Morgan’s report there is still question of the Free States of the Congo the conclusion did not the less relate, as we have just seen, to the African International Association.

It was it which was [sic], according to the Committee on[Pg 79] Foreign Relations of the Senate, in law or in fact a “Government” qualified to claim international recognition.

Besides, the solution was very soon effected. The Government of the United States recorded the existence of The International Association of the Congo, managing the interests of the Free States established in that region, and gave orders to all United States officials on sea and on land to recognise the flag of the International Association as the equal of that of a friendly Government.

The following is the text of the declarations which were exchanged on 22d April, 1884:

We observe in the spontaneous recognition accorded the youthful State—whatever its form of government may have been—prompt admission of its qualification as a member of the society of nations. This was before the signatory Powers to the General Act of Berlin had opportunity of indicating that sympathy which they expressed in substantial terms when they[Pg 81] followed the example of the United States and Germany, and invited the Congo Government to participate in the Berlin Conference as a friendly State invested with all the attributes of statehood which their recognition implied.

It is contended by the advocates of the Congo Free State that the form of its government at any time before or after recognition can not in the slightest degree affect the question of the State’s actual existence. It matters not, say the European authorities—Barboux, Picard, Nys, Descamps, Van Berchem, Azcarate, de Martens, and Pierantoni, whether the earlier Government was composed of “federated Negro tribes”; a State ruled by monarchy; territorial and tribal allegiance to an organised central authority; by an autocrat employing civil and military powers, or any other scheme of equitable and civilised domination. The right of the Government to exist cannot be destroyed by latter-day technicalities of law adroitly applied. The point to be noted, says Baron Descamps, is that “the claim to the occupation of vacant territories and to the acquirement by cession of sovereign rights was not inferior to the titles relied upon by European Powers in the course of their colonial expansion.” All this was an element patent in the State’s foundation, obviously understood and admitted by the Powers which, while they assumed that the Congo Basin contained nothing of material or political value to excite their cupidity, they recognised and treated on a basis of equality—so far, at least,[Pg 82] as the considerations of the Berlin Conference are concerned.

In the present chapter have been briefly considered the legal and ethical aspects of the birth and baptism of the Congo Free State, its romantic evolution from the enlightened forces put into play by the indomitable personal powers of a Prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In a succeeding chapter will be observed how the obligations imposed by the General Act of Berlin were discharged by the several Powers which assumed them.[6]

[Pg 83]

Slavery: the absolute, irresponsible ownership of one class of human beings by another class; a contract in which the only factors are might on the one side and helplessness on the other; servitude exacted by force.

Slavery has existed in all countries from the earliest recorded periods. The most enlightened philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome were unable to conceive a community of which a section was not enslaved by the rest.

As a system, slavery, by its long-continued, universal practice, and the simple solution it affords of what in our modern world is referred to as the labour difficulty, appeals to two powerful human instincts: conservatism and cupidity. The ethical unfairness of one man’s being made wholly subservient to the will of another; forced to labour for him without reward; his chattel to retain, sell, or slay, as though he were a horse or a dog, was perceived from the earliest times. But those most interested in the overthrow of the system, the slaves themselves, being ignorant, and purposely kept in that condition by their taskmasters, suffered on, century after century, finding no champion for their[Pg 84] cause until the advent of the Redeemer of Mankind, preaching universal brotherhood and equal rights for all men.

But the greater the wrong the longer it takes to right it, and Christ’s words were but the seed from which has sprung our great harvest of freedom. It has been a harvest of slow growth. For ages after the divine words were spoken on behalf of the slave by the first and greatest of his advocates, slavery was still regarded by many nations as indispensable to their existence. Indeed, eighteen centuries elapsed before there was any appreciable awakening to the deep infamy of slavery. It occurred in England, and was the result of the unwearied efforts of a small band of enthusiasts, whose labours, like those of all reformers, were at first derided.

England, though free from the curse of slavery within her own proper borders, had in the course of history done as much as, nay, more than, any other nation to enslave the Negro. She had acquired him in Africa by thousands in exchange for guns, knives, alcohol, and dry goods; had transported him across the Atlantic to her American cotton plantations in a manner compared with which a modern steerage emigrant’s experience may be regarded as a luxurious cruise; and had then extracted the utmost amount of work from him by the aid of the lash.

All the vested interests created by this traffic, long persevered in, as well as the callousness engendered by its brutality, had to be fought against and overthrown by a small band of Liberationists, aided by nothing but their enthusiasm[Pg 85] and a just cause. Nevertheless they daily gathered strength, and finally succeeded in inducing the British Parliament to vote a hundred million dollars for the purchase and liberation of every slave in every country where the British flag flies. This grand event took place in the year·1830.

Three decades later came that tremendous convulsion in the United States, the like of which the world has not seen. It was resolved by the United States Government to free the slaves, slavery being a system never deliberately adopted by the United States, but inherited, as it were, from the English Colonial régime, of which they had by revolution become the successors. The slaveholding Southern States, resisting the new law, sought to withdraw from the Union, and civil war ensued, in which the Abolitionists were entirely successful, but at an appalling cost in men and money.

It has been necessary to refer thus briefly to the history of slavery because of the strangely prevalent opinion that when peace was restored within the United States, and slavery finally abolished there, slavery no longer existed in the world. True, it was known that there was a sort of domestic service, chiefly of women, akin to slavery, practised in China, Persia, and some minor Oriental countries; but that was thought to be all. It came, therefore, as a rude shock to civilised humanity when travellers of unquestionable veracity, such as Dr. Livingstone, Sir Samuel Baker, and Henry M. Stanley, demonstrated[Pg 86] that the slave trade not only still existed throughout vast regions in Africa, but was rampant there in its most atrocious aspect. At first it was hardly realised that the labours of Granville Sharpe, Clarkson, and Wilberforce, the monetary sacrifices of England, and the devastating war in America had, taken together, fallen so far short of complete triumph. But the evidence was overwhelming that such was indeed the case, the Soudan, the Upper Nile, and the basins of the Congo and the great lakes—more than a third of all Africa, exceeding in area the whole of Europe—being still the field of the iniquity. The Sultans of petty states in the Soudan were shown to be, for the most part, chiefs of ferocious Arab tribes who thrived by raiding Central African villages and carrying off their inhabitants, whom they sold for slaves. The cruelties attending their marauding operations were too great to admit of exaggeration. “All over Africa,” wrote Schweinfurth, a German traveller, “dried human skeletons show where the slave-trader has passed.”

Acting under heavy pressure brought to bear upon it by the anti-slavery humanitarians in England the British Government coerced the Khedive of Egypt into signing a convention having for its object the suppression of slavery within his dominions. In order to carry out the engagement into which he had entered, the Khedive appointed General Gordon Governor of the Soudan, and that remarkable man, during the six years that he held that office, displayed so much energy and skill that he succeeded in utterly eradicating the evil throughout the entire[Pg 87] region placed under his control. Nevertheless, the general result was not so good as had been hoped for; the slave-traders, despoiled of their hunting-grounds in the Egyptian Soudan, pursuing their nefarious occupation with redoubled vigour on Lake Tanganyika and the Upper Congo. With what extremity of horror they conducted their operations has been so graphically described by a Belgian merchant, M. Hodister, that we make no apology for quoting his account in full.

Bound together in groups by stout cords around their waists and necks, the wretched procession of captives, often two or three thousand in number, was, after an incident such as this, marched to the coast. Generally, at least a third of them died by the way. The sick and the lamed, unable to maintain the desired pace, were weeded out at each halting-place and ruthlessly butchered by their captors.

It will require no very inventive imagination to appreciate the magnitude of the difficulties confronting the Belgian pioneers in their effort to suppress slavery, carried on with such ferocious brutality over an area so vast as Central Africa. Yet that was but one of several tasks enjoined upon them by their King; but it was first in order and importance, and until it was accomplished[Pg 89] little or no progress in other respects could be hoped for. “Crime is not punished as an offence against God, but as prejudicial to society,” says the historian Froude. King Leopold saw in the crime of slavery both the offence to God and the prejudice to man, and was prepared to exert his utmost energy and, if necessary, expend the last franc of his private fortune, to stamp out the evil. In this heroic endeavour his Majesty was ably seconded by his minister, the distinguished Baron Lambermont, who has recorded his opinion of slavery in these words: “The slave trade is the very denial of every law, of all social order. Man-hunting constitutes a crime of high treason against humanity. It ought to be repressed wherever it can be reached, on land as well as by sea.”

It is not claimed that there is anything original in the sentiment that animates this well-expressed sentence. Similar views to those of Baron Lambermont have been held by all great thinkers since the establishment of the Christian religion; but it is referred to in this place as an additional proof, if any were needed, of the high moral purpose underlying the enterprise of the King of the Belgians, and to show how that moral purpose was sympathised with and shared by his Majesty’s ministers and the Belgian people.

That every religious sect without exception has denounced slavery as the blackest spot sullying the fair fame of the nineteenth century need not be reiterated. In logical sequence, every religious sect was prepared to assist, morally and materially, in the[Pg 90] removal of a disgrace which was felt to reflect upon every civilised community. In an encyclical, dated 5th of May, 1888, addressed by Pope Leo XIII. to the bishops of Brazil, congratulating them upon the abolition of slavery in their country, his Holiness referred to the deplorable condition of the Negro in Central Africa, and called upon “all who wield power, those who sway empires, those who desire that the rights of nature and humanity be respected, and those who desire the progress of religion, to unite everywhere to secure the abolition of this most shameful and criminal traffic.”

This noble appeal touched the hearts of thousands in every nation of Europe and in America. For Cardinal Lavigerie, the Belgian prelate, who had so long laboured on behalf of the oppressed Congolese, it had a special significance, inspiring him with renewed courage and energy in his glorious work. When, for the first time in history, a small band of Christian Negroes from Central Africa was received in audience by the Pope, a few days after the issue of this encyclical, Leo XIII., replying to the address of Cardinal Lavigerie, who had presented them, said:

Cardinal Lavigerie’s practical reply to this direct personal appeal from the head of his Church was the formation in Belgium of the Anti-Slavery Society. The agitation on behalf of the Negro was not confined to Catholics. Among the friends of the movement were to be found the best of every creed as of every nation. Great conventions were held in Germany and England having for their object the suppression of slavery in Central Africa, and societies formed in those countries; and France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal quickly followed suit. Though “man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn,” it was now shown to be also potent to arouse some of the best instincts of human nature to assure its suppression. At last the horrors of the African slave trade were adequately realised, and the world applauded Leopold, King of the Belgians, for his arduous labours for its extinction, and was anxious to strengthen his hands for grappling with the still formidable work that remained to do.

A clear view of the position of the State previous to the adoption of the resolutions known as the General Act of the Berlin Conference may be had from a summary of the signal events which had marked its formative period.

The Congo Free State was born of the Congo International Association founded by his Majesty, Leopold II. in 1883, while Stanley was in his service. Prior to the legal foundation of the State, the Association had obtained recognition of its sovereignty as hereinbefore indicated. By treaties concluded in 1884 and 1885 with the United States and with many of the European Powers, it adhered, on the 25th of February, 1885, to the resolutions of the Berlin Conference, which, embodied in a General Act, established, amongst other things, freedom of trade throughout the Congo Basin, and declared free navigation on the Congo River, its tributaries, and the lakes and canals connected therewith. The text of the General Act of Berlin, so far as it relates to the Congo, is fully set forth in an appendix. The principal subjects contained in the Act which may concern the reader are briefly stated:

[Pg 93]

The treaties which, before the adoption of these resolutions on February 26, 1885, the Congo Free State had concluded with various Powers, were those with the United States of America, dated April 22, 1886; Germany, 8th November; Great Britain, 16th December; Italy, 19th December; Spain, 7th January, 1885; France, 5th February; Russia on the same day; Sweden and Norway, 10th February; Portugal, 14th February; Denmark and Belgium,[Pg 94] 23rd February. These treaties[7] were notified to the Conference on the 23rd February, and the neutrality of the State was declared and published on the 1st August in the same year.

At the close of the Berlin Conference on 26th February, 1885, Prince Bismarck offered his tribute of appreciation for the work which, deriving its inspiration from the King of the Belgians, had, by the Powers represented, been formulated into an economic code for the guidance of the four nations, which, besides the Congo Free State, occupied the great Congo Basin. Prince Bismarck’s address has the effect of oracular utterance in the light of events since the day when he wisely said that the work of the Conference would be, like every human undertaking, susceptible of improvement. The following is the full text of Prince Bismarck’s closing speech:

The brilliant, cordial, and edifying final session of the Berlin Conference presaged no such campaign of calumny as that which has proceeded since Sir Charles Dilke, on gross misinformation purveyed by interested persons, and on what appears to have been his wilful misreading of a book entitled The Fall of the Congo Arabs, attacked the Congo State by moving in the British Parliament on April 2, 1897, a measure calling for a new Conference to consider charges which no one had presented, but which, for some inscrutable reason, this eminent parliamentarian seemed anxious to dignify by sensational legislation.

When the Berlin Conference concluded its labours,[Pg 97] it was with manifest sympathy for the King of the Belgians and his voluntary pledge to an African task which practically all the participating Powers regarded as impossible of achievement, such were its glaring difficulties. Now, after twenty years of Belgian sacrifice, there are those who, jealous of the achievements in a task they were so anxious to avoid in 1885, must destroy where they cannot reap in 1905. To men of purpose and brave outlook, this is merely one of the many incivilities of civilisation. Success begets envy in one’s neighbour; failure often confirms him in his secret contempt.

In Belgium the completion of the General Act of the Berlin Conference evoked a patriotic feeling of satisfaction which, in its address to the King, the Chamber of Representatives voiced in the following language: “To your Majesty belongs the honour of having conceived the African work, of having pursued and developed it by persevering efforts.... We felicitate your Majesty on these important results, and, as Belgians, we are proud of the solemn homage rendered by the Powers to the generous and progressive ideas of our Sovereign.” The Belgian nation, for a long time uncertain of the result of the philanthropic work of its King in Central Africa, and having observed that other nations had shrunk from this costly task of civilisation, now uttered its sentiments of approval in many forms. In his speech before the Chamber on March 10, 1885, M. Beernaert, then Minister of Finance, said, amongst other expressions of hope for the new State, that the merit of the work accomplished “belongs especially to the[Pg 98] initiation, to the persistent energy, and to the sacrifices of our King.” Then, expressing the hope of extended industries—a hope that was largely, if not entirely, the incentive which actuated the Powers Signatory to the Berlin Act—the Minister concluded his address with the belief that the Congo would offer “to our superabundant activity, to our industries more and more confined, outlets by which we shall know how to profit. May the enterprising spirit of our King encourage our countrymen to seek, even at a distance, new sources of greatness and prosperity for our dear country.” The Belgian Chamber and Senate ratified the nation’s participation in the General Act of the Berlin Conference without a dissentient voice.

To the loyal address of his Parliament, the King of the Belgians made reply, graciously acknowledging the support his subjects had given him in his great African work.

There remained now the making of a Sovereign for the new State, and, having regard to the universal tribute of praise rendered to its founder at the Berlin Conference, it was clear enough, in its opinion, who should continue to direct the destinies of a wild territory in which so much had been accomplished in so short a time. Belgium, however, was not prepared, in 1885, to take over the Congo State as her colony. There were, at that time, many considerations in Belgium and in the Congo to suggest caution to a naturally conservative Government. The creation of the Congo State had involved many risks and great difficulties. It had required a huge expenditure[Pg 99] of money, nearly all of which the King had personally contributed without the slightest assurance that his country or his estate would ever recover it, except in so far as his marvellous foresight assured him in this respect. If there were many difficulties at the beginning of his Majesty’s African enterprise, there were still greater obstacles to be surmounted. To the ultra-conservative section of the Belgian Parliament the whole project was still enshrouded in doubt. But the King, having so far borne the risks and the cost of civilising the savage African black man, had also given his country the written assurance that the result of his labours—whatever they were when realised—should be at the disposal, by appropriation or otherwise, of the Belgian nation “without costing her anything.” As the theory of a purely personal union between Belgium and the Congo State had found much favour, it was proposed that the King of the Belgians should be empowered to become the Sovereign of the Congo Free State without in any respect involving the Belgian nation.

In this eminently practical proposal the King had taken the initiative in the following letter to his Council of Ministers:

There were a few obstructionists in the Belgian Parliament who, impelled by an habitual attitude of opposition to all that the dominant political party proposed, offered considerable criticism. They disregarded the similar expedients adopted by Prussia, Holland, and Great Britain in reference respectively[Pg 101] to Neuchatel, Luxembourg, and Hanover. But the spirit of the Belgian people favoured the King’s suggestion, and his Majesty’s Ministers stood firmly by him. When the vote was called on April 28, 1885, the Chamber passed the following resolution with but one dissentient:

The Senate two days later having passed a similar resolution, the King addressed the following acknowledgment to his Ministers:

Leopold II., King of the Belgians, had now become Sovereign of the Congo Free State, a territory with a population estimated as five times larger than the Belgium which he had ruled since 1865. Many foreign bodies, philanthropic, scientific, and commercial, sent their congratulations; the Lord[Pg 102] Mayor of London visited the King in state, and offered him the felicitations of the British metropolis, and all the Powers concerned in the Conventional Basin of the Congo expressed their satisfaction with this happy consummation of his Majesty’s enlightened undertaking in Mid-Africa.

What, by the Berlin Conference had been sanctioned, now assumed permanent form, organisation, and well-defined onward movement. There were still difficulties ahead, some of them with the State’s neighbours, France and Portugal. Their early exactions may be regarded as symptomatic of that febrific goading which has now become the mania of lesser bodies elsewhere. Subsequent conventions with France and Portugal somewhat assured the Congo State that its onward march would not be obstructed by these Powers. On the other hand, the exalted views and edifying principles so generally prevalent at the Berlin Conference soon became stale and innocuous in the official mind of the other Powers who had subscribed to precepts which, from subsequent indifference or self-interest, were disregarded. Not the least among the pledges of the Powers of the Berlin Conference was that designed to regulate the importation of alcohol. Consistent with the Christianising aims of its Sovereign, the Congo Free State has fulfilled this pledge in a manner to put its neighbours to shame for the large percentage of revenue they derive from a debasing liquor traffic.

So if the young State started upon its progressive course in 1885-87, having paid a heavy price to[Pg 103] France and to Portugal for freedom to develop under the government of the strong personality of its magnanimous Sovereign, it was perhaps because such a course would secure the Congo State to the Belgian nation in accordance with the preconceived purpose of its King. By the Congo-French Convention the basin of the Kwilu and the left bank of the Congo, from Stanley Pool as far north-eastward as its explorations had attained, were assigned to France. On the other hand, it insured to the Congo Free State what constitutes its outlet to the sea, the possession of the district of the Cataracts, and the towns of Boma and Banana at the mouth of the Congo. The Congo-Portuguese Convention assigned to Portugal territory south of the Congo as far as Noki, and along the parallel of Noki to its intersection by the river Kwango, which from that point was designated as the boundary in a southerly direction. The territorial assignments of these conventions were subsequently modified, and Germany and Great Britain have since acquired the large areas of the Congo Basin lying east of Lake Tanganyika and its parallel north and south.

[Pg 104]

THE Berlin Act and the economic, that is, domestic, régime which it sought to establish in the Congo Basin occupied by Germany, France, Great Britain, Portugal, and the Free State, were, with various inadequacies and experimental defects, the logical expression of the drift that political science as applied to the law of nations had assumed in Europe as early as 1874. Under the operation of the old Pacte Colonial, the policy which prevailed in the colonies of the European Powers discriminated greatly against the subjects of all save the mother country. The commercial policy of such colonies was that of the Power which governed the colonial territory, whether that was an extension of the home territory or merely a dependency.

Some marked theoretics freighted the course of international life as the time approached when exploration had revealed all the colonising areas which the known earth contained. Europeans and their descendants already occupied, under different forms of law, as states, colonies, protectorates, leaseholds, spheres of influence, over 82 per cent. of the lands of this planet. Those who followed the evolution[Pg 105] of the law of nations were impressed by an African situation in 1884 which offered opportunity for experimentation with new, and perhaps more elastic, economic principles for the regulation of colonial interests in regions where the character of the country, its natural features, such as waterways and coastal advantages, and the juxtaposition of several governments, tended to a conflict detrimental generally to the civilisation of such possessions and their contributions to the markets of the world.

In the Annales de l’Institut de Droit International, vols. iii. and vii., are to be found the various resolutions of Prof. Égide Arntz relative to practical and co-operative jurisdiction in the Congo Basin. These were offered on September 7, 1883, at the Munich meeting of the Institute. But long before, namely, in 1878, M. Gustave Moynier had raised the question of a concerted civilising movement and the adoption of a scheme of political regulation in the region of the Congo. M. Emile Laveleye and the late Sir Travers Twiss had, thereafter, also discussed the question before the Institute. The essays of Professor Arntz and Sir Travers Twiss, which embody their respective views on what to them at that time appeared to be a signal opportunity for applying principles of colonial government as yet unestablished by tests of practice, are fully set forth in the Report of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

The Berlin Conference of November 15, 1884, may be regarded as the crystallised result of the interest manifested in respect of the Mid-African situation[Pg 106] by the learned bodies and the eminent legal authorities indicated, and also as the outcome of Germany’s tactful method of superseding the then imminent treaty between Great Britain and Portugal signed on February 26, 1884, but thereafter abrogated. As pointed out in another chapter, the British-Portuguese treaty met with active opposition in Germany and in England.

It was during the agitation of this feeling that the Conference was summoned at the instance of Germany. If one could analyse in extenso all the essentials which so aptly informed Prince Bismarck of Germany’s masked advantages in such a Conference, the Iron Chancellor would stand revealed as an early monument to the German astuteness of to-day. In creating an Areopagus of the fourteen Powers assembled at Berlin and referring to it the questions which, if unsettled, would have led to conflicts, combinations, and confusion prejudicial to German East Africa, Prince Bismarck’s workmanship surpassed the materials which his skill employed. As the Prince said at the final session of the Conference, the lofty aims and political idealities proclaimed during its earlier sessions would, when translated into facts, offer opportunity for improvement. Indeed, time and the practical application of its precepts, so enthusiastically proclaimed, have revealed the theorist where the man of practical political sense would better have written certain clauses of the General Act. As it stood in 1885, it cannot be regarded with that awe which certain persons manifest when they misinterpret its[Pg 107] inconclusive preachments. Some praise it as “the inauguration of a truly new era in colonial affairs.” Others, condemning it without reserve, speak of it as “the work of theorisers without experimental basis.” A fair estimate of this unique political palaver, as embodied in its General Act, probably lies somewhere between the extravagant praise and the untempered condemnation frequently bestowed upon it. If, from a legal and political point of view, it can be regarded as only a tissue of the substance it aimed at, the fact remains that the Berlin Conference has more than justified itself by guiding, often dispelling commercial rivalries which, in their unchecked development, might have nullified the great sacrifices of Belgian blood and money in the cause of African civilisation. The Conference entered the forum when many complications, arising from competing expeditions, conflicting explorations, unregulated trading operations, the advent of evil adventurers, the devastating slave trade, and a combination of other causes—commercial and political—had provoked the distrust and avarice frequently observed when several European peoples occupy in common a vast and fertile territory inhabited by savage tribes. At a meeting of a Committee of the Conference held on December 10, 1884, Mr. Kasson, the Plenipotentiary of the United States, gave utterance, in retrospect of early American colonisation, to expressions of historic fact which graphically portray Mid-African conditions twenty years ago:

[Pg 108]

Whatever defective novelty may still reside in the Berlin Act, the Conference which begot it gave an immense impetus to the great work of African civilisation. It eliminated movements by the various Powers which were accomplishing little or nothing for lack of definition and unity. It organised a scramble, so to speak, into an orderly and intelligently directed set of enterprises, chief among which were those urged forward by the King of the Belgians and his diligent[Pg 109] subjects. In that amplitude of pledges, which when applied to them the other Signatory Powers found it convenient to forget, little Belgium strove mightily not only to discharge her obligations under the Berlin Act, but to demonstrate her own innate genius for the work of colony-building and civilisation. It is perhaps in the inevitable result of this spirit that we find the explanation of Belgian dominance and Belgian progress far excelling that of its African neighbours.

In the United States the Berlin Act has not met with the universal respect of competent legal authorities. It provided no means for its own enforcement, and left the national committees, which were to carry out certain of its provisions, without machinery and without that central authority essential to its life. It also appears that the national committees never acted. Each of the Powers, supreme within the border of its own African territory, pursued a course which it believed was best calculated to develop the resources and the civilisation of that region of the Congo Basin in which it ruled. Nevertheless, the General Act had delimited the territory comprised in the Conventional Basin of the Congo; defined the domain occupied therein respectively by Germany, France, Great Britain, Portugal, and the Free State; applied to the entire Congo Basin the principle of freedom of commerce and of navigation, and concerted the aims of all the Powers to the suppression of the iniquitous slave trade and the horrible practice of cannibalism. It did not deal specifically with questions of territorial sovereignty,[Pg 110] nor with the internal public and private land system, nor, in fact, with any act or principle of the civil or military government of a State. It did, however, seek to restrict the duties upon the Congo and its affluents, and stipulated that upon these highways there should be open to all nations the freedom to trade and to navigate. As Baron Descamps aptly says in his essay on Government Civilisation in New Countries:

The broad-minded measures of the Berlin Conference did away with many of the existing anomalies. Doubtless, the general application of those measures to all colonies would have been a step in the right direction; but while their general adoption could have been justified on the same grounds as their special application to the Congo, the Conference would not have been able to accomplish such a gigantic reform of distributive equity. The Conference, however, did what it could in this direction. It felt that the impracticability of the complete scheme did not prevent its partial application; that it was not easy to reform the whole world at once, especially the colonial world; that the field of experience on which it could operate was large enough; and that, last but not least, the nature of the country, where the Government was as yet more or less insecure, was calculated to induce those concerned to make exceptional sacrifices.

The Conference therefore made the following regulations for the Congo Basin:

Art. 1. The trade of all nations shall enjoy complete freedom.

Art. 2. All flags, without distinction of nationality, shall have free access.

Art. 3, § 2. All differential dues on vessels as well as on merchandise are forbidden.

Art. 5. No Power which exercises or shall exercise sovereign rights in the above-mentioned regions shall be allowed[Pg 111] to grant therein a monopoly or favour of any kind in matters of trade.

The five Powers occupying and governing the Congo Basin have here assumed certain obligations in reference to the commercial régime which should prevail in their territory. There shall be freedom to trade, and to navigate in pursuit of commerce; there shall be no differential duties imposed; there shall be no monopoly in matters of trade. In the fourth protocol of the Berlin Conference, Baron Lambermont’s report includes a definition of what the Conference meant by monopoly “in matters of trade.” This statesman declared that:

Notwithstanding the explicit nature of this definition, those who, for reasons which it is not the purpose of this volume to expose in detail, condemn the governmental system of the Congo Free State, and declare that the General Act of the Berlin Conference aimed at much more than insuring the common right (freedom) of all nations to pursue legitimate trade in the Basin of the Congo. How much[Pg 112] more, and precisely what the Act aims at, according to hostile commentators, varies with the capacity for exaggeration, or the speciousness in argument, of the critic. Some declare that freedom in matters of trade means that anybody may invade the Congo Basin and barter with natives for the produce of the soil and the chase, laws respecting private property and providing regulations to govern traffic notwithstanding. In his essay on Principles of Government in the Congo Free State[8] the author briefly indicates the motif of King Leopold’s rule in Central Africa and the cogent reasons for the system which has made that rule the envy of persons whose faculty of perception is not as dormant to-day as it was in 1885, when it was lazily assumed that the salvation of a territory, not worth much materially, was being imposed upon an enthusiastic and impractical kingly philanthropist. Amongst other things, this essay contains the following exposition of the system of internal government by which the Congo Free State and its people have morally and materially prospered. It is, in substance, the definition of Congolese policy stated by his Majesty, King Leopold:

The foregoing exposition of internal policy may be regarded as a brief statement of the principles which underlie the system of government in the Congo Free State.

That the United States did not construe an illogical meaning into the phrase “freedom of commerce,” and warp it out of all semblance to its[Pg 118] natural character, is evidenced by the terms of its treaty with the Free State made seven years after the promulgation of the General Act of the Berlin Conference, during all of which time the Congo State authorities had acted upon the interpretation of the phrase indicated in Baron Lambermont’s definition, and in the learned opinions of Maîtres Barboux, Nys, Van Berchem, and Picard.

Article I. of the treaty of April 2, 1892, between the United States and the Independent State of the Congo reads:

In this connection Sir Edward Malet, the British Plenipotentiary at the Conference, clearly pointed out that “freedom of commerce unchecked by reasonable control would degenerate into licence.” Reasonable control is only another name for State law and police regulation. The Congo Government maintains that, subject to its internal laws and regulations which affect its own and foreign subjects alike, the subjects of every nation are free to enter[Pg 119] its territory in pursuit of legitimate trade. Apropos of this phase of the subject Baron Descamps says:

Amongst the innovations attempted by the Berlin Act was that which sought, by Article IV., to abolish all import and transit dues. Little serious account appears to have been taken—so far as the Act reveals—of the practical necessity for erecting and sustaining works of public utility to commerce, and the equity of imposing proper charges on the wares upon which the benefits of such works were bestowed. The absolute prohibition of import duties created great difficulties for the Free State which, but for the personal munificence of its Sovereign, would have wrecked a liberal undertaking, handicapped and fettered by the fanciful legislation of the Berlin Conference,—“Merchandise imported into those regions shall remain free from import and transit dues.” Fortunately the legislators of the Berlin Conference were not to become the practical governors of the Congo Free

State, else they might have realised that the gravest body may enact farce and commit folly. It was the experiment of a new principle in colonial administrative economy which they aimed at, but there is a vast difference in substance between a mirage and a mountain. That there were misgivings in the mind of some members of the Conference as to the logic of driving traders into the Congo, on the one hand, utterly untaxed for the support of the Government and the security it afforded, while on the other the State was charged with the creation of public works and the maintenance of law and order without revenue, is manifested by that final clause of Article IV., which provides that “the Powers reserve to themselves to determine, after the lapse of twenty years, whether this freedom of import shall be retained or not.” In this case the Powers did not wait twenty years to revise their principle of free trade. Five years were sufficient to reveal its inapplicability to a new country, and the Second Brussels Conference, assembled in 1890, made of the free-trade clause of 1885 a clause allowing on merchandise other than spirituous liquors an impost not exceeding ten per cent. “It would never do,” said Baron de Courcel, at the Conference, “to renew the colonial experience gained in the sixteenth century, when colonies were brought to ruin by those who pretended to fix in Europe, from a purely metropolitan point of view, their financial and administrative system.” The experiment of prohibiting import duties proved, as already indicated, a serious hindrance to the economic life of the new State.[Pg 121] That the experiment would not, however, be persisted in by the Powers, had been foreshadowed by the suggestion of Baron Lambermont at the Conference when he said: “It is experience which will then inspire the interested Powers with the most favourable resolutions for the development and commercial progress in their possessions.” There were, therefore, after all, men of practical political foresight at the Conference, whose assent to so radical a policy of free trade was accorded for the purpose of the moment only, and while the great question of civilising Central African tribes dominated their early aims even to the disadvantage of the correlated questions of commerce. Article III. of the General Act, therefore, provided that: “Wares of whatever origin, imported into these regions, under whatsoever flag, by sea or river, or overland, shall be subject to no other taxes than such as may be levied as fair compensation for expenditure in the interest of trade, and which for this reason must be equally borne by the subjects themselves and by foreigners of all nationalities.” The reasons actuating the Berlin Conference not to fix the rate of such taxation as it provided for at the Brussels Conference, are clearly indicated on page 85 of the protocols to the General Act, from which the following declaration is quoted:

That contribution by traders to the maintenance of the State under a system of taxation and police regulation is not incompatible with commercial freedom was forcibly reiterated at the Conference by Count de Launay and, of course, by other members who at all dwelt upon a principle so well established. Treating this question with much erudition, Baron Descamps cites the French law of March 2, 1791, relating to patents, which, he says, “gave the most emphatic assent of modern times to the principle of commercial freedom. The very clause proclaiming freedom of commerce provided for licence dues! Thus: ‘Everybody shall be free to carry on any business he chooses; [sic] but he must first obtain, and pay for, a licence, and submit to any regulations of police that may be made.’”[10]

Obviously the “freedom of commerce” intended by the General Act of the Berlin Conference is not the open door with the key thrown away and chaos[Pg 123] prevailing behind it. The State is mistress of her domain. She is alone responsible for its civil order and the just regulation of its life, whether social, commercial, or political. Her attitude upon all fundamental rules of civilised government has two facets: the one toward her subjects, the other toward the society of nations which surrounds her. She must conduct her affairs with due regard for those broad principles of national morality which civilised communities recognise as a lofty standard of social and political life. Until she prove herself incompetent in this respect, her territory cannot become the subject of international partition or regulation on pretexts of humanitarianism or on any other, nor is it in the justice of nations or of men to undermine the force of her authority or to enfeeble the integrity of her Statehood by any agency whatsoever.

From the latest report of the Vice-Governor-General of the Congo Free State are quoted below statements which shed light upon the belief held by the Belgians concerning their own fiscal policy, and the attitude they offer to the criticisms of its burly neighbour, Great Britain, in its rule of the Soudan and its other colonial possessions:

[Pg 126]

Slavery is as ancient as war, and war as old as human nature. Upon this premise Voltaire philosophised when his thought reverted to the early inequity of human life. Christian nations were deep in the slave trade in the sixteenth century. A black cloud of human flesh, aggregating sixteen million souls, was imported into America upon Western slave dhows in three centuries, exclusive of the twenty-odd million Negroes who perished in transit. More atrocious than the pestilential slave dhow was the slaughter of blacks by the slave-raider, that fiend incarnate who until a few years ago carried on his inhuman traffic under the very gaze of Christian Europe. Indeed, Europe herself was a slave-dealer for centuries. Some of her Governments sanctioned it in terms unspeakably callous. There was little pity and less mercy in officially lading “tons of niggers” for American ports.

Late in the eighteenth century, Great Britain had championed the cause of humanity and sought a remedy for the horrible conditions which slavery entailed. The movement which, assuming definite[Pg 127] shape about the time of the Declaration of Independence, had found able and eloquent advocacy in such men as Granville Sharpe, Clarkson, Wilberforce, and William Pitt. These staunch humanitarians, after what seemed the hopeless labour of many years, finally triumphed so far as to impel the Vienna Congress of 1815 and the Verona Congress of 1822 to forbid any civilised nation to carry on the slave trade.

The next steps, also furthered by the British Government, sought to abolish the legal status of slavery and to suppress slave markets and slave dhows. The Western world began to awaken to a sense of duty. In all directions the noble initiative taken by Great Britain found earnest agency. The Christian nations, now thoroughly aroused to the iniquity of the slave trade, exchanged treaties in 1841, the operation of which was designed to clear the ocean of slave transports. When shut out of the American market, it was believed that the infamous slave traffic would subside. But the scourge continued almost unabated. Driven out of the West, it flourished the more in the East, where large markets still remained open. The northern and eastern coasts of Africa continued to supply the Oriental markets, the Soudan, Upper Nile, and Congo Basin being the slave-hunter’s Elysium. The Sultans of the Soudan, whose avarice knew no limit, strove in the cruellest manner to increase their spoil in this man-hunting chase. Khartoum slavers pressed into the Bhar-el-Ghazal, while the Arabs from Zanzibar devastated the Manyema and[Pg 128] Tanganyika regions. West-coast raiders had even penetrated as far inland as the Upper Kassai, and created that wretched condition of native life in the interior of the Congo Basin which impressed Livingstone, Stanley, Kirk, Bartle Frere, Nachtigal, Wissmann, Serpa Pinto, Massaia, and that great exemplar of Christianising work, Cardinal Lavigerie.

In 1876, nearly ten years before the Berlin Conference, the King of the Belgians called upon Europe to join in a concerted movement to suppress the slave traffic in Central Africa. In the same year the British Government published its Report of the Royal Commission on Fugitive Slaves. The words of Prince Bismarck at the Berlin Conference of 1885 were an intimation of the legislation which was thereafter effected by clauses 6 and 9 of the General Act. By clause 6, the Powers agreed “to watch over the preservation of the native tribes and to care for the improvement of the conditions of their moral and material well-being, and to help in suppressing slavery and especially the slave trade.” Baron Lambermont stated the distinction between slavery and the slave trade: “The slave trade,” said the Baron, “has another character; it is the very denial of every law, of all social order. Man-hunting constitutes a crime of high treason against humanity. It ought to be repressed wherever it can be reached, on land as well as by sea.”

It was with characteristic activity that the Sovereign of the Congo Free State had taken the initiative in making the suppression of the slave traffic an essential aim in the civilisation of an African State[Pg 129] which had not only been the source of slave supply for many markets, but whose territory touched closely upon a number of slave-dealing countries. In the eighteenth century, the nations of Europe had partitioned the coast of Africa to the French between Senegal and Gambia, to the British on the Gold and Ivory coasts, and to the Portuguese in the Angola and Benguela regions. The object of this territorial apportionment was to facilitate the slave trade and render it more profitable! Now, in the nineteenth century, these same Governments were dividing African territory with the much loftier purpose of extirpating the slave trade. The march of a hundred years had raised European morality and justified the Christian influence of the age.

Undaunted by the material difficulty of realising the excellent theories which European nations were now offering to carry out in the very nest of the slave trade, the Congo Free State formally tackled the problem by promulgating three decrees in November, 1888. The first provided practical means for suppressing the slave trade, amongst which were measures prohibiting trade in firearms, gunpowder, and explosives; the second, seeking to protect and improve the natives, dealt with contracts of service between natives and foreigners, and enacted laws which guaranteed the former from imposition. The third decree established a body of volunteer police to suppress crimes and offences against public order and individual liberty. Then followed the organisation of the Belgian Anti-Slavery Society which, creating a special volunteer corps, operated against[Pg 130] the slave-raiders in the Tanganyika district. Reference has elsewhere been made to the vigorous manner in which these and similar decrees were enforced, and how the slave-raider was driven from one lair to another, until, almost unaided and alone, the indomitable energy of Belgian officers succeeded in uprooting the institution of slave traffic and opening an immense river basin to the pursuits of civilisation.

A great wave of sympathy for all enslaved races had spread throughout the civilised world. Nations heretofore indifferent to the weal of the black man in the brutal toils of the slave-raider, were actuated by a desire to co-operate with the practical forces already at work for emancipating the Dark Continent. All religions combined in the motherhood of the human race and, now thoroughly alive to the principle of human liberty, lent their support to the great cause of African civilisation. The movement, now become general throughout Europe, gained impetus in 1888 by the abolition of slavery in Brazil. In that year, Pope Leo XIII. reiterated the appeal made by Leopold II. in 1876, and besought all nations to unite in purging the page of history of a further record of the abominable crime of slave-hunting. In addressing that wonderful engine of missionary work, Cardinal Lavigerie, His Holiness pointed out the misery of “that disinherited land,” and urged all who are moved by human impulse to devote their lives to “this sublime work of redemption.”

The self-sacrificing work which Cardinal Lavigerie has done for the salvation of Africa will for ever[Pg 131] be a white monument in a black wilderness. It was his appeal to the peoples of the Christian world which witnessed the first organised work of Leopold II., and it is this prelate’s indefatigable industry, and his love for these savage souls of Africa, which has largely carried that work to its present fruition.

The world-wide adhesion to the cause of Christianising the Dark Continent took diplomatic shape soon after a meeting held in London on July 31, 1888, at which Lord Granville presided. On motion of Cardinal Manning, the following resolution was adopted:

On October 27th, an anti-slavery convention was held at Cologne, at which the following resolutions were passed and sent to the Reichstag:

On November 13, the Cabinets of Berlin, London and Lisbon had agreed upon coercive measures against slave-traders on the East Coast of Africa. Meantime, on September 17, 1888, the British Government had appealed, through the Belgian Foreign Office, to King Leopold to take the initiative in assembling a Conference at Brussels to consider the subject. In conveying this invitation to the King of the Belgians, the British Minister to the Belgian Court stated that:

The change which has occurred in the political condition of the African Coast to-day calls for common action on the part of the Powers responsible for the control of that Coast. That action should tend to close all foreign slave-markets, and should also result in putting down slave-hunting in the interior.

The great work undertaken by the King of the Belgians, in the constitution of the Congo State, and the lively interest taken by His Majesty in all questions affecting the welfare of [Pg 133]the African races, lead Her Majesty’s Government to hope that Belgium will be disposed to take the initiative in inviting the Powers to meet in Conference at Brussels, in order to consider the best means of attaining the gradual suppression of the slave trade on the Continent of Africa and the immediate closing of all the outside markets which the slave trade daily continues to supply.

On August 24, 1889, King Leopold deferred to this wish and called a Conference of the Powers for November 18, 1889, to determine upon a course of action for the gradual suppression of slave-hunting on the African Continent and the immediate closing of all markets supplied from that source, and “to put an end to the crimes and devastation wrought by the slave trade, and effectively to protect the native populations in Africa.”

Thus, after thirteen years of arduous labour, and the vicissitudes which attend the progressive pioneer in savage lands, where the mission and the plough follow the white man’s trail, the Belgians were again called upon to lead in a war against the most degrading of human conditions.

[Pg 134]

The zealous labours of Cardinal Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers, who had founded the Mission of the White Fathers in 1878 to convert the Soudan and the Congo regions to Christianity, had always been generously supported by the personal munificence of King Leopold. The rescript issued to this devoted and untiring apostle by Pope Leo XIII. had inaugurated endeavours on behalf of civilisation unexcelled in any colony in the world. King Leopold’s earnest and generous encouragement of this evangelistic work equalled the broad-minded and hopeful manner in which he supported Stanley and others in their early expeditions through the unknown forests of the Congo. There was, therefore, a sympathetic tie between His Holiness, the King, and the Cardinal in the world’s task in Congoland.

Early in 1888 Cardinal Lavigerie visited Belgium, and, being convinced by his long African experience of the necessity for an organised anti-slavery crusade, opened a campaign in the Brussels Cathedral which, by its popular interest, carried him to many parts of Europe. The eloquence of this truly great prelate was born of[Pg 135] that deep sympathy for the African black derived from his intimate knowledge of the debasing conditions still prevalent in those parts of the Congo Basin where, for many practical reasons, the Belgians had not penetrated with their work and influence. The Cardinal exhorted the Belgians, first of all, to support and emulate their King, who, he said, “would open before you a country seventy times as large as your own—an immense field for the spread of your religion and for charity.... You have not given to the struggle with barbarism all the assistance that was incumbent upon you.”

To the avowed support given by his Majesty to the movement which the Cardinal’s numerous sermons inspired, may largely be attributed the Belgian campaigns against the Arab slave-raiders which the Brussels Conference of the following year urged upon the interested Powers.

The hundred admirable articles of the General Act of the Conference do not all concern the reader. Their general purpose, already indicated in a previous chapter, was the suppression of the slave trade, the protection of the natives, and the provision of revenue from import duties wherewith to maintain a practical executive to accomplish both aims.

The Conference convened on November 18, 1889, and held the last of its thirty-three sessions on the July 2, 1890. The King of the Belgians had again welcomed the representatives of all the Powers party to the Berlin Act. Persia, having meantime adhered to that Act, was also represented. The Prince de Chimay, Belgian Minister for Foreign[Pg 136] Affairs, presided at the formal opening of the Conference. At its first session Baron Lambermont was unanimously elected to preside over its deliberations. His able associate at Berlin, M. Emile Banning, also represented Belgium at this Conference, while Baron Van Eetvelde, for many years devoted to its moral and material development, represented the Congo Free State. Chief among other distinguished representatives were Count von Alvensleben for Germany, M. Bourée for France, Lord Vivian and Sir John Kirk for Great Britain, Mr. Terrell, Minister at Brussels, for the United States, and Prince Ourroussof and Professor Martens for Russia.

Foremost in the work of framing a proposed Act, under which the Congo Free State inherited great responsibility and a tremendous task, were the Belgian representatives. The other interested Powers pledged themselves to join, each in its own territory, in the anti-slavery campaign which the Act prescribed. Briefly stated, the signatories to the General Act of this Conference declared that they were “animated by the firm intention of putting an end to the crimes and devastation engendered by the traffic in African slaves, of protecting effectually the aboriginal populations of Africa, and of insuring for that vast continent the benefits of peace and civilisation.”

The first article, relating to effective methods of suppressing slave-raiding in the Congo Basin, was divided into seven sections:

[Pg 137]

The second article, recognising the duty of the Powers to prevent slave-raiding in the territory under their control, adopted, amongst others, the following prescription:

The third and fourth articles contained the pledge of all the interested Powers to assist in enforcing these commendable provisions for the betterment of the black races in Africa. The succeeding apathy of the Powers in no wise abated the energy of the Congo Free State in its heroic effort to realise for civilisation the views which Belgian statesmen had largely inspired at the Conference. The Belgian campaigns against the Arabs, briefly narrated in succeeding chapters, were only one phase of those multiform difficulties which beset the pioneer in savage lands where the heralds of civilisation find it necessary to suppress the old and impose a new order of life upon untutored human beings.

The second chapter referred, amongst other things, to caravan routes, the transport of slaves by land, and to providing means of livelihood and education for liberated slaves. The sixth chapter enumerated the measures to be taken to restrict the trade in spirituous liquors. The six articles composing this chapter forbid the importation of distilled drinks “in the regions where they have not yet penetrated,” and “each Power will determine for itself the limit of this zone within its own possessions.” It is in reference to these[Pg 139] infirm clauses, as elastic as Congo rubber, that the Free State has fulfilled promise with performance that puts her neighbours to shame. Each year of Belgian rule in the Congo has been marked by a contraction of the area in which alcoholic liquors are legitimate traffic even in a restricted form. To-day spirituous liquors are practically excluded from more than four-fifths of the entire State. The Sovereign of the Congo Free State does not respect that colonising enthusiasm which is founded on deleterious Scotch whiskey, Holland gin, and Jamaica rum. He has, therefore, carried out the spirit as well as the letter of the liquor clauses in the Brussels Act, and lost revenue for the State from a source which, to a large degree, supports the budgets of neighbouring colonies.

In the eighth article it is declared that

It was, therefore, stipulated that in those parts of Africa between the twentieth parallel of north latitude and the twenty-second parallel of south latitude the importation of firearms, and especially of rifles and weapons of precision, powder, balls, and cartridges, should be greatly restricted, and as far as possible prohibited. The only exceptions in later articles to this prescription were made in favour of[Pg 140] “measures directly by governments for arming of a force publique and the organisation of their defence.”

To carry out the onerous duties imposed by the Brussels Act upon all the interested Powers required more than a Conference and its lofty ideals and appropriate resolutions. By the Berlin Act import duties had been prohibited in the Congo Basin only as an experiment. The attitude of the Powers towards this question was now more enlightened and more reasonable. Experience, and admiration for King Leopold’s rapid achievements in the development of the new State, combined, in the face of the slave-raiding enemy, to predispose the representatives of the Powers to a rational view of the practical necessities of governments which were called upon to establish order and a civil community upon the trail of the murderous slave-chaser.

At the thirteenth session of the Conference, held on May 10, 1890, it was proposed that the stipulation of the Berlin Conference prohibiting all import duties for twenty years should be withdrawn, and that the “assenting Powers having possessions or protectorates in the Conventional Basin of the Congo shall be at liberty, so far as authority to this end is required, to establish duties on imported goods, the scale of which shall not exceed a rate equivalent to ten per cent. ad valorem at the port of entry, always excepting spirituous liquors.” Applying especially to spirituous liquors are the provisions of articles 90 to 95 of the General Act.

[Pg 141]

In supporting this measure, Baron Lambermont said:

In the debate which naturally ensued upon such an important measure, Baron Gericke d’Herwijnen, representing Holland, which has a large spirit trade along the West Coast of Africa, opposed views for a time unfavourable to the adoption of this supplementary Declaration[14] to the General Act.[Pg 142] Notwithstanding his views, the Dutch representative gracefully alluded to “the well-merited homage it [Holland] had rendered to the work of the King of the Belgians from its very commencement.”

On the part of Great Britain, Lord Vivian supported the proposition in words which should sear the few unkindly, astigmatic eyes of those who regard King Leopold’s rule in Africa with splenetic gaze and caterwauling. His lordship spoke aptly when he said:

[Pg 143]

Following the British representative in support of the proposal, Count von Alvensleben, the German Minister, expressed himself as follows:

Indeed, the expressions of appreciation of the Belgian work in the Congo were unanimous and enthusiastic. The Declaration was adopted, and became part of the General Act of the Brussels Conference by the ratification of all the Powers—the Dutch Chambers sanctioning the ratification on the intervention of the Queen Regent, mother of the present Queen, Wilhelmina. In giving her adhesion France did so with the reservation that she “would not recognise the articles relating to the zone of maritime search, jurisprudence, arrest, seizure, and condemnation of suspected ships.” This has always been regarded as a flaw in the effort of the Powers to suppress the slave traffic with unity of force and aim. France’s remarkable reservation has had the effect of affording to slave-dealers the only existing protection of a civilised Government on the East African Coast. The motive for this is revealed in the fact that slave-dealers are still employed in the French possessions[Pg 144] of the Indian Ocean.[15] It is to be regretted that republican France should stand out from that solid phalanx of the Powers by which alone the abominable institution of slavery can be stricken from the calendar of modern crime.

[Pg 145]

The Declaration supplemental to the General Act of the Brussels Conference, referred to in the previous chapter, assured an income to the Congo Free State, which, however inadequate for its needs at that time, served, in a degree, to clear its future of the doubt which had caused Belgium, as a nation, to shrink from incurring financial responsibility in support of it. The cost of the early undertakings, from the day in 1876 when Stanley took leave of King Leopold in Brussels and set out upon his expedition up the Congo River, and the expenses of the entire enterprise, including those of the International African Association, had been borne by the King and his immediate adherents. The amounts so expended each year now aggregated a sum approximating 100,000,000 francs. On 29th April, 1887, the Belgian nation had authorised the Congo State to raise a loan of 150,000,000 francs, which, however, it did not guarantee. These funds were largely employed to found the chartered companies provided for in the Decree of 27th February, 1887. The time had now again come when the Belgian Chamber should consider the reasonableness of asking the assistance of the Belgian nation,[Pg 146] especially as the King’s African enterprise had been undertaken for the benefit of civilisation and the expansion of Belgian markets.

On the 3rd July, 1890, the day after the General Act of the Conference had been signed, a Convention was concluded between M. Beernaert, the Finance Minister, on the part of Belgium, and Baron Van Eetvelde, on the part of the Congo Free State, by which Belgium engaged to lend the Congo State 5,000,000 francs at once, and 2,000,000 francs a year for the next ten years—25,000,000 francs in all, on condition that Belgium should have the option, six months after the expiration of the ten years, of annexing the Congo Free State “with all the rights and advantages attached to the sovereignty of the State ...” provided it also assumed the obligations of the State to third parties, “the King-Sovereign expressly refusing all indemnity on account of the personal sacrifices he had himself made.” It was further agreed:

Long before the date of the Brussels Conference and the Convention just concluded, King Leopold had written to his minister, M. Beernaert, a letter clearly indicating his unselfish purpose in developing the Congo State. The persons who charge the King of the Belgians with governing the Congo for his personal benefit might temper their mendacity by the fact that this letter is dated 5th August, 1889, nearly a year before the conclusion of the Brussels Conference. Having regard to the false charges busily purveyed in respect of his Majesty’s true intentions towards his people and the Congo State, it seems but just to quote it:

5th August, 1889.

Dear Minister [M. Beernaert].—I have never ceased to call the attention of my countrymen to the necessity of extending their view to countries beyond the sea.

History teaches that States of limited size have a moral and material interest in stretching beyond their narrow frontiers. Greece founded on the shores of the Mediterranean opulent cities, centres of art and civilisation. Venice, later on, established its greatness on the development of its maritime and commercial relations, not less than on its political successes. Holland possesses in the Indies thirty millions of[Pg 148] subjects, who exchange the commodities of the tropics for the productions of the mother country.

It is by serving the cause of humanity and progress that people of the second rank appear as useful members of the great family of nations. More than any other, a manufacturing and commercial nation like ours should strive to secure outlets for all its workers, for those of thought, capital, and labour.

These patriotic preoccupations have dominated my life. They determined the creation of the African work.

My labours have not been sterile. A young and vast State, directed from Brussels, has peacefully taken its place under the sun, thanks to the benevolent aid of the Powers which have applauded its beginning. Belgians administer it, whilst others of our countrymen, every day more numerous, profitably employ their capital in its development.

The immense river basin of the Upper Congo opens to our efforts ways of rapid and cheap communication, which permit us to penetrate direct into the centre of the African Continent. The construction of the railway of the region of the Cataracts henceforth assured, thanks to the recent vote of the Legislature, will notably increase these facilities of access. Under these conditions, a great future is reserved for the Congo, the immense value of which will soon be apparent to every eye.

On the morrow of this considerable act, I have thought it my duty to place Belgium herself, when death shall have struck me, in a position to profit by my work, as well as by the labour of those who have aided me in founding and directing it, and whom I thank here once more. I have therefore made, as Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, the Will that I send you. I ask you to communicate it to the Legislative Chamber at the moment which shall appear to you the most opportune.

The beginnings of enterprises such as those which have so much occupied me are difficult and onerous. I have held myself bound to support the cost. A king, in order to serve[Pg 149] his country, ought not to fear to conceive and to pursue the realisation of a work, even if it be apparently rash. The wealth of a sovereign consists in public prosperity; it alone can constitute in his eyes an enviable treasure, which he should endeavour constantly to increase.

To the day of my death I shall continue, in the same desire of national interest which has hitherto guided me, to direct and sustain our African work; but if, without awaiting this term, it should be agreeable to the country to establish closer links with my possessions on the Congo, I should not hesitate to place them at its disposal. I should be happy to see it, during my lifetime, in the full enjoyment of their possession. Allow me, in the meanwhile, to say to you how grateful I am towards the Chambers, as well as towards the Government, for the aid that they have afforded me on several occasions in that creation. I do not think I deceive myself by affirming that Belgium will derive important advantages from it, and that she will see opening before her, on a new continent, happy and larger prospects.

Believe me, dear Minister, etc.

Leopold.

Accompanying this noble expression of a monarch toward his people on his sacrificial work in their behalf, was the King’s Will, as Sovereign of the Congo Free State:

The announcement of the King’s Will, bequeathing the Congo State to the Belgian people, was received with a demonstration of popular approval. In 1901 the Convention of 3rd July, 1890, giving Belgium the right to annex the Congo State, was extended for another term of ten years. Meantime the great prosperity of the State and the voice of saner liberalism in the Belgian Chamber are combining to identify the more intimate support of the Belgian Government with King Leopold’s progressive African colony. That the Belgian State will take over that colony in 1910, or on the death of King Leopold, is hardly within the pale of rational doubt.

The difficulty in arriving at an estimate of the native population of the Congo Free State that tolerably approximates the truth is very great. Some authorities place it at as high as 30,000,000, some as low as 15,000,000, while other observers, equally entitled to respect, assert that 20,000,000 is about accurate.

This wide divergence of opinion ceases to be matter for surprise when we reflect that the population of an empire so important as China, known to white men for centuries, is variously estimated by them at anything between 300,000,000 and 400,000,000.

Compared with our knowledge of China, our acquaintance with the countries and peoples comprised within the boundaries of the Congo Free State is a thing of yesterday. The nomadic habits of the various semi-savage tribes of which the population of the Congo Free State consists renders their exact enumeration impossible. Besides, there can be no doubt but that vast numbers of the dwarf (Pigmy) race inhabit parts of the great Central African forest not yet penetrated by the white man.

[Pg 152]

It is certain, however, that all the vast region with which this book is concerned contains no race or tribe that has not come in contact with the civilising Belgians, or whose barbarous habits and customs have not, in greater or lesser degree, been modified into some semblance of conformity with the standard of civilisation exemplified by their new masters. At present that conformity is far from being general, and where it is found it is invariably more superficial than real. To frankly admit so much is in nowise a reflection upon the extent or value of the civilising influence exerted by the Belgians upon their King’s dusky subjects. The complete transformation of the barbarian into the civilised man is not possible in one generation. A consideration of the principal tribes, their habits and customs, as they were when the white strangers first appeared among them, and as to some extent they continue to this day, cannot, therefore, fail in interest.

The nomadic habits of the native races inhabiting the Congo region, discussed at length in another chapter, render an inquiry into their origin a work of great difficulty and uncertain result. Sir Harry Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., whose expert opinion upon this subject is entitled to the utmost respect, believes that the Negro type which originated in Southern Asia wandered across the peninsula of Arabia into Eastern Africa, mingling, perhaps, on the way, with the Caucasians from the north, evolving that negroid race known as the Hamite, whence sprang the early[Pg 153] Egyptians, and to which the Somali, Gala, Abyssinian, and Nubian owe their origin.

From Eastern Africa this primitive race is thought to have spread, in the course of ages, throughout all Central Africa, and probably to have penetrated almost to the southern and western coasts of that continent, changing their physical characteristics according to their environment, and again modifying those characteristics by subsequent intermixture. The numerous Central African tribes, as they exist to-day, exhibit marked differences in height, shape, language, habits, customs, and even in colour, some being an intense black, some of a chocolate hue, some reddish brown, and some of a bronze aspect. The five main divisions, according to Johnston, appear to be: (1) the forest Pigmy; (2) the Bantu; (3) the Nile Negro; (4) the Masai, and (5) the Hamite.

The native tribes in the neighbourhood of Leopoldville consist chiefly of the Musserongés, the Kakongos, the Baoilis, and the Mayombés.

The Musserongés are difficult of approach. Not only do they hold themselves severely aloof from the white man, they are also very shy and guarded in their intercourse with other native tribes, and are never known to combine with any of them, even when threatened by a common enemy. They are tall, strong, and better-looking than most members of the Negro race, though this commendation must not be taken for a certificate of beauty. They file their teeth to a point, or cut them square, or into semicircles, their[Pg 154] object being to provide themselves thereby with a weapon for use as a last resort in a fight, when they literally throw themselves upon their enemies and seize them by the throat with their fangs, as a bulldog might do. They wear their hair short, and indulge in the practice of tattooing, for purposes of ornament, but not to any great extent. Strange to say, the women are taller and stronger than the men, which may perhaps be explained by the fact that all the work of the tribe, except hunting and fishing, falls to their share.

The Kakongos and Mayombés are less intensely distrustful, but the Baoilis are markedly hostile to the white man. They have been known to refuse to barter oysters—their principal diet, of which they frequently have supplies largely exceeding their requirements—for European commodities which it has been certain that they ardently desired to possess.

All these four tribes are of cleanly habits; and their practice of bathing daily, when the proximity of a river or lake puts it in their power to do so, may put to shame some of the inhabitants of great cities. The forest tribes, to whom cleanliness by water is impossible, smear their bodies with palm oil and a kind of red ochre, which they afterwards scrape off. The original costume of a few leaves, or an exceedingly small apron made from fibrous bark, for women, and a loincloth of the same material for men, has yielded to the superior attraction of common cotton goods, which now reach them from far-away Manchester[Pg 155] or Saxony. These stuffs, ornamented by large patterns in flaming reds or yellows, delight the eye and rejoice the heart of the Congolese maid and matron, while such of the men as desire to stand well with the gentler (?) sex will also condescend to use them. No time and skill are devoted to making a garment. A piece of the gaudy stuff wound in loose folds around the loins suffices both for men and women. In every tribe, children of both sexes are entirely nude until they reach the age of puberty. In at least one tribe, neither men nor women wear any covering. In a few tribes it is customary for the women to remain nude until they are married. Some women denote their married state by covering their breasts with strange ornaments, while others secure this object by elaborately dressing their hair, which they build up to a great height by aid of palm fibre and gum. Both men and women, of whatever tribe, ornament themselves with just as many collars, bangles, and anklets as they can obtain. Without exception, the possession of a few strings of coloured beads is to them a source of great happiness. They gaze upon such treasures with delight and guard them with jealous care. Some of their customs are very peculiar. Men and women will not eat together. A man guilty of eating in company of his wives would be hopelessly disgraced. In time past they have eaten one another, and would doubtless do so again should existing restraint be removed, but they may not eat together. After their separate repast, the sexes mingle again freely, and both engage in smoking their long-stemmed pipes.

[Pg 156]

All the males of the Congo Pigmies seen by Sir Harry Johnston were circumcised, and all in both sexes had their upper incisor teeth and canines sharpened to a point. In their forest homes they go naked, both men and women; but in presence of strangers the men usually don a small covering of genet, monkey, or antelope skin, or a wisp of bark-cloth, and the women leaves or bark-cloth.

The same authority has observed that all the Bantu-speaking forest folk on the Upper Congo practise cicatrisation. Scores and weals of skin are raised either by burning or cutting with a knife, and introducing the[Pg 157] irritating juice of a plant into the wound. The effect of this is to raise on the surface of the body large or small lumps of skin. Sometimes these raised weals are so small that they produce almost the effect of tattooing; at other times they are large, ugly excrescences. The Babira people cicatrise their chests and stomachs; but in the forest, toward the waters of the Congo, their faces are hideously scarred. Both men and women of the Bantu Kavirondo extract the two middle incisor teeth from the lower jaw, in the belief that if a man retains all his lower incisor teeth he will be killed in warfare, and that if the wife fails to pull out her teeth it may cause her husband to perish. For the same reason of averting ill-fortune, a woman inflicts cuts on the skin of her forehead, which leave small scars. The women also, as a means of securing good fortune for themselves and their husbands, make a number of small incisions, usually in patterns, in the skin of the abdomen, into which they rub an irritant, so that huge weals rise up into great lumps of skin. The Kavirondo husband, before setting out to fight or starting on a journey attended with great risks, usually makes a few extra incisions on his wife’s body.

The traveller in the Congo will frequently observe repulsive disfigurements in the natives, and is very liable to attribute to the cruelty of oppression what are but manifestations of old-time tribal customs. The danger is accentuated by the organised campaign of slander now proceeding against the Congo Free State, which[Pg 158] does not scruple to make capital out of such an opportune circumstance.

Almost all the tribes entertain a hazy notion of an invisible Supreme Being; but they regard themselves as of no account in His estimation, and direct their petitions for supernatural aid to their fetiches, which they endeavour to propitiate by gifts through the medium of their witch doctor or medicine man, a kind of priest who pretends to possess supernatural powers and abuses the credulity of his followers to an extraordinary extent.

Among the Mangbettus, a dead chief is buried in a sitting posture, in the centre of a new hut specially built on the banks of a stream. Five of his widows are strangled and their bodies laid out with their feet towards their dead husband. The bodies are then covered with bark-cloth saturated with palm oil, after which the spot is held to be sacred and must not be approached, under penalty of death, by anybody but the ruling chief and one attendant.

At the mouth of the Uelle is found the great mass of the Azandé, a very numerous and important tribe, who range the country from 23 degrees east to 30 degrees west, and from 6 degrees north to 3 degrees south. There are three subdivisions of the Azandé—the Abandjia, the Avongura, and the Makraka, born fighters all, and devoted to cannibalism. Some of the Azandé men, however, will eat only the flesh of their enemies whom they have slain in battle, declining a diet of human flesh otherwise obtained, though they[Pg 159] all (except such of them as dwell south of the Uelle) forbid their women and children to touch it.

And here arises a curious subject for speculation. The cannibalistic Azandé are much farther advanced in the arts of peace and war than many other tribes that are not cannibal—the forest Pigmies, for instance. Notwithstanding some peculiar customs concerning them, they hold their women in high regard, and never barter them for goats and cows, the almost universal practice among other Central African tribes. Their skill, too, in agriculture, pottery, and in the making and playing of their musical instruments, seems quite incompatible with their abhorred anthropophagy.

Each Azandé chief is really a despotic king. His power over his subjects is absolute, and any one of them who is so unfortunate as to offend him is simply handed over to the executioner, a procedure which to the Azandé mind seems the most natural thing in the world. The courage of the Azandés is beyond praise. They know no fear; and when assailed by a murderous fire, against which they have no chance of success, they will rush right up to their enemy and grapple with him hand to hand, though nine-tenths of their fellows fall by the way. Their favourite weapons are the lance and light throwing-spear, and each warrior carries, in addition, a shield.

Among the Azandé, criminals condemned to death are despatched with the lance. Occasionally, however, they employ a peculiar method of trial, known as the ordeal by poison, which precludes this method of execution.[Pg 160] On such occasions the chief acts as judge, and the person accused is made to drink a cup of poison, the theory being that if the accusation is baseless the accused survives unharmed. Of course, the invariable result is that the drinker falls dead within a minute or so. It is safe to assume that an Azandé chief is sufficiently intelligent never to subject one of his tribe to this ordeal whose death he has not previously determined upon.

Another singular custom, not peculiar to the Azandé, but common to all Central African tribes, is the ceremony of blood-brotherhood. Two men who are in no way related having agreed to become “blood-brothers,” i. e., to live in peace and amity for ever after, meet in the open air, in the presence of the chiefs and people, when a small incision is made in the forearm of each “brother,” sufficiently deep to cause a little blood to flow. Each mutilated one then licks the blood from the other’s arm, and thenceforth they are related as brothers.

A slight modification of this ceremony was early conceded by the various chiefs to accommodate the pardonable squeamishness of Europeans; and now, instead of licking each other’s blood, the “brothers” merely rub their incisions together, so that their blood may mingle. Stanley was made blood-brother to so many African chiefs that at last his arm was well scored with incisions. Several Belgian commandants, and a few Englishmen, have submitted to this operation; always, it is almost needless to remark, from motives of policy, for it[Pg 161] has been proved that Africans regard the rite with real veneration, and esteem the “brother” they acquire by it at least as highly as they would a natural brother.

It is not necessary in this place to give the names of all the tribes of which the native population of the vast Congo region is composed. They are numerous, and for the most part not easily pronounceable. Of the tribes not already referred to, the Basundis, Bakuendas, Batekas, Bayanzis, Bangalas, Batetelas, Mongos, Bantu, and Mombettus are most prominent. While differing in personal appearance, prowess, habits, and customs, clearly denoting that they are not descended from a common stock, there are not wanting certain traits which distinguish them all. All are polygamous, nearly all are cannibal, and the morals of the most advanced among them such as shock the average civilised man upon his first contact with them. Strangely inconsistent with the low moral sense which prevails among most of the tribes, some of them punish the crime of adultery with death, others by horribly mutilating the male offender.

Cannibalism has long been suppressed by the Congo Government just as murder is suppressed among civilised communities; but the horrid practice is still indulged here and there, as opportunity occurs for evading the vigilance of the authorities. So recently as 1898, and possibly to the present day, it was necessary to maintain a constant guard at the cemetery in Leopoldville, the chief station on the Upper Congo, to prevent the[Pg 162] Bangalas unearthing the dead and carrying them off to feast upon. Several such cases were proved against them, and capital punishment had to be resorted to in order to stamp it out. This horrid subject is sickening to contemplate; but no description, however brief or superficial, of the Congo people, can ignore a fact which has occasioned, and still presents, such a tremendous difficulty for civilisation to surmount. This is but one of many difficulties with which the Congo Free State has had to contend, and those who sit in judgment upon that State should bear in mind that the Central African black is not by nature predisposed to civilisation. Not all the cannibal tribes are so repulsive and cruel as the Bangalas. Most of them eat no other human flesh but that of their enemies slain in battle. That source of supply will not suffice for the Bangalas, who make up its deficiency with prisoners or slaves. Having broken their victim’s limbs, they place him in a pool of water, with his head supported just above its surface so that he may not drown. After having left him in that position for three days (if he survives so long), he is killed and eaten. Another method is to behead the victim, singe all the hair from the body over an ember fire, and then cut it into pieces for cooking. The portions not immediately eaten are smoke-dried and put aside for another occasion. The teeth are extracted and made into necklaces by the women. Sometimes the skin is used for drumheads.

It is the general opinion of competent observers that polygamy will for many years survive the extinction[Pg 163] of cannibalism. Nothing but the spirit of Christianity will overcome that evil. The native mind cannot be induced by ordinary argument to see any wrong in it. Why a man should not have just as many wives as he can afford to buy and keep is too much for his comprehension. He regards woman as created solely for his pleasure and profit, and trades in her accordingly. He buys her from her father for one or two goats or a cow; she becomes the mother of his children, and prepares and cooks his food for him. That is her career, and she shares it with as many other wives as her husband’s inclination and resources permit him to buy. When she dies she is buried—sometimes. Certain Central African tribes regard burial after death as a superfluous ceremony for women, and place their bodies where they will be devoured by hyænas and vultures. From two to three wives is the average quantum of the ordinary Central African barbarian, and between thirty and forty for a chief.

After their prodigious effort and expense in suppressing the slave trade, the Belgians set to work to weld into a homogeneous civilised State a vast region full of warring tribes with attributes such as these, utterly oblivious to all sense of right and truth as readers of these pages understand these words.

Looking at the Congolese as they were in 1876, and again as they are in 1905, who can honestly deny that King Leopold has, so far, well performed his arduous mission?

The State’s military organisation is constituted by what is called the Congo Public Force (Force Publique). It had its origin in the necessities of the International Association before the State had gone far along its difficult way. It was recruited from the blacks of Zanzibar and along the West Coast at Lagos, Sierra Leone, Elmira, and Accra. The first troops were, therefore, foreigners—Zanzibaris and Haussas. Their foreign origin was, in a sense, an element of security to the Association when it had to direct repressive measures against some of the Congolese tribes. The Zanzibaris and the Haussas had great military aptitude and, lacking sympathy for the Congolese, were generally loyal to their commanders. They loved an enemy from the instinct inherent in savage natures.

The maintenance of this early body of troops was exceedingly expensive for the young State. Besides food, uniform, and medical attendance, these mercenaries received one franc twenty-five centimes a day. Moreover, on the expiration of their term of service they were sent back to their homes at the expense of the Government. As the term of their engagement was only three years, this obligation formed an important addition to their cost.

It was beyond the financial power of the State to[Pg 165] provide an adequate military organisation on such a basis. While the administrators of the Congo were devising means for the support of an efficient force at a reduced cost, the British government on the Gold Coast prohibited further recruiting of Haussas by foreign states. Barred from getting its soldiers from surrounding British territory, the Congo Government proceeded to develop its earlier plans for raising a native local force, the first purpose of which was that it should supplement the main body of regular troops.

The nucleus of what is the present Public Force were the men of the Bangala tribe, whom Captain Coquilhat employed as armed police when he founded Equateurville in 1885. A short time thereafter, Captain Van Dorpe made the same experiment among the Manyanga. Finding the men from both tribes fit for a military career, the principle of employing aboriginal races in the Public Force was followed with the rapid establishment of the numerous posts and stations erected at that time. The wisdom of employing natives for the organisation of such a national force was soon apparent. In 1888 an order was issued to form eight companies of one hundred and fifty men, with power to increase the number to two hundred and fifty. It was not, however, till 1891 that Baron Van Eetvelde and the Governor-General, M. Camille Janssen, drafted a practical scheme for the foundation of a permanent Public Force. Mr. Demetrius C. Boulger, whose volume entitled The Congo State treats at length of the subject up to 1898, describes the scheme which the Sovereign had approved:

[Pg 166]

The principal features of the scheme were, that the force should be divided into twelve companies corresponding with the administrative districts, and that one hundred and twenty European officers, chiefly Belgians, should be appointed to the command and disciplining of this force. The different grades of this army were: one commandant, eleven captains, ten lieutenants, thirty-nine sub-lieutenants, and sixty sergeants. The new system of recruiting was of two kinds. The first provided for the engagement of volunteers for a period not exceeding seven years, and the second for an enforced levy of militia by order of the Governor-General, and arranged between the commissary of the district affected and the local chiefs. The levy was to be made, wherever possible, by lot, among the men between the ages of fourteen and thirty. The term of service for the latter was to be five years, with a further period of two years in the reserve. Each man received, besides food for himself and his wife (if he had one), a daily pay of twenty-one centimes, or a sixth of that which had to be paid for the alien soldier. Moreover, the expense of sending the men back to their homes was reduced to a minimum. The reduction in the cost meant, besides a saving to the Government, the possibility of raising the strength of the force to a figure more in proportion to the requirements of the State. Of the old alien contingent, it has never been found possible to maintain more than three thousand men, and the native contribution to this was about two hundred; but in 1891 the latter was increased to sixteen hundred men, and in 1897, by which time the alien element had been eliminated, the Public Force was raised to a grand total of eight thousand militiamen and four thousand volunteers. The number of companies had been raised to twenty-two, with a nominal strength of nine thousand five hundred and forty men at the end of last year (1897), whereas in 1891 the total was only two thousand nine hundred and fifty.

For the purpose of training these forces, seven camps of about five hundred men each were formed, and the period of training the men undergo is fixed at eighteen months. The uniform is blue linen, or, for full uniform, blue cloth, with a[Pg 167] scarlet fez. The arm in general use is the Albini, with a short bayonet. The white officers carry the Mauser rifle, with a magazine. The greatest pains is taken in the fire-training and discipline of the men. Competitions are held every three months among sections of fifty men, and prizes awarded. A great improvement has been effected in the housing of the troops, who are now almost entirely accommodated in brick barracks. The artillery of the force is of considerable strength, and includes, Krupps, Maxims and Nordenfelts.

The seven camps of instruction are Zambi, for the Lower Congo; Kinshassa, Bolobo, Irebu, Kassongo, Umangi, La Romee, for the Upper Congo. The principal armed camps, as they are called (because they are bases of military power), are those at Lusambo, Bomokandi, and the Aruwimi; but Vankerckhovenville, Dungu, and Redjaf are now of equal, if not of greater, importance. At Kinshassa, on Stanley Pool, a fort with a battery has been constructed for the protection of Leopoldville and the railway terminus; and here an experiment has been successfully tried of utilising the services of prisoners of war. Men selected from the captives of the numerous expeditions have been passed through a probationary course on the works of this place, and in this manner a considerable number of recruits have been obtained for the Public Force on more favourable terms than the militiamen recruited through the chiefs. Kinshassa is not the only fortified place within the State territory; for at Chinkakassa, near Boma, a strong fort has been constructed, commanding the navigation of the Congo and the approaches from the ocean. Here Captain Petillon, of the Belgian Engineers, has placed eight Krupps and a number of smaller guns in an admirably selected position, while the Mongos tribe, from the Equateurville district, has supplied an adequate number of skilful and handy gunners. The authorities of the Congo State will experience no difficulty in procuring suitable men for this arm of their Public Force.

The first and oldest company of the Public Force deserves a special notice to itself. This is the auxiliary company of[Pg 168] the Congo Railway, and was founded by royal decree of 9th August, 1890, or twelve months earlier than the decree constituting the general force. Its organisation was entrusted to Captain Weyns, an officer of the Carabiniers. Its strength was first fixed at the modest total of fifty men; in 1892 it was increased to a hundred men, and afterwards it received a further addition of fifty men. The task entrusted to this corps was the protection of the railway works and of the villages through which the railway passed. As eight thousand navvies were employed on the line, and as these were composed of many nationalities, the task was no sinecure, but it was performed with perfect success and without friction. The auxiliary force was recruited in a different manner from the rest of the military. It contained several elements: for instance, twenty-five Senegalese, and fifty Batetelas from the country between the Sankuru and the Lualaba. Although of precisely the same race as the mutineers of the Dhanis column, the latter gave no trouble in 1897. Like the other militiamen of the State, they serve for five years with the colours and for two years in the reserve, but the cost of maintaining this corps is borne by the railway company. It, however, forms an integral part of the general Public Force, and can be utilised if any occasion arises. Captain Weyns reported so favourably of the quickness of the Batetela recruits and their military aptitude, that all vacancies in this company are now, like those in the rest of the Public Force, filled up with natives of the Congo territory.

In the archives of the Congo State’s Administration in Brussels, there are interesting official reports dealing with the question of creating a reliable native force from the most civilised of the Congolese tribes. The problem was not without many peculiar difficulties. Baron Van Eetvelde, whose lofty aims for Congolese civilisation were fortified with many wise measures of great utility to the Government, had[Pg 169] formulated plans for the establishment of a system of military conscription, as to which in January, 1897, he reported as follows:

The latest report of the Vice-Governor-General (July, 1904) indicates the great improvement to which the Public Force has attained since the date of Baron Van Eetvelde’s statement of the system which prevailed in 1897. Local experience in savage lands should be the foundation of the reforms imposed. In the case of the State’s Public Force, many local conditions, traits, and prejudices, and much inaptitude, were encountered to modify or extend those principles of police control which the State’s earlier administration had adopted with characteristic hopefulness. M. Fuchs sets forth the present[Pg 171] position of the Force with considerable detail and suggestion:

The Government is aware that the military service of the black race must be the object of constant watchfulness, in order that it may be impossible for them to practise the cruelties to which their primitive instincts might impel them.

The officers and commanders of the troops have been often warned that they must show themselves inflexible guardians of the observance of those instructions, which have been issued for the protection of the natives against any possible abuse on the part of soldiers left in isolated positions or subject to insufficient control. Instructions have been given to this effect—and I am happy to be able to say that they have been almost everywhere faithfully carried out. Any contravention of the order forbidding the despatch of armed soldiers under the command of black officers is also severely punished, and may entail even the dismissal of the agent in fault. These measures have been completed by the formal prohibition of the employment of auxiliaries under no matter what circumstances.

It has also been laid down that direct relations are to be established between the natives and European agents. In order still further to strengthen the maintenance of discipline among the soldiers of the black race, the regulations on the subject have been completed by the penalty of dismissal from the Public Force. This is the most severe punishment in the eyes of the soldiers, for they highly esteem the profession of arms. Dismissal from the Public Force is inflicted on those soldiers who show themselves absolutely incorrigible or who are unworthy to remain in the ranks. In order to surround this rigorous measure with all the necessary guarantees, the soldiers whom it is wished to dismiss are brought before a Council of Discipline. The dismissal is pronounced, at Boma by the Commander of the Public Force; in the districts by the District Commissioner or by the head of the expedition, after[Pg 172] examining the charge, the evidence, and the decision of the Council. Chiefs of zones cannot pronounce dismissal.

The Government have just finally decided that, for the future, the soldiers of the Public Force shall not take part in work at the stations, and that their time shall be exclusively given up to their instruction, education, and military service. The former arrangements which put soldiers, during some hours of the day, at the disposal of the territorial chiefs, chiefs of zones, and chiefs of posts, over and above the hours assigned for military duty, have been modified so as to maintain in a more continuous fashion the men under the control of their officers. In order to make this decision of the Government as fruitful as possible, the territorial chiefs have been ordered to reduce to the effective force strictly necessary for the assurance of security, the garrisons stationed at the posts in zones and districts, and to concentrate at the chief places in the territory garrisons as complete as possible. These measures are intended to produce the best results from the point of view of educating and instructing the troops, as well as from that of assuring military discipline, provided the territorial chiefs scrupulously carry out the new instructions mentioned above.

It has also been pointed out to them that it will be expressly recommended to the officials charged with the inspection—and the Government has decided to increase the inspections throughout the State territories—to ascertain if all these instructions, concerning the execution of the new table of daily work for the public force, have been carried out.

The other measures of organisation which have been passed, the formal prohibition to establish posts commanded by black officers, or to confide military operations to them, and finally forbidding the practice of taking sub-officers from their military duties to employ them as chiefs of stations, are of a nature to make us hope that very soon our public force will constitute a body in which we may have complete confidence.

In February, 1904, I thought it my duty to point out to the Government the manner in which instruction was given in the camps, and to draw its attention to the necessity that there[Pg 173] would be to engage quickly a superior officer entrusted more especially with the mission of seeing to the higher direction and the general control of all the orders issued concerning the Public Force. The Government, which had also occupied itself with the question, has confided this high employment to a superior officer who will be entrusted with the command of the Public Force.

The Government has resolved to send, at the same time three or four officers of the grade of commandant to be attached to the staff of the Public Force, and whom the commander will be able to appoint to exercise constant control over the companies and camps.

It is right to recall the fact that military service is so far from constituting a laborious servitude for those subjected to it, by virtue of the organic law of conscription, that voluntary engagements increase from year to year. Besides, the instructions of the Government encourage this state of mind by improving the well-being of the soldier from the triple point of view of habitation, food, and clothing. And they are not only natives of Congolese territory, properly speaking, who seek there military employment; numerous Africans coming from the English colonies of the West Coast solicit engagement at Boma.

The table (on page 174) of the engagements of men, natives of the coast and British subjects, is characteristic in this respect.

The multiplicity of voluntary enrolments will gradually remove, from the absolutely indispensable law of conscription, what might seem rigorous, particularly in the eyes of people not yet thoroughly acquainted with civilisation, and with the idea of the necessity of public order.

It is nevertheless important to note that the efforts attempted with the view of nationalising the police forces are being crowned more and more with success. The State can now renounce the assistance, elsewhere advantageous, of foreign mercenaries, thanks to the methodical, extensive, and wise application of the militia law, and especially to the considerable increase in the number of national volunteers. But there

[Pg 174]

could be no question of abandoning the system of recruiting by means of regional conscription. It signifies, indeed, that all the population throughout the whole extent of the territory participates in this public charge as much in the interests of the regular and permanent operation of the recruiting of the national militia as in that also of the natives who benefit by the lessons of their military profession (a sense of order, discipline, cleanliness, clothes, hygiene, habitation, &c.). The stay in the ranks of the armed force has as its principal advantage their initiation in civilised life, and their preparation for a regular life of work.

The proportion of deaths has become very low among the blacks of the Public Force and among the labourers. This is due in a great degree to the improved conditions under which our men live. The lodgment is well aired and neatly kept. The food is varied as much as possible, and its careful preparation is provided for. The camps of the soldiers of the Public[Pg 175] Force are well kept up. Barracks constructed in stone with cemented floors serve in the Lower Congo as lodgment for our troops. The black officers have their habitation separate from that of their men.

In the stations on the upper river these prescripts are also well followed. At Boma the creation of a working city, constructed of well-chosen materials, is in progress.

It is interesting to quote with regard to the constant and progressive improvement in the existence of the natives the following paragraphs from the report of Mr. Casement, His Britannic Majesty’s Consul:

“Then (in 1887) I had visited most of the places I now revisited, and I was thus able to institute a comparison between a state of affairs I had myself seen when the natives lived their own savage lives in anarchic and disorderly communities, uncontrolled by Europeans, and that created by more than a decade of very energetic European intervention. That very much of this intervention has been called for, no one who formerly knew the Upper Congo could doubt, and there are to-day widespread proofs of the great energy displayed by Belgian officials in introducing their methods of rule over one of the most savage regions of Africa.

“Admirably built and admirably kept stations greet the traveller at many points.

“The Government station of Leopoldville numbers, I was informed by its chief, some 130 Europeans, and probably 300 native Government workmen, who all dwell in well-ordered lines of either very well-built European houses, or, for the native staff, mud-built huts.

“On the whole, Government workmen at Leopoldville struck me as being well cared for, and they were certainly none of them idle.”

In thus taking care of their employés the agents have performed a duty which has not only resulted in the well-being of the blacks, but has also allowed of a reduction in the number of the workers, and accomplishing better and more rapidly executed work.

[Pg 176]

It will be observed elsewhere in this volume that some of those who condemn the State’s system of government point to the Force Publique as the chief instrument by which the Administration encompasses the enslavement of the native population. There are glaring discrepancies in what such persons, either maliciously or in ignorance, represent as the police system which prevails in the State at the present time. There does not exist a police system anywhere in Europe or Africa which has not some inherent defect. To expect the highest discipline and the utmost control in a police body composed of the imperfectly civilised Negroes of Equatorial Africa is only one manifestation of that narrow, unintelligent outlook upon the subject over which certain persons are agitating themselves into suspicious frenzy. The report of M. Fuchs denotes that the State’s police system is founded upon high principles of justice, that discipline and order are being maintained without the abuse of power, and that, whatever individuals may have done to transgress in the sphere of their opportunity, no such extravagant charges of misgovernment as a few persons have made can be fixed upon a State with the police laws above indicated. A million square miles of savage territory are governed with 14,270 natives enrolled in the State’s military service. This is seven soldiers to about every 625 square miles. Does this not signify native respect for, and tranquillity in, the State? What civilised community maintains its authority with such a meagre force?

IT had long been foreseen, as an inevitable result of the advent of the Belgians in Central Africa, that a direct conflict between them and the Arabs, continued to the extinction of one or other of the belligerents, must sooner or later take place. The chief cause of the presence of the Belgians in the country being the suppression of slavery was in itself sufficient to assure this. As shown in the chapter dealing with that subject, the Belgian pioneers in establishing posts throughout the country were guided chiefly in their selection of sites by a desire to obstruct the natural routes of the slave-traders; and this, as we have seen, had the effect of frequently bringing Belgians and Arabs into collision.

After the Belgian operations on the Uelle and Lualaba, the Arabs became seriously alarmed. They perceived not only their nefarious method of livelihood at stake, but their very existence as a coherent fighting force was also threatened. In dread at this prospect, the Arabs resolved to precipitate matters, and took the offensive. It is not easy to see what other conclusion they could have reached, for the Belgians had now concerted practical measures[Pg 178] which rendered their raids upon Negro villages no longer possible, while such Negro chiefs as had hitherto been amenable to Arab influence had been either alienated or killed off in fair fight. A tax on ivory, too, imposed by the Congo Government in 1891, though moderate in amount and perfectly just in its incidence, was bitterly resented by them. It was clear, therefore, that the only hope for the Arabs lay in recovering the country which the Belgians had wrested from them; and as with every day that passed their chances of doing this became more remote, they resolved to stake all that was left to them upon one desperate effort.

The first practical proof of this intention came upon the Belgians somewhat as a surprise. M. Hodister, acting on behalf of the Belgian Society of the Upper Congo, a company of merchant adventurers, had founded two stations on the river Lomami. In this act, M. Hodister was held by the Congo Administration to have exceeded the range permitted him, Lieutenant Le Marinel, the Belgian officer commanding that region, having foreseen danger in pressing so closely upon the Arabs, a contingency with which he was not as yet prepared to deal. But the opportunity of striking a blow afforded by Hodister’s precipitate act was too inviting to be neglected, and the Arabs promptly seized it. The blow fell March 15, 1892, near Riba Riba, on the Congo, the Arabs murdering Hodister and his ten white companions. It was not a fight; it was a massacre. Elated by their success, the Arabs next proceeded to burn the factories belonging to the Belgian Society[Pg 179] of the Upper Congo, and to kill their inmates; so that, for the moment, the collapse of Belgian power in that section of the country was complete.

Another event that occurred about this time served to emphasise the determination of the Arabs. Rashid,[16] the Arab governor of Stanley Falls, on being invited by the Belgians to assist in obtaining the punishment of the murderers of Hodister and his companions, absolutely refused to have anything to do with the matter, and with difficulty concealed the satisfaction he felt at that tragic event. Sefu, a son of Tippo Tip, began now to realise his father’s property, an ominously significant act. On all sides it was felt that a crisis was at hand, and Lieut. Le Marinel prepared to meet it by appointing to the command of the camp at Lusambo Lieut. Francis Dhanis, an officer who had distinguished himself by founding the camp at Bosoko, on the Aruwimi, and in many other ways exhibited uncommon energy and resource.

Immediately upon the arrival of Lieut. Dhanis at Lusambo, intelligence reached him that Gongo Lutete was on the war-path, seeking to pass the Sankuru. This Gongo Lutete was a Negro chief who had allied himself with the Arabs and assisted them in enslaving his own race. The following is a description of him from the pen of Dr. Sidney Hinde:

With such a redoubtable fighter as Gongo Lutete to contend with, it was clear to Lieut. Dhanis that no time must be lost. Believing, with von Moltke, that the best defence against your enemy is to attack him, Dhanis moved against Lutete without delay, and brought him to battle on the 23d of April, and again on the 5th and 9th of May. The first two engagements were undecisive. The third proved a hard fight. At first the fortunes of the day were all in favour of the Arabs; and when his native auxiliaries[Pg 181] turned and fled it seemed impossible for Lieut. Dhanis to gain the victory. But that very circumstance, so disconcerting in itself, saved the Belgians. As the Arabs advanced, they shouted: “Do not fire! These are natives; make them prisoners.” It was a fatal command. The Belgians rallied, and received their foes with such a tremendous fusillade that they were thrown into confusion and took refuge in flight. Gongo Lutete surrendered unconditionally to Lieut. Dhanis, and professed himself henceforth a faithful vassal of the Congo State. He was an able man, probably the most intelligent of the Negro race in the country, and certainly the best acquainted with the wily Arab and his ways; so, after some hesitation, his overtures of friendship were accepted. The force which Gongo Lutete had commanded being now at the disposal of the Belgians, its first employment under its new masters was the establishment of a new post on the Lomami, at Gandu, on the route to Nyangwe and Kassongo.

Meanwhile Sefu, son of Tippo Tip, had not been inactive. With cunning worthy of his father, he had no sooner returned from Stanley Falls to Kassongo than he made war upon the station there and seized it. Two Belgian officers, Lieutenants Lippens and De Bruyn, were also captured by him, to whom he confided the comforting assurance that he only refrained from putting them to death because he hoped to find them useful as hostages in his negotiations with the Congo Government. Sefu had for his ally Munie[Pg 182] Moharra, chief of Manyema, a powerful Arab leader. Between them they raised a formidable force, which they hastened to employ against the Belgians. Before doing so, however, they stated the terms upon which they would make peace. As these terms included, among other provisions, handing over to them Gongo Lutete and the establishment of a new frontier to be indicated by them, there was really nothing for the Belgians to consider. Their terms being, of course, refused, the Arabs marched from Nyangwe and Kassongo in the direction of the Lomami. Their exact numbers are not known; but notwithstanding the defection of Gongo Lutete and his following, it is certain that they were very numerous.

The force at the disposal of Lieut. Dhanis, though not so great as that of the Arabs, was yet a considerable one. His staff consisted of seven Europeans, and he had three hundred and fifty regular troops and one 7-5 Krupp gun. The command of the troops acquired by Gongo Lutete’s defection from the Arabs, numbering several thousands, was entrusted to Captain Michaux, with Lieut. Duchesne second in command. The Arabs having crossed the Lomami at a lower point than where they had been expected, were met by Captain Michaux and Gongo Lutete at Chige, and a battle ensued. The Arabs numbered sixteen thousand men, not more than half of whom were armed with muskets, the rest carrying bows and spears. Lutete having complained that his men could not fight because their guns had become wet with the rain, Michaux, knowing[Pg 183] that the Arabs must be labouring under a like difficulty, ordered a general attack. His men responded nobly and a fierce fight ensued, but it was of brief duration. Perceiving that they were out-generalled, the Arabs became confused and rushed madly into the river which they had recently been at so much pains to cross, only to find that retreat was impossible. In that situation they were shot down in great numbers. Twelve hundred Arabs were drowned, more than half that number lay dead upon the battle-field, and nearly a thousand prisoners were captured, together with a large quantity of war material. Thus opened the Arab campaign on November 23, 1892, with the battle of Chige.

Having re-formed his forces, Lieut. Dhanis now crossed the Lomami, determined to carry the war into the enemy’s stronghold. His army, which had been reinforced, was now quite a large one, numbering six Belgian officers, four hundred regulars, and twenty-five thousand natives, the latter being commanded in detail by their own chiefs. Lieut. Scherlink and Dr. Hinde commanded the advance guard. Michaux and Gongo Lutete marched together, and joined forces with Scherlink and Hinde at Lusana. On the route, several Negro chiefs made their submission and strengthened the force with men and provisions.

On reaching Lusana, the Belgian leaders learned with deep regret that Sefu, son of Tippo Tip, had put to death their brave comrades, De Bruyn and Lippens, and that he had also executed a native who had endeavoured to save them,[Pg 184] in circumstances at once pathetic and heroic. Sefu, it now appeared, accompanied by Munie Moharra, was hurrying to attack Dhanis, and the latter instructed Lieutenants Delcommune and Francqui, then just returned from Katanga, to intercept him if possible.

But the second battle of the campaign was to be fought by Dhanis’ force. It took place on December 30th, and opened inauspiciously for the Belgians, Gongo Lutete’s men being defeated and dispersed. Fortunately they formed only the advanced guard, and on Dhanis and Michaux coming up the fortune of the day changed. Dhanis confined his energies to a frontal attack, while Michaux assailed the Arabs’ flank. What Lutete’s irregulars had been unable to do, the Belgians accomplished—but not easily. Part of the battle was fought in a swamp.

The Belgians displayed great courage under extraordinary difficulties, and continued the fight until the Arabs broke and fled. The honours of the day rested with the Krupp gun, which killed many and frightened more. The Arabs left two hundred men dead on the field, the Congo State only eighty, in which number is included the wounded. When the Belgians captured their enemies’ camp, it was found that they had slain their own women, that being the barbarous custom of the Arabs to which they resort whenever there is danger of their women being made prisoners of war.

Immediately after this battle, the Congo State force crossed the Mwadi to a plateau known as the Gois Kapopa, and, having set up a camp there,[Pg 185] rested for a week. At the end of that period intelligence reached Lieutenant Dhanis that Sefu had gathered about him a vast following and was again threatening trouble. Slightly counteracting the danger this implied, the same messenger also announced that, by order of Lieutenant Delcommune, Lieutenant Cassart, with a numerous body of men, was then on his way to join Dhanis.

Cassart came, as announced, but met with a desperate adventure by the way. He had been entrusted to bring to Dhanis fifty thousand cartridges, and was provided with an escort of thirty European soldiers and about two hundred and fifty of Gongo Lutete’s men. All went well with him until dawn of January 9, 1893, when he was suddenly attacked by Moharra. A short, sharp fight ensued, as a result of which Cassart contrived to reach Dhanis’ camp with a loss of only seven men; he also saved his cartridges, all but the five thousand or so that he had used during the fight.

The conflict between Moharra and Cassart occurred not far from the Belgian camp and was heard there, whereupon Dhanis sent a detachment of his men under Lieutenant De Wouters to join Cassart. De Wouters failed to effect his object; but he came upon a portion of Moharra’s men, who mistook his force for a contingent from Sefu coming to their aid. When within twenty yards of the Arabs, De Wouters undeceived them by opening a terrific fire upon them. At the first volley Moharra fell dead. He had been wounded in his fight with Cassart, and was being carried by his wives when he met his fate.

[Pg 186]

The manner in which the news of Moharra’s death was conveyed to Sefu is a sufficiently striking proof of the debased savagery with which the Belgian civilisers have had to contend. They “broke the news gently” to him, thus: “We ate Moharra a few days ago.”

The death of Moharra and defeat of his troops so upset Sefu’s calculations that he immediately abandoned his strong camp on the Kipango, and betook himself and his followers behind the Lualaba, on Nyangwe. But for the unfortunate breaking of a bridge, Dhanis would have attacked him in his retreat. In consequence of that accident, Sefu was enabled to cross the river without molestation. Dhanis, having no canoes, could not come up with him; so the two forces settled down on either side of the river for five weeks and occasionally exchanged harmless shots.

The canoes in which the Arabs had crossed the river belonged to the Wagenia, a tribe who made their home hereabouts and who lived chiefly by fishing. Nearly all their canoes were now in the possession of the Arabs, who evinced no disposition to part from them. Dhanis exerted all his wit to induce the Wagenia to provide him with canoes, but they either could not or would not. Professing friendship for both belligerents, and ready at all times to take bribes from each, they proved useful go-betweens. One day the Wagenia reported that the store of provisions in Nyangwe was almost exhausted. “Here,” said Dhanis to his informant, “take these six fowls to Sefu and present them to him from me. Tell[Pg 187] him that at present I have plenty, but when my supply runs out I will cross the river.” This message deceived Sefu, as it was intended to do. As a matter of fact, the six fowls were the only ones Dhanis had in his camp. The effect of this strategem was perceived before many days, the Arabs coming over to the western side of the river, where they began to build forts, or “bomas,” as they call them, a short distance below the Belgian camp. Dhanis resolved to attack them at once, and with this object divided his force into two columns. The engagement that ensued proved a complete triumph for the State troops. The Arabs lost nearly a thousand men, many being drowned in an attempt to swim across the river. The Wagenia, anxious to ally themselves with the winning side, hastened to produce canoes in abundance. Dhanis was now able to transport his troops across the Upper Congo, and, that object achieved, he captured Nyangwe almost without an effort, Sefu retreating to Kassongo without firing a shot. This event occurred on 4th March, 1893.

Though Dhanis was now master of Nyangwe, his difficulties were not all surmounted. He had not been installed there many days before it became necessary to burn down a large part of the town in order to frustrate an attempt by the Arabs to surprise it. Then other and worse dangers threatened. Influenza and smallpox broke out among his men and decimated them. No active prosecution of the campaign was possible until April, when these plagues abated and reinforcements, five hundred strong, under Commandant Gillain and Lieutenant Doorme, arrived.

[Pg 188]

Leaving De Wouters in command at Nyangwe, Dhanis now marched on Kassongo. It was a bold venture, for while the Arabs had sixty thousand men, and held four “bomas,” Dhanis disposed of only three hundred regular troops and two thousand auxiliaries. On April 22, Doorme had the good fortune, at the beginning of the fight, to rush an important fort which commanded the Arab rear. The Arabs were greatly perturbed by this circumstance, and fought with less than their usual valour. Before two hours had passed, Kassongo was in the hands of the Congo State troops, with vast quantities of valuable spoil. The triumph of civilisation over savagery was complete, the only jarring note in Belgian ears being confirmation of the murder of Emin Pasha a month before.[17]

[Pg 189]

While the events described in the preceding chapter were being enacted, M. Tobback, Resident for the Congo Free State at Stanley Falls, with his second in command, Lieutenant Van Lindt, and a small force, occupied a position of imminent danger. Rashid, a nephew of Tippo Tip and cousin to Sefu, was installed there. This arch-traitor, while professing the utmost friendship for the State authorities, and accepting favours at the hands of Belgian officers, was really a confederate of the Arabs. His character, which had long been suspected, appeared unmistakably from evidence discovered by Lieutenant Dhanis at Kassongo, when that place was captured by the State troops. On May 13th, immediately after he had been informed of the fall of Kassongo, Rashid openly attacked the State garrison. A fierce fight ensued, in which three of Tobback’s men were killed and seven wounded. Nearly a hundred of Rashid’s men were placed hors de combat; but he was better able to stand the loss than Tobback was his. Four days the struggle continued with varying fortune, but on the fifth day it became evident to Tobback[Pg 190] that it was impossible for him, with the handful of men at his disposal, to successfully resist the large force operating against him. He was perfecting his plans for the evacuation of the station, and had prepared six large canoes, when the whole situation changed by the opportune arrival of Commandant Chaltin. The presence of this officer, and the State troops that accompanied him, justified the experiment of an attack upon the Arabs, which proved entirely successful. The State troops captured all the Arab positions, and took fifteen hundred prisoners, Rashid himself escaping capture in ignominious flight.

At this juncture the Congo State officers came to the conclusion that the Arab power was effectually broken, and they did not anticipate further trouble with the slave-traders beyond, possibly, an occasional skirmish. The State’s progress in its campaign against the Arabs had, on the whole, been extremely successful, and its Sovereign had good reason to be satisfied with the work accomplished. When, in June, 1893, Captain Ponthier came up the Congo with reinforcements for Dhanis, that event seemed to give emphasis to this optimistic view. Certainly it so alarmed Sefu that he abandoned the struggle and fled to German territory.

Immediately after the flight of Sefu a painful incident occurred which greatly embarrassed the Congo State authorities. A Belgian officer, having come to the groundless opinion that Gongo Lutete was a traitor, ordered him to be court-martialled and shot. It was a disastrous event, not[Pg 191] only wrong in itself, but alienating from the State the affection of Gongo’s men, and affording its enemies in Europe an opportunity of reviling the Congo Administration; a libel which, though it has been many times refuted, they still industriously disseminate.

It soon became evident that May, 1893, was not to be recorded in history as the month in which slave-trading Arabs had been finally repressed. A chief belonging to Ujiji, named Rumeliza, with a considerable force of Arabs, now appeared east of Tanganyika. Having penetrated as far as Kabambari, midway between Kassongo and the lake, he encamped there, and explained his presence by avowing his intention to reconquer Manyema.

Rumeliza’s following was so numerous and so well equipped that October had arrived before Captain (for such he had recently become) Dhanis thought it expedient to move against him. When he did take the field, his force consisted of five officers (of whom Ponthier was one), about four hundred regulars, and three hundred auxiliaries; and they had with them the Krupp gun which had served them so well in many a battle. Unfortunately, ammunition for it was all but exhausted.

On reaching the Arabs’ camp at Mwana Mkwanga, they were found to be very advantageously placed in two large, well-built bomas.[18] The first efforts to[Pg 192] dislodge them met with no success. The Krupp gun proved of very little service. Of the scanty supply of ammunition, a large portion was wasted by the native troops through lack of skill in manipulating the gun, and finally they abandoned it, after which it was worked by European officers who could be ill spared for the duty. When one of his officers, De Lange, fell wounded, Captain Dhanis decided to retire, and a position was taken up scarcely inferior to that held by the Arabs.

Emboldened by what they erroneously regarded[Pg 193] as a great victory, the Arabs lost no time in attacking the State camp. But this time the tables were turned, and they were repulsed with heavy loss. The arrival of reinforcements from Kassongo contributed to this result; but in consequence of some error, Kassongo was left without sufficient guard. This fact coming to the knowledge of the Arabs, they hastened to take advantage of it. To avert this calamity, De Wouters, by order of Captain Dhanis, marched night and day, through a violent storm, and effectually intercepted them. Not a day passed without a fight, victory inclining first to one and then to the other belligerent. On the whole, the Congo State troops continued to hold their own fairly well against great odds. Wearying of the protracted struggle, the Arabs decided to make a desperate attack in full force upon the State camp. They selected a foggy day on which to make their assault, and were greatly aided thereby. At first they succeeded so well that they actually entered the State camp and engaged the Congo troops in a hand-to-hand combat. The struggle lasted five hours. The State troops lost fifty men, including the brave Captain Ponthier, notwithstanding which they succeeded in completely repulsing the Arabs, whom they chased right up to Rumaliza’s boma. The Arab losses were far heavier than the State’s. Captain Dhanis had every reason to be satisfied. Leaving De Wouters in active command, he now returned to Kassongo to reorganise.

After the departure of Dhanis, De Wouters continued the aggressive policy of his chief. In attacking[Pg 194] the boma of Lubukine, Lieutenant De Heusch was killed, and so hot was the fight that his men fled. De Wouters lost five men killed (including De Heusch) and ten wounded; but the Arab loss was far heavier, and included Sefu, the son of Tippo Tip, who had returned from German territory and was pursuing his old courses.

It was not until nearly the end of December that Dhanis was again strong enough to take the offensive. By that time his troops had been rested and reinforced. They were none too early in taking the field, for information now came to hand that Rashid had rallied his forces after their defeat at Stanley Falls and was hastening to join Rumeliza.

To deal with this combination, Dhanis despatched Commandant Gillain with one hundred and eighty soldiers and two hundred auxiliaries to cut off Rumeliza’s retreat, while De Wouters attacked Rumeliza’s great boma at Bena Kalunga, Dhanis, with two Krupp guns, personally commanding the reserve. Rumeliza’s boma proved impregnable, the Krupp guns failing to injure it, and news arrived that fresh forces were on their way from Tanganyika to aid Rumeliza.

Matters stood badly for the State when the opportune arrival of Commandant Lothaire, with three hundred men, changed the outlook entirely. This occurred on January 9, 1894, a day marked by another singular piece of good fortune. The boma which had so long defied the best efforts of the besiegers was set on fire and destroyed, a shot from one of the Krupp guns having blown up the Arab magazine.[Pg 195] In their haste to abandon it, many Arabs were shot, while others were drowned in a desperate attempt to cross the river. By cutting off their water supply, the other garrisons were compelled to surrender, so that within three days over two thousand Arabs were taken prisoners by the State troops.

The Arab power was now effectually broken. To break it was an arduous task, expensive both in blood and money, but on the whole it was conducted as humanely as it is possible to conduct military operations. The sufferings of the Europeans were fully as great as, if not greater than, the sufferings of their enemies. Proportionate to their numbers, their mortality was higher. More succumbed to disease and the hardships of the campaign than were killed by the enemy’s bullets, among them the gallant De Wouters, who passed away in the very hour of his triumph.

The chief honours of the Belgian campaigns against the Arabs undoubtedly rest upon Dhanis, who had exhibited foresight, patience, and skill in his every act. His ability and success were recognised by King Leopold, who conferred upon him the title of Baron. In his final report to King Leopold of the Arab campaign, dated December 20, 1894, Baron Dhanis thus tersely sums up the results of that memorable struggle:

[Pg 197]

It is an old world-truth, supported by countless historical instances, that the way of the reformer is hard. When his progress is not opposed by vested interests, his enthusiasm is regarded with chilling indifference. However just his cause, he may safely count upon numerous opponents, every one a giant. Even when he has succeeded in establishing a clear case for reform, he is merely set free from one set of difficulties in order to confront other, and generally more formidable, obstacles.

When it first became known to the world that his Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians, had seriously determined to suppress the slave trade in Central Africa, the news provoked but little comment. “Is there any slave trade carried on in Central Africa?” people asked one another—for notwithstanding the wide dissemination of records of travel by Livingstone and Stanley, and the numerous reports from missionaries belonging to every religious sect, all affirming it, the great bulk of civilised mankind, too busy to regard them, rested content in the delusion that the iniquitous traffic was a thing of the past.

[Pg 198]

This apathy, if apathy it may be called to be indifferent where the facts are not properly known, had to be fought and overcome by King Leopold, first among his own countrymen, and afterwards in the other countries of Europe and in America. By many the King’s enterprise was regarded as quixotic, impossible of achievement; some continued indifferent, and yet others commended the King warmly, and lent their moral support in furtherance of his scheme. The material support, however, which was proffered to amplify his Majesty’s own huge outlay came almost entirely from Belgians. On the whole, it was an uphill fight; but King Leopold won all along the line. As we have seen, his Majesty, by his wise initiative, patient labour, and lavish expenditure, first created the Congo State, and afterwards obtained from the great powers their recognition of the State so created, and of his own sovereignty of that State, accompanied by their hearty approval of what had from the first been King Leopold’s main object in the founding of the Congo State, viz., the suppression of slavery.

It will be noted that an important epoch had now been reached. King Leopold’s mandate was clear and irrevocable. If it had been an arduous struggle to win that mandate, the effort counted for little when compared with what was needed for the accomplishment of the task now opening out before him. The King of a small State, and with a depleted fortune, Leopold II. had, as materials for his task, his own natural ability, the righteousness of his cause, and the unswerving[Pg 199] loyalty of his people—three grand factors, it is true, but hardly commensurate with its magnitude. The suppression of slavery in a region a third as large as the United States, populated by diverse and hostile tribes, among whom slavery and cannibalism had prevailed from time immemorial, would have been no light undertaking for a missionary Crœsus with a huge army at his back. King Leopold was no such Crœsus, and his pioneers were few in number. But what they lacked in numbers they made up in geographical knowledge, in bravery, and in tact in their dealings both with the Negro and his oppressor, the Arab. Being human, some few mistakes were made; but they were very few—fewer than has frequently marked the establishment of a European colony in countries where there has been no question of slavery awaiting solution, no cannibalism to stamp out, no climatic dangers to encounter. When the time comes for King Leopold to be assigned his place in history as an empire builder, the future historian will probably designate as his Majesty’s most brilliant work his solution of the problem of the suppression of the slave trade in Central Africa.

A wrong may be persevered in until its perpetrator comes to believe it is right. The Arab had for so many centuries harried the Negro race—and, taking advantage of their tribal disputes, plundered, enslaved, and sold them, under circumstances of revolting cruelty—that he had long ago grown to regard the Negro as his natural prey, and was seriously alarmed at the appearance in Congoland of the white-faced strangers with their unwelcome[Pg 200] creed of liberty for all men, which they dreaded even more than their weapons of precision. To the Arabs this was a strange doctrine, inimical, they conceived, to their vital interests, and it behoved them to resist it to the death. That their alarm was well founded the sequel will show.

One of the first acts of the newly recognised Congo Free State was to forbid trade in firearms, gunpowder, and other explosives. Another act defined contracts of service between natives and foreigners, affording the former special protection. A third act created a volunteer corps whose chief business it was to protect individual liberty. Before any aggressive action, however, could be taken by this corps, the consent of the sovereign’s delegate was necessary.

Concurrent with these three acts, the Belgian Anti-Slavery Society raised another, and quite distinct, volunteer corps for similar work, but restricted to the neighbourhood of Lake Tanganyika. In addition, about this period the same Society despatched to Congoland, in rapid succession, three expeditions of a missionary and civilising character. In such circumstances, collisions between the Belgians and Arabs were inevitable. During the first few years of the existence of the Congo Free State these collisions occurred chiefly on the Upper Congo and its tributaries, the currents of the interior slave trade, particularly those from the eastern and southern provinces, being checked by fixed military posts and flying columns. For two years—from 1892 to 1894—a continuous campaign was in progress, having[Pg 201] for its object the interception of the slave caravans accustomed to come from the south and east, which was entirely successful. In the vast territory known by the name of Lualuba-Kassai, at a time when the resources of the State were unequal to the expense of maintaining a line of posts, it was usual, up to so recently as 1902, on the appearance of a gang of slave-dealers to despatch a detachment of troops from Lusambo or Luluabourg to intercept them. Many engagements were thus brought about between the State volunteers and the slave-dealers. Now military posts are established on all the principal roads formerly used by the slave-traders, and the barrier is complete.

In the north, Commandant Chaltin struck a damaging blow to the Dervishes in February, 1897. After traversing with his force the whole of the Uelle territory, he encountered the Dervishes at Redjaf on the Nile. The place was strongly held by four thousand soldiers, more than half of whom were armed with modern rifles. A severe battle ensued, lasting nearly all day. Victory lay with the Belgians, the Dervishes being forced to evacuate Redjaf. They accepted their beating badly, making several attempts to retake the place, but without success.

Thus we have seen that it was in the districts of the Lower Congo that the slave trade was first stamped out; that it was next eradicated from the Middle Congo; and finally extinguished on the Upper Congo, where Belgian bravery and military skill succeeded in effectually crushing the last vestige of Arab power.

[Pg 202]

The Negro was quick to respond to the revivifying influence of security for life and property, and his rapid progress in civilisation may be said to date from the day when this essential primary condition was established. From a report to King Leopold made by Baron Van Eetvelde, Secretary of State for the Independent State of the Congo, the following passage is extracted:

In a later report—the last from which it will be necessary to quote—Baron Van Eetvelde reviews the complete work of the Congo Free State from its creation to the date of his writing (1897), and very ably sums up the situation then existing:

That the problem of the suppression of slavery in Central Africa had now been solved, we have had abundant incontrovertible evidence. That its solution was effected with a minimum of bloodshed, and in a marvellously short period of time for the accomplishment of so gigantic a task, we have also seen. The first and greatest of the objects for which King Leopold had so long laboured was at length realised. The applause of all civilised peoples had been justly earned, and was ungrudgingly given, and substantial reward was soon to follow.

The Conventional Basin of the Congo contains about 1,500,000 square miles, of which the Free State occupies 1,000,000, and its neighbours, France, Great Britain, Germany, and Portugal, about 500,000. On the east of the Free State, and divided from it by Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, and Albert Edward, is German East Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean; on the south-east lie British possessions; on the south the Portuguese, and on the east and north-east the French Congo and Soudan; on the north-east, in the Nile Valley, lie the Egyptian Soudan and the Uganda Protectorate, the one on the west, the other on the east bank of the Nile.

The Berlin Conference of 1885 had not dealt with questions of territory except to delimit the area comprised in the Congo Basin. By the Anglo-German Agreements of 1886 and 1890, the borders of German East Africa had been generally defined. France, however, still fostered the hope of acquiring dominion of the Egyptian Soudan and, perhaps, of nearly all of the northern part of Africa. The arrangement with the Sovereign of the Congo Free State, giving her a right of pre-emption of the State[Pg 207] over other Powers, would indicate an ambition in this direction. That France endeavoured to achieve her aim in this respect was forcibly demonstrated by the expedition of Captain Marchand and the Fashoda incident. So far as Germany and Portugal were concerned, the Congo Free State’s boundary had been well-nigh firmly established, but with France and Great Britain there was a lack of settlement on this important question which threatened the State with future insecurity.

The first convention on this subject was concluded with Great Britain, and concerned the Bahr-el-Ghazal, referred to in the succeeding chapter.

The Franco-Congolese Convention of 14th August, 1894, was of great importance to the young State, albeit the price it paid for the friendly attitude of France may appear greater than the security afforded. The relations which existed between France and the State, when the upper course of the Ubanghi became the object of frontier settlement, were defined by the Convention of 5th February, 1885, and that of 29th April, 1887. In the first, France agreed, in return for the right of pre-emption conferred on her in 1884, to determine her own Congolese limits and those of the Free State, and to guarantee the latter’s neutrality. In the second, the Belgian Congo surrendered a considerable territory to France by substituting the Ubanghi to the 17th degree of east longitude for the boundary defined in the third article of the treaty of 5th February, 1885, and the modification of her right of pre-emption in favour of Belgium in certain contingencies. These[Pg 208] negotiations, beginning in 1891, were not settled until 1894, owing to conflicting views as to the course of the Ubanghi. Moreover, the French Government had expostulated vigorously against the British proposal to lease the Bahr-el-Ghazal to the Congo Free State, while Germany protested against British possession of the strip of land between Lakes Tanganyika and Albert Edward, which the Free State intended granting in payment for its lease of the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The article conveying this strip, manifestly intended for the Cape-to-Cairo railway conceived by Mr. Cecil Rhodes, was, in fact, withdrawn by arrangement between the British and Congo Governments on June 22, 1894. Meantime, the French Government had contended that the river Uelle was the true upper course of the Ubanghi, and that the State had no rights north of it, “even though it resulted in moving the State’s frontier line south of the fourth parallel secured to it by the Convention of February, 1885.” There were, however, on the part of the Congo State, the advantages of possession and effective occupation of the territory north of the Uelle and the right bank of the Mbomu, which had now been geographically established as the uppermost course of the Ubanghi. An offer was made by the Congo State to arbitrate the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Berlin Act. France, however, declined to submit the case to such tribunal. Finally, after three years’ delay, a convention between France and the Congo Free State was signed in Paris on 14th August, 1894, which contained six articles. The first conceded part of[Pg 209] the Belgian claim by constituting the river Mbomu the upper course of the Ubanghi.

The third article stipulated for the gradual surrender to the French of the posts established by the State north of the Uelle; and the fourth and the final articles “bound the State to renounce all political action of any kind to the west or north of the following line—the 30th degree of east longitude, from its point of intersection with the crest of the water-parting of the basins of the Congo and the Nile to as far as the point where this meridian meets the parallel 5° 30´, and thence that parallel to the Nile.”

[Pg 210]

By these articles, and the good feeling that has since prevailed between the French and the Belgians, all matters likely to have caused dispute have been settled. A well-defined boundary has been laid down between the French possessions and the Congo State from the Atlantic to the Nile. If the King of the Belgians surrendered to France what others would have retained, it was so dealt with because of that wise political foresight which has characterised his Majesty’s diplomacy in other respects. The friendly relations between France and the Congo State, the settlement of northern boundaries along the Mbomu, and the lease of the Bahr-el-Ghazal from Great Britain, have dispelled much Belgian anxiety. The question which now appears to forebode difficulty is what the Belgians believe to be Great Britain’s scheme for a pretext to break the lease of the Enclave of Lado, a rich and prosperous territory in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where the Belgians have established posts along the Nile as far north as Lado. As to Great Britain’s purpose in this connection there have been many recent signs.

In addition to the territories of the Congo Free State proper, the sovereignty of which is vested in Leopold II., King of the Belgians, and his successors, King Leopold holds on lease from Great Britain the Bahr-el-Ghazal up to 10° N. A treaty entered into between the Congo Free State and Great Britain on 12th May, 1894, determines the duration of this lease, and the extent of the territory to which it applies. The conditions are somewhat complicated, partaking in a measure of the nature of an exchange, the Congo Free State, by Article III., leasing to Great Britain a strip of territory between the lakes Tanganyika and Albert Edward.

To be more precise: In 1890 the Congo Free State despatched several missions to its frontiers, some of which penetrated the Nile region and made various political arrangements with the ruling chiefs there. It happened also at that period (July, 1890) that Germany and Great Britain entered into an agreement whereby Germany acknowledged the paramount influence of Great Britain in the Nile Basin. This agreement was no sooner concluded than Great Britain opened negotiations with the Congo Free State, offering to grant thereto, on[Pg 212] lease, certain territories situated west of the Basin of the Nile, if the Congo Free State would accord to Great Britain’s presence in the Nile Basin recognition similar to that which it had just obtained from Germany. Out of this overture grew the treaty of 12th May, 1894, between the Congo Free State and Great Britain, to which allusion has already been made.

By that treaty, Great Britain leases to Leopold II., King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Congo Free State, the territories limited by a line starting from a point situated on the west bank of Lake Albert Edward, south of Mahagi, to the point of intersection of the 30th meridian east of Greenwich, the frontier line of the territories so assigned following the head of the division of the Nile and Congo waters to the 25th meridian east of Greenwich; and along this meridian to its intersection with the 10th north parallel, and along this parallel direct to a point north of Fashoda; thence to the west bank of Lake Albert Edward, south of Mahagi. These territories comprise the entire basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal River and its affluents (except the upper portion of the Bahr-el-Arab), and are generally referred to as the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The treaty further provides that the lease is to remain operative during the reign of King Leopold II. only, except as regards that portion of the Bahr-el-Ghazal west of the 30th meridian, permanently vested in the Congo Free State.

France, which had never recognised British influence in the Nile Basin, at once protested against this arrangement, asserting that Great Britain had[Pg 213] leased territories which did not belong to her. While this delicate question was sub judice there arose the celebrated Fashoda incident which brought Great Britain and France perilously near to war. The circumstances of that incident are too near our own times, and too remote from the purpose of this book, to need recounting here. But it is important to refer to it in this place, because in the settlement of the Fashoda dispute between Great Britain and France the latter recognises the paramount influence of the former in the Basin of the Nile.

The only obstacle in the way of the execution of the treaty of 12th May, 1894, was now removed, Great Britain’s right to dispose of the territories leased to the Sovereign of the Congo Free State being everywhere admitted. But now Great Britain herself sought, without justification, to annul the treaty. Because the Congo State had made therein certain reservations in regard to France—a perfectly natural proceeding at a period when the rights of Great Britain over the Bahr-el-Ghazal were in dispute—Great Britain contended that the treaty of 12th May, 1894, had practically lapsed. After the battle of Omdurman, the British even went so far as to give, in part, practical effect to this extraordinary view of their treaty obligations, occupying, upon several occasions, Meshra-er-Rek, at the confluence of the Bahr-Djur and the Bahr-el-Ghazal.

From information which reached Europe and America early in November, 1904, it would appear that Great Britain has resolved to carry this matter with a high hand. A British expedition was said to[Pg 214] be then in process of formation, composed of 2500 native troops, officered by Englishmen, to penetrate Central Africa, ostensibly to restore order among the Niam-Niam tribe.

Now the Niam-Niam tribe inhabit the Bahr-el-Ghazal country. That is one reason why Great Britain concerns herself with that tribe; but there is another, and a much stronger, reason. Recently it has been discovered that vast mineral wealth exists in that region, and Belgians, Frenchmen, Germans, and particularly natives of that country which “seeks no gold mines and seeks no territory,” have busily employed themselves in prospecting it. Trading relations have been established by small companies supposed to be engaged in exchanging fire arms and ammunition for ivory, but really prospecting for ore.

Side by side with this information comes the official announcement that the British Government has given orders, either directly or through a subsidised company, for the erection of a permanent telegraph connecting Khartoum with the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and that transport for traders up the White Nile is guaranteed as far as Fashoda. Already a section of the British newspaper press is advocating the establishment of British military stations and posts upon ground of which King Leopold holds a perfectly valid lease granted by Great Britain!

Is it too high a flight of the imagination to suppose that the patience with which the British Government has listened to the libellous tirades against the Congo Free State, in the form of petitions to the House of[Pg 215] Commons, is to be explained by its evident desire to cut loose from its treaty obligations, and forcibly take away what it voluntarily ceded to the Congo Free State for a valuable consideration?

The hasty and ill-advised trial and execution of the chief, Gongo Lutete, described in another chapter, proved a source of much danger and tribulation to the Congo Free State. It was the act of a misguided and over-zealous officer, without doubt undertaken in good faith, but none the less disastrous upon that account. The incident has never been defended, but always deplored, by the Congo Government, to which it occasioned grievous loss in men, money, and reputation.

Lutete’s men were loyal to their chief and bitterly resented his execution. So threatening did their attitude become that it was decided to remove them to some considerable distance from the scene of the tragedy. At the moment of their departure, they fired upon the people and vowed complete vengeance whenever opportunity for it should occur. Later, at Luluabourg, when they accepted an invitation to enter the Force Publique, all danger from them was thought to have been averted. But the apparent content of the fierce Batetelas was simulated; they were merely biding their time.

[Pg 217]

It was during the summer of 1895, at Luluabourg, that the Batetelas openly revolted. After murdering some of their officers, they attacked the post at Kabinda. Next, they struck out to the north, with intent to surprise Lusambo. At Gandu, and on the Lomami, they murdered more Belgian officers, and for a time it was impossible to foresee a limit to their depredations.

Though the mutineers were less than four hundred in number, in the circumstances they were potent for a vast amount of mischief. They were well armed with modern weapons of precision, were abundantly furnished with ammunition, and had, besides, some military knowledge, acquired from their Belgian officers, which rendered them almost the equal of European troops. To these advantages must be added the natural valour of the Batetela, and the desperation with which men, knowing that their treason will be punished by death in the event of their capture, may be expected to fight.

Commandant Lothaire, on hearing of the misfortune that had befallen the State, hastened with a small force to intercept the Batetelas, then marching on Nyangwe. He met the mutineers on the 18th of October, near Gandu, and, notwithstanding that the force he commanded was much inferior, at once assumed the offensive. A fierce fight ensued, in which the mutineers were badly defeated, losing many killed and prisoners, and having finally to fly. Previous to this engagement another Belgian officer, Lieutenant Gillain, had been active to retrieve the fortunes of the State. Having gathered together[Pg 218] such remnants of the State’s forces as remained loyal, and were to be found scattered about the Lomami district, he boldly attacked the mutineers. The battle opened greatly to his disadvantage, but ended in his victory. Lieutenant Gillain then added his forces to those of Commandant Lothaire, and the combination, as we have seen, was far less in number than that of the mutineers, though it proved superior to them.

After their defeat on the 18th of October, in which they lost the greater part of the spoil taken at Luluabourg, Kabinda, and Gandu, the Batetelas broke up into small bands, and sought refuge in a forest, into which it was impracticable for the State’s forces to pursue them. The latter had now become nearly a thousand strong, and numbered among its officers the brave Michaux, Svensson, De Besche, Jürgens, Konings, and Droeven—a force sufficient, it was believed, to deal with any recrudescence of the trouble.

A few days later an incident occurred which rudely dispelled this notion. The scattered bands of mutineers again united, to make safe their retreat, and were probably about to march to the Manyema country, when they accidentally met a Belgian column. Both were surprised. The Batetelas, by far the more numerous, at once attacked the Belgians. At the very opening of the fight, the four Belgian officers who were leading the Congo force were shot dead. The bands which had to the present refrained from joining the main body of the Batetelas now hastened to do so.

[Pg 219]

Perceiving that their power would continue to grow so long as they were left unmolested, Commandant Lothaire determined to attack the Batetelas again with all the force at his command. The battle took place November 6th, at Gongo Machoffe, and resulted in a complete victory for the State forces. The Batetelas lost heavily in killed and prisoners, while such of them as survived fled for protection to various local chiefs, who soon, however, handed them over to Commandant Lothaire.

Again, notwithstanding their bitter experience, the Congo State and its advisers, military and civil, permitted themselves to be lulled into the confidence of security. Nearly two years of quietude on the part of the Batetelas led the Belgians to believe that that fierce race had forgiven, if they had not forgotten, the injury unwittingly inflicted upon them—that the trouble had been fought out, and the incident from which it originated relegated to its proper place among the unfortunate happenings of a bygone period.

The awakening from this dream came in 1897. Commandant Chaltin had driven the Dervishes as far as the Nile, and Baron Dhanis, with a larger force than Chaltin’s, had been sent to take possession of the Lado territory to found posts there, and to fortify it against possible Dervish inroads. With a column of more than three thousand men, a third of whom were Batetelas, Dhanis set out from Avakubi towards the Nile.

In the second week of February, 1897, Captain Leroi, with two thousand men, had just reached[Pg 220] Dirfi, when the Batetelas, of which the force was mainly composed, suddenly mutinied. The mutiny began with the murder of Captain Leroi and his fellow officers, after which the mutineers retreated upon the Obi. As soon as news of this event was brought to Dhanis, he threw his force right across the path of the mutineers, and a desperate battle ensued (March 18, 1897). The pages of history afford few parallels to this singular conflict. No sooner had the fight begun, than about five hundred of the Batetelas commanded by Dhanis deserted, and went over to the enemy, their kinsmen. The result, as may be imagined, was chaos. With great difficulty Baron Dhanis effected his retreat. His losses were grievous. Ten Belgian officers fell, among them a brother of Baron Dhanis. Among those who specially distinguished themselves by their gallantry upon this occasion was Lieutenant Delecourt, who, with a miserably small following, covered the retreat, at the cost of his own life and the lives of every member of his faithful company. Having at last succeeded in reaching Avakubi, Dhanis entrenched the handful of men left to him in the little station there, and, leaving Commandant Henry in command, hurried to Stanley Falls, to report the disaster and concert measures for regaining what had been lost.

Meanwhile the Batetelas were not inactive. Making straight for Stanley Falls, they destroyed all the stations on their way; but just before they reached what was thought to be their objective they struck out eastward. Baron Dhanis at once concluded[Pg 221] that they were bound for their native country, Manyema. The assurance that they contemplated no invasion of State property was a relief, but the possibility that so considerable a number of well-armed men, flushed with victory, reaching their tribe and reporting to it how they had defeated the redoubtable Baron Dhanis was very disquieting, for such an event would infallibly have led to the uprising of all the Batetelas. Baron Dhanis, having returned from Stanley Falls, placed a body of picked men at Nyangwe and Kassongo, to intercept the mutineers if they chanced to pass that way, while troops, with European officers, were sent from Stanley Pool to pursue them.

At this juncture, the Belgian cause was aided by an outbreak of smallpox among the mutineers, which compelled them to encamp near Lindi, not far from the British frontier. At that place Commandant Henry, fresh from Avakubi (which he had found deserted), with seven hundred men, came upon them and almost succeeded in driving them into British territory. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Sannaes had successfully repelled an attack upon his post at Katué (Semliki), which so enraged the mutineers that the leader of the attacking party, a man named Malumba, was murdered by one of his own men who held him responsible for its failure.

June had arrived before Commandant Henry and Lieutenant Sannaes could join their forces, and then the regular pursuit of the mutineers began; but another month elapsed before they could be brought to battle. The result was a great victory for the[Pg 222] Congo State forces. Over four hundred Batetelas were killed, and they lost, besides, five hundred rifles and ten thousand cartridges. And then ensued what had happened in like circumstances before—the surviving mutineers broke up into small bands and dispersed in various directions. Though victorious, Commandant Henry was exhausted, and fell back upon his base. Baron Dhanis, who had been guarding the Lualaba to prevent the mutineers’ crossing it, now found it safe to pursue their scattered bands.

At last the Batetela revolt was broken. Thereafter some minor skirmishes occurred here and there; but they were as the feeble flickerings of an expiring flame—a flame that had seared the growing Congo State only to enable it to show to the world an admirable example of discipline and resisting power in circumstances of extraordinary difficulty.

[Pg 223]

The instinct of the nomad largely prevails in all savage races, but in none does it prevail to a greater extent than among the black tribes of Central Africa. It is one of their marked characteristics, and a fruitful source of trouble.

Central African tribes are greatly influenced by their superstitions. Like the North American Indians, they have their medicine men who conjure up all sorts of occult prognostications of imminent and mysterious phenomena. With them the fetish doctor is little less than a god. If this wise man asserts that a village has suffered ill-luck because the new moon dips to the left or right, his deluded followers collect their effects, devastate the village, and move into some region which he may indicate is free from that curse. If rain has not fallen in sufficient quantity, and the crops surrounding the village have withered, or if the rain has been too abundant, the fetish doctor may forthwith present an explanation based upon some new superstition. Indeed, there are thousands of tribal beliefs in the Congo Free State which are for ever disturbing the settlement of the population. Implacable enemies of the Congo Free State, not[Pg 224] wholly ignorant of these tribal beliefs and customs, pretend to regard the migratory nature of the Central African savage as evidence of his fear of the State’s government, arising from a feeling of insecurity. Such persons point to the native’s incorrigible habit of moving his abode as an unmistakable sign of his desire to escape from the barbarities practised upon him by officers and soldiers of the Congo Government. In this way it is sought to deceive those who are unacquainted with the habits of the black man—the man who, a few years ago, ate his brother with a relish which civilised white men can hardly conceive.

The State, however, fully cognisant of the natural habits of its black subjects, has often considered the question of how to deal effectually with these displacements of the population. There are times when neither superstition nor tribal custom causes a large exodus from a well-established village. Sometimes the fertility and luxuriant grass of another region attracts the more enterprising black, who has learned to cultivate his own land. Allured by glowing accounts of such a nature he gathers about him his friends and family, and makes off to what he considers to be a new Eldorado. In a short time, the diablerie of the fetish doctor has again unsettled him.

Then, again, there have been occasions when the natives have migrated to avoid payment of the taxes imposed upon them by their own chief on behalf of the State, taxes which are infinitesimal in value as compared with the benefits of civilisation which[Pg 225] the State confers. To deal generally with the displacement of the population of the Congo Free State has been a matter of much concern to the Government. A case of sleeping-sickness or smallpox has occurred, and away goes the whole village pell-mell into another region. The movements of the native tribes are often inscrutable, and afford the State no clue as to how they may be prevented. Like some species of wild animals which instinctively avoid certain districts of the forest at particular seasons, or on account of some unusual phenomena, the black man will sometimes quit his residence for no apparent reason at all. Nine times out of ten, however, he migrates on account of things entirely unconnected with any administrative act of the State. Entire villages have been removed because a death has occurred there the cause of which was inexplicable to the black man. Occasionally the fetish doctor, inspired by some unexplained caprice, will decree that the tribe shall move—he knows not where. Ignorance and superstition invariably follow a leader whose pretence is some occult power. The tribe moves; and another tribe, moving from a similar or other impulse, may occupy the very village which the first tribe had abandoned a few weeks before.

These removals along the banks of the river have sometimes created the impression on a superficial observer that the population of the Congo Free State has diminished or disappeared. Regardless of the impression these deserted villages have made upon those who seek to find opportunity for vilifying the Congo Government, the inconvenience resulting[Pg 226] from the constant removals has been very great. There is often at one point an aggregation of people too numerous for their subsistence, and public order and tranquillity are disturbed, with disastrous results. More strife between village and village and tribe and tribe has been occasioned by this migratory habit than by any bloodthirsty instinct inherent in the Congolese black. This is notoriously true; and it has had a gravely adverse effect, too, upon the population of the Soudan, with regard to which the statements in Lord Cromer’s report of 1893 are conclusive.

Vice-Governor-General Fuchs, always seeking to improve the governmental machinery of the Congo Free State, has recently made the following suggestions, which, if adopted, he believes would tend to control the migratory nature of the subjects over whom he so intelligently rules:

I think that it would be opportune to pass the necessary legislative measures, so that an end may be put to this collective kind of vagabondage. The administrative authority finds itself at present unarmed, the Congo courts having declared the absolute right of the native to move about and to dwell where he likes. But it appears to me that public order is directly interested in having these emigrations in a mass, from region to region in the interior of the country, regulated by law. This regulation would also result in assured stability for a fair distribution of native taxes. It would also facilitate the establishment of definite and permanent means of communication throughout the country.

There is, however, still a special case to be taken into consideration. Some natives on removing in this way are ready to establish themselves on the territory of one or other of[Pg 227] those Sultans whose native authority extends beyond, as well as within, the political frontiers of the State. The determination of the sovereign power such individuals may wield might, owing to the silence of our laws, not be without future difficulty, when, for instance, Sultans, established on foreign territory and dependent themselves for it on foreign power, are concerned. It would be well if all doubtful elements were removed by a decree which in a general manner might establish the principle that every native of Congolese origin who, by naturalisation or otherwise, shall endeavour to modify his national status, will still be considered as a subject of the Congo State, and remain amenable to Congolese law, so long as he shall reside, in fact, within the limits of the State territory.

From this it will be observed that in addition to the numerous other difficulties with which the new State has to contend, it is now called upon to legislate for the solution of a problem which the State’s detractors have distorted and misrepresented as a result of the State’s cruel system of government.

The importance of this question cannot be overstated, as it forms a great hindrance to the proper organisation of so vast a territory as the Congo Basin. That the potentialities of King Leopold’s beneficent rule in Central Africa will eventually legislate wisely, and permanently abolish this native inconsistency, no one who has observed the intelligent governmental genius of the State can doubt.

JUSTICE—NATIVE CHIEFTAINCIES

To provide a just and equitable process for giving effect to the civil laws of a savage country requires an administrant force of exceptional powers, of rare patience, and of wide sympathies. Highly civilised communities largely govern themselves by the aggregate contribution and example of all orderly persons. The very momentum of their civilisation and the habits and tendencies of a cultured people conduce to the observance of law and the tranquillity of the social life to which the law applies. Rules of State and municipal procedure for the government of European countries have, by use and the experience of time, long ago attained to an automatic operation. The social phenomena of all civilised communities are well established, and they form part of that large body of academic theory called social science. The development of human society has its constitution and its philosophy, yet those who are charged, by a duty arising from exceptional circumstances, to apply social and political principles to savage tribes distantly situated from all civilising contact with[Pg 229] human beings of superior attainment, are charged with a task of unknown and multiform difficulty.

The characteristic thoroughness with which the Belgians have established their administrative machinery in the Congo Free State is apparent in the latest report (July, 1904) of Vice-Governor-General Fuchs, the acting head of that Government. Monsieur Fuchs has had twenty years’ experience in Central Africa. He is, perhaps, the best-qualified living colonial official dealing with the black races of the African Continent. The great progress of the country he governs, and the moral and material betterment of the tribes which thrive under his liberal rule, are astonishingly revealed in the report from which the following quotations are made:

The development of the State administration is attested in a general way by the ever-increasing number of Posts of different kinds that are in operation in its territories.

Thus there are at the present time 233 Posts and Stations, all of them under the command of white men, scattered over the 14 districts.

The European staff attached to the services of the districts mentioned is distributed as follows:

Organic Staff	294
Service of Justice	57
Administrative Service	115
Medical Service	27
Service of Public Works	92
Service of Agriculture	89
Service of Finance	74
The Public Force	490
Service of the Marine	166
Various	20
Total	1424

[Pg 230]

The number of blacks attached to the different services of the districts is about 20,000 men.

I here render justice to the zeal and devotion of the servants of the State; besides Belgians, who form the great majority, they also comprise Italians, Swiss, Scandinavians, Germans, English, etc., according to the following order:

Belgians, 898; Italians, 197; Swiss, 89; Swedes, 86; Danes, 34; Germans, 31; Norwegians, 22; Finns, 19; English, 16; Dutch, 9; Russians, 5; French, 4; Austrians, 3; Americans, 2; Turks, 2; Luxemburgers, 2; Portuguese, 2; Greeks, 1; Spaniards, 1; Cubans, 1; total, 1424.

To whatever nationality they belong they vie with each other in the ardour with which they perform their numerous duties. All are penetrated with the greatness of their rôle in the heart of savagery, and impelled by the noblest emulation compete in the gradual realisation of our civilising work. Numerous are the testimonies that I have collected during my last official tour of their fruitful activity exercising itself in all directions, of their protecting benevolence with regard to the natives; and these testimonies emanate from missionaries, from learned men, from travellers, and even from persons inclined rather to criticise than to praise our works.

In order that this staff may become more experienced, by acquiring progressively a knowledge of the country, its resources, and its inhabitants, it has been particularly recommended to the agents composing it that they should learn the native dialects. Knowledge of the local idioms is, indeed, indispensable to the European who seeks to enter into direct relations with the blacks—to study their manners and customs, and by that means take account of the measures to employ for the introduction and development of our ideas of civilisation.

The judicial statistics show the vigilance and impartiality with which the Parquet (Public Ministry corresponding to our Public Prosecutor) inquires into breaches of the law, no matter who their authors may be, and aims at allowing no offence to remain unpunished. If some faults have been[Pg 231] committed by our agents, the guilty have been prosecuted conformably to the law.

The attention of the members of the service besides has been frequently called to the consequences which would result for them from transgressing the laws and instructions of the Government. In order to ensure their faithful and complete execution, the Government has just again added to the staff of superior officials new State Inspectors.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

The magistrates by profession number at the present time 32; they are assisted by 25 judicial agents properly so called.

The judicial services of Boma, to which are attached seven magistrates by profession, and a dozen judicial agents, allow of:

1. An Appeal Court, composed of a President and two judges, of the State Prosecutor who occupies the seat of the Public Minister on this jurisdiction, and of a Registrar;

2. A Council of War in Appeal, the presidency of which devolves on the President of the Appeal Court, of two judges, officers of the Public Force, of the State Prosecutor, and of a Registrar;

3. A Court of First Instance, composed of a professional judge, of a substitute, a doctor of laws, and of a Registrar;

4. A Council of War of First Instance, composed of a judge, officer of the Public Force, of the substitute attached to the Court of First Instance, and of a Registrar.

These four jurisdictions are competent in penal cases. Those occurring under 1 and 3 are competent also in civil and commercial matters. They sit in such cases without the Public Minister. A report of the Registrar of the Court of First Instance attached to this sets forth the order of civil business.

The other professional magistrates are distributed between the territorial courts and the councils of war.

Territorial courts exist at Matadi, Leopoldville, Popokabaka, Coquilhatville, New Antwerp, Basoko, Stanleyville, Toa[Pg 232] (Albertville), Lukafu, Kabinda (Katanga), Lusambo, and at the chief place of the Rusisi-Kivu zone (Uvira), independently of the councils of war, which will be shortly replaced by ordinary courts as the number of magistrates is increased. The Parquet attached to these courts is represented by the substitutes of the State Prosecutor, all of whom are doctors of laws.

Among the following officials of judicial rank the majority are Belgians. There are also Italians, Danes, Swiss, and Norwegians.

President of Court of Appeal: Baron G. Nisco.

Judges, Court of Appeal: M. Horstmans, M. A. Gohr.

Judge, Court of First Instance: M. T. Beeckman.

Prosecuting Attorney: M. F. Waleffe.

Director: M. A. Gohr.

Magistrates (Territorial Judges and Substitutes): Ernest Dupont, Hermann Weber, Iwan Grenade, Louis Rossi, J. Jenniges, P. Vincart, C. M. B. L. Greban de St. Germain, Stanislas Lefranc, Martin Rutten, Albert Sweerts, Robert de Meulemeester, Michel Cuciniello, Angelo Cagginla, Mario Falcetti, Gennaro Bosco, Frederic Erdrich, Manlio Scarpari, F. J. S. M. Lambin, Torquato Polimante, Louis Tessaroli, Paul Bossolo, T. C. Lund, H. G. Moth-Borglüm, C. J. R. Vandekelder, A. A. A. Celletti, C. E. A. M. Smets, C. L. Gianpetri, Jacob Vogt, Ragnvald Koht, T. Fessante, Adrien Beeckman.

The administration of justice shows that its representatives are conscious of the responsibility of their mission. No one has ever been able to impugn its impartiality and independence, and the judgments and sentences awarded establish its anxiety to reach all the guilty, and not to leave unpunished any breach of the laws for the protection of the natives. I will not mention any other examples of this than the judgments recently pronounced against the agents of a trading company, upon whom heavy sentences of penal servitude were passed for crimes committed upon natives. The tribute which the Government on that occasion paid to the Courts’ sense of their duties will be a valuable encouragement for them. I am confident that the Government’s appeal[Pg 233] to the vigilance of the Department of Public Prosecution to prevent any offence of the kind passing unpunished will not be in vain.

The Negro as a Witness.

The superior administration of Boma is instructed to follow the principle of bringing before the competent courts all cases of abuses of natives that are pointed out to it by the authorities, by the direct complaints of residents in the Congo, or by criticisms in the press. These last accusations, the frequency of which is found to coincide with the campaign conducted against the Congo State, are regularly submitted on the spot to careful examination in detail. The impression that is left by the investigations that have been made, and some of which are still unfinished, is that as a general rule the complaints formulated are wanting in the precision necessary to fix the responsibility, if any, for them; or that they rest exclusively on the gossip and statements of natives which have not been sufficiently verified. In this latter respect a long experience of African affairs has shown me with what circumspection, not to say with what distrust, the statements of the blacks must be accepted. Their peculiar mental characteristic renders them inclined to lie with an ease that is disconcerting, and magistrates are obliged to direct their inquiries and questionings with real skill and untiring patience in order to arrive at the truth amongst the inaccuracies and omissions of coloured witnesses. That will reveal how much and how often the stories of sensational facts circulated by natives are distorted by them, when they are not absolutely invented, and what disappointments those who accept them too easily prepare for themselves. A typical case is that of a Protestant missionary who was accused by natives of having inflicted on the black engineer of his mission’s steamer blows and wounds that caused his death. The judicial investigation disposed of this charge, which had been fabricated in all its details by the natives with the view of avenging themselves on the missionary, with whom they were engaged in a dispute on a[Pg 234] question of wages. And yet the natives making the accusation never ceased for a moment, despite the proofs to the contrary, from maintaining their lying charges with a persistency which could not fail to create an impression. It is to be regretted that Mr. Casement[19] was not put on his guard against the statements of the blacks, and especially by this incident, of which he could not have been ignorant, since the missionary concerned accompanied him during the inquiry into the case of Epondo, whom the natives also represented to have been the victim of a criminal act.

I will, by another example revealed during a recent inquiry, show how much the charges brought against the Administration of the State are wanting in prudence. Some correspondence from a missionary published in England has given rise to violent comments in the press of that country upon the Congo Free State. When invited by the State Prosecutor to formulate and present his charges, this missionary did not allege anything against the State agent, whom, in his writings he had charged with responsibility for odious crimes. He had invoked, as corroborating his own statement, the affirmations that other European agents had made to him; he declared by what follows that these affirmations were to be kept strictly confidential. “It is true,” he adds, “that these facts have been published, but as the publication was made in England I thought that the confidence placed in my discretion was not betrayed.” He also declares that “before accepting the responsibility of revealing and specifying in a precise manner the facts, he desires to consult, and take the opinion of, if not a barrister, at least some one knowing Congolese law, and that the extracts published of his letter have not perhaps been made with strict precision of language.” In short, the want of clearness, the subterfuges of the examination, attracted the attention of the State Prosecutor, and left on his mind the most unfavourable impression as to the good faith of[Pg 235] this missionary, and as to his highly blameworthy manner of recognising the hospitality that he has hitherto enjoyed in the Congo.

I have entered into these few details in order to show the occasionally inconsiderate character of the attacks directed against our Administration.

Intrigues against the State.

And I owe it to truth to make another reproach, not less grave, with regard to certain foreign elements which do not seem to have an exact view of their duty in inculcating the natives by their example and teachings with the respect due to the authority of the State and to its representatives. It is impossible not to be struck by the strange rumours in the vicinity of the Protestant missions, which for some time have been announcing to the population a change in the established order, and predicting the end of the State. There natives have been seen to offer insults to the European agents; officers of the Companies have lodged complaints as to the arrogant attitude of part of the population subject to certain influences; a tendency to shake off the duty due to the State, and to repudiate respect for our laws, has manifested itself among them. It is not doubtful that here we see the result of the underhand intrigues sapping, more or less intentionally, the legal authority. The remark inevitably follows that this position reveals itself solely in the neighbourhood of some evangelical posts, and it assumes a more significant character when it is known that the tendency of these establishments is to exercise over the surrounding population a sort of sovereign power, in opposition to “Boula Matari,”[20] thereby creating a state of antagonism between the influence of the mission houses and the authority of the State agents. I have pointed out for the attention of the Government this grave position, and the measures that it ought to take if it continues. Already local agents have been obliged to act on their own initiative to safeguard the State’s authority, and if[Pg 236] it becomes necessary the Governor-General will consider the occasion for making use of the means placed at his disposal, by the decree of 15th September, 1889, for dealing with foreigners who should employ against the State their influence over the natives.

It would be desirable that an appropriation be provided to carry out the plan at present under examination, of establishing on the Upper Congo a number of civil courts and a second Court of Appeal.

In my opinion the Government ought to go farther in the way of developing our judicial machinery. A point which has not ceased to attract attention is, in the first place, the recruiting of the staff. Whatever may be the goodwill of the judicial agents, it is beyond doubt that some newcomers have not always possessed, before their entrance into our judiciary, a sufficiently long experience of judicial practice. I here renew the wish, already expressed, to hear that judges of Belgian courts and parquets be authorised to obtain leave of absence to occupy judicial posts in the Congo.

The spirit in which this recommendation by the Vice-Governor-General was received in Belgium is clearly indicated in the following announcement on behalf of the Minister of Justice at Brussels:

The Minister of Justice has just authorised Belgian magistrates who may be desirous to do so, and be accepted by the Congo Free State, to undertake, by a limited engagement, to serve as judges in the Congo,—and for that purpose, to obtain leave of absence without pay, save that their rights of seniority in the Belgian magistracy are to be reserved....

The Congo has been for us a field of heroism. It has enabled numerous Belgians, who were smothering within their frontiers, to prove their value in a much broader sphere, where territorial, political, and diplomatic conditions permitted some display of their inborn qualities, and to reveal themselves first-class pioneers, soldiers, and administrators.

[Pg 237]

If considered only from an ideal point of view, this advantage is well worth something. And those of our officers who out there have put down slavery, pacified the native tribes, opened the ways of navigation, commerce, and industry, created agricultural stations, depots, railways, forest exploitations, and roads will surely from this point of view alone have rendered our little country as much service as they could have rendered it in the service of our garrisons.

It has often been said that narrow frontiers mean narrow ideas. To broaden our horizon, is to broaden our ideas. It seems to us that without going beyond these considerations, this decision taken by our Department of Justice deserves to be commended.

Without any burden on our Treasury on that account,—since the Belgian judges serving in the Congo will, during the term of their service, cease to draw upon our budget,—our magistracy will be losing nothing of their value, so justly appreciated, by delegating a few of their members—selected from the youngest—in those new regions where their knowledge of law, coming into more direct contact than at home with nature and practical needs, will acquire renewed strength at the very springs of equity and juridical conscience.

At the same time, their authoritative participation in the colonial undertaking will contribute to do away with the very suspicion of those abuses which, after being systematically exaggerated by interested opponents, have been used as a pretence for this deplorable Congophobe campaign which has led away in England a few minds more generous than enlightened.

Fortified in this manner, the Congolese magistrates, who even now worthily bear comparison with any colonial magistracy, will, by the mode of their recruitment, and their own merit, command respect from our adversaries.

They will be continually renewed, which is advisable in these tropical regions, where the conditions of climate very soon exhaust individuals, and the new and continued relations which will thus progressively spring up between[Pg 238] Belgium at home and its African extension will contribute to force into our colonial undertaking the best part of our traditions and of our national spirit.

It would be also useful if the ambulatory character attributed by Congolese law to the Courts of First Instance were made more effective, by rendering it an obligation for these courts to move about periodically throughout the extent of their province, to sit regularly at important centres, and to betake themselves to all points to which the necessities of their presence required them to proceed. This object might be easily attained, if only there were placed at the disposal of the magistrates the material means—with regard to transport, provisions, and lodging—that the frequency of these movements on circuit might call for.

I would also recommend a new measure which would consist in establishing in the different jurisdictions a corps of special agents who should be remunerated by the Government, and whose mission would be to discharge in the interests of the natives the rôle of barristers. At present it is to the magistrates themselves that the native addresses himself in order to obtain the necessary counsel for the protection of his rights. It would be preferable that those who may be called upon to lay down the law on a conflict of civil right, should not fill also the post of being counsel to one of the parties. On the other hand, from the penal point of view the measure that I propose would permit of professional defenders being assured to the accused. This institution, which it would be necessary to render of as general application as possible in the Upper as in the Lower Congo, would thus place on the spot, at the disposition of those natives who thought they had ground of complaint, gratuitous defenders of their interests.

Indeed it would be useful to constitute in Belgium a Court of Cassation to which the sentences and definite judgments in penal matters which might possibly be contrary to the law should be submitted. Such a court might be composed of members of the Belgian Court of Cassation, or of the Appeal Courts admitted to the grade of emeritus, or actually practising.

[Pg 239]

It will certainly seem natural that these different opportunities of co-operating in the Congolese work should be given to the Belgian magistracy. Belgium would see therein, as it seems to me, the occasion of drawing closer the links of a moral nature which already unite it to its future colony, and the mission not without distinction which Belgian officers have fulfilled and are fulfilling in Africa would find its complement in the collaboration of jurists of merit who can be counted in our country in great numbers.

NATIVE CHIEFTAINCIES

The institution of native chieftaincies, due to the decree of 6th October, 1891, realises an idea too just and too politic for it not to receive all the extension possible. If during the first days that followed the promulgation of that decree the district Commissioners displayed praiseworthy emulation in recognising native chieftaincies, it is not less certain that these have not rendered, up to the present, all the services which we could expect, so far as they were called upon to create between the European authority and the natives a natural intermediary, having its duties and responsibilities, and calculated to facilitate the action of the Government.

The cases in which it has been applied still show the advantages of the system and testify to the greater facility with which the natives rally to the new order of things when it is personified in their eyes by the chief whom they have always recognised. It is proved that respect for the orders of authority, obedience to the laws, the execution of legal obligations, such as military recruiting and the payment of taxes,—in a word the principles of an organised social state, are more easily accepted by the natives forming part of a chieftaincy than by those who are quite independent. The chiefs, besides, have generally a real influence over the population, and thus, as has several times been said, if they feel themselves supported they will succeed in making our ideas prevail and in imposing them on the natives through our support.

Another appeal has just been quite recently made by the[Pg 240] local government to all the chiefs of districts and zones in order to inspire them with these views, and so that they may increase the official chieftaincies to a great extent.

The instructions issued are inspired by a double object: to maintain and even to extend the authority of the chiefs over their subjects, to avoid all intervention in the internal affairs of the tribes which would be of a nature to compromise the prestige of that authority.

“It is the right of the chief,” these instructions declare, “to assure the execution of his orders according to native rules and particularly to bring to his decision the sanction demanded by native custom.”

The only restriction on the authority of the recognised native chiefs lies in the necessity for them not to run counter, in the decisions taken, to public order, that is to say, principles which are at the base of the organisation of society, as it is comprehended and wished to be by the legislator.

The chief’s authority ceases as soon as the measures taken are contrary to that public order.

Thus, in matters of private right, the native chief could not legitimately take any course which would assail the organisation of families constituted under the régime of the civil Code, and according to its prescribed form,—in other words, entered on the European statute.

On the other hand, he could not establish slavery, oppose religious liberties or commercial liberty, or order acts contrary to the penal law.

Still it is necessary to remark that he may employ coercive and repressive measures to ensure, as chief, and within the limits of his power according to custom, the execution of his orders.

But this sanction itself would be contrary to public order if its character differed from our ideas of what repression should be, more especially if it were accompanied by torture, mutilation, or other acts of cruelty, or if it were surrounded with superstitious practices, such as the proof by poison; in a word, if it were really to run counter to our ideas of humanity and the civilising object of the State.

[Pg 241]

Corporal punishments, similar to those employed by the State and in a similar measure to what is employed by it, inflicted by the native chief according to custom, would evidently not be contrary to public order.

Such are the regulations set forth in a general way which govern the 258 recognised native chiefs in their participation with the political life of the State.

These instructions recommend to the territorial authorities “continual relations with the native chiefs, incessant instructions and recommendations, a direction and control without interruption, and a moral and material support in order to maintain and increase the chief’s authority with a similar object,” and to the judicial authorities “an intervention marked by prudence in order not to diminish uselessly the chief’s authority, and not to destroy, or even weaken, the influence that he should have, and of which the Government means to make use for the spread of civilisation.”

The care of maintaining intact and of developing the principle of the chief’s authority might perhaps one day be carried farther. It would indeed be permissible to wish that, in the future, all the decisions of an administrative and judicial character, passed by the European authorities themselves, should be executed by the intermediary of the recognised chief; in other words, the native would receive orders only from his natural chief.

This measure, when it becomes possible, will produce the best results with regard to order and discipline, the natives being less inclined to rebel against the orders of the chief whom they have freely chosen.

In order to avoid the abuse which might result from ignorance of our laws, and to make the native chief acquainted with his rights, there should be attached to the procés verbaux of investitute of the chiefs a protocol setting forth the penalties that it will be permissible for the local authorities to continue to apply, as in the past, with a specific mention of the offences subject to their jurisdiction.

They will be made acquainted with this act on their investiture,[Pg 242] at the same time as they are instructed as to the general obligations imposed on them by the State, and which should also figure in the document in question.

All that precedes evidently relates only to native chiefs properly so-called, and not to the present sultans who, as prescribed by the Government’s instructions, must not have the authority which they at present possess increased.

[Pg 243]

Moderns regard the post-office and the mission school as substantial signs of civilisation wherever the two are found in mutual endeavour. In compliance with Article VII, of the General Act of Berlin, the Congo Free State joined the Postal Union, and has sent official representatives to its periodic congresses.

In the Belgian Congo the postal service is very efficient. It already penetrates to districts most remote from the central office at Boma. It was effectively established in 1885 when the irregular service was succeeded by the rudiments of the present system. In 1887 it was, in fact, a piece of perfect governmental machinery. On the 28th of February that year it signed a formal Postal Convention with Belgium. It was soon thereafter apparent that a postal money-order service was required to facilitate the transit of small sums between Europe and the Congo. Agreements in this respect were made with Belgium on May 13, 1893, and November 24, 1898. The rapid development of the Congo Basin already calls for even further extension of the system.

[Pg 244]

The latest report on the subject is that of Vice-Governor-General Fuchs, which follows:

POSTAL SERVICE

There are at present on the Congo: 23 post-offices, sub-post-offices, and depots for stamps.

According to the returns before me, there were transported in 1885 only 33,140 letters and printed objects, whereas for 1902 the postal movement was represented by 372,007 letters and printed objects.

Correspondence is conveyed by either railway or steamer; on the roads it is forwarded to its destination by special native couriers.

The weight of the despatches enclosing letters and printed matter may not exceed, for transport by land, 10 kilogrammes.[21] The porters required for this service are furnished by the chiefs of posts.

The transmission of correspondence into the interior of the country is, besides, regulated by instructions, to which the local authorities frequently draw the serious attention of the territorial chiefs. Thus, in all parts of the State territory, the couriers must leave on a fixed day, and they have a certain time, which has been calculated after much experience as sufficient, for the journey from one point to another.

It is expressly forbidden to the authorities to detain the native couriers after the date fixed for their departure, or to entrust them with correspondence not sealed. All postal packages must be paid for (with the exception that certain officials have the right to post free) and enclosed in a sealed envelope having the address clearly shown.

Each postal despatch contains a ticket of advice which is to be returned to the originating office, dated and signed by the agent of the office that received it, after he has found the contents exact. The carrier of the mail is also in possession of a route ticket which informs him of the number of sacks and envelopes composing the mail. It must be checked and dated,[Pg 245] and must show in a special column, for the way out and back and for each station, the hour of the arrival and departure of the couriers.

The sub-controllers of the post-offices must forward each month, for the purpose of verification, to the Controller of the post-office at Boma, the route tickets of the couriers sent during the previous month.

The Director of Finance sends, as often as possible, the Controller of the Post-Office to examine the accounts of the various offices which are run by selected agents appointed from the Belgian administration.

In districts where sub-post-offices are established, the District Commissioner sees to the strict observance of the instructions regulating the important postal service.

It has been found that in several districts the services of soldiers in the garrison have been utilised for the mails. Not only did these not always render the services which workmen or other men specially engaged for the service of transports of all kinds render, but even there was reason to fear that the soldiers, on account of their uniform and arms, as well as being without control, sometimes abused their powers to make levies on the villages through which they passed. But now the strict instructions of the Government forbid soldiers being taken away from their garrison and military duties, and require that they should always remain under the control of their chiefs. It has, therefore, been positively forbidden to send any mail by soldiers of the Public Force.

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE SERVICE

On 27th November, 1893, the State ordered by decree the first telegraphic line, and in July, 1895, a first wire was stretched across the river; and on 15th September, 1898, it became possible to telephone and telegraph from Boma to Leopoldville, or for a distance of 452 kilometres (282 miles). Later on, and when the transport of material had been made easier by the opening of the Matadi-Leopoldville railway, the telegraph line was extended to Coquilhatville.

[Pg 246]

At the present moment there are thirteen telephone and telegraph offices working in the State.

The principal offices and distance separating them from each other are:

Boma-Matadi	52	kilometres
Matadi-Tumba	185	”
Tumba-Leopoldville	215	”
Leopoldville-Kwamouth	233	”
Kwamouth-Mopolenge-Yumbi	177	”
Yumbi-Lukolela	121	”
Lukolela-Irebu	102	”
Irebu-Coquilhatville	114	”
Total	1,199	kilometres[22]

(nearly 750 miles) of development. This extensive telegraph and telephone line is carried on iron posts from Boma to Leopoldville, and from Leopoldville to Coquilhatville the wire is supported in some places on steel posts, in others on trees, in the proportion approximately of 4494 steel posts and 2782 trees.

The line has to make two very important crossings of water, one across the Congo a little above Underhill Point (Hell’s Kettle), the other across the Kassai near its mouth.

At the crossing of the river at Underhill the wires are supported by trellised steel towers, the piers of which are distant 800 metres from each other; and they are placed 73 and 63 (2) metres[23] respectively above the bed of the river at the highest flood.

The crossing of the Kassai is made by two casts of the line, one being 450 and the other 670 metres in length. Fourteen steel towers, of 36.50 and of 38.50 metres in height, help crossing the river. One of the towers is placed on an island, and four conductors ensure the proper working of the telegraph line.

The camps of Lisala and Umangi are also connected by a telephone line 22 kilometres in length. Besides a strong permanent body of native workers and European linesmen, the line is maintained by the natives of the villages through which it passes. The natives receive ample compensation in monthly payments.

Another telegraph and telephone line of about 320 kilometres, which leaves Kassongo on the Lualaba for Baraka on Lake Tanganyika, was opened on 5th December, 1903. It connects the telegraph and telephone offices of Kassongo, Kabambare, Kalembe-Lembe, Baraka. This line will be extended to Lake Kivu, in the extreme eastern part of the Free State.

For about two years past experiments have been in progress to establish communication by wireless telegraphy between Banana and Ambrizette, so as to connect the Congolese system with the rest of the world.

Telegrams for Europe are at present brought either by the State steamers or by ocean steamers from Boma to St. Paul de Loanda, to San Thome, and to Sierra Leone, whence they are transmitted to their destination. Telegrams can also be sent from the Congo for Europe by the French route of the Gaboon by taking them to the French office of Brazzaville. A convention recently established between the French Republic and the Government of the Congo Independent State will allow the telegraphic systems of the two States to be connected by sinking a cable in Stanley Pool between Brazzaville and Kinshassa. This work finished, the Congo State will be connected with the telegraphic system of the globe.

[Pg 248]

The Sovereign of the Congo Free State adheres to a gospel of labour of which he is personally the greatest exemplar in Europe. His Majesty’s industry is in motion at five o’clock every morning. It gathers force as the sun rises, and subsides only when his ministers and attendants have retired. In this respect much might be written to attract the world’s admiration to a monarch who has the false reputation in America of toying with time and its tintinnabulation.

Tremendous are the energies which the King’s example inspires, not only in the Belgium which his rule has beautified, and which he has made the least-taxed country in Europe, but also in the heart of blackest Africa. There are, in that vast territory, manifold monuments to the infectious spirit of endeavour which prevails in the palace at Laeken, at Brussels, and in the lofty châlet at Ostend. These monuments, by their nature, appear to confirm Belgian intention to occupy the future of the Congo State with structures of enduring substance, whether they be material, political, ethical, or social. The charge, sometimes uttered against King Leopold, that his interest in the Congo is merely what it can be made to yield him during his lifetime, dissolves[Pg 249] into the mist of the slander it becomes in the presence of the physical improvement going on, with mighty strides, in Congoland.

When the Congo Free State was founded, communication by water with Europe was infrequent and uncomfortable. Liverpool and Lisbon sent a few ships at irregular intervals. Later Germany and Holland followed their example at a time when Fuka-Fuka was the farthermost settlement on the Congo coast. No means of transport into the interior existed except by canoes, or by native carriers. To-day all this has been altered by Belgian capital, skill, and industry.

The maritime development of the Congo began in 1891, when the State, joining the commercial companies of the region, concluded an agreement with certain German and English steamship lines to establish a monthly service between Antwerp and Matadi. These ships left Antwerp on the 6th of each month and arrived at Matadi in about fifteen days.

In 1895, under the auspices of a syndicate composed of the masters of these ships, there was incorporated at Antwerp La Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo, which provided a monthly service of steamers sailing under the Belgian flag. The success of this enterprise induced other companies to engage in the Congo trade, among them being L’Empresa Nacional de Navigaçao, of Lisbon; Les Chargeurs Réunis, of Bordeaux, related to Fraissinet et Cie., of Marseilles; The Woerman Line, of Hamburg; The African Steamship Company, combined with the British and African Steam Navigation Company.

[Pg 250]

Extensive harbour works have been erected at Banana, Boma, and Matadi, and several signal lights have been placed at the mouth of the Congo to indicate the entrance to the channel. The Lower Congo, from Banana to Matadi, has been charted by buoys, and a pilot service has been organised at Banana. The river channel is being constantly improved by dredging, and Matebe, which in the dry season was inaccessible except to small craft, is now on the line of general navigation. A regular service of steamers plies the Lower Congo, and the State boats go regularly to Landana to meet the Portugese mail.

In 1890 the shipping in the ports of Banana and Boma amounted to only 166,028 entries, and 163,716 departures. The present tonnage into and out of these ports is over 500,000.

On the Upper Congo a large flotilla carries on an excellent service. The State operates thirty-two of these vessels and the companies about forty-five, besides which there is a considerable number of smaller craft belonging to private individuals and to missions. The tonnage of the Upper Congo flotilla is 1675 tons. The marine service numbers 166 whites and 1300 blacks.

The first steamers launched on the Upper Congo were of only five tons, their component parts having been carried on men’s backs along caravan routes long before the construction of the railway of the Cataracts. Even before the completion of the railway from Matadi to Stanley Pool the State had launched twelve five-ton boats on the Upper Congo, each of which had a capacity of nearly 50,000 pounds.[Pg 251] Besides these, the Government launched one steamer of twenty-three tons and four of forty tons burden.

With the completion of the railway, the necessity for considering the weight of the loads ceased, and a new type of craft, the stern-wheel, was chosen. Its system of propulsion offered greater advantages against the variable conditions of navigability with which the vessels had to contend. The ports and landings are in a state of complete organisation at numerous points on the river, and cargoes are now moved with great facility. At regular intervals along the watercourse, posts at which Government workmen gather wood, supply the steamers with this form of fuel. In order that the forests along the banks may not be denuded, a State law enforces the replanting of trees as fast as they are cut down.

In 1896 the Government established a regular fortnightly steamship service between Leopoldville and Stanley Falls. The three steamers, Brabant, Hainaut, and Flandre, have been assigned to this service. The dates of their departure from Stanley Pool have been fixed to correspond with the dates of arrival of European ships. In order to ensure service on the navigable stretches beyond the Falls, steamers have been launched on the rivers Lualaba, Itimbiri, and Ubanghi. A sailing vessel has been launched on Lake Tanganyika and a steamer on the Nile. Native rowing crews have been organised in many regions, and their services are often of great value. All in all, the 102 steamers plying the Congo River in the governmental and private service, the efficient port facilities, the means of transport up the navigable[Pg 252] affluents, and the hydrographic surveys constantly going on constitute a condition of colonial development which truly merits the commendation of Herr Von Puttkamer, Governor of the Cameroons, in which, amongst other things, he says: “The energy and practical sense displayed here deserve the greatest admiration.”

As the Congo steamboat largely abolished the laborious native carrier system through the riverain districts of the State, so has the Congo Railway, popularly known as the Cataracts Railway, largely contributed to relieve the black man, under Belgian rule, from lugging fifty-six pounds dead weight through the African jungle. The iron horse in Central Africa has given great momentum to the industries of a fertile region. In constructing the railway from Matadi, near the mouth of the Congo River, to Stanley Pool, traversing a distance of 260 miles over as tortuous and steep a route as ever daring engineers ventured to follow; climbing the Pallaballa Mountains at gradients of 150 feet in the mile, and finally steaming over a summit 17,000 feet above the sea, Belgian skill has again manifested its extraordinary quality, a quality observed in all that it has accomplished in the Congo Basin.

To connect the navigable regions of the Lower and the Upper Congo by a line over the route just indicated seemed at first to be beyond the possibility of achievement. On July 6, 1898, after nine years of unremitting toil and the expenditure of sixty million francs, the line was in complete and regular operation through a region which, on account of its[Pg 253] picturesque scenery, may be likened to the Simplon Pass in Switzerland.

Without a railway running round the thirty-two great cataracts which tumble furiously in their descent of eighty miles to the sea, the Congo River, in the opinion of Stanley, would not have much value in the development of the Basin.

The first estimate of the cost of constructing the line was twenty-five million francs. This was based on the surveys of Major Cambier for the Compagnie du Congo pour la Commerce et l’Industrie, which, as early as the year 1887, had been granted certain rights and privileges if it would undertake to build the railway. On July 29, 1889, the Belgian Chamber agreed to provide ten million francs of the Company’s first capital, the remaining fifteen million francs having been subscribed chiefly by Belgian investors. The work so enthusiastically undertaken met with one setback after another, owing mainly to the engineering difficulties encountered in the rocky side of the mountain of Pallaballa, forming a spur of the great Crystal range, the western rampart of the Central African plateau. It required four years and indomitable perseverance to construct the section of the line from Matadi over the summit of Pallaballa, a distance of only twenty-six miles. In December, 1893, Colonel Wahis opened this part of the line with appropriate ceremonies, which many Europeans interested in Congo affairs attended. In the Mouvement Géographique appeared the following interesting description of this unique engineering triumph:

[Pg 254]

It had now become apparent that the railway would cost more than double the sum originally estimated. Additional powers having been granted to the Company and a tripartite convention having provided the Congo Free State and the Belgian Government with power to buy the road, capital was raised to bring the total up to sixty million francs. By an extension of the time when the Congo State and Belgium may buy the line, the railway Company has possession until 1908.

The Cataracts Railway has some unique characteristics. It maintains a first- and a second-class car on each train. Trains leave Matadi every other day. Persons returning from the Congo refer to it as the strangest as well as the most profitable railway line in the world. It runs the distance between Matadi and Stanley Pool in twenty-four hours. First-class passage costs 500 francs, the second-class 50 francs. The former is, therefore, at the rate of 40 cents a mile. This, it is to be hoped, is at least some compensation for the great difficulties encountered in the construction of[Pg 256] the line. For the final accomplishment of what is regarded in Europe as one of the great engineering feats in Africa, the energy and skill of Lieutenant Thys, the original surveys of Major Cambier, and the support of the King and the Belgian Parliament are largely to be credited. Outside assistance was almost entirely lacking.

The Mayumbe Railway is the second which was undertaken in the development of the Congo Free State. It connects Boma with Lukula, eighty kilometres (about fifty-four miles) distant, and has been in operation since 1901. It is narrow gauge (0.60 metre), while the Cataracts Railway is 0.70 metre.

On the completion of the Mayumbe Railway, the State inspired the construction of three lines of one-metre gauge, with a total length of 1600 kilometres (1080 miles). These lines are being undertaken by the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Congo Supérieur aux Grands Lacs Africains under an agreement made with the State on January 4, 1902. The latest report of the Vice-Governor-General (July, 1904) indicates the present stage to which these lines and others have attained:

Having regard to those articles of the Berlin General Act which relate to the free navigation of the Congo and its affluents, the legal status of railways within the Conventional Basin of the Congo becomes a matter of considerable importance, especially in view of the growing controversy as to the proper construction of the Act.

Baron Descamps has ably treated this subject in his New Africa, a volume of exceptional interest at this time. After pointing out that the “freedom of navigation” declared by the Berlin Act must not be confounded with freedom of railway traffic, inasmuch as the latter admits of grants of monopoly and the former does not, this eminent writer on questions of general and special law says:

The idea of considering railways as continuations of water-courses, or as junctions between water-courses, was quite a new one, as was pointed out at the Berlin Conference. The[Pg 258] Conference realised the necessity of providing for the logical consequences of such an idea, and therefore it drew up special regulations which are worthy of careful examination.

The general legal standing of railways in the Congo, the essential rights of the authorities as to their construction, their concession, their running powers, their charges, their position as public highways, their administrative and judicial policy are the same as those of railways in other countries.

The Berlin Act, as regards railways destined to provide transport where the Congo and the Niger become unnavigable, made special provision in clauses 16 and 23 on the one hand, and 29 and 33 on the other—the only clauses which are concerned with railways—for certain details of these communications. After declaring that these railways, as means of communication, are considered as auxiliaries of the rivers, the Act dwells on the legal consequences attaching to the introduction of this new idea, this conventional innovation in international relations. The consequences are as follows:

1. The obligation of opening the railways to the traffic of all nations (Art. 16, § 1), and the inviolability at all times of the lines thus opened to the trade of all nations (Art. 25, § 1).

2. The obligation to refrain from any excessive railway rates, that is to say, “not calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance and management, and on the profits due to the promoters.” The Berlin Act states but these general principles, its object being to give the basis of calculation rather than a detailed solution of the problem, since it does not draw up a schedule of rates with respect to the nature of goods or the scale of the charges.

3. The obligation to observe, in fixing a tariff within these broad limits, “equality of treatment for the strangers and the subjects of the respective territories.”

Thus, equality is sure to be observed as regards the tariff, both in the case of subjects and foreigners, and especially so in business which may be called the sphere of private activity, i. e., commerce. Thus also the power of the State to allow exclusive access to the railways, to impose extra or unfair charges, is minimised. The Berlin Act goes so far, but does[Pg 259] not pass these limits. Beyond this, it does not affect the sovereign prerogatives of the State as regards its territory.

According to the usual right of the Powers in all that regards railways, the State can order the establishment of the same, can have them constructed, run them itself, and fix their tariff. It can also, if deemed preferable, authorise a concessionaire to collect the charges on the contemplated line, on condition that he shall undertake the construction and maintain the established tariff.

The Berlin Act respects these fundamental rights. It offers no opposition against whatever arrangements the State makes with its concessionaire as regards a schedule of rates with respect to the nature of goods or the scale of the charges. It does not intrude upon the internal organisation of the rates, except so far as it circumscribes them within the following limitations: 1, all are free to use the railways; 2, no distinction can be based on the nationality of individuals; 3, and no excessive rates are to be imposed.

Circumstances may render changes in the tariff advisable, and the State may modify the rates periodically.[24] It may also exercise the right of ordering its concessionaire to make certain modifications and reductions.

This was the course adopted by the Free State in relation to the Congo Railway in its initial estimates. It also reserved the right of repurchase. This latter reservation, however, it abandoned for a time by Act dated November 12, 1901, which also stipulated in what manner its optional power of reducing rates was to be exercised. That power it exercised by imposing a comprehensive system of reduction, and without at the time committing itself to any declaration as to the specific classes of goods on which the rates were to be reduced. It does not concern strangers whether it be exercised in one act or in two, and whether the concessionaire acts by special agreement with the State or under general powers. The main consideration is whether the procedure followed for the attainment of the reductions aimed at is in accordance with the[Pg 260] Berlin Act. In the present case, the procedure certainly was in accordance with that Act.

From a legal point of view, nothing can be said against the State’s reducing railway rates, inasmuch as it was invested with the right of primarily drawing up those rates.

By the same Act of November 12, 1901, the State enjoys certain special conditions of transport for carrying out works of public utility. That right is quite legitimate for the Government, and does not entitle private citizens to demand its application for their own purposes. The State could have enjoyed these advantages if it had itself built and worked the line. The mere fact of a concession by no means robs the State of all its rights in this respect. These advantages are justified, for the State has made real sacrifices in ceding a part of its territory and in abandoning the repurchase clauses. The advantages accruing to the State do not in any way interfere with the equal treatment of individuals stipulated for in Article 16, which says: “As regards the rate of these tolls, foreigners and subjects of the respective territories shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality.”

No distinction is made on account of nationalities; the only difference made rests on a service of public utility, regardless of nationality. Neither subjects nor foreigners can say that their civil or commercial liberties are endangered.

There are certain authoritative interpretations of the Berlin Act which confirm our view of this question. The German Government, for example, considers no breach of equality the exemption of all dues granted to a German railway concessionaire. Below are two clauses of the Imperial German decree, dated December 1, 1891, and relating to the railway in German East Africa (Usambara line).

“Clause 1.—The Imperial Government shall grant to no other contractor, either individual or corporation, the right of constructing or working a railway line joining the said localities or liable to compete with the line ceded by the present decree or any parts of same.”

“Clause 9.—The Imperial Government guarantees to the German East African Railway Company, subject to compliance[Pg 261] with the prescribed formalities, an exemption from all taxes on materials, engines, working tools, and all other implements and articles which may be imported into German East Africa for the construction, repair, renewal, and running of the railway.”

In drawing up special tariffs with its concessionaire, it may be asked whether the State can base these rates on the actual working expenses—that is to say, with neither profit nor loss for the concessionaire. From an economic point of view, such a tariff is perfectly justifiable. Transporting operations, per se, cannot be separated from the transactions to which they are related. These transactions must be considered in view of all the surrounding circumstances. In negotiating transport operations, which of themselves entail neither profit nor loss, a contractor is quite justified in calculating on present or probable advantages which may result from the whole of the operation; as, for instance, the opening of new markets and the renunciation to the right of immediate repurchase of the concern. To forbid him to do this would be to spoil his chances and deprive him in many cases of a part of the profit to which he is justly entitled.

Neither can it be argued, in the case of a railway like that of the Congo, that the contractor should require rates superior to his actual expenses, in order to realise an immediate profit. Clause 16 states “that there shall be collected only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance, and management, and on the profits due to the promoters.” To argue in the sense indicated would be against the purport of the clause which aims at forbidding excessive rates, but which in no way interferes with a gradual realisation of average profits by the contractors. To arbitrarily forbid the contractor to make such profits would be to fly in the face of Clause 16, inasmuch as it refers to the profits due to the contractor. It is equally fallacious to imagine that because certain merchandise is carried for a time without profit, the rates for certain other merchandise must needs be increased. Finally, it would still have to be shown that the Berlin Act forbids a proper and reasonable equalisation of contractors’ charges. But the Berlin Act[Pg 262] does not meddle with such arrangements; it does not establish a detailed and proportional schedule of rates. It only says that such charges must not be excessive—that is to say, they must not exceed the comprehensive amount of the necessary expenses and due profits. The Act, moreover, fixes no maximum for such profits, neither does it fix any maximum rates on produce. Its intentions in this respect are shown by its refusal to define, even by means of a maximum scale, the extent of compensatory rates.

Time was when the native Congolese, lazily living out his torpid life in a land where Nature in her luxuriance yielded him subsistence without the ennobling concomitant of his labour, avoided the great forests, the jungles, and the marshes of Equatorial Africa. He moved about to regions of easy access where the land afforded his indolence the greatest pleasure for the least responsibility. Explorers and the early builders of the Congo Free State often experienced great difficulty in preventing the desertion of their native carriers over a trackless course, such, for instance, as Stanley, Wissmann, De Brazza, cut out on their several expeditions. In short, the African Negro regarded his feet with such solicitude that he waited for the white man to show him the thickets and the fastnesses which contained those natural resources—rubber, oil, gum, ivory, nuts—which certain library philosophers and untravelled colonisers assert were the conscious property of the savage who neither knew of, nor cared for, their existence. Industry was not worth while to him who could supply his wants in idleness.

The State, on the other hand, has not only taught[Pg 263] the native Congolese the enlightening influence of honest labour, it has set him an example of colonial industry the like of which can not be found in the possessions of any other European Power. It built its railways where the engineering skill of its more powerful neighbours predicted failure; it sought the hidden treasure of a vast domain with routes and transport services which, in part, account for prosperity which others observe with manifest envy. Not content with these, it has lately penetrated the forests with wide avenues, hundreds of miles long, upon which to operate an automobile service. On this subject Vice-Governor-General Fuchs says:

[Pg 264]

Within the lifetime of men who may still be accounted young, the words that stand at the head of this chapter had no application to any part of Central Africa. Science, in all its forms, was utterly unknown there; agriculture can hardly be said to have existed, though a few of the tribes raised scanty crops of a nature that needed little or no attention; while of civilising measures there were absolutely none. These concomitants of long-established civilisation followed naturally the advent of the Belgians; and they have ever since, year by year, taken root, and spread until there are no two countries in the world more dissimilar than the Central Africa of thirty years ago and the Central Africa of to-day.

Realising to the full that complete success in any undertaking is only possible where all the conditions affecting it are thoroughly understood, the Congo State, early in its career, established nineteen scientific stations, at various points throughout its territories, for the collection of data relating to anthropology, botany, ethnography, geology, philology, pisciculture, mineralogy,[Pg 265] zoölogy, etc., and for trigonometrical and astronomical surveys. Each of these stations is in charge of an expert, with properly qualified assistants. They have transmitted to Europe a whole literature of monographs, of great interest and value, upon all sorts of subjects, and their field of work is still far from being exhausted. The study of the Congo climate by these savants has proved especially valuable, their recommendations as to regimen, dress, habitation, etc., for travellers and settlers, having reduced the death rate of the whites to six per cent., thus dispelling for ever the old notion of the deadliness of Central Africa, and showing it to be at least as healthful as India, and healthier than either German East Africa, the Cameroons, the Niger Territory, or Cochin China. A small, but continual and increasing, influx of Europeans and Americans demonstrates the gradual abandonment of fear of the Congo climate, and faith in the hygienic system inaugurated by the Belgians,—a system which maintains sixteen State doctors to watch over and report upon the health of the various stations, and a permanent Hygienic Commission, which sits at Boma.

At the royal palace of Tervueren, near Brussels, now used as a public museum, are exhibited nearly eight thousand objects illustrating industry and art among the primitive peoples of Central Africa, such as costumes, dwellings, musical instruments, and implements of hunting, fishing, agriculture, river navigation, and war. The museum also contains several thousand geological,[Pg 266] mineralogical, and zoölogical specimens, and a very comprehensive herbarium, all collected within the borders of the Congo Free State. The latter is of particular interest, containing specimens of more than four hundred new species.

From the first it has been the unswerving policy of the Congo Free State to promote, by every means at its disposal, the advancement of science as it affects, and as it is affected by, conditions prevailing within its territories. Until the Belgians came among them, smallpox from time to time decimated the natives, and was as great an evil as the slave trade or their own internecine wars. They had no conception of its prevention or cure, and submitted to its ravages with unintelligent dumb passivity as a providential visitation impossible to resist. The white man with his vaccine was a revelation to them; and though they at first refused to believe in its efficacy, and would not accept vaccination, they soon perceived the error of their disbelief; and now they voluntarily come to the Belgian medical officers asking to be vaccinated. Both Boma and New Antwerp have vaccine producing institutions, and vaccine is also distributed from Coquilhatville and Stanleyville. The results are most gratifying; for although, unfortunately, smallpox is by no means stamped out of the Congo State it is far less prevalent and less virulent than formerly, so that it is not unreasonable to look for its practical extinction in the near future.

To the present, Science has proved powerless to cope with that strange malady, the sleeping-sickness.[Pg 267] The ablest physicians, not only of Belgium, but of England, France, and Germany, have studied the disease exhaustively. Though much valuable data relating to its cause and effect have been collected, the discovery of its antidote seems as far off to-day as ever. The prevalence of this fatal sickness among its people makes it a subject of vital concern to the Congo Government, which is unceasingly vigilant in seeking to discover the means for its extinction or alleviation. In its pursuit of this object, all possible facilities have been afforded to foreign doctors visiting the Congo State. By request of the English medical faculty, three Congolese patients, suffering from sleeping sickness, were recently sent to the School of Tropical Medicine at Liverpool. On another occasion two others were sent to the Charing Cross Hospital in London. Animals have been infected with the germs of the disease, and its every symptom, from inception to climax, noted with minute accuracy. The disease, which is invariably fatal, appears to be on the increase, and there have been many victims of it on the Gold Coast as well as in the Congo State. For some obscure reason this dreadful malady has been strictly confined to individuals of the black race. Notwithstanding its want of success in combating the evil, the Congo Government may congratulate itself that it has neglected no precaution, and spared no expense, in its effort to mitigate what may conceivably develop into a veritable plague.[25]

[Pg 268]

In numerous ways has the Congo Government applied modern science to the uplifting and general betterment of the people over whom it rules, without distinction of colour or creed. Twenty-seven medical men, holders of European diplomas, twenty Health Committees scattered throughout the country, a Bacteriological Institute, and a Hospital for Natives at Boma not only labour for the cure of disease, but disseminate as widely as possible among the natives knowledge of the laws of health. On the whole, the work has been marvellously productive of good results, and the native is now incomparably more healthful, cleaner, better fed, and better housed than at any previous period of his history.

Thirty years ago what is now the Congo Free State was a wild tangle of luxuriant tropical growth through which hordes of black savages roamed, fought, and practised their unspeakable barbarities, living almost entirely upon the spontaneous products of Nature. The white magician has waved his wand and the scene is transformed. In, and far around, each of the numerous governmental stations or posts, life and property are as secure now as in any part of Europe or America. The spade and the hoe have displaced the throwing-spear and poisoned arrow in the hands of the native. Where the shy antelope or spring-bok browsed, remote from human intrusion, the soil is now turned up by the plough, and devoted to the growing of coffee, cocoa, tea (of the Assam variety) and various condiments, cinnamon, pepper, ginger,[Pg 269] nutmegs, cloves, vanilla, etc. The establishments for the breeding of cattle, horses, and donkeys, particularly in the Enclave of Lado, in Ruzizi-Kivu, Equateur, Bangala, and Lualaba-Kassai, are numerous and increasing. Latest accounts to hand state that they exceed seventy. Many of the natives display considerable aptitude in learning how to tend herds of cattle. Great expense has been incurred by the State and by various companies in the purchase and importation of pedigree horses and cattle. The animals have been selected from the best European stocks by experts, and assigned to various breeding establishments throughout the country. The enterprise has proved extremely successful, the number of cattle of European origin now in the State being no fewer than 4500, with sixty horses, and nearly as many donkeys.

In following agricultural employments the natives receive liberal encouragement from the Government. The State offers rewards for the cultivation of coffee and cocoa. At all suitable stations is a coffee and cocoa nursery, established by the State; that is to say, the State has supplied the necessary seeds, and contracts to allow an indemnity for each shrub on its attaining two feet in height, and to pay the native half the value of its produce less the cost of transport to Europe.

Coffee has been found to flourish most in the districts of Equateur and Aruwimi, and in the zone of Stanley Falls. Liberica, Arabian, and Guadaloupe are the varieties which have[Pg 270] been selected as suited to the Congo soil and climate. The number of coffee plants has increased from 61,517 in 1894, to 1,996,200 in 1902. Cocoa plants numbered no fewer than 298,003 in 1902, an increase of 284,136 in ten years!

In 1899 the State erected a factory for the preparation of coffee at Kinshassa, and adopted several new methods, improvements upon the practice in vogue in countries where coffee has been cultivated for generations. After being dried at the plantations, the coffee is placed in sacks and sent in State steamers to Stanley Pool, and thence to the Kinshassa factory. So good is the quality of Congo coffee that in 1894 it realised no less than 100 francs per 100 kilogrammes in the open market at Antwerp.

Caoutchouc (rubber), for countless ages wholly a spontaneous product of the forests, every year becomes more and more an object of cultivation. By a decree dated January 5, 1899, it is provided that in all the forests of the domain caoutchouc trees shall be planted in the proportion of 150 feet to the ton of caoutchouc collected during the same period. By a subsequent decree, dated six months later, the number of caoutchouc trees to be planted for each ton of caoutchouc collected was raised from 150 feet to 500 feet. The enforcement of these decrees is attended to by a staff of foresters, consisting of eight controllers and twelve sub-controllers, working under a chief inspector.

Until prohibited by State decree, the method of collecting caoutchouc practised by the natives was[Pg 271] to make an incision in the plant (liana), and allow the fluid to run into a jar. Sometimes they allowed it to run into their hands, and afterwards smeared it over their bodies, and in that manner it was conveyed to market, where it was rubbed off with sand. It was an exceedingly wasteful method, or rather want of method, for the plant thus drawn from was necessarily killed. Only the prodigious quantity of plants existing on the Upper Congo and its tributaries has saved it from extinction. Now caoutchouc is harvested by extracting the fluid from the stem of the plant in a way that does it no injury, a scientific yet simple operation easily performed by women and children. The industry has assumed enormous proportions. The number of caoutchouc plants put into the ground by companies and by the State are valued at five million francs. The rubber annually produced in the world amounts at present to something over 30,000 tons, of which the Congo Free State exports 5000 tons.

In the African forests the caoutchouc or rubber-bearing plant grows to a great height, often exceeding 100 feet. It is commonly about six inches in diameter at its base, and shoots upward to the light through a dense mass of tropical growth until, failing to find further support, it falls upon the branches of the tallest trees, and spreads itself over them. There are numerous other plants of the same genus which closely resemble it, but their sap lacks the qualities of true rubber. For several years past the State has experimented[Pg 272] with these plants, and has sent specimens of them to the authorities at the Botanical Gardens at Brussels, Kew, Berlin, and Paris, for investigation. The ever-increasing demand for rubber for use in the industries stimulates the inquiry as to whether or not it is possible to so treat what is now regarded as “false rubber” that it shall serve all the purposes of “true rubber.”

Amongst the true rubber lianas in which the Congo Basin abounds are the following: Ficus altissima, ficus Eetveldeana, ficus elastica, ficus nekbuda, ficus religiosa, manihot glaziovii (French name, ceara), clitandra Arnoldiana (native name, mondongo), funtumia elastica (French name, Ireh), landolphia gentillii, and the landolphia owariensis (native name, matofe mengo).

Constant experiments are being made, privately and by the State, in the production of copal, sugar, tobacco, and cotton, with results that justify the confident expectation that at no distant date they will be profitably exported. The cultivation of the vine, and of numerous fruits and grasses, receives also much attention, and is full of promise.

African ivory is everywhere esteemed for its superiority in colour and hardness to the Indian variety. The large herds of elephants inhabiting the forests of the Congo State provide, at present, an enormous supply; but the Government wisely takes into account the possibility of its exhaustion, and has prohibited the shooting of elephants. Wise laws also regulate the cutting and export of lumber; and the folly of[Pg 273] denuding vast regions of trees, such as we have been guilty of in America, will not be repeated on the Congo.

In every way the State has exerted its utmost influence to effect the moral improvement of the native races, and its efforts have met with much success. Their liberty and property are very carefully guarded. Polygamy is not only discountenanced, it is penalised, no polygamist being eligible for employment, whether military or civil, by the State. Christian marriages between natives, which ten years ago numbered eighty-four, now take place by thousands every year.

Alcohol is prohibited over 2,337,500 square kilometres of Congo territory, the zone within which its sale is tolerated extending to only 12,500 square kilometres, where its abuse is guarded against by carefully devised restrictions, rigidly enforced. The sale of absinthe is absolutely forbidden in every part of the Congo Free State.

It thus appears that, as the guardian of the welfare of its people, the Congo Free State has nothing to learn, either in theory or practice, from the most enlightened governments of the world.

[Pg 274]

Among the earlier trading companies on the West Coast of Africa was the house of Regis et Cie., established at Banana in 1858, whose successors, Daumas, Béraud et Cie., were carrying on a considerable business when Stanley explored inland from the mouth of the Congo in 1878. The old Dutch house, the Afrikaansche Handels-Vennootschap, of Rotterdam, had a branch at Boma in 1860, and the Portuguese firm of Valle & Azvedo, and the agents of Hatton & Cookson, of Liverpool, opened trading depots near by a few years later. These firms had, however, very little direct trade with the interior of the Congo Basin, commerce in their early time being confined to the coast. Trade with the interior is almost entirely due to the Belgians.

Before the Free State was founded the trade of Central Africa was chiefly in slaves. As a Belgian writer quaintly observes, the slave was at once the means of labour, the main capital, the vehicle of transport, the common currency, and the usual tribute given to satisfy the covetousness of native chiefs. The slave was the standard of wealth and the element of power. In order to estimate the influence of the slave trade as an economical factor[Pg 275] in barbarous communities, and compare it with the trade régime of civilisation, it would be necessary to imagine dealings in some object representing all these uses in our markets.[26]

To destroy the slave trade creates the problem of substituting a trade that is legitimate, that is founded upon the natural resources of the country. It simultaneously creates the problem of labour. The soil depends upon the man in the ratio in which man depends upon the soil. The Belgians heard from Stanley what vast wealth the Congo contained; but that wealth lay behind difficulties so great that no one in Europe ventured to pursue it until the indomitable personality of one man inspired men with the courage to undertake a seemingly hopeless task. Without a railway from Matadi to Stanley Pool commerce could not develop in the Congo Basin. This was Stanley’s opinion. His judgment that the Congo had little value without such a railway in the region of the Cataracts has been justified. The Belgians built the railway at a cost nearly treble that of the original estimate. In fact, while others have been groaning and droning and musing upon the ethical theories of ideal colonisation and civilisation, in pamphlets and innocuous books, the Belgians have followed their own gospel of work and been at their task throughout the waking hours of each day. Spontaneous initiative, timely energy, unremitting labour, these appear to be the characteristics of Belgian dominance in Congoland. Having regard to the habit Europeans have of considering[Pg 276] Americans the great exemplars of an age of materialism and hustle, there is almost an element of humour in the fact that one of the first Congolese companies formed under the ægis of the Free State was founded by an American, General Henry S. Sanford, sometime United States Minister at Brussels. This was the Sanford Exploring Expedition, constituted by General Sanford and M. Georges Brugmann in 1887. Its business was that of dealing directly with the natives for rubber and ivory, and it and the Mateba Syndicate and the Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l’Industrie are generally regarded as the pioneers of organised trade in the interior of Central Africa. It would seem, therefore, that the accident of a king’s friendship with an American minister, whose wise counsel he often consulted, might justify at least sentimental interest in the welfare of a region where the restless spirit of strenuous American life had manifested its tendencies nearly twenty years ago. Since the day when General Sanford set the example, forty-eight Belgian and fourteen foreign companies, with an original capital of 136,000,000 francs, have established a commerce in Congoland which is attracting the envy of some and the admiration of many throughout the world.

Before indicating the practical details of the trade and revenue of the State, a brief glance at the ten years before the Brussels Conference enabled it to create its support by levying import duties will recall the fact that from 1878 to 1890 King Leopold personally expended upwards of 3,000,000 francs a year[Pg 277] for the founding and maintenance of the State, irrespective of the meagre support derived from other sources. Indeed, no one felt disposed to support an African enterprise which promised to yield only “enlightened niggers.” As Stanley sarcastically said in his lectures in England, too many of his audience measured “civilisation” by the dividends it produced. The inability of the Free State to support itself from enthusiastic humanitarians outside of Belgium was significantly indicated in 1886, when the revenue of the State was less than 75,000 francs! The exports, chiefly ivory, were only 1,750,000 francs, and the Congo Association, when it was merged in the State, possessed only thirteen stations. Out of two hundred and fifty-four foreigners on the Congo in 1885-1886, only forty-six were Belgians. In fact, nothing looked gloomier than the prospect of the new State in the African jungle; and yet one man, with a superhuman sense of the future, continued to pour gold and his labours upon that dark and distant land with its thirty million unenlightened souls. Now, when from a wilderness and savagery have been evolved civilisation, a thriving industry, a prolific field and growing market, religion, order, and prosperity, all that the early pioneer did is utterly lost and forgotten in the noisy controversy over a rich spoil.

It was by the Brussels Act of 1890 that the State acquired the right to levy taxes and impose customs dues. What Leopold II. had expended on behalf of the State in its long formative period was beyond recovery. It will be recalled that the Belgian[Pg 278] Parliament had sanctioned a loan to the State of 25,000,000 francs, 5,000,000 francs to be paid soon after the Brussels Conference, the remainder at the rate of 2,000,000 francs a year. To this sum the King, having abandoned all claim to the huge sum he had previously advanced to the State, now added an annual subsidy of 1,000,000 francs. The State, therefore, began the development of its resources with an assured income of 3,000,000 francs a year—not a large sum when compared with the responsibility of fighting cannibal slave-raiders with one hand while tilling the soil, constructing railways, creating posts and missions, and organising the State’s machinery with the other. Beside the task in Congoland, the early American colonist enjoyed a holiday in a land of greater security and healthfulness.

The revenues first provided were on the export of rubber and ivory. These were fixed, after agreement with the neighbouring States of France and Portugal, at ten per cent. The duty on vegetable products was fixed at five per cent. Import duties were as follows: On arms, ammunition, and salt, ten per cent.; merchandise of any kind, six per cent.; on spirits, fifteen francs per hectolitre[27] at 50° of the centesimal alcoholmetre; boats, machinery, and articles for industrial and agricultural use were exempt till May, 1898, and thereafter paid only three per cent.

The tax on caoutchouc (rubber) was first fixed at twenty-five centimes a kilogramme (about five cents on two pounds) equivalent to four per cent. on its[Pg 279] value in Europe. When, however, the Cataracts Railway was finished, and human porterage along the route from Stanley Pool to Matadi abolished, the tax on rubber was increased to eight per cent. of its European value. Another decree of the same date (February, 1898) provided for the payment of a licence of 5000 francs by all persons establishing a rubber factory or depôt in the domains. Other sources of revenue are coffee, tea, cocoa, gum-copal, palm oil, palm nuts, rice, tobacco, maize, sugarcane, vegetables, fruit, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, vanilla, nutmegs, cloves, and spices.

Great credit is due the local administrators of the Free State for the progress they have made in a long list of cultivated products, and the growth of the country’s export trade resulting from Belgian and native co-operation and industry. For instance, in 1887 the total exports amounted to only 1,980,441 francs[28], in 1891, 5,353,519 francs, and in 1903, 54,597,835.21.

The following tables indicate at a glance the products imported and exported, their comparison with previous years, and their value:

[Pg 280]

STATISTICS OF PRODUCTS EXPORTED FROM THE CONGO FREE STATE DURING 1903

TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS FOR 1903

COMPARISON OF EXPORTS FOR 1903 WITH THOSE OF PREVIOUS YEARS

TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS FOR 1903[Pg 281]

[Pg 282]

STATISTICS OF GOODS IMPORTED INTO THE CONGO FREE STATE DURING 1903

Summary

N. B.—The Special Commerce includes goods for consumption which are declared directly they arrive, or at the time of their removal from the warehouse.

General Commerce embraces all goods which enter the territory of the State that may be declared for consumption, transit, or warehouse.

[Pg 283]

[Pg 284]

[Pg 285]

IMPORTS

Year 1903

RECAPITULATORY TABLE, SHOWING COUNTRIES FROM WHICH PRODUCTS WERE IMPORTED

[Pg 286]

COMPARISON OF IMPORTS FOR 1903 WITH THOSE OF PRECEDING YEARS

[Pg 287]

These tables show what has provided the enemies of the Congo Free State with a great deal of puerile prattle—an excess of exports over imports which is more apparent than real. One of the bitter critics who write from Liverpool repeats the charge in the press that the Sovereign of the Free State is denuding the Congo of its natural resources by exporting more than he imports. In this respect a German writer in Der Tag, Berlin, September, 26, 1904, not at all friendly to the Congo State (because it is diverting the Zanzibar trade of the Fatherland), has some pertinent things to say of the excess of exports over imports in the British colonies of South Nigeria and Lagos. Herr Eberhard von Schkopp discusses the Congolese, British, French, and German trade statistics in the following concise manner:

But let us see if the Congo State exports really do exceed the imports, and if so, by what sum. The exports of the State are estimated in the tables at their value in Antwerp, after they have been harvested, prepared for transport from remote parts of the Congo Basin, stood charges of porterage, freight, export duties, taxes, insurance, brokerage at the African and European terminals, and merchant profits of an indefinite measure—in all, at least half their European value. The original value of Central African ivory, rubber, palm oil, gum copal, and other exports is, in fact, less than half their market value in Europe. In other words, if the exports of[Pg 289] the Congo State were estimated at their value as they left the forests or the native collector, instead of aggregating 54,597,835.21 francs for the year 1903, they would show but 27,298,917.16 francs.

On the other hand, the imports, also estimated at their European value, but having similar distances to undergo and similar charges to bear, represent when they reach their consumers at least double their invoiced European cost. On a proper basis of value in their ultimate African market the imports for the year 1903 would amount to 42,792,662.04 francs. Thus the exports would stand at 27,298,917.16 francs, and the imports at 42,792,662.04 francs for the year 1903.

But even this is not a just comparison with the exports and imports of the British colonies, inasmuch as in the colony of Lagos, for instance, the imports include about sixty-five per cent. of alcoholic liquors,[32] leaving the native the beneficiary of an[Pg 290] aggregate import of really civilising products of only thirty-five per cent. of the total, while the Congo imports, containing only five per cent. of alcoholic liquors, bestows upon the native legitimate products for his civilisation to the extent of ninety-five per cent. of the total of all the imports of the State. Deducting, therefore, from the Lagos imports sixty of their sixty-five per cent. of gin, rum, and whisky, thereby placing them on an equation with the imports of the Congo, we find in Herr von Schkopp’s figures an arraignment of Lagos “civilisation” which indicates where the real curse of Central Africa abides.

The foregoing is an astonishing record of exports and imports for a country practically developed in the short period which has elapsed since 1886. Congolese products are largely sent to Antwerp and, as the tables show, Belgium is by far the largest exporter and importer. A few years ago England was the chief exporter to the Congo of its cotton stuffs and other goods, but the same laggard spirit which caused Englishmen once interested in the Anglo-Belgian India-Rubber Company (known as the Abir) and other undertakings to abandon their Congolese enterprises has lost England a large and growing market in Central Africa. That the Belgians have developed the Mid-African trade by dint of hard work, organisation, and the risk of capital, is a state of things intolerable to those who have neglected and lost it. The awkward English monetary system is alone responsible for a large percentage of the[Pg 291] world-wide diminution of British trade. All other nations have shown greater adaptability to the characteristics of foreign markets, and the capabilities and peculiarities of the peoples who compose those markets. The Germans, French, and Americans circulate their catalogues and price lists in the language of the country where they seek a market and quote prices in its coin, giving the equivalents in francs, marks, and dollars. British merchants, on the other hand, have adhered to their ancient custom of employing a monetary system so needlessly cumbersome that it can hardly be attributed to intelligent origin.

Belgian manufacturers have patiently studied the needs of the natives and have successfully endeavoured to supply them with the textures and food stuffs, machinery, agricultural implements, and building material which, being of simple construction, they are capable of putting to intelligent use.

The mineral wealth of the country which prospecting during the last five years has revealed in many sections of the Congo Basin, it is not the purpose of this volume to more than mention. Fine outcroppings of gold, coal, and copper have been discovered in the Katanga district in the south-eastern corner of the State. It has lately been rumoured in Europe that foreign prospectors have discovered territory marvellously rich in gold near the borders of British East Africa in the south, and again in the Enclave of Lado in the north. On this subject, and the likelihood of early and interesting mineral developments in that region, the Congo State authorities[Pg 292] appear to have considerable knowledge. They do not, however, discuss the matter with any degree of candour. When the secret of certain political phases of Congolese history shall have been revealed, a connexion may be found between the mining and rubber industry and the calumnious campaign now proceeding against the State. But with that story, the present volume has naught to do.

The State’s revenue, consisting of import and export dues, tolls, excise, and direct personal taxation, is indicated in the following table:

[Pg 293]

It will be observed that by far the greater proportion of the State’s revenue is derived from the State lands (Domaine privé), which is fully considered in a succeeding chapter. Direct personal taxation is a comparatively small item, being only 600,000 francs, or one forty-seventh part of the year’s budget. Import duties, including duties on alcohol, are only 1,600,000 francs, while duties on exports amount to 4,550,000 francs. These duties were, as hereinbefore stated, fixed by arrangement with France and Portugal on April 8, 1892, for a term of ten years, and by a protocol dated May 10, 1902, extended until July 2, 1905.

The export duty collected on India-rubber and ivory under these tariff agreements between the interested Powers are as follows:

“Personal taxes,” says Descamps, “are levied upon three bases: 1, The area of inhabited buildings and enclosures; 2, the number of employés in service; 3, the ships and boats used by tax-payers.” As to the taxes en nature, levied upon the natives and already referred to in a previous chapter, the Chevalier de Cuvelier, Secretary of State of the Congo Free State, says in his official capacity in the Bulletin Officiel for June, 1903, that “it is as legitimate as any other kind of tax. It does not impose upon the native obligations of a different nature or heavier than the system of taxation employed in neighbouring[Pg 294] colonies, such, for instance, as the British hut-tax. It is the native’s contribution to the public charges incurred by the State in exchange for the protection given him. In the Congo State this participation in the State’s support is light, seeing that it represents on an average not more than forty hours of native labour in a month.” It is the payment of tax in this form that the State terms prestation, which, if literally translated, would mean enforced labour upon roads.

In 1902 a general reduction of direct taxation was decreed. At the same time the taxation of all religious, charitable, and scientific institutions and enterprises was reduced to 50 per cent. of the rate which prevailed when the State had no revenue from import dues or from its domain lands. By a decree of 25th June, 1902, all personal taxes are entitled to one-fifth reduction so long as the State lands (domaine), tributes, and taxes in kind, yield the sum of 17,000,000 francs annually. In order to develop and extend the public highways, and works increasing the facilities of commerce, religion, agriculture, etc., the native prestations and their proper distribution have formed the subject of numerous decrees, all seeking to equitably adjust this form of taxation. One of the later decrees, that of 18th November, 1903, provides, amongst other measures protective of the native, that “In order to fix the tax justly and equitably among the natives, the territorial chiefs must take into account the nature of the work to be done, the age and the skill of the natives subjected to the prestation, and finally the obligation of the[Pg 295] State to remunerate the natives for all work done by them.”[33]

The items constituting the State’s annual expenditure throw an interesting light on the subject of these native prestations in the Congo State. The State’s enemies found their charges of slavery largely upon the fact that the State enforces this labour upon the natives instead of imposing a tax in specie. In 1903 the State paid to its European officials and employés in the Congo force publique the sum of 1,800,000 francs, whereas during the same period the wages it paid to natives in the same service amounted to 2,050,000 francs. In developing the State lands at a cost of 6,014,790 francs during that year, the sum of 2,802,190 francs was paid to natives as wages. For extending agriculture and replanting India-rubber vines the sum of 1,373,932 francs was expended in 1903. The following items, taken from the table of expenditure for the same year, may be interesting:

The currency of the Congo Free State consists of copper, silver, and gold coins and paper notes. The former are issued under a decree of 27th July, 1887, which established the monetary system upon the gold standard. The gold coins are of the value of twenty francs; the silver coins are the five, two, one franc, and the fifty centime piece. The copper coins are the ten, five, two, and one centime pieces.

The native’s love of tinsel causes a large quantity of the silver and copper coins put into circulation to disappear from the sphere of commerce. Congolese vanity manifests itself in many forms. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, and other ornaments are made of the State coins, and worn by the men and women of all the tribes which come in touch with the Congo coinage. Powerful chiefs are often buried with many coins placed upon their bodies.

[Pg 298]

It will be remembered that clause VI. of the Berlin Act enacts that “They [the interested Powers] shall, without distinction of creed or nation, protect and favour all religions, scientific or charitable institutions, and undertakings created and organised for the above ends, or which aim at instructing the natives, and bringing home to them the blessings of civilisation. Christian missionaries, scientists, and explorers, with their followers, property, and collections, shall likewise be the object of especial protection.”

For this enlightened enactment the thanks of the world are due to the Count de Launay, of Italy. In proposing its inclusion in the Berlin Act, Count de Launay said: “It is to scientific men and explorers that we owe the marvellous discoveries made during these latter years in Africa. The missionaries, for their part, lend valuable assistance in winning these countries over to the civilisation which is inseparable from religion. It is our duty to encourage them, to protect them all, both present and future.”

How faithfully the Congo Government has carried out clause VI. of the Berlin Act, impartially and completely administering it in the spirit in which it[Pg 299] was conceived, is apparent in the number and diversity of the Christian missions at present existing in the Congo State.

Upon Protestants rests the honour of being first in the endeavour to evangelise the races inhabiting the countries of the Congo Free State. Of their numerous missions, the Baptist Missionary Society of London was first in the field, it having been established so long ago as 1877. It has posts at Matadi, Tumba, Takussu, Bopoto, Monsembe, Bolobo, Lukolela, Kinshassa, and Gombe Lutete, and its missionaries are the Messrs. George Grenfell, Ross Phillips, J. H. Weecks, A. E. Scrivener, Kerend Smiths, Lawson Forfeit, Whitehead, Stapleton, Bentley, J. Howell, Kirkland, Frame, and Kempton.

Next, in respect of age, comes the American Baptist Missionary Union, founded in 1883, which now includes the earlier Livingstone Inland Mission, founded in 1879. It has posts at Matadi, Pallaballa, Lukungu, Kimpese, Banza, Leopoldville, and Bolengi, and is served by the Messrs. C. H. Harvey, A. M. D. Sims, W. S. Leslie, J. Clarke, and Faris.

The Congo Balolo Mission is very active. Though it has but six posts—Lulangi, Bongandanga, Bonginda, Ikau, Leopoldville, and Baringa—it has a numerous staff, including Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, Gilchrist, Whiteside, Armstrong, Ellery, Lawes, Ruskin, Gamman, Jeffrey, Harris, and Frost; the Messrs. Beale, Bond, Padfield, Rankin, Boudot, Wallbaum, Steel, McDonald, and Stannard; and the Misses Padfield, Cork, and Amory.

[Pg 300]

Other important missions are the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Swedish Missionary Society, the Garenganze Evangelical Mission, the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, and the Bishop Taylor Self-Supporting Mission.

Each mission owns lands, either absolutely or in tenancy, the Baptist Missionary Society Corporation heading the list with no fewer than fifteen, being followed by the American Baptist Missionary Union with fourteen, and the International Missionary Alliance with thirteen. The other missions have between one and eight locations each, their field of action being throughout the Upper, Middle, and Lower Congo.

All these missions are Protestant. Their work is done by between two and three hundred white missionaries, to say nothing of native evangelists, and they dispose of a considerable revenue, subscribed, for the most part, by the Protestants of Great Britain and the United States.

Of the five large missionary steamers in the Congo State, four are owned by Protestants. The Peace and the Goodwill belong to the English Baptist Mission, the Henri Reed to the American Baptist Mission, and the Pioneer to the English Balololand Mission. Roman Catholics own only one mission steamer, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.[35]

As might be expected from its history, the prevailing faith in Congoland is the Roman Catholic.[Pg 301] The Congo Free State tolerates all religions, no one of them enjoying a privilege denied to the others. Unfortunately the Protestants are split up into several sects; but there is no division among the Roman Catholics, and this fact has resulted largely in favour of the growth of the latter.

The White Fathers began their mission in Congoland in 1878, a year later than the first Protestant mission. They were followed by the Scheut Fathers in 1888; the Trappists, 1892; the Jesuits, 1893; the Priests of the Sacred Heart, 1897; the Prémontré Fathers, 1898; and the Redemptionists, 1899. There are also the missionaries of the Ghent Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Trappistines, the Franciscans, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

The wide-reaching results of the earnest labours of these self-denying evangelists is apparent in the existence to-day of 59 permanent and 29 temporary posts; 384 missionaries and sisters; 528 farm chapels; 113 churches and chapels; 523 oratories; 3 schools of the second degree; 75 primary schools; 440 elementary schools (in which native teachers instruct in the elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic); 7 hospitals, 71 Christian villages, and 72,383 Christians and catechumens.

From statistics such as these, pregnant as they are with proof of the onward march of civilisation, it is a relief to turn to records in words. Here are two extracts from a diary kept by the Rev. Father Grison, missionary in charge of St. Gabriel’s, Stanley[Pg 302] Falls. The diary from which they are taken was written in odd moments snatched from an exceptionally busy life in a far-off land, with no idea that any line of it would ever be given to the world.

The following, from the diary of the Rev. Father Wulfers, written at Yanonghi (Romee Mission), June 22, 1902, accurately portrays the hopes and fears, the triumphs and disappointments, which attend the life of a missionary in Central Africa.

[Pg 303]

The same missionary records yet another of his experiences, which throws a vivid light upon the[Pg 305] horrid subject of cannibalism. It is dated February 7, 1903.

[Pg 306]

It is out of material such as Kalonda that Christian missionaries and just laws carefully administered are evolving a peaceful, pastoral people. That so large a part of this prodigious task should have been achieved during the brief period that the Congo State has existed places its triumphant completion in the near future beyond all doubt. The patience, skill, and energy of the men who in circumstances so difficult have achieved so much, if not appreciated at their true worth now, will assuredly be regarded by posterity as one of the brightest pages in the history of our time.

There are no harder workers in the world than the Catholic missionaries of the Congo. The following passage from the diary kept by the Rev. Father Grison, missionary in charge of St. Gabriel’s, Stanley Falls, by no means depicts an exceptional experience:

The Rev. Father Grison is typical of Catholic missionaries in Congoland. Other missionaries there are, of the Protestant faith, equally sincere and ardent; but it is an unfortunate fact that among the latter have been included certain quasi-political agents who believe that they find advantage in depreciating the Government under which they voluntarily elect to live. Others, again, for the purpose of increasing the zeal of the congregations of the churches in their fatherland to provide for them sufficient support, have permitted themselves to excite the sympathies of the home associations by exaggerated tales of oppression and cruelty. Acquisitiveness is not an unknown quality among missionaries. Mr. Stokes, the so-called martyr, who suffered for supplying arms in time of war to the enemies of the Congo Free State, was originally a Protestant missionary, but he abandoned that vocation to become a trader.

[Pg 308]

It would seem reasonable that practical colonial government should begin the pursuit of its objects by a policy so flexible that it might readily conform to the altering conditions upon which it operates. The exceptional nature of the task imposed upon the Government of the Congo Free State, its varied and numerous difficulties, and the uncertainty of the radical principles imposed upon it, left its administrators no choice of colonial precedent to follow, no governmental model to adopt. It stood alone, in a unique enterprise not devoid of new hazards, pitfalls, and strange terrors. It had been regarded at first as an adventure, then as a serious experiment. A civil community was to be created of savage hordes; to maintain itself by its own people led on to civilisation by a few Europeans with a courage and zeal the equatorial sun should not subdue. The vast field it occupied and the untamed characteristics of its large population, the early philanthropic aims of its royal patron, and a general desire to carry out the principles enunciated at the Berlin Conference, all contributed to invest the Congo State Government with a special character, and to saddle it with original duties supposedly beyond its powers to perform.[Pg 309] Thus, in the midst of an unexplored and barbarous land, with everything before it unknown, with all behind it seemingly unsuited for employment here, ways and means and a state system of government had to be adopted not only for internal regulation and development, but also to maintain the integrity of its relations with the rival Powers which surrounded it. The natural problems of the sovereignty of an unknown land and savage people were difficult enough; but when these had been intensified and their practical solution hindered by the fine theories and high ideals of the Berlin Conference, there appeared reason for the belief that a West African Don Quixote had been charged to assault a windmill. Colonial traditions appeared to the men on the spot to be inapplicable to the Congo. There was no tax-burdened home government to rely upon for support. Nor were the African forests or the palaces and mansions of Europe crowded with philanthropists desirous of dedicating their fortunes to the welfare of the Bantu race in the distant Congo. In popular parlance, the King and his Congo were left to subsist on fine sentiments and a jug of water. If in these circumstances a colonial policy of self-support was adopted and carried out with an economic skill which in its results excites foreign envy and covetousness to-day, it should not be attributed to wrong motive, but to that of stern necessity. Concerning this formative period of early Congolese policy the recent exposition of Baron Descamps may be aptly quoted:

[Pg 310]

The policy of the new State was to be “fruitful activity” in peace and order as soon as the Arab wars had ceased and the slave trade had been superseded by an agricultural and industrial régime. With a neutralised State this seemed to be a permanent function commendable alike to its people, its Government, and its international associates and sponsors. Whether we regard the moral concomitant of an era of fruitful activity or only the material essentials of a community so employed, the bald reality called for men[Pg 311] and money for its accomplishment. Of white men there were few in a region where a tropical sun, and other climatic disadvantages, counted heavily against their labour. The Negro alone appeared to thrive in conditions more suited to his physical characteristics. The problem of creating a State of the Negro population involved social and material questions of vast import to those who had undertaken to develop and govern this unknown and savage land. Should the Negro be taught the nobility of labour—informed of the glorious edifices to civilisation it had reared and what benefits its pursuit would shower upon him if he would but follow the white man’s precept and example in the sphere of honest toil?

The trade in black men had been suppressed by the courageous white men of Belgium. Trade in the material resources of the country was now but a phenomenon of the law of self-preservation and the principle of self-support. It is in the adoption of practical measures to develop that trade for the greatest good of the greatest number that the Belgians have shown an executive skill which gives the character of indolent farce to the droning administration of certain other African colonies, particularly British Lagos, which derives sixty-five per cent. of its supporting revenue from traffic in alcoholic liquor,[37] as compared with five per cent. derived from the same source by the Congo Free State.

If the Government of the Congo Free State had to deal with a white population capable of co-operation[Pg 312] as independent political units in the State’s development, it may easily be conceived that measures perhaps more in consonance with certain European theories might have been devised. The candour of this suggestion in no wise detracts from the fitness and happy efficacy of the measures by which the Government of the Congo State has achieved one of the greatest colonising successes of modern times.

It is the co-operative principle—so utterly lacking in the uncivilised native Congolese—which often inspires those governmental speculations in new countries whereby it is sought to solve the problem of sustaining the State upon its own undeveloped resources. There can be little doubt that this principle, now well recognised in the industrial world and constantly adopted and expanded in the United States and Great Britain by enlightened labour leaders and great corporations, unconsciously influenced the Belgian statesmen who framed the land and taxation laws of the Congo Free State. The civilisation of Central Africa was, and forsooth, still is, an immense task, and the State’s early attitude of welcoming quasi private enterprise to co-operate with it in the development of lands which indolent native races had ravaged—first for their own immediate wants, later at the behest of adventurers and despoiling traders, whose coin was alcohol and shoddy tinsel—was not only justified in a Government seeking rational progress, but it followed the soundest principles of what the higher socialism terms community of interest. If more modern in theory, the Congo State has in practice often followed[Pg 313] the most experienced of old-world colonisers—the Dutch and the British. Where practicable under like conditions “it imitates these experienced colonisers, without, however, following them blindly” or attaining at once what it has taken them several generations to accomplish. “Neither does it persist in methods which have been recognised as erroneous, but it alters and corrects them where possible.” Being like all governments, old or new, in savage lands or civilised, unable to reform its domestic policies at command, it seeks the betterment of its system with that gradation of movement which shall not disorganise and disrupt the structure of its statehood. Those who avowedly speak for the Congo Free State say that “its policy is essentially a work of methodical experiment and practical adaptation. Even when colonial science is more advanced than it is to-day, that policy will retain its raison d’être and its merits.”

Having considered those early causes which evolved a State land policy largely founded on the principles of co-operation and self-support, it is pertinent, at this point, to examine the theory of the State land system which has met with the criticism of commercial interests in Great Britain.

The origin of the land system of the Congo Free State may be said to have assumed legal form by the official order of Sir Francis de Winton, who, it will be recalled, was appointed Governor-General of the State when Henry M. Stanley returned to Europe. The order is dated Vivi, July 1, 1885.

[Pg 314]

This order provided for the official recognition of title to land appropriated by foreigners before July 1, 1885; land occupied up to the same date by natives, and land which, having been neither occupied by natives nor appropriated by foreigners, was declared to be the property of the State. Particular emphasis was given to the clause protecting the native in his occupation of land whereon his industry had created improvement, where he lived in the peaceful pursuits common to his tribe.

As the appropriation by the State of vacant lands[Pg 315] in the Congo has inspired many of the specious arguments which have lately emanated from England alone and more particularly from the claque of the Congo Reform Association in Liverpool, it may be opportune to consider first what the Belgians have said in justification of a course which every student of political history knows has been followed by all civilised States.

In his essay, New Africa, Baron Descamps briefly analyses the theory of the State’s unquestionable property in all vacant lands within its territory:

Before the Congo State was founded, a few European traders and missionaries in the Lower Congo were occupying certain undefined lands under agreements—more or less precarious in term and effect—with native chiefs. These occupations partook largely of the temporary nature of the native occupations on the banks of the river. As these occupations ceased and the land was abandoned, it reverted to the State, precisely as it reverts, under certain conditions, in other States and colonies throughout the world.

That the Congo State dealt equitably with foreigners who had seriously squatted upon lands in the basin, is plainly indicated in its next decree, dated 22 August, 1885:

Under this decree, practically every land claim presented was admitted by the Government. Further decrees provided for the compulsory measurement of land held by private owners; the Torrens Act system of transferring the title to land was adopted; rules of survey and its certification were prescribed; deeds were registered at the office of a Registrar, and generally the complete and practical machinery of an efficient Land Department was established for the benefit of natives and foreigners alike. As the State progressed in its organisation it defined its earlier improvisations with greater precision, provided laws in regulation of native “occupations,” private lands and the lands of the State. Its respect for the equities in property of those who had hazarded life in that wild region extended also to a scrupulous care for the native whose lands it guarded from invasion and trespass. By decree dated September 14, 1886, the State provided that[Pg 318] “Lands occupied by native populations under the authority of their chiefs shall continue to be governed by local customs and uses,” thus insuring aboriginal tranquillity in the presence of a scheme of civilisation which the administrators of the State wisely refrained from imposing with disturbing rigour. The savage black man at first instinctively shrinks from the civilised white, and the Belgians, with knowledge of this almost universal timidity of the African races, offered him a mild measure of civilising rule as distinguished from the bluff and peremptory subjugation which has always characterised the decimating colonial methods of its burly neighbour in the Uganda and Soudan countries. By the same decree the Government of the Congo State provided that:

Where natives occupy, or have moved upon, lands which it is sought to lease from the State, provision has been made by the decree of April 9, 1893, that:

A decree of February 2, 1898, appointed a Land Commission charged to consider whether certain[Pg 319] lands, as to which claims may have been made, “shall be reserved either on grounds of public utility or with a view of promoting their cultivation by the natives.” Reference has already been made to the bounty paid by the State to natives who cultivate coffee and cocoa plants. Even in the mining laws of the Congo the State has continued its solicitude for the native and decreed that he shall not be disturbed in the pursuit of those rude industries which tend to elevate his moral nature and provide him with means of self-support. By a decree dated June 8, 1888, the native is exempted from the prohibition, under a previous decree (July 1, 1885), of working a mine without a concession from the State. Under this exemption natives are expressly authorized to “continue to work mines for their own account on lands occupied by them.” Indeed in all cases where local tribal customs do not directly conflict with civilising tendencies, the rule of the State has been to observe them in all their integrity. To facilitate this policy in its intercourse with natives, the State has dealt with the aboriginal population largely through the chiefs of the native tribes. This means of linking the black man to the State which is striving to civilise him by the gradual substitution of the white man’s methods for those of the savage, has been attended with much success and inspired confidence where instinctive distrust might have long prevailed. Amongst the local customs which are safeguarded by the State are what are known as coutumes de rations, a form of royalty to which the natives are entitled on the produce of certain land.[Pg 320] So far has the State concerned itself in perpetuating this form of support to the tribes where the custom prevails that, by an order of the Governor-General dated November 8, 1886, it has provided that:

From the foregoing and many similar decrees intended to secure the property and other rights of the natives, it will be observed that the administrators of the State consistently undertook to carry out all that was implied in King Leopold’s early declaration of his aims in Central Africa. If in the execution of the Congo State laws there has sometimes been laxity, error, and perhaps individual cases of perversion, the fact remains that the law is sound and the land system in respect of native possessions an equitable scheme devised in the interest of their general welfare and protection. The administration of the Congo Free State should be judged with due regard to the nature of its savage population, its unexplored territory of a million square miles, its early lack of organised governmental forces, the necessary newness and the rudeness of its civil institutions,[Pg 321] and the thousand and one uncatalogued difficulties which must have beset such ambitious pioneers as that little band of Belgians which dared venture into an abyss from the safe walls of which Europe smiled derisively and shouted orders to the men below.

Having provided laws securing to natives the lands occupied by them, and regulated the land titles of foreigners, the State declared as its own all unoccupied lands not subject to the ownership of the native or the foreigner. This governmental possession of unoccupied territory is not only sanctioned by the most enlightened laws of the age, it is the express duty of a State to bring under its care all territory which, if abandoned, might become the object of dispute, internecine strife, and sanguinary warfare. The very element of, and respect for, ownership of lands, chattels, or other objects of material value, preserves that order which all law seeks to enforce, for which civil society is organised on foundations of equity and justice. Was it not the very principle which actuated the Berlin Conference when, in order to remove the Congo Free State from the covetous rivalry of the Powers—their disputes and possible wars—it recognised the occupants of the Congo Basin and neutralised the Congo State? If, during the twenty years that have elapsed since the Berlin Conference settled the matter, the Congo Free State had remained in the position of territory open to the pre-emption, adverse possession, invasion, and trespass of anybody, the savage European war of words, of[Pg 322] diplomatic missiles, or perhaps of actual arms, would have been a deadly substitute for the native savagery of the African black. Civilisation without property vested in the State or its citizens is inconceivable.

The categories into which the lands within the borders of the Congo Free State naturally fall have already been briefly indicated in a previous chapter. The land system includes, first, a reservation of land exclusively for the use of the public. Second, lands sold upon an official scale of prices through a Land Department composed of five members. Third, concessions of land granted for a certain term of years, or as freehold, to companies organised to develop its productivity. Fourth, grants of use extended to those who, by arrangement with the State, thereby obtain the right to work a prescribed area for india-rubber. Certain zones of rubber-bearing territory are not subject to grants of use, the State reserving therein the exclusive right to work the forests, thereby following the system in force in the Soudan and in other neighbouring colonies. Finally, there are leases of three, six, or nine years, of land for commercial purposes, and leases for twenty to fifty years of lands for agricultural uses and the establishment of missions, schools, and churches. The latter possess areas aggregating about six thousand acres.

The principal concessionary companies, operate over approximately one-fourth of the State. The lands conceded to such companies are transmitted[Pg 323] under contracts very similar to those employed in the Soudan,[38] and provide for the improvement of the land by the erection of buildings, planting rubber vines, coffee, cocoa, breeding cattle, and collecting rubber in a manner which will not deplete the growing stock. The Congo State law imposes upon the rubber companies the duty of planting at least five hundred feet of rubber vines or trees for every ton of rubber harvested. The forests are safeguarded in respect of wood and other products, and special inspectors see to the rigorous enforcement of the law. There appears to be a different state of things in the rubber-bearing districts of British Lagos, where reckless destruction of the vines, waste, inattention, and lack of intelligent organisation have reduced the rubber yield in 1900 to one-tenth its harvest in 1896, with the decline still continuing. The same measure of rapid decline is going on in the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone. “The decrease in the export of rubber from £347,721 in 1896 to £160,315 in 1899 is clearly due to the reckless and unskilful manner in which rubber was collected.”[39]

This report is corroborated by the statistics of the British Gold Coast, which in 1899 exported rubber to the value of £555,731, but in 1902 to the value of only £88,602; Lagos, 1896, £347,721, in 1901, £14,749; Sierra Leone, 1895, £86,940, in 1902, £8,192. Indeed, the table from which these quotations are made shows that the rubber exports from[Pg 324] eight British colonies have greatly decreased since 1898, despite the increased European value of that product. It would seem that the care and skill which during these same years caused the Congo exports to rise from less than a million francs in 1886 to over fifty-four millions in 1903 were at least worth the emulation of the Gold Coast, Lagos, and Sierra Leone muddlers hiding defeat behind the humanitarian pretexts of Liverpool rubber merchants and their agents, whose conscience is as flexible as their trade product.

Concerning the concessionary scheme which prevails in the French Congo, and which the Congo Free State Government has so successfully carried out in its own territory, M. Eugène Etienne, a distinguished French scholar, Vice-President of the French Chamber of Deputies, and leader of the French colonial group, has said and written some pertinent things. The French Congo, lying on the coast west of the Free State, has been also assailed by the few interested British merchants and their religious and secular agents and reform associations for having been forbidden to trespass upon and despoil Central African territory which has so far escaped the acquisitive proclivities of John Bull. M. Etienne’s dissertation contains the following passages as applicable to the Free State as to the French Congo:

I stop in the enumeration of the results obtained by the Independent State of the Congo, and I will not put in the opposite column the balance sheet which gives little enough to rejoice over of the progress realised in the neighbouring[Pg 325] French colony. Certainly from the point of view of the exploration of the country, and the management of the natives, our officials have obtained what might be called, in a formula borrowed from mechanics, the maximum of result with the minimum of expense....

The constitution of landed property in the Congo, regulated by the decree of 28th March, 1899, and the attribution of vacant lands by important lots to companies bound by a cahier des charges, form a work carefully thought out and elaborated on the advice of eminent jurists. It does honour to the Minister of the Colonies who took the initiative in the matter, my eminent colleague in the Chamber of Deputies, M. Guillain, as well as to the Councillor of State, M. Cotelle, who gave his active collaboration as President of the Commission of Concessions.

Concessions Justified.

The justification of the large concessions is to substitute a regular and methodical exploitation of the products of the soil for the system of trading which destroys the natural riches, leaving behind it only the exhausted and mutilated bush. Is it a question of the collection of caoutchouc [rubber],—the native cuts the lianas, bleeds the producing shrub to complete exhaustion. Is it a question of ivory,—the precious product disappears rapidly with the increase of the price, and the easier destruction of the elephants by means of arms of precision. Left to himself the native destroys, and does not concern himself to ask the earth to restore what he has taken from it. At the most he scratches a little of the soil round the villages he inhabits in order to carry out thereon some cultivation of food stuffs. Thus has it already been recorded in our Congo colony that the caoutchouc lianas have nearly disappeared from the coast, and from the banks of the rivers. It would be the same in the end in the regions further removed from the sea, if wise regulations did not put a stop to it.

Quite different would be the value of the soil if new plantations replaced those exhausted by successive harvests, and added new products to those which come without cultivation.[Pg 326] Coffee trees and cocoa trees succeed admirably on the Congo. The soil lends itself to all tropical cultivations. As to the collection of caoutchouc, which will long remain one of the principal resources of the country, it demands management and care. It is for this motive that, according to one of the clauses of the cahier des charges annexed to the decrees of concession, the concessionaire companies are bound “to plant and to maintain to the termination of the concession, by replacing those which shall have disappeared, at least 500 feet of caoutchouc plants per ton of caoutchouc produced.”

The contract signed between the State as the proprietor of vacant lands and the concessionaire is the following: The concessionaire is authorised to establish himself on the lands assigned to him, he exercises there for a period of 30 years all rights of possession and exploitation (under reservation of lands allotted to the natives, and of rights of proprietorship previously acquired by third parties); but this lease of 30 years is to be changed into definite proprietorship for all lands which shall have been improved. How is it to be decided whether the lands may be considered as improved? The cahier des charges answers this question with precision. Shall be considered as improved:

1. Lands occupied over at least one-tenth of their surface by buildings;

2. Lands planted over at least one-twentieth of their surface with rich cultivation such as cocoa, coffee, caoutchouc, vanilla, indigo, tobacco, etc.;

3. Lands cultivated over at least one-tenth of their surface with food cultivation such as rice, millet, manioc, etc.;

4. The pasturage on which shall be maintained during at least five years beasts for breeding and fattening at the rate of two heads of large beasts or four heads of small beasts per 10 hectares[40];

5. The parts of forests of a superficies of at least 100 hectares of a single tenancy in which caoutchouc shall have been regularly collected for at least five years at the rate of at least 20 feet of trees or lianas as the average per hectare....

[Pg 327]

In exchange for these advantages the concessionaire assumes charges which are not defined with less rigour: Fixed annual rents to be paid to the colony, share of the profits, 15 per cent. of the company’s receipts going to the local budget, obligation to float on the watercourses traversing the concession steamboats of a fixed model, all without prejudice to the payment of a security....

The British merchants[41] complained of being deprived of the rights which they had exercised during many years of sending their contractors to collect the caoutchouc on the lands conceded to the new companies, a dispossession for which they demanded reparation. The Court, after having ascertained that the English firms did not claim any permanent establishment on the domain conceded, non-suited them, objecting with reason that the State as proprietor of free lands in the Congo had the right to dispose of them, and that the long tolerance which the merchants had enjoyed for the collection of the products of the soil could not constitute an acquired right in their favour. Beaten in the French courts, the Liverpool firms lodged an appeal before a tribunal where they were certain of being heard. They set in movement the English Chambers of Commerce, interested the press and public opinion in their cause, and made the British Foreign Office intervene.

I have always admired the ardour and solicitude with which British diplomacy takes part and cause for the grievances of British subjects abroad. The British citizen, as formerly the Roman, is assured of being protected and defended. I know citizens of other countries who cannot always say as much. The complaints of the Liverpool merchants furnished in their way a fine platform for diplomacy. The Congo with the guarantees stipulated by the Berlin Conference, should it not be the chosen land, the last refuge of commercial freedom? To the complaints of merchants established in the French[Pg 328] colony were added those of the English merchants and consuls resident in the Belgian Congo. It was the placing on trial of the Independent State in its entirety—of its commercial policy, of its native policy, which formed the subject of inquiry in the press and before the British Parliament....

Now in no country of the world has freedom of commerce been considered as interfering with the rights of property. The proprietor of the soil alone has the right to dispose of the products of the land which belongs to him. Do people in England think that freedom of commerce is violated because the first passer-by of a rich and extensive manorial domain cannot take the fruits and vegetables, kill the bucks and the hinds, and lay the axe to the trees? Why should it be otherwise on the Congo? The whole question is, whether the State, which in the French Congo (as in the Independent State) has proclaimed itself the proprietor of vacant and unowned lands, has this right legitimately. If it has, it can in one form or another alienate the lands belonging to it. That this exercise of the law of property may inconvenience those who formerly enjoyed the products of the soil, I do not deny. There are countries where hunting is not forbidden, and the game belongs to the killer. A day arrives when the proprietor reserves his rights. He forbids hunting, he institutes suits. It is very disagreeable for those who used to traverse his land freely. But it does not follow that they have the right to an indemnity. Still that is the strange suit that England wishes to bring before the European Areopagus. The Congo has protected its hunting grounds; the poachers exclaim against the injustice and claim damages![42]

British Concessions in Canada.

Crown Lands in British Colonies.

Has the State been right in considering itself the legitimate proprietor of vacant and unowned lands in the Congo? If any doubt existed on the subject, the luminous opinion given to our concessionaires by Maître Henri Barboux should suffice to remove it. After having recalled that in all countries, at all periods, the exercise of the right of sovereignty implied the appropriation[Pg 329] for the profit of the State of conquered lands, the eminent advocate shows how England has made use of that prerogative; in Lower Canada where a single Governor granted 1,425,000 acres to sixty persons; in Upper Canada where in 1825 out of 17,000,000 measured acres, an extent almost equal to Ireland, 15,000,000 had been given in concession; in Australia where the distribution of lands to colonists in gratuitous concessions or by sale was never considered “as in contempt of the rights of the primitive inhabitants of the country, nor as contrary to the largest principles of commercial freedom.” In India, Ceylon, at Hong-Kong, in Africa (Cape Colony, Natal, Bechuanaland), in the Fiji Islands, Great Britain has always admitted that “the whole country falls to the Crown, and that the Crown can attribute to individuals portions of the country, while reserving as its own domain all which is not given in concession” (Creasy, The Imperial and Colonial Constitutions of the Britannic Empire, p. 66). Holland applies the same rules. In Germany the Imperial ordinance of 26th November, 1895, ordains in these terms: “Under reserve of the rights of property or other real rights that individuals or juridical persons, native chiefs or communities, can invoke, as well as of the rights of occupation of third persons resulting from contracts passed with the Imperial Government, all the land of German East Africa is vacant land of the Crown. The proprietorship of it belongs to the Empire.”

These very same principles have been applied by the European nations which have shared amongst themselves the Conventional Basin of the Congo. The reservation of the rights acquired by third persons, the reservation of the rights of natives are stipulated for in our contracts of concession with a precision which leaves nothing to be desired. “The society having the concession cannot exercise the rights of enjoyment and exploitation which are accorded to it except outside villages occupied by natives, and the lands reserved to them for purposes of cultivation, pasturage, or as forest. The perimeters of these lands if it is a question of natives[Pg 330] with a fixed residence, or the successive perimeters to be occupied or reserved if it is one of natives with a changeable residence, shall be fixed by the decisions of the Governor of the Colony, who shall equally determine the lands over which the natives shall preserve the rights of hunting and fishing. The lands and rights thus reserved shall not be ceded by the natives either to the concessionaire or to third parties except with the authority of the Governor of the Colony.” (Art. 10 of the decree of 28th March, 1879, on concessions.) These stipulations are the most liberal that could be carried out in a country where native proprietorship is not regularly constituted, where the land surrounding the villages is alone cultivated, where the villages are shifted about with extreme ease, what was field or plantation one year returning to the state of the bush in the following. As to lands really occupied by Europeans, they have always been left outside the new concessions. What it has not been thought proper to respect is the pretension which some traders have put forward of being masters of what they never possessed, of trading in what did not belong to them....

Up to the present I have spoken only of the concessions given on French territory. The Independent State has employed the same system. In a part of its territory it even inaugurated it. All that may be said to defend our administration from having violated on the Congo the principle of commercial liberty is, then, applicable to the Belgian concessions.

The Private Domain (Domaine Privé) of the Congo Free State embraces approximately one-fourth of the unoccupied lands within its borders. This is the feature of the State’s general scheme of physical development which excites its enemies to make many foolhardy assaults and become voluble with fallacy and hollow argument. It was created by a decree dated December[Pg 331] 5, 1892. All the net revenue derived from the Private Domain is placed in the State’s treasury and applied to the payment of the cost of its public improvements and all its undertakings seeking to improve the condition of the native population, the facilities for their civilisation and the elevation of their moral nature.

The revenue from the Private Domain is derived from the State’s direct exploitation of its lands. Rubber and ivory are its chief products at the present time. Various kinds of wood abound in its forests, and cocoa and coffee plantations, experimental farms, live-stock ranches, agricultural areas, all are being developed under the direct supervision of State agents.

The question which is periodically enlivened concerning this governmental scheme for acquiring necessary revenue is: Can the State, in occupation of its own lands in the Congo Basin, develop the land by direct cultivation, or en régie (by trustees), for the benefit of the State budget, which, in its integrity, is devoted to increase the power of the State to civilise and elevate its native people? There can be no doubt about the State’s right to develop territory which for lack of private initiative and capital would produce nothing for the benefit of the society for which the State has been created. This right has been recognised not only by the Powers at the Berlin Conference in reference to Central Africa, but, in varying aspects, by all civilised countries in reference to other parts of the globe. Belgian, French, English, Russian, Swiss, and Italian jurists have[Pg 332] considered this question at great length. The opinions of Messrs. Van Berchem, Van Maldeghem, de Paepe, John Westlake, K.C., Sir Horace Davey, K.C., de Martens, Barboux, Nys, Pierantoni, and Azcarate, besides the weight of opinion expressed by United States authorities which have been consulted, all concede the State’s right to develop its territory for the benefit of a treasury devoted to the welfare of its people. Moreover, this scheme of self-development is not peculiar to the Free State. France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal declared unoccupied land to be the property of the State. The establishment of that principle at once implies the adoption of that other by which the State may improve its own property and turn it from a wilderness into a productive garden. In addition to innumerable earlier decrees by the Governments surrounding the Congo Free State, many of which are set out in the Bulletin Officiel of the Independent State of the Congo for June, 1903, new ordinances, amplifying and extending the early decrees, have been recently (September 20 and October 23, 1904) put into operation. Their inclusion herein would unduly extend the text of this volume. A brief indication of their provisions will be found in the Appendix under the title: Features of the Land System in the African Colonies of Germany, Great Britain, France, and Portugal.[43]

From the Neue Hamburgische Börsen Halle, 20 October, 1904, we quote the following comment upon the German decree of the same date, inasmuch as it[Pg 333] reveals what, in general, is the European opinion of the British criticism of the Congo State land system:

This example of vigorous Teutonic candour might be repeated from the columns of many other European journals, but the desire to avoid passing from the historical to the controversial in the present work must limit the use of abundant similar material.

To show that the direct exploitation of domanial forests is made a legitimate source of revenue in Eastern countries, the instance of Japan may be cited. That brave little country, so heroically engaged in fighting for the unmolested right to pursue its brilliant course of modern progress, directly cultivates and harvests for the benefit of its treasury a State domain equal to seven times the entire area of Belgium!

When the ministers of his Majesty, King Leopold, were requested to indicate the principles upon which the Domaine Privé of the Congo Free State was developed, they stated that, having in view the necessity for revenue from the soil, the civilising influence of labour, and the social, physical, and moral condition of the African black, they had devised that scheme which would attract the only existing available labour in the country, the co-operation of[Pg 335] the native, for which co-operation the State not only paid him, but provided him with liberating and enlightening opportunities for participating in the growth of African civilisation. In its official reports the Government of the Congo Free State refers to its aims in this respect:

What is called the Domain of the Crown is a limited territory defined by decrees dated March 8, 1896, and December 23, 1901, lying in the basins of Lake Leopold II. and of the Lukenie River, in the basin of the Busira-Momboya River, and between certain boundaries at the confluence of the Lubefu[Pg 336] and Sankuru rivers, to the western summit-line of the Lukenie basin, and including certain contiguous areas. These lands include six discovered mines which have so far not been worked. The Domain of the Crown is a corporate body administered by a committee of three persons appointed by the Sovereign.

The forests of the Congo are the finest in the world. They contain a great variety of hard and soft wood, fruit-bearing trees, rubber trees and vines, and gum trees, and constitute an industrial wealth which is being preserved by enforcing rigorous laws. A decree dated July 7, 1898, and orders dated November 22, 1898, and March 21, 1902, regulate timber cutting. Under these, steamboats may take on supplies of wood fuel on payment of an annual tax measured according to their tonnage and speed.

The mining laws of the State are embodied in the decrees of June 8, 1888, and March 20, 1893. They provide, amongst other things, that the purchase of land from the State or from individuals does not “confer the right of working the mineral riches beneath the surface”; that “mineral riches remain the property of the State”; that “no person can work a mine except by virtue of a special concession from the State”; that “the Government fixes by decree the regions where mining researches are authorised either in favour of all persons without distinction, or of the persons specified in the decrees.” A licence fee of 2500 francs and other fees are imposed upon those who, having discovered mineral-bearing[Pg 337] properties, desire to work them. A mining concession is limited to an area not exceeding 24,000 acres. Article 4 of the decree of March 25, 1893, provides that:

All mining concessions are limited to a term of ninety-nine years. On its expiration the State succeeds to the property as it stands. A system of royalties on the product of the mine is stipulated in all concessions. Such royalties shall not be less than one dollar a year on each 2.47 acres. These fixed annual charges may be commuted by arrangement with the State.

In commenting upon the criticism which British merchants and their allies have uttered against the entire land system of the Congo Free State, an eminent Belgian closely identified with those who support the Congolese policy has said:

As this volume is going to press, advices are to hand that M. Gaston Doumergue, the French Minister for the Colonies, submitted to the President of the Republic of France—and on October 23, 1904, procured his signature to—a decree consolidating the Republic’s legislation concerning French West Africa. This decree reaffirms that “all vacant lands in the colonies of French West Africa are the property of the State”; that the property of the State may be alienated, leased, or developed according to the[Pg 339] methods employed in the Free State; that concessions may be granted; that property held in common by tribes under their chiefs may not be sold by them without the State’s consent, etc. In short, the success of the land régime practised by the Congo Free State having convinced the Germans and the French of its wisdom, both countries have now conformed their own laws to it.

[Pg 340]

On Friday, the 25th of March, 1904, in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, London, the case of Captain Henri Joseph Leon De Keyser, and his colleagues-in-arms, Commandants Chaltin and Dubreucq, against Captain Guy Burrows, an Englishman, one time in the service of the Congo Free State, and his publishers, Messrs. R. A. Everett & Co., London, came on for trial before Mr. Justice Ridley and a special jury.

The trial of this action for libel is the first which has, so far, been determined against those who are charged with traducing the men whose courage in, and devotion to, the Congo cause has erected a prosperous State in the heart of savage Africa. The case irradiates much that has been long proceeding in Great Britain, and that has recently received significant impetus in the United States through the action of certain persons operating from the city of Boston.

The author has no acquaintance with any of the parties to this case, but deems it incumbent upon one who essays to write a full history of the Congo Free State to include an account of litigation which in its proceedings and result reveals and explains[Pg 341] many things with which the present work will not otherwise specifically deal.

Belgian officers brought this action against an English officer, whom they charged with libel and attempted blackmail, before a British jury. Captain Guy Burrows, the defendant, had published a book containing false statements of atrocities in the Congo. He had followed the Liverpool and Boston custom of attributing villainy to the officers of the Congo State Government. But unlike the Liverpool and Boston general allegations, Captain Burrows attributed the wrongful acts to Captain De Keyser and Commandants Chaltin and Dubreucq. What the Court thought of the case as it sensationally unfolded itself may be gleaned from the observations and summing up of Mr. Justice Ridley. What the jury felt is indicated in its verdict for damages against the defendants in all the cases.

To ensure the fairest statement of this interesting and informing suit, the following quotations, verbatim et literatim, are taken from a stenographic report of the trial.

There was a fine array of learned counsel on both sides, among whom Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., Mr. J. Eldon Bankes, K.C., and Mr. Lewis Thomas (instructed by Messrs. Bird, Strode & Bird, solicitors) appeared for the plaintiffs; Mr. Crispe, K.C., and Mr. Swanton for the defendant Burrows; and Mr. Germaine, K.C., and Mr. G. A. Scott for the defendants, Messrs. R. A. Everett & Co.

Defendants’ counsel opened the case by asking leave of the Court to withdraw his clients’ plea of[Pg 342] justification, by which, in popular terms, he stated that Captain Burrows was unable to prove any of the monstrous accusations he had made against Captain De Keyser and his colleagues, in the book which contained the libels complained of. After this dramatic collapse of previous pretence, Sir Edward Clarke proceeded with the case as follows:

May it please your Lordship.—Gentlemen of the Jury, I feel bound to preface the observations that I have to make to you upon this case by just a very short reference to what has taken place this morning. A very sudden transformation has occurred in the condition of the case, and in the issues which are to be put before you. In February last year Captain De Keyser, a gentleman who has served in the Belgian Army, and who has been employed in the Congo Free State, found himself compelled, by circumstances which I shall explain to you in a few minutes, to take the opportunity of bringing this action against Captain Burrows and against some London publishers in respect of accusations against him of the gravest possible kind—accusations dishonouring to his character as a man of honour and as a man of humanity, and dishonouring to him as an officer in the Belgian Army; and he brought his action in February last year. Thereupon, in the course of the year, Captain Burrows puts on a defence in the month of April or May, and Messrs. Everett & Company put on a defence in the month of August, in which they say that those accusations against Captain De Keyser were true; and what were called Particulars, to which, however, I need not now refer, were put in, in which it was alleged that Captain De Keyser had been guilty of infamous conduct as a servant of the Government of the Congo Free State. This case has gone on month after month. There have been questions as to the time when it should be tried, and those who were advising Captain De Keyser and those who are interested in this matter have had the anxious duty of taking care that it never could possibly be said that the Defendants did not[Pg 343] have a fair opportunity of trial. The case stood over for a considerable time, and even so lately as when it was before the Lord Chief Justice there was a practical assent on the part of the Plaintiffs to the postponement of the case in order that no one should ever say that the Defendants had not the fullest opportunity of putting their case before you; and now, at this moment, when we come into Court to-day, suddenly, the statement that the accusations are true is absolutely struck out. Not only do the Defendants say that they are not prepared to call witnesses to support the allegation that those allegations are true, but they appear not to be prepared even to challenge Captain De Keyser himself, or to ask him any questions as to his conduct in the Congo Free State. I do not know how far I may be allowed to go—how far it may be possible in the present state of the Pleadings for me to get any absolute vindication of Captain De Keyser in this Court. I daresay my Lord will be indulgent with me with regard to that, looking at the very cruel position in which this gallant officer has been placed by accusations made against him which might affect, and, I believe, have affected him, very seriously in private life—accusations which have come to be known and to be talked about—accusations, as he was prepared to show, which were absolutely untrue, and accusations at the very last moment withdrawn, struck away from the Record, when not only has he been here prepared to give his evidence, but when we have tried to get, and succeeded in getting, as many of those as could be possibly called here who were associated with him in his responsible work in the Congo Free State to carry to a demonstration the proof that he could give that there was not a tittle of foundation for the injurious statements that have been made about him. Now, at the last moment, it comes to a question of publication, and my learned friends have taken the position that if I can prove against them that there was a publication of these libels, then they are without a defence, and are not able to say that there is any truth in the statements that they have made, and must submit to such verdict as you may give in the matter. As to the verdict, I do not know whether, in the ultimate results,[Pg 344] the amount of it will matter very much, but you may think, when you hear the statement I have to make to you with regard to the publication of these accusations, that it is a case in which, whether there is ever any possibility of recovering the money or not, at all events there should be a very definite expression of your view with regard to the conduct that these parties have pursued. I shall prove not only a publication, but I shall prove an attempt to blackmail the Belgian authorities, and the authorities of the Congo Free State, by these people in conjunction, Captain Burrows and Everett & Co. I believe I shall prove it up to the hilt, and then it will be for you to say, by your verdict, what you think of the conduct of which they have been guilty.

Gentlemen, I must limit very closely the observations which I was going to make to you. My learned friend and I had somewhat laboriously prepared ourselves for dealing with all the possible issues of fact that might be raised in this case that were suggested by the accusations against Captain De Keyser. That has passed out of the case, and I must treat very shortly the questions with which I should otherwise have had at some length to deal. It is essential when you are considering the persons against whom, if I prove the publication, your verdict must go, for you to consider who those persons are. The accusations which were made have been made by Captain Burrows and published by the Everetts, and were accusations which concerned the course of government in the Congo Free State, a matter which has attracted great attention from time to time and with regard to which certain very strong statements have been made in this country and elsewhere.

Now, Gentlemen, the Congo Free State is a State which, as a separate and independent State, has not existed very long. It was in the year 1884 or 1885 that that State was constituted under the Government of the King of the Belgians, who is called the King Sovereign of the State, and it has from that time been administered by Belgian authorities as the authority of the Free State. It has been a Government in process of construction, and it was not, perhaps, until the year 1891[Pg 345] that it can be said that there was an organised system of government extending over the Congo Free State. It is an enormous area of over 800,000 square miles. It is an area scantily populated, but populated by savages of almost the lowest type of existence, savages among whom the practice of cannibalism, the practice of mutilation of enemies who have been killed in battle, and of violent punishments as between one tribe and another, had reigned without check until the representatives of civilisation came, in the officers of the Congo Free State, and established some sort of organisation and government throughout that country. The difficulties have been enormous. The difficulty of dealing with an area of more than 800,000 square miles with only a very few hundred white men who were in command of black troops, drawn from the very tribes whose habits I just now referred to, has been enormous. It has been one of the most anxious and difficult tasks that a civilised country ever undertook. That task has been fulfilled—on the whole with signal success. No set of men are absolutely free from reproach. The position of the representatives of the Congo Free State has been an extremely difficult one. At the time when Captain De Keyser went out, a captain and seventy-five men had been killed a few weeks before, very near to the place where he was sent to carry on his work. Every white man is surrounded by hundreds or thousands of black men, and is in a position not only of great responsibility but of great personal danger and of great difficulty, and there may have been here and there a default on the part of now one and now another of the officers in the employ of the Congo Free State. It has not been the fault of that State, for from time to time orders have been issued to the officers of the Free State, by which it has been attempted to prevent any sort of misconduct, and there have been administrative orders by which severe punishments have been inflicted on the natives for cannibalism or for the mutilation of persons who have been killed in battle, and this amelioration of the condition of the people has been going on with great success. Captain Burrows, who wrote against Captain De Keyser these most atrocious libels, has been on[Pg 346] two occasions in the employment of the Congo Free State. He was employed there from June, 1894, until September, 1897. He never had an opportunity of seeing or knowing the character of the work which Captain De Keyser did, for they were together only fourteen days in the year 1897. But from 1894 to 1897 Captain Burrows was out in the Congo Free State. He came back to Europe in 1897, and the first interesting circumstance about him is that he became at once the champion of the Congo Free State against allegations made by Captain Salusbury. In 1896 Captain Salusbury had made accusations against certain officers of the Congo Free State, and one of his allegations had been that there were mutilations—hand-cutting and the like. Captain Burrows made himself the defender of the Congo Free State and of its administration. He had had four years’ experience, and he sought an interview with the Étoile Belge, and had a conversation with the representative of that newspaper, which was published; and you will find in a letter from Captain Burrows that he takes to himself the credit for what he had done in getting rid of, or answering, the accusations of Captain Salusbury. I will read a line or two from this statement: “As for his accusations,”—that is, Captain Salusbury’s accusations against the Congo State and the Belgian officers who employ him,—“they fail from the outset. It is without any compulsion that the natives enlist in the public forces. The harvest of ivory and caoutchouc gives rise to no atrocity. I have witnessed none of the odious deeds related by Captain Salusbury, and they certainly would have come to my knowledge if they had been real. I say this for the simple reason that it is true.” Then at the end he says as to the action of the Government: “With such accounts one is silent instead of becoming an accuser. I do not pretend that all is perfect at Congo. It certainly commits errors sometimes, but truth compels me to state that the Government seeks only to redress them, and to punish those who have been guilty of it. The Belgian officers do not use their men brutally at will as Captain Salusbury has affirmed. Indeed, the soldiers are much attached to the greater number of their white chiefs, and the latter[Pg 347] can confidently count on their courage and devotion in time of war.”

The close of it all was—and this you will find extremely important when you see what Captain Burrows was saying later: “The tales that have been told of cut hands are all pure legend. I have never seen a living native mutilated. As for the cannibal customs of certain tribes of the Congo, they should not be charged to the whites, who do what they can to modify them, but who can only succeed in doing it after lapse of time.” That was as explicit as it was possible to be. That was published in the year 1898. He came back in 1897. You will find a reference in the letter which I am going to read. He published a book. I will read the letter first. The letter is the 20th November, 1897. “Dear Mr. Liebrechts,—I send you the last article of Mr. Salusbury.... I do not like asking anything for myself, but if it were possible for you to obtain for me the order of the ‘Lion,’ and that I should be named the Captain Commandant of the first class, Salusbury would know it, and this would be an absolute denial of his exposures.... I have an idea of writing a book entitled The Truth about the Congo. It should be dedicated (I do not know if that is the word) to the King, and an introduction written by Stanley. What do you think of the idea? Yours always, Burrows.” M. Liebrechts is the Secretary General of the Congo Free State, resident in Brussels. He has had the administration of the Congo under the King for years past. He himself served for six years in the Congo, came back, and has been Under Secretary for the Congo Free State since 1889. He has been Secretary General for the State, and has had the responsibility for the administration of the place, and is at present here in Court.

In that letter he refers to an introduction written by Stanley—that is, Sir Henry M. Stanley. Here is the book that was published. It was not called The Truth about Central Africa; it was called The Land of the Pigmies. It is dedicated to the King of the Belgians by permission, and it does contain an introduction by Stanley. It purports to give a full account of the Congo State, and I need hardly say there is not the[Pg 348] smallest reference in it as to any sort of atrocity. At one page there is a statement of a man being caught, who had been guilty of inhuman conduct, and of his being most severely punished, but that is given as an instance of the untruth of the stories that inhumanity was allowed. This was the position in 1898. Captain Burrows went back in June, 1898, and was at Basoko from 1898 till February, 1901. Then he came back to Europe on the 21st of May, 1901. He wrote a letter to Mr. Liebrechts. You will be interested to note the attitude he takes with regard to his treatment by the Congo Free State. “Sir, I have the honour to ask you to have the goodness to request the Government to permit me to convert into capital (i. e., sell) my allotment of the public debt 4 per cent. Congo Free State, granted by your letter dated the 19th April, 1901.” The explanation is that when an officer has served in the Congo for a certain time and retires from the service there is allotted to him a certain income from the Public Debt, and he is allowed to take that as a lump sum, instead of receiving the interest from year to year upon the proportion which is allotted to him. “The motives which have decided me to make this request are as follows: It is more than probable that I shall not return any more to the Congo. I shall in all probability go to the Transvaal, and in that case the stock granted to me would be almost useless. It would indeed be difficult for me to again enter into service with the State after having been four times passed over for promotion by officers of shorter terms of service. Moreover, I have never received any increase of pay during the two years and six months of my last term of service as Commissioner of the district of Aruwimi. In spite of services rendered since my arrival in the Congo in July, 1898, I was the object of unrelenting suspicion on the part of several functionaries of the State, and I am informed that many of these gentlemen disparage me to the State. Amongst the services which I have rendered I can remind you that it was I who silenced Captain Salusbury. I wrote and published a book distinctly favourable to the State, for which Sir Henry M. Stanley was pleased to write the introduction. I regret, Sir, that such circumstances[Pg 349] oblige me to quit the service of the State.... I have the honour to remain, District Commissioner Burrows.” You see by that that he was leaving the service. He was stating his grievances: that his pay had not been properly raised, and that he had not received sufficient distinction. The next thing that happens is on the 15th of November, 1901—a note which is the beginning, as you watch from this point, of the scheme by which it was attempted to blackmail the Government of the Congo Free State, or anybody else, by the combination of Captain Burrows and Messrs. Everett, publishers of his second book. On the 15th of November, 1901, this very curious note was written: “Dear Monsieur Liebrechts. I should be very grateful if you would have the kindness to tell me if the State wishes to employ me again. If so, will you let me know the conditions? Mr. Canisius is here. He says that he is engaged in writing a book on the Congo.” That is a very interesting bit of information. Monsieur Canisius was a gentleman who had been in the employment of the Congo Free State, and had left that employment to go into the employment of a private Company, and then had desired to come back into the employment of the Congo Free State. He had been refused. It is a rule, I think, with the Congo Free State not to take back into the State service those who have left to serve in private companies. Captain Burrows says: “Canisius is here. He is engaged in writing a book on the Congo.” M. Canisius was not there; M. Canisius at that time was on the Gold Coast! It was a very curious notification to send: “Are you going to have me back into the State service? There is somebody here who is writing a book.” On the 23rd of November he was answered by Commandant Liebrechts: “I have duly received your letter of the 15th of November and hasten to thank you for the communication you have been good enough to make me. I heard Monsieur Canisius was spreading certain calumnies about the State.” On the 16th December Captain Burrows writes again: “I presume that your letter is a refusal on the part of the Free State to re-engage me for a third term of service. I beg you to enlighten me on this point, then I shall[Pg 350] know whether I am free or not to do what I wish”—another very interesting suggestion; it is enlightened very much by what you will hear shortly. On the 21st of December M. Liebrechts writes thus: “I quite understood at the time of our last conversations, that you no longer wished to resume service at the Congo, and we seemed to be agreed that a post suitable to your capabilities would be very difficult to find in Africa. You must not, however, conclude that we shall no longer be able to make use of your services should an occasion arise, for special missions, such as may arise at any moment in other regions. If you were inclined to hold yourself at our disposal, I should be obliged if you would let me know.” On the 31st December Captain Burrows wrote: “I do not remember the conversation alluded to in your letter of the 21st December, in which I said quite plainly that I no longer wished to resume service at the Congo. I understood that it was a question of the conditions under which it would be impossible to resume such service. You ask me if I am disposed to hold myself at the disposal of the State with a view of being employed for special missions which may arise at any moment in other regions. Am I to understand that I am still in the service of the State or not? And if so, under what conditions of remuneration, etc.?” On the 2nd of January, 1902, Commandant Liebrechts writes: “In reply to your letter of the 31st December, 1901, I hasten to inform you that your agreement ended with your return to Europe, and that since then you have, according to our laws and regulations, ceased to be a member of our staff. It is precisely for this reason that I asked you in my last letter if it would suit you to hold yourself at our disposal for a certain period—let us say two years. You will have to undertake during that period any mission with which we might entrust you. Of course, if you accepted this proposal, an annual salary would be allowed to you for that period of two years. But before deciding this point I should like to know if, in itself, our proposal commends itself to you. I should be obliged if you would reply as soon as possible.”

Gentlemen of the Jury, we have come now to January, 1902.[Pg 351] There was an end of the negotiations, so to speak, between Captain Burrows and Commandant Liebrechts, and Captain Burrows found himself, to use his own expression, free to do as he chose.

During the early part of 1902, he began writing some things, and an advertisement appeared in the Wide World Magazine in which an announcement was made of “Life in the Congo Free State,” a series of articles which were to be published, written by Captain Guy Burrows. The advertisement reads: “Captain Burrows was recently in the employ of the Congo Free State Government, and in his official capacity has seen much of the misgovernment which prevails in that little-known territory. He has a good deal to say about the atrocities which have taken place in connection with the rubber industry, and the sworn testimony and photographic evidence which he holds will no doubt create a sensation in high circles. Captain Burrows’ articles in the Wide World will be illustrated with his own snapshots.” That was the advertisement that appeared. Why there was a mention of atrocities in it appears presently. The articles appeared in April, May, and June, in the Wide World. They are articles with regard to the Congo State, and there is not one syllable in them about any atrocity of any sort or kind. That is what he was doing in the early part or middle of the year 1902. In the latter part of this year an agreement was entered into between Captain Burrows as author, and E. A. Everett & Co., London, as publishers, for the publication of a work then entitled The Congo Free State. This was signed on November 17, 1902. On the 24th of November, 1902, this letter was written by Everett & Co. to the Secretary of State of the Congo Free State at Brussels: “Sir, we have recently concluded a contract with Captain Guy Burrows, well known to the English public as having served some years in the service [sic] of the Congo Free State, to publish an important work on the Congo Free State. The information contained in this book is of such a startling character, and contains so many revelations concerning the administration of the Congo Free State of Belgium, that we thought it well to advise you of its publication[Pg 352] beforehand, and at the same time to enquire if we may have the honour of offering you the Belgian rights for publication in your country. We are arranging for simultaneous publication in Italy, Germany, France, Norway, and Sweden, and the United States of America. We need hardly say that the book will be well got up, and illustrated with a very large number of valuable and unique photographs taken on the spot by the author and others. If you wish to move in the matter of this offer, we should be glad if you would let us know at your earliest convenience....” That, written on the 24th to the Secretary General, was followed by a curious communication sent to the editor of the Independance Belge at Brussels, on the 27th November by Everett & Co.: “Dear Sir, We send you the advance notice of the enclosed valuable work, and trust you may find room to insert the same in your literary column. If you have an agent here, we could, perhaps, tell him of some of the marvellous revelations in this book, but which we could not put on paper.” On the 8th of December Commandant Liebrechts wrote to him: “I have received your letter of the 24th ulto., in which you inform me that you have agreed with Captain Guy Burrows for the publication of a work on the Congo State, and you offer me the rights of publication in Belgium. Before replying to your proposition I wish to see the manuscript or a proof of the book.” On the 9th Messrs. Everett & Co. wrote: “We are in receipt of your letter of the 8th inst., for which we have to thank you, and we much regret that we are unable to comply with your request in sending you the MSS. of this book, as we are under a contract with the author not to part with the MSS. under any consideration whatever. We should, however, be happy to send you the title and contents so as to give you some idea of the nature and scope of the book, and we should also be willing to show the MSS. to any of your accredited agents in London (by appointment). The MSS., signed documents, and photographs are of such vital importance that we should not care to put them through the post, for fear of loss. We understand that the author, Captain Burrows, was lately a District Commissioner for the Congo Free State, and is a Chevalier of[Pg 353] the Order of the Lion of Belgium.” In consequence of their offer to show those documents to anybody who was sent over, Mr. Bigwood came over to this country, and he saw Messrs. Everett. He met them and had a conversation with them, and then there was shown to him the document of which this is a copy, called “The Curse of Central Africa.” It was the same document as had already been sent to the Independance Belge. At the end of chapter xxv., the very last chapter, there is this: “A Belgian’s treatment of a native chief—more bestial than human—goes unpunished.” That was afterwards applied to Captain De Keyser. Then comes a list of illustrations. At the end there is a list of Belgian officers and officials who, the author alleged, are responsible for the atrocities mentioned in this book; and a series of names included the name of Captain De Keyser.

Captain Burrows was in England on the 16th of December. He had a conversation with Everett on the 17th of December. This note was written to Mr. Bigwood at the Hotel Metropole by R. A. Everett: “With reference to your visit yesterday at my office, I think it would be to your advantage for you to call upon me at my club. I shall be here during the evening.” That was the National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place. On the 17th, Everett was at the National Liberal Club, and he was there with Captain Burrows and young Mr. Everett, and then a very interesting agreement was signed which throws a very clear light indeed upon the correspondence that had been going on with Brussels. It is witnessed by A. E. C. Everett, that is, the son, who went over to Brussels and posted the post cards in bad French. Captain Burrows signs it: “I hereby agree to pay Mr. John George Leigh the sum of £500, if and when my publishers, R. A. Everett & Co., 42, Essex Street, Strand, receive the amount which may be paid by the Belgian Government for the non-publication of the manuscript written by myself and him entitled ‘The Curse of Central Africa.’ In case the book is published I agree to pay Mr. J. G. Leigh one third of the profits accruing from such publication as per agreement with the said publishers.” There never was more definite evidence of the intention with which[Pg 354] these communications had been made with Brussels. If they had succeeded in extorting from the Belgian Government by any apprehension of the publication of these documents, a substantial sum of money—£500—was to be paid under that agreement.

Mr. Leigh is a brother-in-law of Mr. Canisius, and Mr. Leigh eventually signed the introduction to the book. He is a journalist. That agreement having been made on the 17th, on the 30th Mr. Everett writes another letter to the State Secretary: “At the request of Mr. Bigwood, who called upon us recently on your behalf, we send you a revise of the title-page, and one or two chapters of this book” (you will hear from Mr. Bigwood that that is not true; he did not request them to send anything at all), “and we shall be glad if you will let us know definitely, and at once, whether you wish to go any further in this matter. The more important photographs detailing the cruelties are being enlarged from the originals, so please do not take the enclosed to be the size.—We have the honour to remain your obedient servants, R. A. Everett & Co.”

In the documents you will find the passages to which I have now come, which are contained in this: “Flogging a native by order of De Keyser. At Basoko, the headquarters station of the district of the Aruwimi, where the notorious De Keyser [meaning thereby the Plaintiff], of hand-cutting fame, was in command, women were daily flogged for the most trivial offences, etc.” This, you will notice, is stated to have occurred in November, 1897. It was a time when Captain Burrows himself was not in the Congo State at all, but you will hear from Captain De Keyser that there is not the smallest ground for the allegation of cruelty that was made against him. It is true that a chief was taken down in the steamer on which Captain De Keyser was, but the suggestion that he was treated in that barbarous fashion is entirely untrue. The next passage which has to be read is with regard to Basoko, and as to Basoko, what I have told you is that at Basoko, for fourteen days only, Captain Burrows was at the place where Captain De Keyser had his[Pg 355] command. “At Basoko, the headquarters station of the district of the Aruwimi, women used to be flogged almost daily for the most trivial offences. In one case five women were beaten for daring to go to a village a short way up the river to buy food without having previously informed the commandant.” Thus, after six and a half years, during which no breath of accusation has been made with regard to these matters by Captain Burrows, there comes this extraordinary attack: “De Keyser, of hand-cutting fame”; “De Keyser’s massacre”; De Keyser described as walking about the station where he was employed with his gun, and shooting with reckless cruelty at the natives—De Keyser, who is accused of taking a man prisoner and practically roasting him on the stack-pipe of the boat as he is going down the river. There was not only that, but the imputation of habitually flogging women at this place. These odious and appalling accusations, the echo of which follows a man through his whole life, are made against him, and made against him by whom? By a man who had been in the service of the Congo State itself, who, in the year 1897, as I have shown, made himself the defender of the administration of the Congo State, and declared in an article which was put in the interview which he had with L’Étoile Belge, that there was no foundation whatever for the accusations which had been made against the Belgian officers, and he was able to say so because he knew the truth. He attacked Captain Salusbury and disposed of that. This man, who in 1897 was taking that attitude, who afterwards leaves the service of the Congo State and feels himself aggrieved because he has not been so highly paid, because he has not had such distinction conferred upon him as others have had conferred,—he, seven years afterwards, enters into this—is it too much to call it a conspiracy? They are grave accusations, accusations which, if there had been any semblance of truth in them, or if there had been any honest reason for their being made, would have been made long before in different circumstances and in a different way. At the time when they are eventually made, they are made in a way which will not do public service, but[Pg 356] will put money in Captain Burrows’ pocket and into the pockets of the publishers who are joining with him in publishing. It is perfectly impossible to misunderstand the correspondence with Commandant Liebrechts. If this had been an honest thing, honestly done by Captain Burrows in the performance of any public duty, do you think there would have been a going first to a publisher and then a letter from that publisher inviting the Belgian Government to consider what it would be worth their while to pay for the suppression of this book? There is no question as to the meaning of that letter. What do you think was the object of putting a crowd of names into the revise, some of which afterwards disappeared? Why, it was because the object was the illegitimate object of endeavouring to bring pressure upon the Belgian Government and to induce them to pay money to buy up this book. It was not for any public object at all, but because the mention of these names, showing that there was a list of persons formerly or at present in the Congo Company’s service against whom accusations might be brought, might make it worth the while of the Belgian Government to prevent a great scandal by procuring the suppression of this book. But the Congo Free State or the Belgian Government was not going to buy up the book in order to suppress it or in order to prevent its publication. As one of the witnesses, Commandant Liebrechts, said, “For the first time we found that we should be in a position to deal with specific statements.” It is all very well for people to be spreading over the world—I do not care whether they are in reports or interviews or anything else—general statements with regard to things that are done in the Congo Free State. Commandant Liebrechts says there had been complaints: “I had heard on more than one occasion of complaints being made as to conduct in the Congo. Whenever it was known, and found out, it was dealt with and it was punished. These allegations about maladministration of the Congo Free State had been spread about from time to time by interviews, suggestions, newspaper reports, and the like, but here we saw that there was an opportunity for the men who were personally attacked to come and vindicate themselves[Pg 357] from the charges which were made against them.” Therefore, there was no attempt to buy this book, and the conspirators were disappointed who had been preparing this revise, and cramming it with an enormous amount of material which it was thought would frighten the Belgian Government from permitting it to be dealt with. I do not know what the price might have been which they would have asked for, but that there was a price they were thinking of you will see in a minute or two. What did they expect to get for it? We do not know. But we do know this, that there were two principals in the matter, and there was by way of being a subordinate. I speak of Mr. Leigh as a subordinate. I do not suggest in the least that he was associated with the attempt that was being made in Belgium, but what we know is, that he was doing a minor part of the work, that the manuscript was said to have been Captain Burrows’ manuscript, that the materials for this book were supposed to be Captain Burrows’ materials, and Captain Burrows therefore was the principal person, and Messrs. Everett had lent their name and their work, and were acting with Captain Burrows, and no doubt expected a very large share of the money that would be got from the Belgian Government. If Mr. Leigh, in his modest inconspicuous, and irresponsible position, was to get £500 for helping in putting together the materials for this book, what do you think that Captain Burrows and Mr. Everett thought that they might be able to extort from the fear of the Belgian Government that this thing would go all over the world?

The address to the jury of Mr. Crispe, counsel for the Defendant Burrows, was often eloquent, always adroit, and showed great skill in defending a cause to which the main defence had been abandoned when the pleas of justification were withdrawn.

Mr. Justice Ridley, in charging the jury, after disposing of several minor matters, said:

[Pg 359]

The jury retired at 3.22 o’clock. In ten minutes it returned a verdict for the plaintiff, Captain De Keyser, awarding him £500 damages and costs. Sir Edward Clarke, plaintiff’s counsel, having moved the Court to make the preliminary injunction forbidding[Pg 364] publication of the book perpetual, defendant’s counsel gave expression to the thought that if the Court complied, it would be a “very hard and cruel proceeding.” In replying to this observation, Sir Edward Clarke said:

Thereupon counsel for defendants in the remaining cases of Chaltin versus Captain Burrows and Everett & Co., and Dubreucq versus the same, agreed to submit to a verdict in favour of the plaintiffs for £50 damages and costs. The jury returned verdicts for[Pg 365] this sum, and the Court made perpetual the injunction against the publication of the book.

So resulted the first opportunity Belgian officers in the service of the Congo Free State have had to vindicate their characters during the long campaign which certain persons have, from varying motives, waged against the youngest and most progressive State in Africa.

THE English are an admirable people, who have excelled in every department of human effort; but the evidence of the more critical among them, with whom love of fair play counts for as much as pride of race, has never failed to reveal in the national character (as of course in the character of every nation) a goodly number of weak spots whereat the critic and the wit may profitably direct their shafts. John Bull, the trader, is a keen-eyed, hard-headed bargainer. Good; it behoves every merchant to be no less. He regards the whole world as his farm by right divine, and resents his exclusion from any part of it. When his remonstrance is met by counter-remonstrance, he points to his home markets and his colonies, and emphasises the fact that these British markets are open (long after his own trade has been firmly established therein) to the traders of the world.

But it is in his ultra-sentimental mood that John Bull is seen at his worst. Has there been a conflict between some semi-barbarous tribes in that seething cauldron of discontent, the Balkans, and the Sultan’s troops have thrashed them indiscriminately[Pg 367] and dispersed them, John Bull, or at least that part of him which wears white ties and is described as “reverend,” rushes off to Exeter Hall and demands the prayers of the churches and the forces of his Government for the suppression of the inhuman atrocities which he denounces. (Incidentally, but in unmistakable terms, he at the same time calls the attention of his audience to the joyful fact that it is their duty and privilege to assist in this good work by giving liberally of their money.) Of course it is but a section of the English people which approves and supports this sort of thing, and a still smaller section that exploits it. But in a country politically constituted as England is, where the suffrage is almost universal, it is sufficiently large and influential to influence from time to time the conduct of the British Government. This is more particularly the case where the interests of the pseudo-humanitarians and those of the traders happen to coincide. On such occasions, fortunately somewhat rare, the spectacle of Cant and Commerce in alliance is enough to bring a smile to the face of a sphinx.

Protestant missionaries of various sects, in rivalry with each other, but often alike in being envious of the superior results obtained by Roman Catholic missionaries in the Congo Free State, denounce the Congo Government as a gang of barbarous extortioners, oppressors, murderers. A small but active set of Liverpool merchants, dismayed at finding that what twenty years ago they regarded as worthless has, under judicious[Pg 368] Belgian administration, become a valuable asset, and some of whom appear willing to resort to any means by which they may at least be enabled to share the prize, join their forces to those of the missionaries. Lies fall as thickly as leaves in Vallombrosa. No sooner is one mendacious story refuted than ten others take its place. The Congo campaign multiplies its adherents, it gathers force daily, its voice becomes more and more thunderous, until at last it invades the British House of Commons and moves a British minister to write a puerile dispatch to the Great Powers, which the Great Powers, in the exercise of their common-sense, politely ignore. Only up to a certain point does Baron Münchausen triumph. Verb. sap.

What magnificent material for the mouthings of certain English ultra-humanitarians would be the lynching of Negroes in our own Southern States! The jail-breakings, the hangings, shootings, and burnings—could more effective subjects for stereopticon slides and the perfervid oratory of paid lecturers be devised? And all true and ready to hand, needing neither lies nor distortions! Alas! nothing can be made out of that campaign. It will not pay to call our country to account for its neglect or failure to suppress these things. The United States own a fleet which, if not as strong as it should be, is sufficiently powerful to inspire respect; and our President can at any time call up an army of a million citizen soldiers, volunteers of proved valour. With the Congo Free State this is not the case. Caution was ever a prominent characteristic[Pg 369] of John Bull, and he has carefully noted that fact. Neutral little Belgium may safely be bullied, her King libelled, and his enterprise misrepresented and held up to the scorn of an undiscriminating world, too busy to undertake a careful analysis of motives or even to distinguish between the true and the false.

Judicial consideration of the English campaign against the Congo, naturally a difficult task, is rendered doubly so by the general suppression of material evidence favourable to that State. From motives best known to their proprietors, one or two important London newspapers, ever ready to afford space for an attack upon the Congo Government, however violent or by whomsoever made, frequently decline to publish replies thereto. Indeed, the more complete the refutation, and the greater the authority of the writer, the less chance of its acceptance for publication in these newspapers. Upon several occasions has Major Harrison been refused space for his temperate letters to the Morning Post, and the Daily News, the principal support of the Aborigines Protection Society, is avowedly against the continued existence of the Congo Free State. A complete answer to Mr. Roger Casement’s Report, prepared by the Congo Government, was unanimously rejected by London editors. This most unjust partisanship extends even to English press reports of proceedings in the House of Commons, of which one might reasonably expect to find in English journals a complete record; or where the exigencies of space necessitate condensation, that at least that editorial[Pg 370] operation should be performed without bias. That expectation meets with disappointment.

On June 9, 1904, Sir Charles Dilke, with a fine show of virtue which has not always characterised his conduct, delivered a speech in the House of Commons wherein he assumes the truth of the various libels upon the Congo Government prepared by missionaries, merchants, and dismissed employees. That speech, and the speeches of such other members of the British House of Commons as for various reasons have been induced to follow a similar course, have been reported in extenso, while the speech of Mr. John Campbell, member for South Armagh, has not so much as been referred to. Mr. Campbell derided the Congophobes’ plea that they have at heart only the interests of humanity.

One would suppose that sentiments such as these, supported by the authority of Stanley, would at least be as worthy of a few lines in an English newspaper[Pg 371] as the vague charges of cruelty alleged by[Pg 372] some missionaries based upon what they have been[Pg 373] told that somebody else has heard, etc. But, no! such references are rigidly suppressed in a large section of[Pg 374] the English press, just as much of Mr. Casement’s Report that is favourable to the Congo Government has[Pg 375] been suppressed.[44]

[Pg 376]

Just as this book is going to press particulars come to hand of an incident which throws a strong light upon, the methods adopted by the enemies of the Congo Free State in manufacturing evidence against it. The paid officers of the Congo Reform Association in Liverpool, the Aborigines’ Protection Society, and kindred organisations, must find it increasingly difficult to justify their existence when tactics such as are here exposed have to be resorted to.[45]

In 1902, on the recommendation of a high official of the Free State, Mr. Antoine Benedetti, a cultured gentleman belonging to an ancient and wealthy family in Sicily, was appointed chief commissary—a post which had never before been conferred on a foreigner on account of its special responsibilities. This rapid promotion shows in what esteem Mr. Benedetti was held by his chiefs.

Mr. Benedetti returned to Europe on November 7, 1904, and when requested to give his chiefs some information on the existing situation in the Congo, related circumstances which might well be considered fit for a novel, if their accuracy were not vouched for by authentic documents.

[Pg 377]

While at Boma, Mr. Benedetti noticed that a Negro named Shanu, a British subject from Lagos, was trying to discover his opinions on Congo policy and administration. Shanu having been at one time in the employ of the State, Mr. Benedetti suspected nothing; but in the course of conversation with the Negro, he perceived what Shanu wanted to get from him. Shanu boasted to Mr. Benedetti of the humanitarian character of the English campaign against the Congo, and he further hinted that, if he were correctly informed, Mr. Benedetti would surely join in the said campaign, a course which would be of great advantage to him. Mr. Benedetti pretended to share the views of Shanu, who thereupon pushed the matter home by producing some letters of Mr.[Pg 378] Edmund Deville Morel, Secretary of the Congo Reform Association.

In one of these letters, Mr. Morel informs Shanu that Mr. Benedetti, commissary at Boma, has been spoken of to him as one who would be a valuable acquisition in the English campaign against the Congo. Mr. Benedetti at once saw what was expected of him; he realised that efforts were being made to enlist in the anti-Congo campaign the numerous Italians in the service of the Free State; and, with the sole desire of protecting the honour of his fellow-countrymen in the Congo, he resolved to defeat Mr. Morel’s plans. With a view of gaining Shanu’s confidence, he declared himself to be on the Negro’s side, and by so doing compromised himself in the eyes of his official colleagues. He told Shanu—who lost no time in informing Mr. Morel—that by virtue of his position, he was able to make some startling revelations. Shanu thereupon suggested that he should send in his resignation, giving as the reason certain compromising allegations against the Free State. Shanu then wrote to Mr. Morel to the effect that he and Mr. Benedetti agreed that the latter was just the man to lead the campaign against the Congo. On the receipt of Mr. Morel’s reply, the departure of Mr. Benedetti was decided upon.

Mr. Benedetti was promised his passage money to Europe, as well as compensation for the loss of his place under the Free State, and, later, a handsome bonus. Mr. Morel requested Mr. Benedetti to meet him at the Exchange Station Hotel, Liverpool, on[Pg 379] the 19th November, and to announce his arrival by the following telegram:

“Morel care Jellani arrived Benedetti.”

Under these circumstances, Mr. Benedetti sent in his resignation, alleging that private business called him to Europe. He left by the SS. Philippeville, and the British Consul at Boma gave him ten pounds sterling for his travelling expenses. The receipt for this sum was made out by Mr. Benedetti in the name of Shanu.

Up to the time of his departure, Mr. Benedetti had discharged his duties so well that he was congratulated by the local authorities. Having spoken to nobody about the course he was adopting, so little was his sudden departure understood that his colleagues were mystified. He could not, of course, enlighten them without showing his hand. Mr. Benedetti landed at Antwerp on November 7th, and on the 17th arrived at Liverpool, having previously despatched to Mr. Morel the telegram agreed upon. After some delay Mr. Morel went to see Mr. Benedetti at the Exchange Station Hotel in that city.

Mr. Morel appeared somewhat distrustful, and asked Mr. Benedetti if he had authenticating documents. The latter produced some unimportant papers, which he pretended were valuable, and told the Secretary of the Congo Reform Association some sensational stories of absolutely imaginary crimes. In short, Mr. Benedetti played his game so well that Mr. Morel no longer hesitated to close the affair, but said he would introduce to him a gentleman who was greatly interested in the Congo.

[Pg 380]

In response to a telephonic message from Mr. Morel there arrived Mr. John Holt, a merchant, of Dale Street, Liverpool. Mr. Holt is Vice-President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Congo Reform Association. Mr. Morel told Mr. Holt what Mr. Benedetti had said, and then certain practical questions were discussed. It was agreed that Mr. Benedetti should relate in the West African Mail the stories that he had just invented; but Mr. Benedetti, wishing to gain time, stated that he would rather publish them first in Italy, after which the organ of the Congo Reform Association might reproduce them. It was decided also to issue a pamphlet, for which Mr. Benedetti was to receive eighty pounds. Some generous promises were made to Mr. Benedetti: five hundred pounds as damages and his fare paid to Teneriffe by the Congo Reform Association. At Teneriffe, it was agreed, he should seek to poison the minds of Italian officers returning from the Congo. Later, Mr. Holt was to go to Italy where, together with Mr. Benedetti, he was to subsidise a newspaper to attack the Congo, and if this newspaper war resulted in the King of Italy recalling Italian officers serving in the Congo, Mr. Benedetti was to receive a further sum of four thousand pounds.

The former commissary of Boma would not accept verbal promises; he requested a document. He demanded first of all a contract for the publication of the pamphlet. Mr. Benedetti invited Mr. Morel and Mr. Holt to dinner, and it was during this dinner on the 19th of November that the clauses of the contract were discussed. Conversation was carried on[Pg 381] to a late hour and Mr. Holt, in an unguarded moment, remarked that in England everything was done by and for the sake of business, and that sentiment was obliged to give way to trade. The signing of the contract was fixed for eleven o’clock on the morning of the 21st of November, 1904, when the three gentlemen concerned attended and the following document was drawn up and signed. The text is in English and French:

It is not without interest to call attention to the final clause, concerning the receipt for the 250 francs which Mr. Benedetti had given to Shanu, as a guarantee of the £10 which the British Consul at Boma had given him before his departure.

As to the clause concerning the thousand francs which Mr. Morel undertook to pay Benedetti for his[Pg 383] travelling expenses from Boma, it came about through the fact that his departure from Boma was not in accord with the regulations. As his engagement was not terminated, the question of his being sent home at the expense of the Congo Free State was not settled. Mr. Holt took from his pocket a roll of Bank of England notes and paid Mr. Benedetti £40.

As soon as he was in possession of this contract, Mr. Benedetti returned to Brussels, whence he sent Mr. Morel the following letter:

The telegram to which Mr. Benedetti alludes was addressed to Mr. Morel from Paris, and was to call his attention to an article in the Tribuna favourable to the Congo, and to ask him for arguments in answer[Pg 384] to this article for publication in an Italian paper. Mr. Morel replied that he had not had time to get the Tribuna article translated.

This edifying incident needs no comment. When the denial of its genuineness, or a qualification of its meaning and purpose, comes, it is understood that the Congo Administration will publish a facsimile of Mr. Morel’s contract with Mr. Benedetti, bearing his signature and the signature of Mr. John Holt, merchant-philanthropist, Vice-President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, etc., in order that intelligent people may form their own conclusions upon it at first hand.

Mr. Morel writes to the London Times of December 19, 1904, defending the part he has played in this Benedetti incident. “You persist,” says Mr. Morel (addressing M. Roland de Marès), “to make readers believe that I proposed to pay M. Benedetti for false testimony, whereas my rôle was limited to giving him the opportunity he asked for (that is to say, to come to Europe and to publish under his own name, in the interests of truth and of his fellow-countrymen), by defraying the expenses of his journey and the positive pecuniary losses which his action would involve, and by participating in the printing expenses of his pamphlet.”

[Pg 385]

The interest taken by Americans in the affairs of the Congo Free State has never been very keen. What little of interest, however, we do take in that distant region has been sentimental, for the greater part based upon the national respect for Stanley and his work. The campaign in England against the Congo, therefore, fails to evoke any substantial sympathy on this side of the Atlantic. Citizens of the United States are better employed than in undertaking knight-errantry at the behest of certain disappointed British merchants and fanatics.

But, inasmuch as it is vital to the enemies of the Congo Free State that our country should be with them in their crusade, the Rev. Mr. W. M. Morrison, of Lexington, Virginia, a gentleman whose Christianity is liberally leavened with business acumen, was brought to the front and set upon a pedestal. The light of publicity was turned upon the reverend gentleman, who then proceeded to relate stories of outrage and oppression, examples of which he had seen and heard—chiefly heard—during six years’ residence in the Congo Free State as a missionary of the American Presbyterians.

Mr. Morrison’s stories are of the stock variety, and include looted villages, wholesale deportations,[Pg 386] mutilations, burnings, State slavery, and refusal of land concessions to missionaries—in brief, the whole catalogue of infamies without which, real or alleged, men such as Mr. Fox Bourne, the Secretary of the Aborigines’ Protection Society in England, and Mr. Morel, who built the Congo Reform Association around himself, would find their occupation gone. The italics are mine. Why I have used them will at once appear.

“Concessions or grants of land, however small,” wails Mr. Morrison, “can now no longer be obtained from the State by other than favoured individuals or corporations... Not only are concessions refused to traders, they are also refused to missionaries.” Alas! yes, in the case of a missionary who demands, as Mr. Morrison did, “that no taxes shall be levied, and no soldiers drawn from certain populations around Luebo.”[46]

The refusal of Mr. Morrison’s demand for the creation of an Alsatia which should be equally attractive to the idle and the thrifty, from which the State was to receive no support, and which, in the circumstances, would certainly at once become the most populous district in all the Congo Free State, seems to have angered the reverend gentleman, for thereafter followed his discovery of atrocities committed by State officials against natives. Land was offered to Mr. Morrison upon equitable terms, identical with those agreed upon between the State and numerous other missions.

When Mr. Morrison was in Brussels in the spring[Pg 387] of 1903, negotiating with the Congo Government concerning the concession of land, and in constant touch with officials of that Government, he said not one word about any atrocities which he had seen or heard of in Congoland; but a few weeks later, he was in London, associating with the English Congophobes, and calling upon the Government of the United States to combine with that of Great Britain to coerce the Congo Government, though in what manner and to what effect is not quite clear. What, however, is perfectly clear, is the bad faith of the men who make it their business to vilify and misrepresent the Congo Administration. For example, here is Mr. Morrison’s statement about the almost impossibility of obtaining concessions of land for missions, when up to May, 1903, there had been fifteen grants of land conceded in the Congo State to the American Baptist Missionary Union; two to the American Congo Mission; fifteen to the British Baptist Society Corporation; seven to the Bishop Taylor’s Self-Supporting Mission; seven to the Congo Balolo Mission; eleven to the International Missionary Alliance; nine to the Swedish Missionary Society, and forty-four to the Roman Catholic Mission.

The campaign against the Congo in this country was opened on the 19th of April, 1904, by the presentation to Congress of a huge inflated memorial, accompanied by numerous substantiating documents of great length. It was gotten up by the Rev. Thomas S. Barbour,[Pg 388] Chairman of the Conference of Missionary Societies and Secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, Boston, with the assistance of the Rev. W. M. Morrison and six other gentlemen interested in missionary work. Senator Morgan, of Alabama, undertook the work of presentation, and performed his task with as much moderation and grace as its nature permitted. The memorial was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed.

On the whole, the reception of this strange literary budget—a rechauffé of oft-refuted fables and adroit distortions of events that occurred long ago—was decidedly passive. The prevailing impression among Senators seemed to be that even if all that is asserted in the memorial be true (a monstrous supposition which surely its promoters never seriously entertained), to play into the hands of John Bull’s merchants at the bidding of John Bull’s missionaries is hardly a suitable rôle for Uncle Sam.

The next move in the campaign against the Congo Free State in this country took place at Washington on the 30th of September, 1904, when the Secretary of the Congo Reform Association (an English organisation of which Mr. John Holt, the merchant-philanthropist, of Liverpool, is one of the pillars) presented a memorial to President Roosevelt concerning affairs in the Congo Free State, and asking for his intervention therein. The memorial was politely received, acknowledged with graceful platitudes,[Pg 389] and laid aside. During the few weeks that the Congo Reform Association’s agitator was in this country, he talked freely to every newspaper reporter he met, and disseminated broadcast the old libels which had grown stale with use in England.

When the Belgian people learned of the presentation to President Roosevelt of the second anti-Congo memorial, wherein the agents of the British merchants strove to make it appear that the United States ought to do what all the continental powers had, by their silence, refused to do when the British Foreign Secretary appealed to them in August, 1903, their leading citizens took a hand in the literary carnival and sent President Roosevelt their reply to the series of slanders which were being so widely disseminated in America by the Liverpool organisation. Although the anti-Congolese resolutions of the Boston Peace Conference were published in extenso in the secular and religious press throughout the United States, for some inscrutable reason the Belgian reply to the second Liverpool memorial sent to President Roosevelt on October 3, 1904, has so far never had the advantage of similar publicity. This fact alone would indicate that his Excellency, Baron Moncheur, Belgian Minister to the United States, and his talented coadjutor, Professor A. Nerincx, an eminent Belgian advocate, author, and instructor in the University of Louvain, were quite indifferent to that campaign of publicity which the enemies of the Congo Free State began in England and now continue in America. In justice, however, to the Federation for the Defence of Belgian[Pg 390] Interests Abroad, a Belgian society numbering over fifty thousand adherents, it is deemed desirable to quote in full the only communication bearing upon the anti-Congolese campaign which the official of the Free State or the Belgian people have ever addressed to the people of the United States:

FÉDÉRATION POUR LE DEFENSE DES INTERETS BELGES A L’ÉTRANGER.

Brussels, October 3, 1904.

To His Excellency, Theodore Roosevelt,
President of the United States.

Mr. President:

The Federation for the Defence of Belgian Interests Abroad presents its compliments to the President of the United States and begs leave to state:

That we are loth to impose upon the President of the United States considerations which are foreign to the interests of his Government. But inasmuch as certain persons are conducting within the United States a movement to involve the Government of the United States in the consideration of their unfounded charges and interested misrepresentations against the Government of the Congo Free State, we feel it our duty to present a brief statement of the objects of the Congo Government to the President of a friendly Power in order that the unjust methods being employed by the enemies of the Congo Free State may not mislead the President to encourage Congressional action prejudicial to our interests before we shall have been fully heard.

Our Association has been formed for the defence of Belgian interests and possessions abroad. Our people esteem and admire the people of the United States and we have great respect for their President. The Belgians desire that they shall not be slandered and vilified in the midst of the American people. They feel it their duty to assist the American people to a proper understanding of the lofty purposes which actuate the [Pg 391]Government of the Congo Free State. In this connection the Belgians recall with pleasure and with pride the fact that the Government of the United States was the first great nation to recognise the flag of the International Association of the Congo as that of an independent State. By its treaties and by its adherence to the Berlin and Brussels Acts it promised liberty of trade in its part of the Congo Basin, and it respectfully asserts that it has fulfilled that promise in spirit and to the letter in so far as the short term of its existence in a savage country has enabled it to establish an organisation which, by its prosperity and progress, now excites the envy of those who seek to disrupt it.

The principles which actuate the Congo Government are tersely set out in an essay written by a highly qualified American citizen, which is herewith enclosed. We humbly beg the President of the United States to honour us by perusing this concise exposition of the fundamental principles which underlie, and which have given such progressive momentum to, the Government of the Congo Free State.

The principles of the Congo Government are devoted to progress and civilisation. The State’s motto is “Work and Progress.” We have always felt that to intelligently follow that motto was to firmly establish in the midst of conditions of savagery the habit of industry and a respect for property as well as for life, according to the universal law of nations.

Concerning the term “Freedom of Commerce,” which Congo enemies are interpreting to mean ungoverned license, we beg to refer the President to the laws of the United States and penalties concerning trespass upon and pillage of public lands and their product. Perhaps no nation in the world has so precisely developed the law of private and public property, nor administered it with finer understanding of the principles of equity and justice, than the United States. The Congo law relating to property is in consonance with the law of the world’s greatest nations. The great success which has been attained by the Congo Government for the betterment of its native inhabitants by the operation of this law, and the order which exists thereunder, has excited the envy and the avarice[Pg 392] of those whose ulterior motive is being cloaked in the garb of humanitarianism and questionable philanthropy. On the one hand it is charged that the Congo Government by its method seeks to enslave the native in order that he may serve it with his hands for the benefit of interests whose welfare he does not share. On the other hand, the libellers of the Congo wilfully utter not only the unfounded accusation but the inconsistent charge, that the Government cuts off the hand whose work it seeks to enslave. Concerning the untruthful character of the testimony in this respect which has been published against the Congo by the promoters of the so-called “Congo Reform Association” of Liverpool, we beg to refer your Excellency to the great mass of genuine and reliable evidence by Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Americans, Italians, and Belgians in direct contradiction of the falsehoods which form the traffic of the Association, whose leading spirit has never been near the Congo nor the natives who form the pretext of his search for personal notoriety and aggrandisement.

We also call your Excellency’s attention to the fact that the Congo Government, when assailed by missionaries at all, is assailed by a few individual missionaries operating in conjunction with the Liverpool Association, whose object we shall in due course expose. The Congo Government has not been assailed by other missionaries at all. The Catholic missionaries are in reality all seeking the moral, spiritual, and intellectual betterment of the native races, while those of a material faith, who have sought from the Congo Government and been denied personal concessions of material value solely, are secretly working in directions entirely unconnected with the spiritual and moral welfare of the Congo population. In due time and in the proper place the Government of the Congo Free State will produce its testimony bearing upon this phase of the campaign begun in England, and now carried to the United States, against an undertaking which within twenty years has done more to promote civilisation than was ever before attempted in all the great continent of Africa.

[Pg 393]

We beg your Excellency to receive from the hands of our representative an abundance of carefully prepared matter upon this subject, and to command him in any further desires which you may wish to express. A cursory outline, limited to only a few phases of the questions which the enemies of the Congo so confusedly mince in their wild condemnation of a State justly founded and intelligently and humanely governed, is not of course intended as a sufficient statement of our case. It is merely intended to introduce your Excellency to the subject on which our representative, and the evidence and literature he will offer to you, may lead you to those wise and equitable conclusions which have always characterised the highest tribunals of the American people.

Your Excellency is too well versed in the science of government to be influenced by the statement that where individual acts are committed in violation of enacted penal law the Government should be primarily charged therewith. If such were the case, penal institutions for the incarceration of violators of police law would be no part of a nation’s structure.

It is not infrequent that the cable conveys to us intimation that in some sections of your own free and glorious country an inflamed mob seizes upon a black inhabitant and burns him at the stake. Our governmental experience has taught us that such acts would have been impossible if your Government had been advised in time to prevent them. And yet we know that your Government is the subject of harsh criticism by self-constituted associations formed in the same country whence come those who accuse the sincere governmental effort of the Congo Free State. The law of the Congo Free State is based upon the loftiest ideals of humane control of a vast territory and undeveloped interests, and every part of the State’s machinery is employed to ensure equal justice to all.

The “method of the State,” at which Congo accusers hurl their shafts, cannot be charged with responsibility for lawless acts in a vast territory of a million square miles where the Government of that State is vigilantly and earnestly seeking,[Pg 394] by the extension of its organisation and police powers, to suppress and punish crime and redress wrong. If the subjects of one nation were compelled to submit to the opinion of its unfriendly neighbours as to the correctness of their habits and conduct, and obliged to submit themselves to the penalties that their neighbours would attach to the alleged misconduct, the subjects of one nation would inhabit the prisons of another.

We need hardly call the attention of your Government to the great and humane work which your Government is now so earnestly, and with so much sacrifice, furthering in the Philippine Islands, to meet with that broad and sympathetic view of the situation in all savage countries; which, if fairly and justly applied to the Congo Free State, would place us upon that plane where co-operation, not criticism, were the reward of our sacrificial work in the darkest part of Africa.

It has been the pleasure of our beloved King, Leopold II., Sovereign of the Congo Free State, to appoint a Commission, composed of eminent men, to undertake with the utmost freedom a judicial investigation upon all and singular the vague charges from time to time used by the promoters of the Congo Reform Association in prostituting certain public journals in England. Your Excellency may be assured of the utmost integrity of the gentlemen who compose this Commission, and that the Congo Government will afford them all the help in its power to place the truth before the eyes of the world.

In this connection Congo reformers pretend that the decisions of the Congo Courts indicate that the government is bad, when in fact these very decisions are, in our opinion, proof of unimpeachable good faith and judicial independence.

Concerning the Congo standing army of 14,000 natives, as to which some criticism is uttered by the same persons, we need only indicate that the State Government is so well respected in the Congo Basin that it is able to control its vast territory with only seven soldiers to every 625 square miles. We have no doubt that if the Congo governmental system had not included this meagre police force for the repression[Pg 395] of tribal strife and the maintenance of order, its critics would have represented the Congo Government as unprepared to guarantee protection to persons and property, and as unable to maintain the integrity of its frontiers. The Congo army is recruited in conformity with the Belgian law of conscription, which is a restriction of the universal service in Continental Europe. When the Government enlisted a part of its army in a neighbouring colony it was requested to desist, the promises of England to permit such recruiting notwithstanding. Now the Congo army is characterised as barbarian! Doubtless the Congo Government would have no objection to recruit its army in China, as miners are recruited for the Transvaal. But would it thereby escape censure? We think not. Some things which are right and proper in a British colony become crimes when done in the Congo Free State.

It is the earnest desire of the Belgian people, and those who are interested in the welfare and progress of the native population of Mid-Africa, that the good-will and respect of the people of the United States and their President may continue, by their sympathy, to enliven the devotion, energy, and sacrifice which the builders of the Congo Free State are expending upon races which but a few years ago were in a state of the wildest savagery.

We are, Mr. President, with great respect,
Your obedient servants,
(Signed) A. Dufourny,
President of the Federation for the
Defence of Belgian Interests Abroad.

At the Peace Congress held at Boston in October, 1904, to attend which was as much the reason of the visit to these shores of the Secretary of the Congo Reform Association as the presentation of a memorial to President Roosevelt, he recited his usual tirade against the Congo Government and the person of King Leopold with[Pg 396] somewhat more than his customary unction; but his contentions were utterly demolished by the superior information and saner reasoning of his fellow-countryman, Mr. George Head, and by a letter which was read from Cardinal Gibbons (vide Chap. xxxiv), warmly defending the aims and achievements of the Belgians in Central Africa.

The net result of the Peace Conference to the Congophobes is to expose and appreciably weaken their conspiracy.

There remains in our country a small section of the press obedient to the will of anti-Congolese campaigners and their merchant support, and the eloquent sophistries of Messrs. Morrison and Barbour. But these forces are surely inadequate to cause the Government of the United States to forget all of our political traditions, and to so abate our natural shrewdness, as to become a catspaw for an avaricious foreign commercial clique.

[Pg 397]

SIR HENRY M. STANLEY

It will ever be esteemed a fortunate circumstance by all who have regard for historical accuracy, that the late Sir Henry M. Stanley, discoverer of the course of the Congo, who assisted so materially in the creation of the Congo Free State, did not pass away without recording his opinion of the campaign of calumny against the Congo Administration. Incomparably the greatest authority of his time upon this subject, what Stanley had to say about it must be given here in full. It took the form of an interview with a representative of the press, and was first published in the Petit Bleu (Brussels), 13th November, 1903:

I do not believe [said Sir Henry Stanley] in the charges brought against the Congo, and I do not share the opinions that inspire them. I do not think that any State will be inclined to step in, and to spend the money that Belgium and the King of the Belgians spend to adapt the darkest part of Darkest Africa to the interests of commerce. King Leopold lately assigned £120,000 a year to the Congo administration. He thereafter gave £40,000 and Belgium £80,000. Tell me, what other country would be ready to do as much?

When I consider the limited number of years which have[Pg 398] elapsed since the Congo became a State, I hold that the work which has been accomplished there does great honour to Belgium, and I am certain that not one of the countries who are invited by the newspapers to put itself in its place would have been able to do better.

You can feel certain that the King of the Belgians interests himself personally in the smallest detail of the administration. I do not pretend that he can superintend the acts of each individual, but what Government, what State could do that? But the recitals of atrocities, and of bad administration which have of late been spread about are almost all, if not all, pure reports. Naturally, if it is question of seeking cause for a quarrel there is no difficulty in finding it; but if the Congo of 1885 is compared with the Congo of to-day, it must be allowed that its progress has been remarkable.

The English Note of the month of August is founded, I am convinced, on reports stamped with partiality. The assertions of a missionary have been reproduced, according to whom the natives flee at the approach of the Congo State officials. They fled before me also when I was there. The mere apparition of a white man, the simple sight of an unusual being or object, puts them to flight. That is part of the animal instinct of self-preservation. Whites and blacks always approach one another for the first time with a general sentiment of distrust. Little by little they learn to know one another, and this sentiment disappears.

The Congo was in truth the darkest part of Africa. To-day with its forests pierced and open, its routes, its stations, it is in advance of all other African States. Take the French Congo, German East Africa, Portuguese West Africa, and compare them! The Congo State prospers in a greater degree than any other part of the black continent.

The Congo State is accused of employing as soldiers cannibal Negroes. When I was on the Congo, and I accused a tribe of cannibalism it replied: “We are not cannibals, but our neighbours are.” The neighbouring tribe said: “It is not we, it is the next tribe that you will meet”; and that tribe referred us on to the next, and so on continually. They[Pg 399] seemed to be ashamed of their cannibalism. They concealed it. Yet there was no doubt as to the existence of this practice. I frequently met with trenches freshly disturbed, from which corpses had been taken to be eaten. It was very seldom that I could discover the guilty. How then in recruiting its troops was the Congo State to distinguish the black cannibals from those who are not cannibals?

I am convinced that since I left Africa King Leopold has done his best to prevent all crime on the Congo. But he is no more responsible for the crimes which may be committed there than for those occasionally committed on the soil of Belgium itself. There are on the Congo 300 officials who report to the Governor-General, who in his turn addresses a summary of these reports to the King. They discharge their mission under the most difficult conditions, and I believe that I may assert that from the Governor-General down to the humblest official there is not one of them guilty of cruelty. Moreover, it is for those who speak of atrocities to furnish proof of them.

I know by experience what a large number of stories are put forward, then refuted, and afterwards resuscitated year after year. These are legends for travellers. Use is made of them with every change of the wind in Africa. Those who relate them are often the prey of climatic maladies.

The Congo has not the most enviable climate in the world. The maladies contracted there are often debilitating, and things are seen and things are described through the malady, which distorts the morale and changes the optic.

I had on the Congo under my orders 300 men—English, Germans, Dutch, Portuguese, Belgians. There were 80 English, but the majority were Belgians. I found no difference between them. All did their best, according to their means. All were, in the course of duty, the object of some charge. I examined the charges minutely, and always found them to be without foundation. That did not prevent these stories reaching Banana, and from there Europe. Well, that is what happened on the Congo in my time; that is what is happening there to-day.

[Pg 400]

The sentiment that inspires the charges against the Congo is jealousy. The Congo is succeeding better than any other State of Africa.

I do not think that the Congo State would be administered better by France, the United States, or Germany. Under French administration the Congo would retrogress. Germany would content itself with fortifying it in a military sense. And commerce does not develop when it is covered with a coat of mail. Germany does not permit and will not permit the English to penetrate into its territory, except under certain restrictions. England would not have managed the Congo better than King Leopold has done if she had been mistress of it, as she might have become in 1877.

The white man must remain master of the Congo. Drive him out of it, and you will see war arise anew between one native village and another, a return to barbarism. It is difficult to govern so vast a country; yet, in a limited number of years, the King of the Belgians has put an end to the horrible Arab slave trade. I do not think there is another sovereign living who has done so much for humanity as Leopold II.

SIR HARRY JOHNSTON, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.

About a year previous to the publication of Stanley’s vindication of the Congo Administration, appeared a remarkable book, entitled The Uganda Protectorate, written by the distinguished English traveller, Sir Harry Johnston, from which the following passage is taken:

Great value attaches to the evidence of Sir Harry Johnston, it being impossible to impute to him any particular bias. He travelled independently, visiting the Congo on three occasions—1882-83, 1891-96, and 1900. In a letter published in the Daily Chronicle (London) of 28th September, 1903, he thus further expresses his opinion of the Congo Administration:

And again:

Lastly comes this convincing pronouncement:

The absolute impartiality of Sir Harry Johnston’s review of the Congo Administration well appears in the few following words; in which it will be noted, that while he claims no immaculate perfection on behalf of every Belgian official, he compares them as a body, and that not to their disadvantage, with his own countrymen:

MAJOR JAMES HARRISON

This eminent authority on the Congo has recorded his impressions of the social and economic conditions prevailing in that country, and of the false statements regarding them disseminated by interested parties, in the following letter, which appeared in the London Times of June 10, 1904:

To the Editor of the “Times”

Sir,—Having just returned from a shooting trip across the Congo Free State from the Nile to Boma, on the West Coast, I naturally feel much interested in the correspondence now[Pg 405] going on with regard to that country. As I came down the Congo River a copy of Mr. Casement’s report was lent me to read, and I was more than surprised at the contents of a letter written by Lord Cromer, which was inserted as a prelude to the more serious indictment following.

Now, Sir, had this letter been published alone it might not have seemed so serious, but taken in conjunction with what followed it formed a most damaging article.

As my experience of the Government of the Lado Enclave is so entirely opposite to the view taken of it by Lord Cromer, I feel compelled, in fairness to the Belgian officials, to give my views of the country and its Government. That I am not alone in discovering so much that is good in the Belgian administration of the Lado Enclave is vouched for by other English officers who have hunted and travelled among the natives beyond the waters west of the Nile.

I assume from Lord Cromer’s report, and from what I was told at Lado, that he only landed at the Kiro and Lado stations, so that the greater part of his report must have been founded on information supplied by others, which, besides being often incorrect, might possibly have reference to times gone by, when, I believe, a certain official was promptly dismissed the service for unfair treatment of the natives.

Lord Cromer compares the deserted appearance of the west banks of the Nile with the east bank between Kiro and Lado.

My experience of this part was that you could hardly see anything of the west bank, owing to the channel lying well over to the east, and endless sudd stretching to the west. The reasons for natives not living near the bank I give later on.

Again, Lord Cromer contrasts the peaceful, settled state and the confidence of the tribes under English rule on the Nile as compared with those on Belgian territory; yet within a few months of his visit a whole British force was annihilated on the Bahr el Ghazal, while in the Game Ordinance published last year it stated: “The whole of the left bank of the Nile is at present closed to sportsmen, owing to the unsettled state of the natives.”

Since my return I see that yet another British force has been[Pg 406] severely handled by the natives. Through the whole of my Congo trip, absolutely alone, I wandered about, visiting 50 different tribes and hundreds of villages, armed as a rule with a camera, umbrella, and, at times, a collecting gun. Yet I had no unpleasant experiences; on the contrary, I was received with kindness far different to any I ever met with when hunting among British African natives.

As I went up the Nile I heard the same stories Lord Cromer did—as to how all the natives were flying across the river from the Belgian country owing, I was told, to ill-treatment. As I spent a month hunting all the district 40 miles inland from Lado and Kiro, looked after by the two big Bari chiefs, Kenion and Fariala, I took great interest in learning all I could, and, owing to my capitow talking Arabic, the chiefs’ favourite language, I had excellent chances for finding out all I wanted.

To my question as to whether many of their tribes went over the river, and why, they replied: “A few boys ran away the other side, but mostly bad boys who won’t work.” Asked again, if a few good men went, and, if so, why, they answered: “English pay in money; some boys, if once had money, like it better than being paid in cloth or beads,” but no mention of ill-treatment.

Lord Cromer considers because the native villages happen at these particular posts to be several hours’ distant, that this is also owing to bad treatment. I wish to point out that the villages must either be right on the Nile bank, or inland where they are, for the whole country between is waterless during four months. Another reason given for not living on the Nile was that in olden days the few who did so were all killed or taken prisoners by the Dervishes; hence the survivors kept clear of waterways.

Again, there are no sites for villages near the river, as nearly all the banks, lying low, are covered with marsh and sudd, harbouring millions of mosquitoes, whereas a few miles inland there is good water, not a single mosquito, plenty of game, with good grass and tillage land.

When I visited Gondokoro every one was complaining at[Pg 407] having the station on the Nile, instead of a few miles inland, for similar reasons.

One of the wisest rules of the Congo is not to allow native villages adjoining the posts; and I hear we are copying the same on the West Coast; it means a reduction of 75 per cent. in sickness.

That no natives live near Lado arises from purely natural causes. Lord Cromer would find plenty of posts in the interior, with thousands of natives settled as near as they are allowed to.

Another statement, that “the soldiers are allowed full liberty to plunder the natives,” is by no means correct. During my journey I saw hundreds of soldiers being sent off on different work—such as postal, Government despatches, fetching in porters, etc.; but not one ever left without having received cloth, beads, or wire sufficient to purchase all necessary food. I quite admit a few of the soldiers helped themselves now and again, and I found the worst sinners in this respect were our own Sierra Leone boys, a number of whom take service in the Congo. Should their acts be reported they are quickly dealt with.

During my trip I must have employed over 1200 porters. I can only say I never came across a more cheerful, well-disposed set of men. I never had the least trouble with them, though asking them to march 30 and 40 miles a day. How often I thought of my woes and worries in British Central Africa, never knowing how many porters would run away each night, though only marching ten miles a day! Had all the accounts of ill-treatment and non-payment been true, would men have come in so readily and worked for me as these carriers did? Many an hour at night I used to spend getting them to talk about the country, its ways, and any grievances. I found, naturally, two or three officers who were evidently disliked (no doubt I will be added to that list after our long marches); but, on the other hand, they talked of many officers as their “white fathers.” As for the way in which the Belgians have opened out the country, it is wonderful. The posts are now all well-built brick houses, and in a few[Pg 408] months’ time most of the barracks will be similar; excellent roads connect many of the posts, while all sorts of vegetables and fruit are being grown, cattle and sheep also being introduced in many parts. Though I was told in Khartoum by several of our officers who had been stationed on the frontier how well the Lado Enclave was run, I was quite astonished at such progress. I am glad to see my views are shared by Major Gibbons and Captain Bell, both of whom have had chances of seeing life inland from the Nile.

I met during my wanderings several English and American traders having concessions both in Uganda and the Congo. These men have to visit all the villages. They all said the same thing—that there was nothing wrong with the Government of the Enclave. I also had a long and interesting talk with Father Maguire, of the Roman Catholic mission station at Amadi. He spoke most warmly in praise of the work done by the Belgians in such a few years. He said: “Think of what this country was only a few years ago, overrun with Dervishes, decimated by the slave-dealers, the natives all cannibals—and now you walk in here with only an umbrella as a protection.”

I can only add that I admire the excellent work being done by such men as Commissioner General George Witerwulge, Commandants Ravello (Lado), Menwnaer (Redjaf), Wacquez (Buta), Holmes (Dungu), Grazione (Lodka), and all the many other officers, too numerous to mention, who are quietly working hard, day after day, opening out those vast regions to civilisation; and I shall never forget the kindness met with at the hands of all, from the Nile to Boma.

I must apologise for trespassing on your valuable space, but if I were to try and refute many of the statements I have seen in print I should have to trespass considerably more.

Yours truly,
James J. Harrison.

Bachelors’ Club, London,
June 6th.

P. S.—Since writing the above I see in to-day’s Morning Post quotations from some English trader in Matadi. He[Pg 409] says: “From all I hear, things up country are worse than ever. In the Mayumbe country, behind Boma even, the State has begun collecting rubber by force from the natives.”

As I happened to travel home on the same boat as Mr. Ave, an American missionary, who has for some years been in charge of this Mayumbe district, his statements to me may be of interest. Mr. Ave said all these reports were untrue; that the district was governed by an officer who was most kind and considerate in all his dealings with the natives; that he had carefully readjusted the taxation so as to fall as fairly as possible with regard to villages and population of same; and that the officer was universally respected by all the natives as a kind and just man. The same Morning Post article seems to be slightly inconsistent. It quotes one Equatorial missionary as saying that “the white man will be swept out of the Congo and a revolution will take place within two years,” while farther on it quotes the Matadi trader “as deprecating the founding of a new post for 1,000 soldiers at Bomasundi.”

Surely, if the first assumption is correct, the wisdom of the second is sound. I am glad to find since my return that few people take notice of or believe those wonderful statements, copied from a more wonderful paper—the West African Mail.

This is the way Major James Harrison a few days later demolishes a side issue raised by Mr. Morel. The letter is addressed to the Editor of the Morning Post (London), and appeared in that journal of June 25, 1904:

The three authorities whose testimony was given in the preceding chapter are all distinguished travellers of British nationality. It is now proposed to lay before the reader the opinions held upon Belgian Administration in the Congo by three well-known Americans—Mr. James Gustavus Whiteley of Baltimore, member of the Institute of International Law, who has represented the United States Government at several international congresses; the Rev. W. H. Leslie, a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union; and Mr. Mohun, a former United States Consul at Boma.

MR. JAMES G. WHITELEY

It is unfortunate that so many false impressions about the Congo have been accepted without examination. For example, there is a popular belief that the King runs the Congo “for revenue only,” and that he oppresses the natives in order to extort money from them. The exact opposite is the truth. The King receives no revenue from the Congo Government; on the contrary the State owes its very existence to the generosity of the King, who advanced several million dollars to keep the Government going in its early struggle for existence.[Pg 412] It is true that there are in the Congo extensive Crown lands, the revenue from which belongs to the King, but His Majesty refuses to take the receipts from this land and has turned the money into a fund for the erection of schools, the encouragement of science, and similar purposes. He does not even manage the fund himself, but has placed it in the hands of three trustees.

I have seen the statement in several newspapers that the Congo State was created by the Berlin Conference in 1885 and placed in the hands of King Leopold for administration, the Powers reserving a sort of right of guardianship over it. This is entirely erroneous. The Congo was a sovereign State before the Berlin Conference was thought of. The first official acknowledgment of the new State came from the United States in the spring of 1884. It was afterwards formally recognised by the other nations, and it entered the Berlin Conference on an equality with the other Powers. It has never placed itself under the guardianship of any Power or collection of Powers. It has no connection with Belgium except the fact that King Leopold happens to be king of each of them. The two Governments are entirely independent.

One of the great achievements of the Congo State has been the suppression of the Arab slave-traders, who were in the habit of invading Central Africa, carrying off slaves to the eastern markets, and laying waste the country through which they passed. It is estimated that 100,000 natives were killed each year in these slave raids. I recently saw an erroneous statement to the effect that the slave raids are still carried on, and that they are encouraged by King Leopold and his agents as a means of revenue. It is difficult to see how the King or his Government could reap any profit by encouraging the slave-raiders to destroy the villages, and kill off a hundred thousand or so of the inhabitants. Such lack of logic is damaging to the case of the gentlemen who put it forward as a serious argument. As Lord Westbury once said to a young English barrister: “Never make a mistake in your logic; the facts are always at your disposal.”

In this case, however, the anti-Congo critics have availed[Pg 413] themselves of both false logic and false “facts.” The facts are that the slave-raiders were finally vanquished and driven out by the Congo forces in the early nineties, after a severe struggle and at the cost of much Belgian blood. As the present Viceroy of India said some years ago: “The Congo Free State has done a great work and by its administration the cruel raids of the Arab slave-dealers have ceased to exist over many thousand square miles.”

Another prevalent error about the Congo Government is in regard to the treatment of the natives by the officials. An impression has got abroad that there are many atrocities committed.

There have been cases in which the natives have been maltreated by minor officials, but these are isolated cases, and are severely punished by the authorities. Such cases have occurred in all public services where an attempt has been made to govern inferior races. Such things have happened in the Philippines, in British Africa, and in India. No colonising nation can cast a stone at King Leopold on that score. Among a large number of officials scattered over a vast territory there will often be one or two wicked stewards who despitefully use the natives. All that any State can do is to keep vigilant watch and to punish the wrongdoers, and this the Congo State has done. It has even established a Commission for the protection of the natives. By the decree of 1896, this Commission consisted of seven members, three being Catholic priests and four Protestant missionaries.

It has been said, among other things, that the State practically enslaves the natives by forcing them to pay a tax in labour. The tax is light. According to a statement made the other day by Baron de Favereau, it consists of 40 hours’ work per month, and for this work they are paid at the regular rate of wages obtained in the district. It is a tax which helps the State and also helps the native, for it teaches him to work. It is one of the most civilising influences in African colonisation, for it is only by teaching habits of industry to the natives that civilisation can make any progress in the Dark Continent.

[Pg 414]

The detractors of the Congo administration make a great outcry, but as Burke said in one of his celebrated speeches: “You must not think because the crickets make a great noise that they are the only inhabitants of the field. The cattle browsing in the shade make less stir, but they are infinitely more important.” Those who cry out against the Congo are a small band, and generally of small importance. Their evidence is light in comparison with the testimony of such men as the Count de Smet de Naeyer, the Baron van Eetvelde, Baron Wahis, the Chevalier Descamps, and Mr. Nys, but if these witnesses be considered as in any way prejudiced on account of their official positions, you have only to look at the evidence of Sir Harry Johnston, late British Commissioner to Uganda, as well as the evidence of such men as Cardinal Lavigerie, Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, the great authority on political economy, Mr. Pickersgill, the British Consul, besides the missionaries, such as the Rev. G. Grenfell, of the British Baptist Missionary Society, Mgr. Augouard, Rev. Holman Bentley, Father van Hencxthoven, Rev. Herbert S. Smith, Mgr. Streicher, Rev. Lawson Forfeit, Father Gabriel, and Rev. W. Verner of the American Presbyterian Mission.

The Congo State furnishes a model for civilisation in new countries. A great work has been accomplished in Equatorial Africa, and, as a distinguished missionary said, “Posterity will place the name of Leopold at the head of human benefactors for the princely enterprise, perseverance, and sacrifices contributed by him in such a cause.”

THE REV. W. H. LESLIE

In a recent number of the Missionary Review of the World, a magazine published by Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls of New York, there appeared an article written by the Rev. W. H. Leslie, a missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union, stationed in the Congo. In that article Mr. Leslie refers to the exceeding degradation of the Congo people twenty[Pg 415] years ago. He states that, naturally, not a little evil remains, that immorality and various heathen practices are still prevalent. But he speaks with much enthusiasm of the social and moral uplifting and the industrial development within that twenty years. He says that the people are learning to work, are learning to read and write, are clothing themselves, and are building better houses. In other words, they are gradually adopting the manners and customs of civilisation.

MR. MOHUN

ALEXANDER DAVIS

THE following valuable testimony is extracted from an interesting volume written by this gentleman, entitled The Native Problem in South Africa:

The Congo atrocities campaign is fed upon just a sufficient substratum of truth to make it plausible. But the public in their administered sentimentality travel very wide of the true case. After a full career of blood-curdling horrors unhesitatingly placed at the door of the administration in highest authority irrespective of conditions of environment or personal responsibility, a Sir Harry Johnston, accepted authority, in plenitude of personal knowledge and experience presents a rock of fact which checks the wave of misrepresentation.

In the Congo Free State in addition to the superior council to advise the King in Belgium, the Governor General has the assistance of a similar nominated body at Boma. Local conditions here do not admit at present of following the French system, but it is guided largely in its deliberations by the reports and advice of the district commissioners who with the co-operation of the local chiefs and their own officials form really limited autonomous administrations.

Turning to the Congo Free State the general division of the territory, from an administrative point of view, is based on the[Pg 419] districts at the head of each of which is a district commissioner representing the State. The commissioner is assisted by sub-commissioners, but is alone responsible for the good order of his district. Their principal instructions, on which the State lays great stress, are to maintain friendly relations with the natives and wherever possible to prevent or patch up intertribal disputes; they are also charged with abolishing as far as possible barbarous customs and especially human sacrifices and cannibalism, still practised over a large extent of the territory.... In close co-operation with the district commissioner is the native chief or chiefs of the district. The institution and recognition of these are encouraged by the State in order to improve the relations between it and the natives, to consolidate authority over individuals, to ameliorate their condition, and to facilitate their regular contribution to the development of the country. The chiefs have, as a rule, to be first recognised as such by native custom, and are then officially recognised by the Government, and receive a certificate to that effect. They are allowed to exercise their usual authority according to native usage and custom, provided the same be not contrary to public order and is in accordance with the laws of the State. They are held personally responsible for their tribe’s supply of public labour as notified to them annually. The acknowledged native chiefs number 258.

The safeguards provided by the co-operation of the chiefs, and the supervision of the central authority are now on the Congo supplemented, as far as human action under such conditions can go, by a very thorough organisation of the judicial side of the Government. It has pleased many of the critical theorists who have attacked the Congo Free State to say that this latter has been established merely as a blind to the actions of the administration. It may be merely remarked that no infant struggling State is likely to go to the great expense of such an elaborate and widely organised system of justice as has now been called into existence on the Congo pour rire, and furthermore that jurists of the character of those now serving on the Congo are not those capable of lending themselves to[Pg 420] such practices. A certain amount of latitude must of course be made for the different conditions in individual countries, especially when in a state of savagery, but generally speaking the Congo tribunals do their duty as well as similar ones in British colonies.

The Sovereign and Government of the Congo Free State have stated over and over again that they desire justice to be rendered impartially, and that as it is necessary that offences committed by natives should not remain unpunished, so penal laws must also be applied to the whites who are guilty of illegal doings. The mere fact of having constituted a superior court of appeal with judges of different nationalities and of appointing foreign lawyers and magistrates as judges and officials of the lower courts in the interior of the country is a proof, and a more than evident guarantee, of the impartiality and seriousness of the judicial administration aimed at. The writer holds no brief for the Congo Free State; rather the contrary in fact, but in common fairness after a very lengthy study of its judicial machinery, laws, and decrees, and the instructions given to its officials, he finds it difficult to conceive what more King Leopold could have done to safeguard its internal affairs than has now been done—given the peculiar conditions of the country. The abuses which have from time to time arisen in the past have been due, as far as one acquainted with similar conditions in West Africa can see, to three things, viz.: (1) to the abuse of power by agents of the concessionaire companies before the State had fully realised the necessity of keeping a sharp control over these semi-independent individuals; (2) to the want of experience of early officials; and (3) to the lack of trained colonial servants whose known antecedents and constitutions fitted them for isolated and arduous responsibility in an unhealthy, tropical, and savage country. It is only right to add, however, that though isolated misdeeds may still continue to occur here as everywhere else, the measures now in force guard as far as possible against a repetition of the former regrettable occurrences, and where these occur the offenders are brought to trial without delay.

[Pg 421]

The native idea represents that of primitive society everywhere in the world, the European that of latter-day civilisation; and if this were always borne in mind, less nonsense would be written by those ill-informed sentimentalists who insist on treating the former on the lines of the latter.

Nothing is more astounding in regard to the Congo campaign—to take a very flagrant case in point—than the utter ignorance displayed by those who, while violently denouncing every detail of Congo administration, appear to be totally unaware either of the past history of social evolution, of modern civilisation in Europe, or of the conditions existing in other African countries at the present day.

We have here (British Central Africa) admitted, as in Uganda where we have shown that it has been actually carried out, the right of the British Crown to assume ownership of “vacant lands,” and the principle enunciated that the reserves allotted must be sufficient to allow of the lying fallow of the ground for a period of three years in addition to allowing a proportion for the natural increase of the family. Had the same principles set forth above been applied to the early days to British West Africa that country would be far more prosperous and advanced than is the case to-day.

Bearing these facts in mind it is possible to understand more fully the situation on the Congo where the general system has been pursued of assuming possession of the vacant lands and allotting to natives reserves throughout the country, though it may be remarked that on the plea of conquest alone the State has a valid title to a large part of the country apart from that set forth.

In the case of the Congo Free State, however, the opposite course has been taken, i. e., the State has undertaken the direct exploitation of its private domains, the profits realised being allotted to public works and the expenses of administration; and without stopping to examine the necessities of the case its critics have eagerly seized on this as a point of attack.

When criticisms, however, are raised against the very complete system of land tenure now in existence on the Congo as[Pg 422] regards the State, non-natives and natives, it is as well to remember that the exploitation of the land by the State is an after and separate act quite unconnected with the assumption of sovereign powers over the land in the State, which latter is in accord with general European and universal American custom, though after all whether a State raises money for public revenues by selling, leasing, or by personally exploiting the State lands seems to be a mere matter of detail in which the principle of the action is exactly the same. En passant it may be remarked that the Royal Niger Company, though an administration, raised its principal revenue and paid its dividends by its trade—not by duties or taxes.

Further south, getting down to the Congo again, we find a State which, sharing these views, has the courage of its convictions and acts upon them to the great scandal of our own Exeter Hall set, no doubt, but to the very marked improvement of the native races affected as well as to the development and opening up of the State.

It will have been observed in what special terms Mr. Davis repudiates personal interest in championing the Congo Administration against its detractors. Should any reader be so sceptical as to question the accuracy of that repudiation, attention is invited to the following declarations by three English statesmen, two of them of high political attainment, and all three by social position and actual record of approved bona-fides.

VISCOUNT CURZON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA

[Pg 423]

THE LATE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY, K.G., PREMIER OF THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY

Among the denunciators of the Congo Administration a prominent place must be assigned to

DR. H. GRATTAN GUINNESS

(English)

a part medical, part missionary, wholly illogical perverter of facts. The plunges made by this eccentric individual into the depths of human credulity would certainly receive no attention in this place but for the strange circumstance that some people have actually so far belied their intelligence as to accept them without investigation. Strange to relate, Mr. Booker Washington (a singular lapse of sagacity in a man so generally intelligent) is among those whose credulity has been abused by stories of strings of Negroes’ hands being set to dry in the sun, the said hands having been cut off from natives by wicked European officials of the Congo Administration as a punishment for failure to collect a sufficiency of rubber, etc.

In the course of a recent lecture in Scotland, Dr. Guinness said: “To our knowledge the natives never[Pg 425] mutilated their victims by cutting off their hands. The wild Ngombe never practised the mutilation referred to. It was reserved for civilisation to introduce this certificate of death.”

Now it is a matter of history, quite outside the realms of argument, that punishment by bodily mutilation has been practised by natives of Central Africa from the earliest times of which we have any record. Here is a sentence taken from a book entitled The First Christian Mission on the Congo, published before the Congo State came into existence, written by Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness:

This evidence, given by the wife of Dr. Grattan Guinness in 1882, is a strange foundation for Dr. Guinness to erect his 1904 statement upon. Let us hear what other people have to say upon this subject.

COMMANDER LOVETT CAMERON

(English)

DR. WILLIAM JUNKER

(German)

SIR JOHN KIRK

(English)

CARDINAL LAVIGERIE

(Belgian)

MR. J. A. MALONEY

(English)

MR. FREDERICK STANLEY ARNOT

(English)

These quotations will surely prove that bodily mutilation is essentially an African barbarity that[Pg 427] prevailed more or less among all the tribes of the Congo region, but is now almost entirely suppressed, thanks to Belgian civilisation. The charge brought by Dr. Grattan Guinness against that civilisation, that it introduced and practises this certificate of death, is a libel so monstrous that it carries with it its own refutation.

MR. GRENFELL

(English Missionary)

MR. WILLIAM FORFEIT

(English Baptist Missionary)

MESSRS. ASCENSO AND POLIDORI

(Italian Physicians)

MR. MAGUIRE

(English Missionary)

DR. CHRISTY

(English Physician)

[Pg 435]

MR. GREY

(English Civil Engineer)

From the “Morning Post” (London), January 20, 1903.

In presence of testimony such as this, it is not matter for surprise that His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, should have characterised as inopportune the consideration by the recent Peace Congress at Boston of the oft-refuted accusations brought against the Congo Free State. Where not absolutely false in every particular (as the majority of these slanderous stories most certainly are), they are grossly exaggerated, distorted out of all resemblance to the events they are based upon, and mendaciously attributed to a Government that has consistently and unswervingly repressed wrongdoing, of whatever kind, or by whomsoever done, and brought the light of civilisation to a vast[Pg 439] barbarian population more thoroughly and in less time than was ever done before.

The opinion of Cardinal Gibbons upon this point well appears in a letter addressed by His Eminence to the Honorary Secretary of the Congo Reform Association, of which the following is the full text.

HIS EMINENCE, CARDINAL GIBBONS

(American)

Viscount Mountmorres

In the summer of 1904, an Irish peer, Lord Mountmorres, began a journey through the Congo Free[Pg 441] State, whence his lordship is sending an admirable series of letters, descriptive of his experiences and impressions, to the London Globe. The dismal scenes of torture, desolation, and death, in which the missionary-agents of the Liverpool merchants assure us that unhappy country abounds, appear in some way to have escaped the observation of this traveller. “The further one goes into the interior the more civilised one finds it, the better organised, and the more developed,” says Lord Mountmorres at the opening of his second letter:

Mrs. M. French Sheldon

Mrs. French Sheldon, the traveller and author, returned to Europe in December, 1904, after a tour through the Congo Free State.

[Pg 446]

The Congolese kaleidoscope has revolved so swiftly since 1896, that it is with difficulty the European attitude towards the Congo Free State notoriety can be completely indicated. It would be unfair to the English people—that great, sane mass of them which sits imperturbably serene and looks on—to say that the British attitude towards the Congo is of that bitter hostility which a few hysterical Liverpool merchants and writers wish the outside world to believe. Indeed, it would appear to be part of their plan to make sufficient noise to induce the Germans, French, and Americans to attribute the agitation to the entire British public. The fact is that the severest condemnation of the anti-Congo campaign is being uttered by Britons against the clique which is striving to entangle British ministers in an affair that may some day redound to England’s humiliation. The shifts have been many to which certain Liverpool merchants and their chief crier have been put to maintain a hubbub which they hope will, by accident or the logic of events, create an opening for their ulterior commercial plans.

[Pg 447]

In 1897, the services of Sir Charles Dilke were first enlisted against the Congo State. In that year it was evident to those who had previously erred in their estimate of the value of the Congo as a commercial and political asset, that the Free State would more than fulfil the early expectations of Leopold II. and Henry M. Stanley. The awakening to this fact is the genesis of the envy which enlivens Congolese history to-day. So long as Stanley sat in Parliament and avowed his confidence in the Belgians who are erecting a State upon the ruins of the slave trade, and so long as he reiterated to his colleagues on the benches there the truth of the practical difficulties in Central Africa, the campaign against the Congo State in England made little serious progress. When Stanley died, when his voice in defence of the great work which he had shared with the King of the Belgians could no longer expose the fallacies and the true motive of the despoiler, the Congophobe epidemic spread to America and became more virulent than ever.

Early in 1903, a number of British merchants expressed their grievance against the French Congo in a volume by the author[48] whose active hostility against the Belgian Congo has given currency to many false statements and unjust beliefs. In the preface to the story of the British Case in the French Congo, this writer states that:

The purely commercial considerations upon which this complaint against the French Congo is founded are quite apparent and need not form the subject of argument. It may be enlightening, however, to note the fact that since this impassioned book was hurled at the heads of Frenchmen across the English Channel, the Anglo-French rapprochement has been effected, and the entente cordiale of King Edward’s visit to Paris has likewise intervened to divert the merchant wrath from the French Congo to the Congo Free State. French Deputies have visited London and enjoyed that bounteous hospitality which none can gainsay of a British household; members of Parliament have gone to Paris and dignified the gaiety of the quai d’Orsai. Not a vestige of the British complaint against the French[Pg 449] Congo now freights the air. Instead, there prevails a friendly persiflage between those two great powers.

Inasmuch as the concessionaire system adopted in the French Congo gave new impetus to the British campaign against the Belgian Congo, it may be profitable to examine what precipitated matters.

The occasion was the organisation in the French Congo of the system known as the régime des concessions. A decree of the President of the French Republic, dated March 28, 1899, divided the whole territory of the French Congo Colony between about forty concessionaire companies, which were to develop it under various conditions imposed upon them. The companies were granted all the rights of ownership over the ceded areas.

In 1901, several of these companies prohibited certain English merchants, who had been established in the country upwards of twenty-five years, from buying rubber direct from the natives, alleging that all natural produce belonged to the owner of the soil. Goods were even seized on their way to the English factories.

The injured traders complained that such action was not in accordance with the General Act of Berlin, the terms of which insure freedom of trade in the Congo Basin. They appealed to the French Congo courts, whose decision was in favour of the companies. Many judgments were pronounced, all of which held that the agricultural exploitation of the forests was an exclusive right of the concessionaire companies, and did not run counter to the provisions of the Berlin Act.

[Pg 450]

These judgments were rendered by the Council of Appeal at Libreville, on November 27, 1901, the petitioners being John Holt & Company (Liverpool) and the defendants the Compagnie Française du Congo Occidental.

In spite of these judgments, British commercial circles persisted in the view that the concessions system was a violation of the free-trade clause of the Berlin Act. The Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool took the lead in a movement based upon this view. On September 30, 1901, a memorial was presented to the British Foreign Office protesting against the concessionaire régime in the French Congo, petitioning for an inquiry into its legality under the Berlin and Brussels Acts, and urging the British Government to insist on these Acts being respected by the French.

A similar memorial was presented on October 22, 1901, by the Manchester and Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, and in December of the same year delegates from ten British Chambers of Commerce were received in audience by Lord Lansdowne, who, according to the Paris Temps, acknowledged that their grievances were well founded and promised to do all in his power for those interested in the question.

At that time West Africa, the journal of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, renewed its campaign against the Congo Free State, accusing its administrators of being the principal sinners, inasmuch as the Free State’s land system had been copied in the French Congo and German East Africa.[Pg 451] In its issue of October 26, 1901, West Africa called the Congo State fons et origo mali, and declared that it was the Belgian clique which had drawn France into the economic errors of its present system.

This campaign quickly assumed large proportions. West Africa continued to wage war against the French system of concessions and against the Congo Free State, the latter being bitterly denounced as the evil genius who conceived a land system which supported the State without the assistance of large revenue from the liquor trade or the presence of intriguing foreign merchants.

In the hope of putting an end to the Anglo-French difficulties in the Congo without raising questions of principle, the Temps of December 29, 1901, suggested that an amicable settlement be arranged between the French Government and the British traders affected by the concessionaire system in its West African Colony. By such arrangement, these traders would have received compensation for their loss. But, in a letter dated January 7, 1902, the Temps’ special correspondent in Liverpool warned the French that such an expedient would not put a stop to the agitation, and endeavoured to show in its true light the campaign which was going on in England.

Meantime the Aborigines’ Protection Society pursued its old course of agitating something, anything, so long as its secretary, freedom of speech, and the attention of a Foreign Office combined to afford opportunity. The purely commercial grievances of British traders who had been made to conform to[Pg 452] Congolese law required new elements of support. What could be of greater assistance to their commercial schemes than the tearful work of the Aborigines’ Protection Society of England, the new Congo Reform Association of Liverpool, and their peculiar methods of playing upon the credulity, sentimentality, and the sympathies of susceptible and deluded persons whose leisure sought occupation and new interests? While the business brigade of the anti-Congo campaign sought to enlist the aid of the German Chambers of Commerce, the humanitarian scouts developed the atrocity theme—not so much against the French Power as against the Belgian pigmy. Belgium and the Congo Free State cannot resort to the arbitrament of that force which as a last resort decides the contests of all nations.

The opportunity for attracting the co-operation of commercial factions in Germany was greatly propitiated by the unfortunate Stokes incident. Stokes, a British subject, once a missionary, had become an itinerant trader, and came into the Congo State from German East Africa, where he had established headquarters. His caravan was largely composed of natives from German territory, and the goods they carried for the purpose of barter were to a large extent of German manufacture. When Stokes was caught, red-handed, bartering guns and ammunition with the native enemies of the Free State for ivory which they had unlawfully acquired, he was tried and executed. This summary disposal of a trader who had been undermining Belgian and native security in the Congo met with vehement protests[Pg 453] in Germany as well as in England. Other factors began to operate in favour of an Anglo-German alliance against the Free State, not the least of which was the apprehension felt in Hamburg, Bremen, and Berlin over the remarkable progress the Belgians were making with their transport facilities, whereby the trade of German East Africa was being diverted to the Free State. For a time, therefore, the German press joined the British in decrying the Belgian Government in Central Africa. German attacks upon the Congo State economic policy have, however, been largely confined to interested merchants or enlisted politicians. Herr von Bornhaupt, Prince F. d’Arenberg, and Consul Vohsen have been actively identified with German criticism of the Congo State’s policy, notwithstanding that Germany, as shown in a previous chapter, has inaugurated a land policy founded upon precisely the same principles as those which prevail in the Belgian Congo. The statement of Consul Vohsen that “the Congo State’s methods were diverting trade from the German East African colonies,” betrays, perhaps, the only pretext upon which the criticism of German merchants may rest.

Until recently the political attitude of certain German statesmen toward the Belgian Congo has been to bring about a revision of the Berlin Act of 1885. In announcing a desire to form an international league, Consul Vohsen said that its object should be to induce the Powers party “to revise the Berlin Act and to force the Congo State to respect its provisions.” Europeans suggest that the[Pg 454] gentleman probably means, by this contradiction in terms, that the real aim of England, Germany, and France, working in secret combination against the energetic little fellow with the biggest part of Central Africa, is to come to an understanding which will on the part of England realise the prophetic utterance of Mr. Cecil Rhodes[49] and the ambitions of Lord Cromer and Sir Reginald Wingate in the Cape to Cairo schemes; on the part of Germany, establish a new western frontier for German East Africa; and on the part of France, the final adoption of definite settlements in the Soudan and on the east and south banks of the Congo River. In short, the million square miles of immensely rich territory lying within the borders of the Congo Free State can, when rudely wrested from the heroic pioneers of little Belgium, be used by the three European Powers dominant in Africa to enlarge the gouty, the bilious, and the apoplectic tints of the African continent. That such views are abundant throughout Europe, and that the humanitarian pretext on the part of Congo enemies is regarded with derision, is all too evident from the columns of the leading continental journals. European editors have referred to the Congo debate in the British Parliament on May 20, 1903, as a “Parliamentary raid,” and likened it to the Jameson Raid in the Transvaal, which acted on the principle of violating first, negotiating afterwards, but in the end[Pg 455] bringing the whole subject within the pale of dispute, speculation, and bargain.

As long ago as 1897, Belgian statesmen were convinced that certain English statesmen, of whom Sir Charles Dilke was foremost, had espoused the cause of the commercial men of Liverpool and Manchester with intent to settle upon a purpose of hostility towards the Congo State. Whatever there may have been lacking to justify the Belgians in harbouring this belief at that time, intervening events have unfortunately confirmed them in their impression. Belgians connected with the Congo administration in Brussels still maintain what they said in 1897, that “there was a set purpose to create for the Congo State difficulties both in Africa and in Europe, to discredit it by magnifying isolated facts, and by preparing, under the colour of philanthropy, the moment when there could be produced the territorial and financial designs concealed behind that campaign. The plan is clearly traced. At the commencement a feint is made that the sacrificed interests of the native populations of the whole of Africa is the cause they have at heart, and the idea of a new conference is put forward. As soon as this idea has appeared to germinate and public opinion has been baited, it becomes a question of the Congo State alone, and the division of its territories is boldly spoken of.”

On March 2, 1903, Sir Charles Dilke asked the British Government in the House of Commons whether it intended taking steps to procure the co-operation of the principal signatories to the Berlin[Pg 456] Act with a view to suppressing abuses in the Congo Free State. In reply the British Government stated that it did not then contemplate taking steps in that direction. On March 3rd, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Great Britain met and resolved to press their grievances against the Congo State upon the British Government. On the 11th of the same month Viscount Cranbourne declared that no action would be taken to interfere with the Congo State, as the British Government had no reason to believe that slavery was tolerated by that State. Then the Baptist Union threw in its weight on April 30th, and at a meeting held in London, denounced the concessionaire system of the Free State and attributed to that system all the cruelties alleged against the State. Meantime the British press, which reeked with stories of atrocities in the Belgian Congo, had not a word to say against the French Congo and that concessionaire system therein which was the Belgian system carried to extreme. At a meeting held in London on May 6, 1903, by the Aborigines’ Protection Society, W. H. Morrison, an American Congo missionary, from Lexington, Virginia, having returned from a visit to Brussels, where he had asked for and been refused land concessions to which special advantages should attach, delivered a series of complaints against the administration of the Congo Free State, and caused his charges to be telegraphed to the press of Europe and America. While in Brussels seeking extraordinary land concessions, Mr. Morrison did not utter one word of complaint against the local administration[Pg 457] of the Congo. On May 7th, a member of the House of Commons again inquired whether a petition had been presented from British Chambers of Commerce or traders complaining that trading rights on the Congo under the Berlin Act were not respected, and what, if anything, the British Government intended doing in regard to the matter. Finally on May 20, 1903, the House of Commons, pressed by organised British commercial interests, passed the following resolution:

On August 8, 1903, Lord Lansdowne addressed a dispatch[50] to the Powers signatory to the Berlin Act, setting forth the grievances which had been brought to the attention of his Government, and suggesting that:

Three of the Powers, the United States, Italy, and Turkey, formally acknowledged receipt of the British dispatch; all maintained silence in respect of it.

On September 17, 1903, the Government of the Congo Free State delivered its reply[51] and, pursuing the same course as the British Government had followed, sent it to all the interested Powers. The attitude of Europe concerning the issue thus joined may be gathered from the silence of the Powers signatory to the Berlin Act, and the press comment which the two dispatches evoked. The Morning Advertiser, London, a conservative organ, referring to the British dispatch, said:

The leading article in the Times (London) of the same day described the Congo State’s reply as “weak, inconclusive, and confused.” While Lord Lansdowne’s note had been published in its entirety, the longer reply on behalf of the Congo Free State was accorded scant space in the British press.

From Black and White (London), November 21, 1903:

In the Standard (London) of October 24, 1903, the following utterance would imply a threat:

On September 19th the Morning Advertiser (London) has the following to say by way of insight into British desires in Congoland:

[Pg 460]

The general tone of the British press was in support of Lord Lansdowne’s Note, and intolerant of the Congo State’s reply. On the Continent, the weight of opinion favourably acknowledged the force of the Congo State’s reply. In France, Germany, Austria, and Italy certain British journals were severely criticised for suppressing the publication of all evidence favourable to Belgian rule in Congoland, for dignifying the fulminations of E. D. Morel, the penman of the merchants and shippers of Liverpool, the self-appointed coroner of the Congo, sitting in judgment upon the disjecta membra which he so luridly and so falsely portrays in the books which the anti-Congo campaign incidentally serves to advertise. Brief quotations from the arguments of M. Étienne, the French Deputy, have been set forth in a previous chapter. Criticising the London Times for its partisanship, the Dépêche Coloniale of October 16, 1903 stated editorially:

In La Liberté (Paris) the editor, referring to the Congo State’s reply, says:

The Phare de la Loire:

The General Anzeiger, October 30, 1903, is merely quoted to indicate the violence to which criticism of the British dispatch attained, not as a specimen of sound Teutonic reasoning nor of temperate commentary:

The Chronique (Belgium) of November 4, 1903, contains an interview with M. Edmond Picard, advocate of the Belgian Court of Cassation, from which the following is quoted:

The Münster Westphal, November 3, 1903:

The Kleine Journal (Berlin), October 21, 1903, contains the following admonition from the well-known explorer, Eugène Wolf:

The Corriere Toscano (Italy), October 31, 1903:

Finally the views of some of the leading journals of the United States, manifestly free from bias, founded on self-interest, may be interesting.

The Evening Transcript (Boston).

From the New York Press:

[Pg 465]

The Public Ledger (Philadelphia), October 26, 1903:

Sufficient has been quoted to indicate that the silence of the Powers in regard to the British dispatch of August 8, 1903, was fairly interpreted by the press of Europe. The meaning of that silence is unmistakable. British ministers having been misled to undertake a serious diplomatic act which was admittedly based on commercial grievance and unproved accusations, it now became necessary to back up the charges contained in Lord Lansdowne’s dispatch by something seemingly more tangible than the complaints of persons peculiarly interested in doing mischief to the Government of the Congo Free State. It is the British view that the official report of Mr. Roger Casement, British Consul at Boma, in the Congo Free State, dated December 11, 1903, four months after the Powers had been appealed to, supplied the necessary confirmation of all that may[Pg 466] have been lacking to justify the precipitate diplomatic act of August 8th which had met with rebuff.

The report[52] and enclosures of Consul Casement would occupy approximately one hundred and eighty pages of this volume. It is an interesting account of a brief journey on the Upper Congo during a period of two and a half months, most of which was spent in the Equatorial district. The report contains many paragraphs in praise of the wonderful changes wrought by the Belgians in the Congo during the last twenty years. There are other passages in the report which condemn the land and concessionaire system of the State. Enclosed in the voluminous document are statements from Protestant missionaries and certain natives concerning alleged atrocities. As the official reply of the Government of the Congo Free State, brief as it is, deals fairly and fully with the essential allegations in Mr. Casement’s report, it has been set out in full in the Appendix.

In To-Day (London), December 16, 1903, Mr. John Henderson, an experienced traveller who had visited the Congo to ascertain for his journal the true state of affairs under Belgian rule in the Free State, wrote the following amongst other interesting comments on Consul Casement’s Report:

To carry on the anti-Congo campaign in the United States, the Congo Reform Association of Liverpool has established headquarters at Boston. Its organisation includes a secretary, pamphleteers, press writers, and Protestant missionaries. It prints and sends broadcast to the press of America a weekly “News Letter,” composed of articles designed to intensify agitation against the Belgians in the Congo. It is sagaciously understood by its supporters that one missionary with imagination and glib speech, turned loose on society in America or Europe, can make more noise, effect more mischief, do more to prostitute Christian work in foreign lands, than twenty earnest, patient, toiling, praying[Pg 468] missionaries can accomplish for humanity by minding God’s work in the dark heart of Africa. That concession-seeking, commercially-inclined Congo missionaries should be enabled to gratify their desire for notoriety after the fashion of the Congo coroner, Mr. Morel, and gain the slightest connection with American Missionary Societies, is only to be accounted for by the large financial support which, having prevailed in England, may be presumed to lie back of the campaign in America. There are certain phases of the Congolese question since 1897 by which even a disinterested observer is deeply impressed. The large financial support and the numerous agencies it employs is one of them.

So far the attitude of the American press has been eminently disinterested. Its leading journals have shown a keen insight into the motives which underlie a campaign that has been overdone to the disgust of all fair-minded observers. There is, in all colonies, whether under British, German, American, French, or Belgian rule, ample opportunity for criticism. There is, on the other hand, even greater opportunity for help and co-operation. The demoralising story of British Lagos is alone sufficient to make British criticism of every other nation’s colonies pusillanimous. Acts of cruelty by natives, foreigners, or by State servants are in violation, not in consequence, of the Congo State’s system of government. For such infractions of the law the individual, not the State, is responsible. But when the support of a British colony is derived from a debasing traffic in alcohol for whose existence the[Pg 469] home Government is directly responsible, that Government should not assume the grotesque position of custos morum of Africa.

The Lagos Standard, reputed to be favourable to the British Government, referring to the Colony’s revenue for 1901-1902, says:

Where Europe, whose interests in Africa are material as well as moral, has not seen fit to join a British traders’ campaign against a small neutralised State, it would seem that the United States Government could not be led into action on the pretext that its recognition of a friendly Government invested it with police powers over the internal affairs of the State so recognised. “Territory” and “commerce” are the tightly furled, secretly carried banners of the raid upon the Congo State. This exaggerated humanitarian solicitude for the African black is purely pretence. By its hypocrisy, falsehood, and disputative vulgarisation, the movement, instead of remedying what evils exist in all African colonies, is made utterly puerile. By such vituperative fanfaronade as the following, rational minds are made to turn from the subject in disgust:[56]

After that, what can one say or do except to appreciate one’s sense of humour, and the lack of it in a zealot? A tower of babel on a pile of words!

[Pg 472]

The rise and progress of the Congo Free State marks a unique page in modern history. The boldness of the State’s conception, the apparent hopelessness of its early conditions in a region unspeakably savage and barbarous, its gradual evolution under the magic touch of a master hand; the horrifying vicissitudes of its bloody redemption from the accursed slave-raider, and finally its admission into the society of independent nations, constitute a set of circumstances unparelleled in the history of the world. The span of its life from a wilderness to a self-supporting and prosperous State is about twenty-five years. Its rapid evolution was at first watched with sneers and derision. During the last ten years it has been the object of the hostile vigilance of those whose early regard had been scorn. Young as it is, a considerable literature already exists descriptive of the infant State. This literature, however, is very unsatisfactory, being for the most part bitterly partisan, either perceiving no good point at all in King Leopold’s rule, or regarding that rule as a perfect thing in which no improvement is possible. Neither attitude is just. And this may be said not only of the Congo Free State and its irresolute[Pg 473] and disappointing African neighbours, but of States whose civilisation is the pride of our own times.

There have been error and crime on the Congo as there have been error and crime on the Thames and the Hudson. Savages left the banks of the Thames nearly eighteen hundred years ago. The white man came and refined their cruelties in a thousand ways now practised by civilisation behind the curtain and the padded door.

The aboriginal black cannibal still occupies the banks of the Congo. But his nature, so recently in its savage state, is manifesting great change. He is on his knees in the mission chapel; the song of the White Fathers and the Sisters of Mercy inspires in him the rude awakening of new emotions. His own voice abandons the war-cry and makes its fervid, untaught plea to the white man’s God.

On the Congo, religion is perforce a plain, sincere, and a comforting thing. It is taught by a small, earnest band of men and women whom the epithets of the flaccid, arm-chair colonising hero will not disturb. These rugged Christian teachers pursue their lowly, patient work to please God—not Liverpool. On the Congo, the gospel knows nothing of the elaborations of insincerity, sophistry, and cant. It finds the soul of the black man in a patient and a practical way by instructing his body in the habits of honest toil, of cleanliness and decency, and by developing an intelligence to supersede his savage instinct.

The results of only twenty years’ guidance in this[Pg 474] direction are manifest to-day. They have placed the Negro in the midst of the uncovered wealth of a vast and fertile country; of waterways teeming with traffic; of a magnificent forest stored with rubber; timber of great variety, ivory, oil, and fruit; of promising fields of coffee, cotton, cocoa, tea, and sugar; deposits of gold, copper, coal, and iron. This short era of civilisation has created in the Congo over four hundred commercial houses doing a thriving business with Europe; built railways over mountain routes where only Belgian engineers and Belgian capital had the courage and the skill to venture. In the midst of it all the black man’s hands and acquired energy have provided him with new value to himself and to the State. He is at the plough, on the cart and the railway, on the wharf and upon the road and the farm, in the shop and factory, learning the uses of the white man’s implements of labour, and imitating his enlightened ways. Industry and order, Christianity, civilisation, and material progress have succeeded tribal wars, cannibalism, and the horrible atrocities of the slave chase. This has been achieved by the brawny men of Belgium in less than twenty years.

The smug men of the study, untravelled in regions wilder than Westminster, St. Albans, or Liverpool, are as incompetent to judge of civilisation in Congoland as are the Manyema of the lack of it on Park Lane, in London. Their beautiful theories of civilising the African Negro with illuminated manuscripts, florid dissertations on the Berlin Act, and freedom of (alcoholic) commerce, constitute a pyramid[Pg 475] of fustian with but a single thought starring its apex—Empire.

While the English campaign against the Congo Administration was confined to nebulous libels, proceeding for the greater part from wrangling missionaries and aggressive traders, it was the policy of that Administration, conscious of its own rectitude, to ignore the attacks made upon it. In light of subsequent events, the wisdom of that course appears open to question. Did not one of England’s poets observe that a lie seven times repeated without being challenged acquires the force of truth? Some of the fiction concocted by enemies of the Congo Free State has been so industriously reiterated by so many different agents of English traders that, collectively, the British Government could no longer refuse to give ear to their vapourings. Whether the British Government did so willingly or unwillingly is another story. What has been the outcome of that Government’s acquiescence in the demands of the slanderers of the Congo Free State the world now knows. Mr. Roger Casement was sent to the Free State, where he traversed ground carefully mapped out for him, and interviewed natives specially instructed in their parts by the persons whose agitation had occasioned his mission. The result was precisely what might have been expected, and that without impeachment of Mr. Casement’s integrity—an inaccurate and partial report. That report, magnified, distorted, garbled, has afforded material for the enemies of the Congo Free State upon which they have not yet ceased to work. The refutation of all its more important pronouncements[Pg 476] will probably not disconcert Mr. Casement’s believers in the least, as they are immune to the logic of facts. Nevertheless, the Sovereign of the Congo Free State, in order that the world may not accept as a thing against which no defence can be made the judgment passed upon his rule by the cliques banded together to embarrass or overthrow it, in July, 1904, resolved to send a special commission to the Congo to inquire into the atrocities alleged to have been committed.

The Committee of Inquiry appointed by King Leopold consists of the following members: (1) M. Janssens, Advocate-General of the Supreme Court of Belgium, president; (2) Baron Nisco, Judge of the Court of Appeal at Boma, and (3) Dr. De Schumacher. M. Janssens, who as Advocate-General holds the second highest judicial office in Belgium, is a Belgian; Baron Nisco is an Italian, and Dr. Schumacher is a Swiss. Assisting these three heads of the mission are MM. De Neyn and Grégoire and Professor Dupont, all of whom are Belgians. These gentlemen constitute a Court of Inquiry, and their instructions are to investigate closely every detail of Congo administration, and to examine on oath every person who may be able to give evidence of a nature valuable to the commission. The testimony of missionaries and traders is now being taken, and the committee will see to it that they obtain the evidence of the heads of British and American, as well as of Belgian, French, German, and Italian missions. The investigations are being held in many parts of the State. The committee is to travel[Pg 477] throughout the country into all the districts covered by Mr. Casement in his recent tour of inspection, besides visiting many places Mr. Casement never saw. In brief, the committee is to hold inquiry wherever evidence can be obtained. Where native witnesses give evidence of a nature prejudicial to white men, the committee will see that such witnesses are protected from the possibility of suffering at the hands of officials against whom they may bear witness. The Government of the Congo holds itself responsible for the safety and well-being of such witnesses. On this latter point King Leopold has expressed himself in the strongest possible terms. Inquiries are to be held publicly, open to all. The committee has the right to compel witnesses to appear before it. A general instruction to the committee asks for a report laying bare absolutely the condition of the rule in the Congo to-day, and enjoins it to devote all its efforts to a full and entire revelation of the truth. The duration of the stay of the Committee of Inquiry in Congoland is limited only by the exigencies of its task. The committee sailed from Southampton, in the Belgian SS. Philippeville, on September 16, 1904, and arrived at Boma early in October.

Such are the constitution, powers, and purpose of the Committee of Inquiry now at work in the Congo Free State. It is almost unnecessary to record that the committee has already been denounced by the enemies of the State on every conceivable ground. “A farcical commission” and “a bogus inquiry” are two of the descriptions which have been applied to[Pg 478] it. That indefatigable meddler, Mr. H. R. Fox Bourne, who writes contemptuously of Stanley and his work, objected to Dr. Schumacher’s presence on the committee on the ground that he is a brother of King Leopold’s private secretary. On its being pointed out that Dr. Schumacher is nothing of the kind, Mr. Fox Bourne retracts his assertion, and substitutes another equally unfounded. Upon this second statement being questioned, Mr. Fox Bourne withdraws that also, and falls back upon his complaint that the members of the Committee of Inquiry will be paid for their labours. Such contentions are simply fatuous. Does not the Aborigines’ Protection Society pay Mr. Fox Bourne for his labours?

During the few years in which the Belgians have been criticised for their progressive rule in the Congo, the Belgian people have heartily co-operated with their King in his long and arduous work. There has been, however, a small but active section in the Belgian Chamber spasmodically opposed to the Congo, and to any other expansion of territory, influence, or market, on the part of Belgium. This set of politicians, acting in suspicious harmony with the foreign enemies of the Congo State, have been exploited by the latter as representing the attitude of the Belgian people. To carry out this deception, certain foreign papers, peculiarly interested in the affairs of Liverpool merchants with African schemes, publish the speeches of this disloyal minority, and suppress the addresses of Baron de Favereau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count de Smet de Naeyer,[Pg 479] Minister of Finance and Public Works, and other Belgian statesmen. In a masterly arraignment of those members of the Chamber who have been hostile to Belgium in this respect, these gentlemen, by their speeches in Parliament, inspired the organisation, in July, 1903, of a federation composed of religious, commercial, industrial, social, and scientific societies throughout Belgium. This large and representative body is known as The Federation for the Defence of Belgian Interests Abroad. Its short address, presented to President Roosevelt in October, 1904, has already been referred to. In a speech made at a meeting of the societies allied to the Federation, General Baron Wahis, President of the Brussels African Club, and Governor-General of the Congo Free State, eloquently contrasted the condition of the Central African tribes twenty years ago with their improved state to-day. Baron Wahis and Vice-Governor-General Fuchs are men on the spot. Their long experience on the Congo invests their statements with authority. In the address referred to, Baron Wahis narrated the following graphic picture of Congolese conditions two decades ago.

The story of the Congo Free State offers great opportunity for speculation and for prophecy. Taking a broad view of the opinion prevalent in Europe and the United States, the conclusion that Great Britain seeks to acquire important territory in Central Africa is inevitable. This theory of the anti-Congo campaign is strenuously denied by all unofficial persons engaged in that campaign. And yet there are unmistakable signs that of the many theories so industriously exploited, British acquisition of the keystone of African territorial possession seems to be most in line with the history of British methods of expansion. The Free State is one-third the size of the United States. It lies squarely across the heart of Africa, with an outlet to the sea on the West Coast which brings it many miles and many days nearer European markets. It separates the British African Empire,—the Soudan and the Nile country adjoining the Free State on the north, from the Cape and the Boer war territorial acquisitions on the south. It is as if the Louisiana Purchase, owned[Pg 482] by a small country, say Portugal, divided the United States. One might dwell long and interestingly upon the political possibilities of such a rich country and its great waterways separating the energies of the east and the west in our country’s social, political, and strategic solidarity. The British and the Germans appreciate the vast possibilities of the great African Continent. While the former expands its territory by costly wars, the latter, by adapting its methods to suit the native populations, encompasses the African market. While the former persists in imposing its ancient, crude, and ineffectual methods of colonial development, the latter, more modern, more direct, more flexible, is gaining trade and influence which might belong to intelligent British rule. The palsied arm and the obsolete method of regeneration, prevalent in the territories devastated by the Boer war, illustrate the incompetency of the present generation of British colonisers. Their failures are multiplying. It is the old story of worship of the Past, confusion in the Present, misconception of the Future.

The growth of the Congo Free State has from the first been skilfully directed by clever men of thought and action. Now that the transformation is complete, and what but three short decades ago was the very heart of savagery has become a valuable commercial and political asset, the forcible ejectment from the African Continent of the authors of all this good is openly discussed! Such is the reward which it is proposed should be meted out to the gallant, self-sacrificing little nation which has replaced the[Pg 483] horrors of barbarism by the blessings of civilisation, and incidentally discovered vast material wealth. After disposing of the Belgian African possession, that international pigmy, Portugal, occupying Delagoa Bay to the obvious chagrin of Britain, will be served with the long-expected writ of ejectment. These little fellows in Africa will have but one choice of leaving—by the door or by the window. Will the world tolerate such iniquity?—an iniquity of the baser sort, veiled with specious pretence. Much depends upon the attitude of the American people—youngest of the great nations, herself too recently emerged from the trials and tribulations which beset every newly created State not to discriminate between greed and hypocritical pretence on the one hand and conscientious well-doing on the other.

[Pg 485]

M. August Sparhawk, agent of the International Expedition of the Upper Congo, acting in the name and for the account of the Comité d’Études, of the Lower Congo, and Vivi Mavungu, Vivi Mku, Ngusu Mpanda, Benzane Congo, Kapita, have come together the 13th of June, 1880, at the station Vivi, in order to discuss and to decide upon certain measures of common interest.

After full examination they have arrived at the dispositions and engagements which are embodied in the present treaty, to wit:

Article I.—The aforesaid chiefs of the district of Vivi recognise that it is highly desirable that the Comité d’Études of the Congo should create and develop in their states establishments calculated to foster commerce and trade, and to assure to the country and its inhabitants the advantages which are the consequence thereof.

With this object they cede and abandon, in full property, to the Comité d’Études the territory comprised within the following limits: To the west and north and east the left banks of the river Lulu, and to the south the districts of Kolu and Congo.

Art. II.—The chiefs of the district of Vivi solemnly declare that these territories form an integral part of their states, and that they are able freely to dispose of them.

Art. III.—The cession of the territories specified in the last paragraph of Article I is consented to in consideration of a present represented by the following articles and goods to each one: A uniform coat, a cap, a coral necklace, a knife; and a monthly gift to Vivi Mavungu of two pieces of cloth; to Vivi Mku of one piece of cloth; to Ngusu Mpanda, one piece of cloth; to Benzane Congo, one piece of cloth; to Kapita, one piece of cloth.

Art. IV.—The cession of the territory includes the abandonment by them and the transfer to the Comité d’Études of all sovereign rights.

Art. V.—The Comité d’Études engages itself expressly to leave to the natives the free enjoyment of the lands which they now cultivate to supply their needs. It promises to protect them and to defend their persons and their property against aggressions and encroachments,[Pg 488] from whatsoever side, which shall attack their individual liberty or shall seek to take away from them the fruit of their labours.

Art. VI.—The chiefs of the district of Vivi grant, besides, to the Comité d’Études—

(1) The cession of all the routes of communication now open or to be opened throughout the whole extent of their states. If the Comité deems it proper it shall have the right to establish and levy for its own profit tolls upon said routes, to defray the expenses incurred in their construction. The routes thus opened shall embrace, besides the routes properly so-called, a breadth of twenty metres right and left therefrom. This breadth constitutes part of the cession, and shall be, like the route itself, the property of the Comité d’Études.

(2) The right of trading freely with the natives who form part of their states.

(3) The right of cultivating unoccupied lands; to open up the forests; to cut trees; to gather india rubber, copal, wax, honey, and, generally, all the natural productions which are found there; to fish in the rivers and streams and water-courses, and to work the mines.

It is understood that the Comité can exercise the several rights mentioned in the third paragraph throughout the whole extent of the states of the chiefs of Vivi.

Art. VII.—The chiefs of the district of Vivi undertake to unite their forces to those of the Comité to repel attacks which may be made by intruders, no matter of what colour.

The chiefs, not knowing how to sign, have put their marks, in the presence of the witnesses hereafter designated and who have signed.

During the palabre held at Manyanga the 12th of August, 1882, it is agreed between the members hereinafter designated of the Expedition of the Upper Congo:

Dr. Edward Pechuel Loesche, chief of the Expedition;

Capt. Edmund Hanssens, chief of the division of Leopold-Manyanga;

Lieut. Arthur Niles, chief of Manyanga;

First Lieut. Orban, deputy chief of Manyanga;

Edward Ceris, assistant of Pechuel, representing the Comité of the Upper Congo;

and the chiefs hereafter named of Manyanga—

Makito, of Kintamba;

Nkosi, of Kintamba;[Pg 489]

Filankuni, of Kintamba;

Maluka, of Kintamba;

Kuakala, of Kintamba;

Mankatula, of Kintamba-Kimbuku;

Luamba, of Kintamba;

In the name of their subjects.

Article I.—Hereafter the territory of Manyanga, heretofore belonging to the chiefs before cited, situated north and south of the river, and bounded on the west by the stream Luseto, and by the stream Msua Mungua on the east, shall be the sole property of the Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo.

Art. II.—The chiefs and their subjects, their villages, their plantations, their domestic animals, and fishing apparatus shall be placed under the protection of the Expedition.

Art. III.—In all political affairs of the populations of the district protected and acquired, their quarrels, differences, elections of chiefs, shall be submitted to the decision of the member of the Expedition who shall be present at the station.

If the people of Manyanga shall be attacked by neighbouring tribes, the Expedition shall defend their women and children and their property by all the means in their power. If the Expedition shall be attacked by another tribe, the men shall be bound to defend the station.

Art. IV.—In consequence of the rights acquired and protection afforded, no stranger whatsoever can build or open a road or carry on commerce in the territory of Manyanga.

Art. V.—At the request of the chief of the station, the chief of the district shall put at his disposition the necessary number of labourers, men or women, for the work of the station and the service of the caravans.

Art. VI.—Besides the sum stipulated, which has been remitted in goods to the assembled chiefs in payment for their territories, and for which they have given a receipt, the chiefs shall receive monthly presents on condition that they remain true friends and voluntarily perform the services asked of them.

Art. VII.—The first chief of Manyanga, Makito, residing at Kintamba, receives the flag of the Expedition, which he will raise in his village in sign of the protection exercised by the Expedition.

[Here follow the crosses and signatures.]

29th of April, 1883.

We, the undersigned, chiefs of the district of N’Kamo, of Kuiswangi, of Kimpe, and of all the districts extending from the river Congo to[Pg 490] Leopoldville and to Ntamo, up to the river Lutess and the mountains of Sama Sankori, have resolved to put ourselves, as well as our heirs and descendants, under the protection and patronage of the Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo, and to give power to its representative at Miamo to regulate all disputes and conflicts that may arise between us and foreigners of whatsoever colour, residing out of the district or territory of N’Kamo, in order to prevent strangers, animated by wicked intentions or ignorant of our customs, from exciting embarrassments or endangering the peace and security and independence which we now enjoy.

By the present act we also resolve to adopt the flag of the Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo, as a sign for each and all of us that we are under its sole protection.

We also solemnly and truly declare that this is the only contract we have ever made, and that we will never make any contract with any European or African without the concurrence and agreement of the Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo.

To the above resolution we freely put our marks.

Ngaliema, his X mark.
Makari, his X mark.
Numbi, his X mark.
Manwale, his X mark.
Nyasko, his X mark.

Article I.—The party first named engages himself to make to the second party named above an immediate payment of 60 yards of savelist, 20 pieces of superior stuffs, 8 pieces of ratteen stuff, and a keg of powder. He, moreover, engages to make to the above-named party of the second part, his heirs and successors, a monthly payment, which shall commence in four months, with arrears from the date of this contract, of four pieces of stuffs, and to continue always this payment, if, in compensation therefor, the party of the second part, in his name and in that of his heirs and successors, makes an absolute and immediate sale of a certain portion of territory sketched further on, described[Pg 491] in Art. II., the territory selected by the first-named party, and over which the flag of the Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo, that is to say, a blue flag with a yellow star in the centre, has been raised.

Art. II.—The country ceded by the above-named article is described below, and accepted by the contracting parties, Captain John Grant Elliott and the King.

1. Six miles towards the west, from the junction of the Niadi and the Ludema, and following the banks of the Niadi (Niari).

2. Ten miles from the same confluence, towards the south, and following the banks of the Ludema.

3. Ten miles towards the east, from the confluence above named, and following the course of the Niadi (Niari).

4. Ten miles towards the south, from the same confluence, and following the Ludema.

5. Ten miles to the north of the Niadi (Niari), on each side from that point of the Niadi opposite the mouth of the Ludema, running back five miles towards the north.

Grant Elliott,
Wuln M’boomga.

Witnesses:
Von Shaumann,
Legat,
Destrain.

Stations: Vivi, Isanghila, Manyanga, Lutete, Leopoldville, Msuata, Bolobo, Rudolfstadt, Baudoinville, Franktown, Stanley Niadi, Stephanieville, Anvers, Gideemba, Lukolela, Equateur, Philippeville, Bulangungu, Mboka, Mkula, Grantville, Massabe.

Treaties and Districts ceded: Vivi, Yellala, Sala Kidougo, Ganghila, Sadika Banzi, Ingha, N’Sanda, Kionzo, N’Bambi M’bongo, Talaballa, Issanghila, Ndambi M’bongo, M’Kelo, Fua na Sondy, Konimovo M’Bongo, Yanga, Kamsalou, M’binda, Sakali Boadi, Tchouma Ranga, Tombukile, Ngoma, N’Zadi, Tchincala, Banza ngombi, Manyanga, Bandanga, Banza, M’bou, Sello, Loufountchou, Kimbanda, Ngombi, Leopoldville, Kimpoko, Kinshassa, Kintambou, Souvoulou, M’bala, Woutimi (south), Woutimi (north), Msuata, Bolobo, Matchibouga, Tchissanga, Kitabi, Zientu, Mengo, Franktown, Goudou, Ganda, Fouindoukifout, Makouba Banga, Sitambe, Bieba, Moyby, Matalila, N’Zombo, Ganda Kobombo, Mabuka, Chinnifor, Mudenda, Nyange, Lubu, Zoa, N’Gewlla Chunikonbo, M’Gwella, Sangha, Charli, Mikasse, Moulangas, Mackanga, Ludema, Ungoonga, Buconzo, Matenda, Tanga Dibiconga, Licarnga, Bumianga, Chibanda N’Kuni, Kingi, Anversland, Buda, Towha, Gideemba, Sushwangi.

March 26, 1884—Ordered to be printed

Mr. Morgan, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following

REPORT

(To accompany S. Res. 68 and Mis. Doc. 59)

The Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom were referred Senate Mis. Doc. No. 59 and Senate Joint Resolution 68, relating to the occupation of the Congo Country, in Africa, have had the same under consideration, and report a substitute for the same, and recommend its passage.

The President, in his annual message to this Congress, expresses the sentiment of the people of the United States on the subject of our future relations with the inhabitants of the valley of the Congo, in Africa.

Our attitude towards that country is exceptional, and our interest in its people is greatly enhanced by the fact that more than one-tenth of our population is descended from the negro races in Africa.

The people of the United States, with but little assistance from the Government, have established a free republic in Liberia, with a constitution modelled after our own, and under the control of the negro race. Its area is 14,300 square miles; its population is about 1,200,000 souls; its commerce is valuable; its government is successful, and its people are prosperous.

The necessity for a negro colony in Liberia was suggested by the fact that slaves found in vessels captured for violations of the slave-trade laws and treaties were required to be returned to Africa when that was practicable, and it was impossible, and it would have been useless and cruel, to send them back to the localities where they were first enslaved. Humanity prompted certain private citizens of the United States to organise the American Colonisation Society in aid of the return of captured slaves to Africa and to find a congenial asylum and home for negroes who were emancipated in the United States.

Henry Clay was, for many years, president of this association, and assisted it with the influence of his great name and broad philanthropy.

The success of the Liberian colony has demonstrated the usefulness of that system of dealing with a social question which is, to the people of the United States, of the highest importance. It has also established a recognised precedent in favour of the right of untitled individuals to found states in the interests of civilisation in barbarous countries, through the consent of the local authorities, and it has given[Pg 493] confidence to those who look to the justice of the nations for a restoration of the emancipated Africans to their own country, if they choose to return to it.

This great duty has, so far, been left entirely to the efforts of citizens of the United States, and it has been supported almost exclusively by their personal contributions. The governments of the world have been slow even to recognise the state thus founded by the courage and means of private citizens, but it is now firmly established in the family of nations and is everywhere recognised as a free and independent nation.

This pleasing history of progress, attended with peace and prosperity in Liberia, has given rise to a feeling of earnest interest amongst the people of the United States in the questions which arise from the recent discovery by their countryman, H. M. Stanley, of the great river which drains equatorial Africa. They rejoice in the revelation that this natural highway affords navigation for steamers extending more than half the distance across the continent, and opens to civilisation the valley of the Congo, with its 900,000 square miles of fertile territory and its 50,000,000 of people, who are soon to become most useful factors in the increase of the productions of the earth and in swelling the volume of commerce.

The movements of the International African Association which, with a statement of its purposes, are referred to in the letter of the Secretary of State, appended to this report, are in the direction of the civilisation of the negro population of Africa, by opening up their country to free commercial relations with foreign countries.

As a necessary incident of this praiseworthy work, which is intended, in the broadest sense, for the equal advantage of all foreign nations seeking trade and commerce in the Congo country, the African International Association has acquired, by purchase from the native chiefs, the right of occupancy of several places for their stations and depots. The property so acquired is claimed only for the association, which is composed of persons from various countries, and it could not, therefore, be placed under the shelter of any single foreign flag.

From the time when the people of Christian countries began to export slaves from Africa, the custom grew up of locating “barracoons” or slave depots along the African coasts and rivers, and they were each placed under the shelter of the flag of the country to which the slave merchants belonged. In this way certain settlements were made along the shores of the Congo River as far inland as Yellalla Falls, and were claimed and held under the protection of the respective flags of the countries from which these traders came.

This was, generally, a mere personal adventure, and had no relation to any governmental authority of those countries over the barracoons. When this traffic took the shape of legitimate commerce with the[Pg 494] natives, these places were called factories, and they gradually assumed certain powers of self-government as their necessities required. Each factory was independent of the control of all others, and established for itself such regulations, having really the effect of laws, as were necessary to protect life and property. To this day those settlements are held in the same way, and while the governments, whose flags are thus displayed over them, claim no sovereignty there, they do not recognise the rights of their people at such places as entitling them to protection, and they require their flags to be respected.

In some instances the native chiefs sold the lands on which the factories were situated, with the privileges of trade to foreign companies, and these in turn sold them to persons of still other nationalities.

The African International Association established its stations, and opened roads leading from one to another around the falls of the Congo in the same way that the older factories had been established, with the additional fact in their favour that their settlements were always preceded by an open agreement with the local government in the form of a treaty. A flag was as necessary for the purposes of their settlement and as an indication of their right and to designate the places under their control, as it was to the slave-traders, whose only advantage is that they have been in possession a long time for the purposes of nefarious traffic in slaves, while the Association has been in possession only a short time for the benign purposes of introducing civilisation into that country.

Having no foreign flag that they could justly claim, they adopted a flag and displayed it, a golden star in a field of blue, the symbol of hope to a strong but ignorant people, and of prosperity through peace. The native people instinctively regarded that as the first banner they had seen that promised them goodwill and security, and they readily yielded to it their confidence.

There is no historical record to be found of such a rapid and general assembling of separate and independent rulers under a banner that was raised by the hands of strangers, as that which took place amongst the chiefs and people of the Free States of the Congo. Within five years from the time the banner of this Association was first displayed on the Congo, its agents have made nearly one hundred treaties with the chiefs of the different tribes in the Congo country. In each of these treaties there are valuable commercial agreements and regulations touching law and order and certain delegations of limited powers, all of which are intended for the better government of the country.

The powers are not ceded to a new and usurping sovereignty seeking to destroy existing governments, but are delegated to a common agent for the common welfare. In the language of the first treaty, concluded at Vivi June 13, 1880, and which is the plan after which nearly one hundred subsequent treaties have been modelled:

[Pg 495]

“The aforesaid chiefs of the district of Vivi recognise that it is highly desirable that the Comité d’Études of the Congo should create and develop in their states establishments calculated to foster commerce and trade, and to assure to the country and its inhabitants the advantages which are the consequence thereof.

“With this object in view they cede and abandon, in full property (fee-simple) to the Comité d’Études, the territory comprised within the following limits,” etc.

A copy of this treaty is appended to the report of the committee.

If these local governments had the right to make these concessions, so much sovereign power as they confer upon the African International Association is entitled to recognition by other nations as justifying its claim to existence as a government de jure. Or, if there is still a question as to its sovereignty, affecting either its territorial extent or the subjects as to which it may legislate, there is still enough of concert amongst the native tribes, in placing themselves in treaty relations with this Association, to warrant other nations in recognising its existence as a government de facto. In either case, it is our duty so to recognise it, because its purposes, as avowed in those treaties, are peaceful, and commend themselves strongly to the sympathies of our people.

The golden star of the banner of the International Association represents hospitality to the people and commerce of all nations in the Free States of the Congo; civilisation, order, peace, and security to the persons and property of those who visit the Congo country, as well as to its inhabitants; and if, in the promotion of these good purposes, it lawfully represents powers ceded or delegated to the Association by the local governments necessary to make them effectual, it does not thereby offend against humanity nor unlawfully usurp authority in derogation of the rights of any nation upon the earth.

Powers asserted in good faith, and with a reasonable show of ability to maintain them, even by rebels, within a state that denounces their assertion as treasonable, are often recognised as being lawful, as well in the interests of humanity, as to give to the alleged rebels an opportunity to make good their pretensions by arms.

The history of our recent civil war discloses the recognition of the belligerent rights of the Confederate States by all nations, including the United States, which wholly denied the lawfulness of the acts of secession which led to hostilities and denounced them as treasonable.

If the flag of the Confederate States could protect its armed citizens against the penalties of piracy while destroying the ships and commerce of the United States, it would be difficult to state a reason why the flag of the International African Association should not protect its ships from capture and condemnation while carrying on peaceful commerce on the Congo. It would be still more difficult for any[Pg 496] Christian nation to assign a reason founded in the principles of international law why it should refuse to recognise this flag. The Congo River has been for centuries, and is now, the common resort of the ships and flags of all countries, and it requires a total change of the political conditions in that country to destroy this right, and either to declare the waters and shores of the Congo as being neutral territory or as being under the sovereignty of any one or more of the foreign nations.

These reasons, and others which appear in the papers appended to this report, are a just and sufficient foundation for the declaration by the United States which individualises the flag of the African International Association as a national flag, entitled to our recognition and respect.

The precedents in our own history to justify our recognition of states while in the process of early development are numerous and conclusive. They are cited in the papers appended to this report, and are sustained by many other references which show that in Europe, Asia, and Africa civil power, exerted by commercial associations, and by religious orders, and by propagandas of civilisation, and by groups of Hospitallers, has owned large war fleets and raised armies, fought great battles, levied taxes, and performed every function of government. They did all this without claiming to possess sovereign power as organised nations; and they submitted themselves to the authority of the state after they had prepared the country where they ruled for that final act of establishment of sovereign power, and then they ceased to exist.

It is not necessary to go further in order to find a justification of the action suggested in the message of the President, and of the resolution which the Committee on Foreign Relations recommend as a proper means of carrying into effect this policy concerning the Free States of the Congo.

It is, however, proper to make some examination of the alleged claim of Portugal to the sovereignty of the mouth of the Congo, and of the riparian country as far into the interior as the first falls of Yellalla.

Portugal’s pretensions to this sovereignty are completely refuted by the fact that it has not been heretofore acknowledged by the five great powers whose flags have been flying for more than a century in the country now claimed by that Government. On the contrary, these powers have constantly refused to make any such concession on all occasions since 1786, and some of them previous to that time.

The claim of Portugal, based on discovery of the mouth of the Congo by Diego Cam in 1485, and by his having erected a monument on the shore to testify to his landing there, only establishes its antiquity and not its rightfulness under modern interpretations of the laws of nations.

[Pg 497]

If the laws of Christian nations give any effect to the discovery by the subjects of a Christian power, of a country inhabited even by savages, they also require that discovery shall be followed by continuous subsequent occupation. If such occupation ceases, it is justly considered as being abandoned, since the only foundation of reason or of justice that can support the occupation of an inhabited country by a foreign power is, that it is better that the savages should have the advantages of Christian instruction and laws, than that they should continue in darkness to rule the country in their own way. If, therefore, the Christian ruler should cease to occupy the country, it must be considered that he abandons his duty, and, with it, the sovereignty of the country.

Portugal did not exert continuous or exclusive authority on the Congo for any great while; her possessions there, as well as those of the other Christian powers, fluctuated with the supply of slaves, the capture or purchase of which was the chief inducement to these settlements. They all followed up the supply of slaves from the interior of Africa, along the coast, according to its abundance, as the fishermen visit different localities in search of better fishing grounds.

In 1786, disputes having arisen between France and Portugal, as to the sovereignty of the latter over the mouth of the Congo, under the mediation of the King of Spain, Portugal conceded the point that her rights in that country were not exclusive. Since that time England has repeatedly denied, in the most formal and solemn manner, that Portugal had any sovereignty or suzerainty over the Congo country. None of the great powers claimed such sovereignty for themselves, nor have they conceded it to Portugal; their occupancy has not been such as implied any right to rule the country, but only such as was necessary to carry on trade. That is equally free to all nations. In the papers appended to this report, and especially in the valuable testimony of Earl Mayo, based upon his personal observations in the Congo country in 1882, we find the most conclusive proof upon all the points above stated, and unquestionable evidence that Portugal’s northernmost boundary on the West Coast of Africa, south of the Equator, for many years past, has been the river Loge.

The attitude of Great Britain towards the pretensions of Portugal to the sovereignty of the Lower Congo has been that of decided, frequent, and stern denial, accompanied with distinct orders to her fleets to repel any advance of Portugal to assert her authority north of Ambriz. This record, so repeatedly reaffirmed, is by no means changed by the fact that Great Britain may now be ready to admit Portugal, in alliance with her, to sovereign rights in the Lower Congo. Her change of policy cannot change the facts, especially when Great Britain obtains from Portugal the cession of Wydha in consideration that she will acknowledge the rights of Portugal to the sovereignty of the Lower[Pg 498] Congo. Great Britain has also made treaties with fifteen tribes in the Lower Congo country, paying no attention to Portugal’s claims of sovereignty there.

In like manner France has disregarded these pretensions, and has made treaties with tribes north of the Congo. De Brazza, an enterprising explorer, went into that region of Africa as an agent of the African International Association, and also as an agent of the French Government, and was supported with money from the French treasury. He made these treaties in the name of France, and the Chamber of Deputies has ratified them. In view of these facts it can scarcely be denied that the native chiefs have the right to make treaties. The able and exhaustive statements and arguments of Sir Travers Twiss, the eminent English jurist, and of Professor Arntz, the no less distinguished Belgian publicist, which are appended to this report, leave no doubt upon the question of the legal capacity of the African International Association, in view of the laws of nations, to accept any powers belonging to these native chiefs and governments which they may choose to delegate or cede to them.

The practical question to which they give an affirmative answer, for reasons which appear to be indisputable, is this: Can independent chiefs of savage tribes cede to private citizens (persons) the whole or part of their states, with the sovereign rights which pertain to them, conformably to the traditional customs of the country?

The doctrine advanced in this proposition, and so well sustained by these writers, accords with that held by the Government of the United States, that the occupants of a country at the time of its discovery by other and more powerful nations have the right to make the treaties for its disposal, and that private persons, when associated in such country, for self-protection or self-government, may treat with the inhabitants for any purpose that does not violate the laws of nations.

The following incidents, mentioned in Bancroft’s History of the United States, show how much we owe, as a people, to the early recognition of these doctrines:

“MASSACHUSETTS

“One day in March, 1621, Samoset, an Indian, who had learned a little English of the fishermen at Penobscot, entered the town, and, passing to the rendezvous, exclaimed in English, ‘Welcome, Englishmen!’ He was the envoy of Massasoit himself, the greatest commander of the country, sachem of the tribe possessing the land north of Narragansett Bay, and between the rivers of Providence and Taunton. After some little negotiation, in which an Indian who had been carried to England acted as interpreter, the chieftain came in person to visit the Pilgrims. With their wives and children they amounted to no more than fifty. He was received with due ceremonies, and a treaty[Pg 499] of friendship was completed in few and unequivocal terms. Both parties promised to abstain from mutual injuries, and to deliver up offenders; the colonists were to receive assistance, if attacked; to render it, if Massasoit should be attacked unjustly. The treaty included the confederates of the sachem; it is the oldest act of diplomacy recorded in New England; it was concluded in a day, and was sacredly kept for more than half a century.”—(Bancroft’s History of the United States, p. 210.)

“The men of Plymouth exercised self-government without the sanction of a royal charter, which it was ever impossible for them to obtain.”—(Ibid., p. 213.)

“The attempt to acquire the land on Narragansett Bay was less deserving of success.... In 1641 a minority of the inhabitants, wearied with harassing disputes, requested the interference of the magistrates of Massachusetts, and two sachems near Providence surrendered the soil to the jurisdiction of that State.”—(Ibid., p. 287.)

“PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS AND RHODE ISLAND

“In June (1636) the law-giver of Rhode Island (Roger Williams), with five companies, embarked on the stream; a frail Indian canoe contained the founder of an independent State and its earliest citizens. Tradition has marked the spring of water near which they landed. To express unbroken confidence in the mercies of God, he called the place Providence.... The land which he occupied was within the territory of the Narragansetts. In March, 1636, an Indian deed from Canonicus and Miantonomoh made him the undisputed possessor of an extensive domain; but he ‘always stood for liberty and equality both in land and government.’ The soil became his ‘own as truly as any man’s coat upon his back’; and he ‘reserved to himself not one foot of land, not one tittle of political power, more than he granted to servants and strangers.’ He gave away his lands and other estates to them that he thought most in want until he gave away all.”—(Ibid., p. 254.)

“Before the month (March, 1638) was at an end, the influence of Roger Williams and the name of Henry Vane prevailed with Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragansetts, to make them a gift of the beautiful island of Rhode Island.... A patent from England was necessary for their security; and in September they obtained it through the now powerful Henry Vane.”—(Ibid., p. 263.)

“CONNECTICUT

“In equal independence a Puritan colony sprang up at New Haven, under the guidance of John Davenport as its pastor, and of his friend the excellent Theophilus Eaton.... In April, 1638, the colonists[Pg 500] held their first gathering under a branching oak.... A title to lands was obtained by a treaty with the natives whom they protected against the Mohawks.”—(Ibid., p. 271.)

“NEW HAMPSHIRE

“At the fall of the leaf in 1635, a band of twelve families, toiling through thickets of ragged bushes and clambering over crossed trees, made their way along Indian paths to the green meadows of Concord. A tract of land six miles square was purchased for the planters of the squaw sachem and a chief, to whom, according to Indian laws of property, it belonged.”—(Ibid., p. 271.)

“NORTH CAROLINA

“In 1660 or 1661 New England men had found their way into the Cape Fear River, had purchased of the Indian chief a title to the soil, and had planted a little colony of herdsmen far to the south of any English settlement on the continent.”—(Ibid., p. 409.)

“It is known that in 1662 the chief of a tribe of Indians granted to George Durant the neck of land which still bears his name.”—(Ibid., p. 410.)

We owe it as a duty to our African population that we should endeavour to secure to them the right to freely return to their fatherland, and as freely to agree with their kindred people upon any concessions they may choose to make to them as individuals or as associated colonists, looking to their re-establishment in their own country. The deportation of their ancestors from Africa in slavery was contrary to the now accepted canons of the laws of nations, and now they may return under those laws to their natural inheritance. In exercising this right they should not be obstructed by a power that had more to do with their enslavement and expulsion, in bondage, from their own country than any other, and that never held a claim upon that country for any purpose of advantage to the people there, but held it chiefly, if not entirely, for the mere purpose of enslaving them.

It is stated, with the support of strong testimony, that Portugal is still protecting the slave trade on the West Coast of Africa under a thin guise of the voluntary emigration of the negroes to other countries.

Extracts appended to this report, from Earl Mayo’s De Rebus Africanus, in which he gives an account of his personal examination, in 1882, of the Portuguese trading posts, supported by the report of M. du Verge, our United States consul at St. Paul de Loando, show that slavery still exists in the country claimed by Portugal on the Congo, and is fostered there and at St. Paul de Loando by the Portuguese residents.

This violation of the slave-trade treaties renders the occupancy by[Pg 501] Portugal of any African territory at the mouth of the Congo dangerous to all the tribes of the interior, and cannot be sanctioned by the treaty powers while it is attended with such incidents without an abandonment of all treaty obligations and duties relating to the slave trade.

The importance of the Congo River to the continent of Africa as a channel through which civilisation and all its attendant advantages will be introduced into a region inhabited by 50,000,000 of people cannot be too highly estimated.

After Stanley had made his journey of exploration of nearly 7000 miles across the continent of Africa, and had revealed to the world the extent and importance of this great river Congo, all the great commercial nations at once began to look earnestly in that direction for a new and most inviting field of commerce, and with the high and noble purpose of opening it freely to the equal enjoyment of all nations alike.

The merchants of Europe and America insist upon this equal and universal right of free trade with that country, and their Chambers of Commerce have earnestly pressed upon their respective Governments the duty and necessity of such international agreements as would secure these blessings to the people of Africa and of the entire commercial world.

The enlightened King of the Belgians has supplied the means from his private purse to inaugurate civilisation in the Congo country under the authority of its native rulers. He has no thought of extending the power of his realm over that country, but has engaged in this movement only as any citizen might.

Its progress is thus further described by an agent of the African International Association in a letter within the past month:

“Brussels, February 25.

“Our territories are extending now on a very rich coast south and north of the mouths of the Quillou, a distance of more than 350 kilometres (about 300 miles).

“That coast has given itself to us by unanimous acclamation of the natives, who hoisted our flag and refused our presents.

“Our territories are going to be divided into three provinces: (1) Coast and Quillou Madi; (2) Lower Congo, Vivi, Stanley Pool; (3) Upper Congo.

“Our governmental organisations will then be complete: in Africa, a head chief and governors administering the country and justice: in Europe, the association providing for the financial wants of the new State, and representing the new state and many native sovereigns who have confederated with us and hoisted our flag.

“This is the present situation and prospects of the enterprise.”

It may be safely asserted that no barbarous people have ever so readily adopted the fostering care of benevolent enterprise as have the[Pg 502] tribes of the Congo, and never was there a more honest and practical effort made to increase their knowledge and secure their welfare.

The people of the Congo country and their benefactors alike deserve the friendly recognition of the United States in their new national character.

Your committee, therefore, report a substitute for the resolutions referred to them by the Senate, and recommend its passage.

By SIR TRAVERS TWISS

The Congress of Vienna inaugurated a new era in the reciprocal relations of European states, by laying down the principle that these relations should be subordinated to the interests of the European community in case of conflict between the individual interests of the states and that which is just in an international point of view. It is a fact, which is apparent to every attentive observer of the great political evolutions of our century, that it is more and more perceived that the community of nations create obligations towards it, and that the empire of this community over the states which form part of it has several times obtained formal sanction by means of conferences whose protocols point out to us the considerations which dominated their counsels. These protocols form declarations of which all the participants are the sureties. We are proud of modern civilisation. We congratulate ourselves upon the progress of international law among civilised nations. We are therefore justified, it seems to me, in asking of the states which participate in the European concert of public law, whether it would not be possible to assert this principle of duty towards the community of states as a means of solving the question of the Congo, without awaiting the stern necessity of intervening to put an end to war, or, at the least, the occasion of offering mediation to avert a recourse to the sad arbitrament of the sword. The Congo question is in the condition of a young tropical plant, whose germ has not yet commenced to develop, but which will perhaps assume suddenly unexpected proportions.

I have already treated of the free navigation of the Lower Congo, but I have omitted, or at least only glanced at the idea of an international protectorate, under the ægis of which a modus vivendi could be established upon a solid basis of stipulated right, among the diverse nationalities whose flags float over the factories of Banana Creek, at the entrance of the Congo, and thus proclaim the cosmopolitan character of the settlement. Ascending the channel of the river, Punto da Lenha is reached, where a pentarchy, so to say, of European flags[Pg 503] equally affirms the cosmopolitan character of the port, and gives notification that the individual interests which prevail there rest under the protection of five states. Formerly, a common end, the slave trade, was the only bond which united those diverse nationalities in a kind of commercial fraternity. To-day there exists between them a law of usage, intended to regulate their common interests; but this usage leaves much to be desired, and it does not control the private life of the residents of each factory, who are free to regulate, according to their own pleasure, their relations with the natives. In fact, there does not exist social order, properly so called, among the factories; there is no collective will among their members, no authority which they are bound to obey, and one may say, “Ubi nulla societas, ibi nullum jus.” The sad truth of this axiom is confirmed by the stories of frightful cruelties committed upon the natives in the year 1877, an account of which can be found in the dispatches of the English consuls to their Government. (Parliamentary Papers, Africa, No. 2, 1883.)

M. Moynier, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at Geneva, called the attention of the Institute of International Law, during its last session at Munich, to the question of the Congo, and the readers of the Review will remember the proposition which M. Emile de Laveleye developed thereupon (pp. 254-262), asking, in the interests of humanity, that the waters of the Congo should be neutralised by European action. M. Moynier had already treated of this subject at the Institute in Paris, in September, 1878; but it was not expected at that time that the majestic course of waters explored by Stanley in 1877 would soon become the object of dangerous rivalries. The result has proved that the whites, who have formed many stations upon the Upper Congo and its affluents, have already run the risk of being engaged in competitions which may disturb the good feeling between the newcomers and the natives, to whom European civilisation should bring only benefits. The arrival at Stanley Pool of a French expedition which ascended the channel of the river Ogouve, from the affluents of the Congo, has introduced upon the banks of the Upper Congo the representative of a European Government, who has taken possession, in the name of France, of a territory ceded by the native chiefs of the country.

It is evident from the very nature of things that the question of the Congo may properly be divided into two parts, for the Lower Congo is already subjected to an order of things entirely exceptional, in which five European nations participate. This condition of affairs was based originally upon a common traffic in slaves, to which has succeeded a legitimate trade with the natives—a commerce in which the European nations take part in a perfectly independent manner, each for itself. In spite of that, there is on the Lower Congo, because of these nationalities,[Pg 504] a certain solidarity of interest which counsels a common accord upon the subject of the navigation and the police of the river. But, as I have before said, as far as regards criminal jurisdiction, the whites of each factory regard themselves as independent, and not as responsible to any Government whatsoever.

The Upper Congo, on the contrary, bathes the territories of many native tribes. Their chiefs have granted stations to the agents of the International Association, which depend upon no European sovereign, but which are modelled upon certain institutions of the Middle Ages, to enable the population of barbarous Africa to participate in the advantages of European civilisation. All the stations which this Association possesses have been acquired peaceably by treaties with sovereign chiefs of the country. It governs them by intelligent men, belonging to all European nationalities. And, moreover, it has hoisted over these stations a flag which signifies that they belong to no especial nation, but that they form part of an International Association founded in the interests of the natives, and which represents all countries interested in the progress of humanity. A single European nation has entered this humanitarian arena, and that is the French Republic, which, in accepting, as a European State, the cession of territory made to M. Savorgnan de Brazza, has notified the civilised world that France has not sought to put private interests in opposition to the general interests of civilisation, represented in Africa by a flag, the principal merit of which is precisely that of not being the flag of any one power. (See Report presented by the Government of the Republic to the Chamber of Deputies, 20th November, 1882.)

“Neither in the spirit of your Commission [it is there said] nor in the views of the Government, is there any purpose at this moment to go upon the banks of the Congo, or upon the neighbouring shores with military array, but simply to found scientific, hospitable, and commercial stations, without other military force than may be strictly necessary for the protection of the establishments successively created.”

Unfortunately, the appearance of a European national flag upon the banks of Stanley Pool raised the question whether the agent of an association which had not the political character of a State, could, by a cession of the actual Sovereign of the country, acquire and exercise the sovereignty of a territory situated outside of Europe. I say outside of Europe, because we do not seek to find the solution of such a problem, as affecting Africa or Asia, in the existing political condition of affairs in Europe, nor in the fixed regulations of European society, upon which that condition of things rests, but in the unwritten law of nations, which should regulate the relations between free peoples, no matter to what family they belong, nor what religion they profess. Yet the practice of Europe, while Christianity was seeking to accomplish the high mission of civilising the barbarous races on the northern and[Pg 505] eastern frontiers, merits our attention, because of a certain analogy between the condition of those frontiers in the eleventh century, and the present condition of Equatorial Africa.

In order, therefore, to appreciate the action of the International African Association, and to fathom the question whether this action is without precedent in the action of European peoples, it will be profitable, in the first place, to study the archives of a period when Europe was not entirely Christian, and when Christianity made a propaganda among the native pagan tribes who at that time inhabited a part of the country which we now call Prussia. This study will bring to our knowledge the action of an international association which accomplished the civilisation of a country inhabited by people who might be called savages, and, at the same time, will furnish a refutation of the assertion put forth by certain publicists that States alone can exercise the rights of sovereignty.

M. de Laveleye, before cited, has made allusion to the Teutonic Order as an institution for the propagation of civilisation, which, in the Middle Ages, carried civilisation to the populations on the borders of the Baltic and cemented them to the rest of Europe. The action of this famous order in regard to the acquisition of the sovereignty of a barbarous country has an important analogy to the action of the International African Association.

Thus this order was originally a charitable association of Germans which the citizens of the free cities of Bremen and Lubeck instituted at the siege of St. Jean d’Acre, during the Fourth Crusade. Afterwards, this association constituted itself into an order of chivalry towards the end of the twelfth century, and, after the religious enthusiasm to which the Crusades had given birth had ceased to inflame the nations of Southern Europe, the order established itself at Culm, in the country which is now called Western Prussia, where Conrad, Duke of Massovie, of the Polish Dynasty of the Piasts, ceded to it a territory and assured to it the conquests it might make over the idolatrous Prussians. The order by gradual steps established its dominion with Christianity over the whole of Prussia. The city of Konigsberg, upon the Pregel, was built by it in 1255, and the city of Marienbourg, upon the Nougat, which became afterwards the capital of the order, dates its foundation back to the year 1276.[57]

Another order, that of the Chevalier’s Sword-Bearers (Ensiferri), was established in Livonia, where, finding itself too weak to sustain the attacks of the pagans, it ended by uniting itself to the Teutonic Order. This union rendered the Teutonic Order so powerful it was able to[Pg 506] establish its authority over the whole of Prussia, Courland, and Senegal, and from the annalists of that time we learn that in converting the people to Christianity the Teutonic Order subjected them to an exceedingly hard yoke. The Teutonic Order maintained itself in the sovereignty of this country until the middle of the fifteenth century, when it was subjected to great territorial losses in a war against Poland, and was compelled to become the vassal of the King of Poland for East Prussia. It is upon the embers of this order that the Prussian monarchy was established by the courage of the descendants of Duke Albert of Brandenbourg, grand master of the order, the first Duke of Prussia.

It is to be observed that, during all this time that this order was sovereign, it was not recognised as a State, and that the master of Livonia was not admitted to a sitting and vote among the States of the German Empire until after this order had ceased to be sovereign.

The City of Dantzic was, for two centuries, up to 1454, the maritime capital of the order, and it may be said that the Teutonic Order was the supreme power during two centuries on the shores of the Eastern Baltic, without being organised as a State.[58]

On the other hand, in the south of Europe, there was an order of chivalry whose services to civilisation in defending Christian countries against the invasions of the Arabs and the Turks are more famous even than those of the Teutonic Order. I refer to the sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This order, originally founded for the service of the hospital of St. John at Jerusalem, quitted the holy city at the commencement of the fourteenth century and established itself in the island of Rhodes to defend the frontiers of Christianity against the attacks of the Saracens. Then it had to give up the island of Rhodes to the Turks, and it established itself in the island of Malta, of which it obtained the territorial sovereignty as a gift from the Emperor, Charles V., in 1530. Even this order adopted a territorial title, that of the Order of Chevaliers of Malta, and maintained its sovereignty over this island until the year 1798. The English having soon after become masters of the island by conquest from the French, it was proposed by the Congress of Amiens, the 27th March, 1802, to restore the fortress of Malta to the Order of St. John, and to put the independence of the island under the guarantee of the powers uniting in that congress. This project failed. At the Congress of Vienna, in 1815, the Order of Malta demanded to be provided with another[Pg 507] sovereign establishment in the Mediterranean suitable for the institution of the order, and that its independence and neutrality should be guaranteed by all the powers. The congress would not listen to this demand.

I have cited these two examples to show that according to the law of usage of Europe, associations which are not organised as states can, nevertheless, exercise sovereign rights. But it may be said that these orders of chivalry were privileged orders, and that they belong to an epoch when Christian civilisation was propagated at the sword’s point. Putting aside, then, the military epoch of the civilising propaganda, let us pass to the commercial era inaugurated by the discoveries of Christopher Columbus and Vasco de Gama. The theory of publicists which we have to examine is this, that a private association cannot exercise sovereign rights in a barbarous country. A learned collaborateur of the Revue de géographie, of Paris, has formulated it in these terms: “It is a principle of law that states alone can exercise sovereign rights; that no private company can have them.”[59] It is evident that this proposition is affirmed by M. Delavand in too absolute a manner, for the facts of history contradict it. Among the members who formed the great Union of the United States of North America there were at least four which owed their origin to private associations, whose territorial sovereignty had been established before they received any charter of incorporation from the Crown of England. Everybody knows that a commercial company acquired by treaties with the natives the sovereignty of the English Indies. A similar Dutch company acquired and exercised sovereign rights in the island of Java and in the Malaccas. Should there be a different rule in Africa from that which has prevailed in America and Asia? Or should there be, for the young republics of the nineteenth century, a law of nations directly opposed to that which prevailed at the foundation of the independent States on the shores of North America—States whose federation gave birth to the parent republic of our age? I do not think so. Doubtless the national law of a country may prohibit its citizens from accepting the sovereignty of a barbarous country, but the international question must not be confounded with the question of national law, in regard to which we may say, “Extra territorium jus dicenti impune non paretur.”

Will it be said that these ideas are superannuated; that they do not belong to our age? I will reply by a very recent example, which has been the subject of discussion between the Governments of Spain, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. It is known that certain native chiefs on the northern coast of the island of Borneo delegated to a European, a private individual, rights implying the exercise of territorial[Pg 508] sovereignty; that the person to whom the chiefs of the country had delegated supreme power, under the title of maharaja, ceded his rights to a private company, and that that company obtained from the English Crown a charter of incorporation. It may be said that the history of the propagation of civilisation in the seventeenth century in America is renewed in Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century. The English Government regarded this delegation of sovereign rights by native chiefs, in return for an annual subsidy, as a sufficient title to enable the company to exercise these powers, and sustained this proposition before the House of Commons. In reply to a question in regard to the granting of the charter of incorporation, Sir Henry James, Attorney General, said:

“The rights which have been accorded the company have become legally its property, and it would have been an act of confiscation if the Government of Her Majesty had attempted to deprive it of them.”

And the prime minister, Mr. Gladstone, also affirmed that the charter had not granted to the company any power to exercise rights implying sovereignty which it had not already acquired by delegation from native chiefs. A correspondent of the Revue de géographie of Paris has specified these rights according to the contents of the act of delegation.[60] It is not doubtful that in virtue of this act the company, without being a state, can exercise sovereign rights over a considerable territory in the northern part of the island of Borneo. M. E. de Laveleye, before cited, says that Germany, formally consulted by the British Government in 1882, did not question the capacity of private individuals or of companies to obtain from non-civilised Sovereigns the concession of rights implying the exercise of rights of sovereignty. The Governments of the Netherlands and of Spain did not deny such power, but they claimed to have anterior rights over the northern portion of Borneo; and it was in virtue of those anterior rights that they protested against the rights claimed by the British North Borneo Company. It is, therefore, evident that the obstacles which the establishment of stations by the International Association upon the Upper Congo might meet with from European powers are not to be found in the fact that they are in contravention of any law of nations by virtue of which states alone can exercise sovereign rights, but solely in the fact that Portugal pretends, by reason of anterior rights, to deny the capacity of the native chiefs of the country to cede the sovereignty of a part of their territories without the consent of Portugal.

It appears, in the meantime, that the British Government did not[Pg 509] yield to the pretensions raised by Holland and Spain concerning the northern part of the island of Borneo, and that the Government of the French Republic, in spite of the pretensions of Portugal, has recognised the supremacy of a native king upon the Upper Congo, and has accepted the cession of his hereditary rights. This treaty, concluded by M. Savorgnan de Brazza, as the representative of France, at Neousa, the 30th October, 1880, ceded to France a territory which was in the possession of certain chiefs, vassals of the King Makoko; and said chiefs signed the treaty, whilst the King Makoko, in his capacity as suzerain of these chiefs, ceded to France, by an act invested with his mark, his rights of supremacy over this territory. It seems, therefore, that there is no place for a suzerainty of Portugal over the regions around Stanley Pool, according to the opinion of the Government of the French Republic, for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies authorised the President of the Republic to ratify the treaty and act above mentioned, and the President has promulgated a law to give them full effect.

It might reasonably be asked, if there is any difference in principle between the right of African chiefs, admitting they are sovereigns of a territory, and the right of Asiatic chiefs to cede their territory to a private company. France, at least, has recognised the right of King Makoko, suzerain of the Batakes, to cede to a European State his rights of sovereignty, and the right of the chiefs subordinate to his authority to cede the possession of the parts of the territory they occupied. Why should it be forbidden to a native chief to cede his territory to an international European company, which, according to the law of nations, is perfectly capable of accepting and exercising such a sovereignty?

The Comité d’Études of the Upper Congo—for it is necessary to distinguish between the association which occupies the Lower Congo and the association which occupies the Upper Congo—has made, through Mr. Stanley, with the native chiefs, treaties, which in regard to their tenor resemble more closely the treaties concluded by the British Society with the Sultans of Brunei and Sooloo, in the island of Borneo, than the treaties concluded by the native chiefs of the Upper Congo with M. Savorgnan de Brazza. Take for example the treaty which Captain Eliot, agent of Mr. Stanley, concluded with the Chief Manipembo, the 20th of May of this year. The first three articles declare that the Chief Manipembo cedes and abandons to the committee of the Upper Congo, in full property, certain territories in return for a present the receipt of which is acknowledged, and he solemnly declares that these territories form an integral part of his State, and that he can freely dispose of them. It is clearly evident from the tenor of these articles that the Chief Manipembo recognises no superior chief. Article IV. of the treaty states that the cession of territory carries with[Pg 510] it the abandonment by the above-named chief, and the transfer to the committee of all his sovereign rights.

Was this transmission of sovereign rights to the committee of the Upper Congo illegal according to the law of nations? It is indisputable that the Chief Manipembo was legally capable of concluding treaties with European Powers, for the French Republic, through M. Cordier, on the 12th of March of this year, concluded with him and with the King of Loango treaties by which all the left bank of the river Quillou,[61] which empties into the Bay of Loango, is placed under the protectorate of France.

Concerning the exercise of sovereign rights by the committee of the Upper Congo, acquired by treaties with native chiefs, if reliance can be placed upon an article in the Journal l’Export, which professes to have its facts from good authority, the committee has instructed its representatives, in case of expeditions from any nation seeking to establish themselves there, to give them gratuitously the necessary land. The committee wishes especially to create colonies at the stations of the Congo, and to see developed there a new kind of free cities. An idea which may throw some light on the future of the Upper Congo is this: An International Protectorate of the Lower Congo, under the presidency of Portugal, and a system of free cities for the Upper Congo.

History teaches us that the march of the caravans which traverse the sandy deserts of Northern Africa has been rendered possible by the existence of certain spots where nature has made provision of water and vegetation where travellers and camels can rest and refresh themselves. Why should not a philanthropic association be permitted to imitate this foresight of nature, and to establish, like these oases, free cities at certain distances upon the banks of the great river of Equatorial Africa, to facilitate the progress of a humane civilisation and the development of a beneficent commerce?

The institution of free cities in Germany greatly accelerated the progress of the arts and civilisation in Europe, and the rapid development of these cities in the fourteenth century teaches us that by means of such an organisation a nearly barbarous country can be erected into a civilised body upon an industrial and commercial basis. These cities, either through their origin or by virtue of the charters granted them by sovereign powers, secured to themselves a free government, which assured to their citizens personal liberty and the ownership of their property under the protection of their own magistrates.

The traveller in the free city of Bremen, on arriving at the marketplace, will see before him a great stone column which is called the Rolands Saule. This column supports the colossal figure of a man, holding in his right hand a sword, and crushing under his feet the head[Pg 511] and hand of a man. This is emblematical of the right of the city to dispose of the lives and labour of its inhabitants. The present column was erected in 1412, but it replaced a wooden column which dated back to the period of the First Crusade, and whose origin is unknown. Other monuments of analogous character to this are found in many of the cities of Germany, and they are symbols of the right which the magistrates of these cities had to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction. They bear witness that these cities were sui juris in regard to the power to make and execute their laws. Should an institution which contributed so much to attach the North of Europe to the civilisation of the South, which rooted itself so firmly upon the shores of the North Sea and the Baltic that its vitality withstood the strain of wars and civil dissensions for six centuries,—should that be regarded as an innovation in the usages of nations when transplanted into Equatorial Africa?

When the Dutch Provinces of Spain revolted against the Spanish Crown, and the Prince of Orange granted letters of mark to individuals, to make reprisals against Spain, the Spanish Government refused to recognise the legality of these letters of mark, upon the pretext that a republic could not exercise rights of admiralty which belonged exclusively to crowned heads. This is the origin of the term of opprobrium, quex de mer, which the Spaniards employed to degrade the Dutch, but which the Dutch adopted as a title of honour. In the same way as now, it was then attempted to make it appear that under the law of nations states alone could exercise sovereign rights. But the facts contradicted this proposition. The suggestion recalls the fable of the hare and the tortoise. According to the principles of pure mathematics the tortoise should never be able to catch the hare, but the problem is simplified enormously when recourse is had to the proof of the facts. To use a scholastic expression, “Experience discovers the truth”—solvitur ambulando. For example, the right of the International African Association to hoist a flag upon its steamboats upon the Lower Congo cannot be denied, while the English society, in possession of the rights of the Sultans of Brunei and Sooloo, implying the exercise of rights of sovereignty, has raised its flag, and the British admiralty has been authorised to recognise it.

To return to the objection of certain publicists that a State alone can exercise sovereign rights. The free cities of ancient Rome and of the empire of Germany (to distinguish it from the present empire) were not subjects of the Emperor, but vassals of the empire, and when the free city of Strasbourg capitulated, in the year 1681, the King of France received it under his royal protection, and it preserved all its privileges and its magistrates with civil and criminal jurisdiction, as a free republic, with a territorial zone, under the protection of France, until the French Revolution.

[Pg 512]

What are the obstacles which delay the establishment of a system of free cities on the banks of the Upper Congo, and which prevent the powers whose subjects have establishments on the Lower Congo from coming to an agreement as to an international protectorate of the river? There is a European power which arrogates to itself, in virtue of a discovery of the mouth of the river Congo in the year 1484, the sovereignty of all territory watered by this river and its affluents. I do not speak of the pretensions of this power over all the territory of the west coast of Africa, between 5°, 12´, and 8° south latitude—pretensions which have been contested by France, by Holland, and even by England since the slave trade was abolished by conventions between the British and Portuguese Governments. So long as the slave trade existed, everybody hunted Negroes in common in the regions of the Congo. Since the slave trade was abolished the maritime powers of Europe have treated the pretensions of Portugal with courtesy, but not one has admitted them.

I affirm, with all the respect due to the country of Prince Henry the Navigator, that this is the condition of things upon the Congo, although the Portuguese Government, in a circular dispatch, written in reply to a resolution of the Institute of International Law, has asserted that its rights are not disputed.

In support of this assertion of the Portuguese Government the author of the dispatch cites an incident of the last Franco-German war. During the war a French corvette captured a German merchant vessel, the Hero, lying at anchor in Banana Creek, inside the mouths of the Congo. The circular dispatch states that the German Government requested the Portuguese Government to demand the rendition of the prize, as captured in Portuguese waters; but it does not say that the Portuguese Government took any steps before the French prize courts, or that the French Government acceded thereto. The statement of facts stops there. Then, the dispatch says that “the news soon reached Europe that the French governor of Gaboon, the port into which the captor had carried his prize, had set at liberty the crew, and caused the German ship to be taken back to Banana Creek, where it remained at anchor till the close of the war.”

The author of the dispatch appears to me the victim of the paralogism described by the phrase post hoc, propter hoc, for he attempts to draw from these facts the “irresistible conclusion” that the Governor of Gaboon recognised the waters of Banana Creek as Portuguese waters. It appears, on the contrary, that the ship was set at liberty by the Governor of Gaboon, motu suo proprio, and in no manner on account of any demand of the Portuguese Government; and the only legitimate conclusion from the premises is this: The Governor of Gaboon recognised that the capture of the ship had been effected in territorial waters, where, whether they belonged to a native King or to[Pg 513] a European power, France had not the right as a belligerent power to capture the enemy’s ships.[62] The Governor of Gaboon conducted himself loyally without waiting special instructions from his Government. This fact, which the author of the dispatch cites as a proof of Portuguese sovereignty over the territories of the west coast of Africa, between 5°, 12´, and 8°, south latitude, comprising the mouths of the Congo, has absolutely no significance as an argument.

Another event which the dispatch of the Portuguese Government recalls is that of the 1st of May, 1877, which had previously acquired considerable notoriety by the publication of the correspondence between the Portuguese Government and the Government of her Britannic Majesty. Several old slave-traders, established at Punta da Lenha, were carrying on a regular and legal commerce with the natives, but, at the same time, were slave-owners. In consequence of an incendiary attempt upon a Dutch factory, the residents of Punta da Lenha made a “noyade” (drowning of several persons at the same time) of Negroes in the river opposite Boma. The British consul, who resides ordinarily at Saint Paul de Loando, which city is under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese crown, wished to make inquiries at the scene of the crime in regard to the summary execution of twenty-nine Negroes by order of their masters, but he did not dare to disembark at Punta da Lenha because of the threats of the inhabitants. Under these circumstances, the Portuguese Government conducted itself in a very proper manner. At the instance of Consul Hopkins, of Loando, the governor of the Portuguese province of Angola sent a gunboat to Punta da Lenha, and arrested a British subject named Scott, implicated in the noyade, and was perfectly willing to try the accused according to the laws of Portugal with the consent of the English consul; but the correspondence between the two governments shows that the English Government was unwilling to admit Portuguese sovereignty over the banks of the Congo. It is surprising that the author of the circular dispatch should have cited this incident as indicating the recognition of Portuguese sovereignty by the English Government, when the correspondence presented to the British Parliament in regard to the matter proves precisely the reverse. Here, for example, are the terms of a dispatch of Sir Julian Pauncefote, under secretary of state, to the English consul at Loando, which closes the correspondence:

“The territory in which these outrages have been committed has long been claimed by the Portuguese Government, and this claim is renewed in the correspondence with the Portuguese authorities inclosed[Pg 514] in your dispatches. Her Majesty’s Government, however, as you are aware, have always contested and opposed that claim, and cannot, therefore, admit the jurisdiction of the Portuguese tribunals to deal with the case of Scott.”[63]

No one accuses Portugal of wishing to impede the free navigation of the Congo, but it is to be regretted that, being powerless to insure that navigation to its own subjects, it is unwilling to consent to a friendly agreement with the powers whose subjects have factories upon the north bank, to put the navigation of the river beyond risk of danger. I have said advisedly that Portugal is powerless to insure the navigation of the river to its own subjects. I have already spoken of the tribes which inhabit the borders of Pirates’ Bay, upon the north bank of the river, against whom the English commander, Hewitt, had to organise an expedition in 1875, because they had plundered an English merchant ship and massacred the crew. But there is, on the south bank, a considerable tribe who practise piracy on a large scale, and do not even respect Portuguese vessels. The pirates especially infest San Antonio, at the southern extremity of the mouth, in the immediate neighbourhood of the column of Point del Padron. The author of a book entitled Four Years on the Congo,[64] published in Paris, describes an attack by these pirates upon a Portuguese brig. The account is interesting, but I will not now go into details. What it imports is, the powerlessness of the Portuguese Government to suppress the piracy of this tribe and to punish the guilty ones. I cite an extract from this work which gives the history of the Portuguese expedition sent to punish the Mussorangos who had attacked the Portuguese brig:

“On the 15th of November two corvettes and the frigate La Guadiana left Loando. The little fleet, commanded by M. Viegas de C——, headed for the Congo. The commander hoped to surprise the Negroes. Arrived at a place considered sacred, and which is called the “Stone of the Fetish,” they anchored, and M. Viegas himself, with one company, ascended the creek in a steam gunboat and effected a landing, which the savages endeavoured at first to oppose; but soon afterwards, dislodged by the showers of grape shot from the frigate, moored a few cables’ length only from the shore, they retired in good order. Meanwhile, the little band of whites, finding no serious resistance, advanced. The corvettes shelled the villages in sight. Some groups of Mussorangos, who had stood firm till then, feeling themselves vanquished fled in every direction, returning and stopping, from time to time, behind trees to discharge their guns at the whites. The commander burned all the villages he found. That was all that could be done. It would not have been prudent to march at a venture into an unknown country in search of an unapproachable enemy, always fleeing.[Pg 515] It was necessary to re-embark; the ships came back to Banana, where they remained some days, and then returned to Saint Paul.”

This is a very recent occurrence, which does not very well bear out the assertions of the Portuguese Government relative to the efficacy of its jurisdiction as remedy for the disorders of the Congo.

“The Congo [says the author of the circular dispatch] and the territories bordering its mouth are already the seat of an important commerce, and of European establishments of diverse nationalities, but there is no security either for life or property, no police, no courts, nor any of the institutions so necessary to all civilised people, and which can only be established under a recognised and effective jurisdiction. And such jurisdiction can only be exercised by Portugal, because no other nation possesses or claims any rights of sovereignty over these territories.”[65]

I repeat, the good intentions of Portugal are not in dispute. What is wanting is energy and material power; and it is necessary to have these in order to civilise the country discovered by the agents of the International Association. Four centuries have elapsed since Diego Cam, a Portuguese cavalier, erected a column upon the Point del Padron, the end of the south bank of the river’s mouth, in commemoration of the fact that a subject of the crown of Portugal had discovered the great river Congo. This same point is to-day in the hands of a native tribe, which not only does not recognise the sovereignty of Portugal, but openly defies it. Nevertheless, the author of the circular finds much fault with the resolution of the Institute of International Law, because that resolution implies, according to him, forgetfulness of the rights of Portugal. What rights? There exist rights based upon the discovery of the country, but considering that the fleets of Pharaoh Neco, King of Egypt, made the circuit of Africa, we cannot admit that the legal discovery of the Congo was effected by Diego Cam. But rights founded upon the discovery of the country are only imperfect rights; occupation should follow, within a reasonable time, to render them perfect; otherwise the discovery becomes inoperative, like an abandoned title. Has Portugal occupied both banks of the Congo to acquire possession of its waters? Have we the proof of it? On the contrary, the very territory where Cam erected this column is to-day in the power of a native tribe, who have always resisted Portuguese sovereignty, and who openly claim to be (a thing almost incredible) the enemies of the human race (hostes humani generis). And, on the other hand, England, which pretends to no sovereignty over the waters of the Congo, has been obliged to land a force upon the north bank to chastise an act of piracy committed by the inhabitants of the creeks in the neighbourhood of Banana.

[Pg 516]

It is evident that very soon the problem of the free navigation of the Congo will assume such proportions that the solution cannot be longer deferred. Should this solution wait upon a state which up to now has only demonstrated its powerlessness to civilise the countries on the south bank of the Lower Congo, its sovereignty over which is not disputed by any European state?

London, November 21, 1883.

Can independent chiefs of savage tribes cede to private citizens the whole or part of their states, with the sovereign rights which pertain to them, conformably to the traditional customs of the country?

This question, as it is propounded, presents two aspects. It must be considered:

 I. From the point of view of the right of the one who cedes.
II. From the point of view of the one to whom the cession is made.

I

In examining this question from the standpoint of international law, we must first ask if the chiefs of savage tribes can, generally, make treaties, conventions, cessions of territories; in other words, if the tribes which they represent are considered as states, having the capacity to make international treaties, which would be respected as such by all civilised or non-civilised nations.

From the fifteenth century till early in the nineteenth century, the rules of international law were regarded as being to some extent an exclusive privilege of Christian peoples, for the establishment of regular relations between them. With regard to pagan peoples, they were not considered as participating in the political community which international law established between Christians; and it was only by Article VII. of the treaty of Paris of the 30th of March, 1856, that the Sublime Porte was admitted “to participate in the advantages of the European concert.”

We can easily understand that Christian nations could not admit to participation in the advantages of international law the people of nations who did not recognise this law as binding upon themselves, and who did not practise its precepts. Publicists and moralists teach that in their relations with pagan and savage populations, Christian sovereigns should always conduct themselves honestly, and observe the rules of justice, equity, and Christian morality.

It would be too long to enter here into the details of the discussions which the authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had on the subject of the conduct of European nations in regard to the Indians. We shall limit ourselves to saying that the relations of the states of[Pg 517] Europe with other nations had no fixed rules, that they varied much, according to the power and importance of the foreign nations, according to the communications more or less numerous which Europeans had with them, and according to the manners and customs practised by them.[66]

Thanks to the progress of humanitarian ideas, of a better practice of Christian morality, and the greater influence of principles of international justice, feeble people, almost savage, although not possessed of the benefits of civilisation, are no longer considered in our days, as destined to serve as a mine for civilised nations to “work.” All those having a human face, turned towards the heavens, are considered as members of the great human family, children of the common Father, animated by the same Divine breath, having the same destiny to accomplish, and meriting the respect due to human dignity.

These ideas have prevailed with jurisconsults and publicists, have permeated their doctrines, and happily have guided their practices. Savage tribes, although living in very imperfect communities, as well as their territories, are no longer regarded to-day as things without a master, and belonging to the first occupier, that is, to the first comer stronger than themselves. Want of civilisation can no longer serve as a pretext to civilised nations to put them under subjection, or to control them by violence.

The law of nations is a science still imperfectly moulded or stereotyped, and especially is it a science which ought not to be, and cannot be, formulated a priori. Its fundamental principle is, no doubt, philosophy, but it has its positive base in the facts of history and authoritative doctrine.

What are the conditions to enable a state to exist, as such, and to qualify it to treat?

“A certain number of men and families, who, being united, in a country, and having fixed their abode there, associate and submit themselves to a common chief, with the intention of providing for the safety of all, form a state,” says Klüber,[67] and to the same effect says G. F. Von Marten.[68]

“Sovereignty [continues Klüber[69]] in this extended sense consists in the ensemble of rights belonging to a state, independent as regards its[Pg 518] object. It comprises, first, the entire independence of the state in the face of foreign nations; second, legitimate power of the Government or of the authority which the purpose of the state demands.”

The same author says[70]:

“Sovereignty is acquired by a state either at its foundation or when it separates itself legitimately from the dependence under which it was. To be valid, it does not need to be recognised or guaranteed by any foreign power whatever, provided its possession is not faulty (vicieuse).”

It is useless to multiply extracts. The principles summarised by Klüber on the sovereignty, the independence, and the equality of states, from the legal point of view, are equally professed by all authors. We will limit ourselves to the following: Heffter, par. 15, 16, pp. 32-34; par. 23, pp. 42, 43; par. 26, 27, pp. 47-49. Wheaton, vol. i., pp. 32, 43. Vattel, lib. i., chap. i., sec. 4. W. E. Hall, International Law, par. 2, 4, pp. 16-20; par. 6-8, pp. 34-37; par. 9, 10, pp. 39-42. Calvo, Droit international, par. 39-41, pp. 143-147.

Tribes inhabiting determined territory, represented by their chiefs, form, therefore, independent states.

From this the first consequence is that the territories which they occupy are not things without masters (res nullius), and cannot be occupied by other states. It is only territories without master, that is to say, upon which no sovereign power is yet established, that can be the object of occupation.

As regards the right of occupation, see the following authors:

“Christian people cannot rightfully take possession of lands which savages already really occupy,” says George Frederick von Marten.[71]

Klüber[72] says: “A state can acquire things which belong to no one (res nullius) by occupation (original), and the goods of others by means of conventions (derivative occupation) ... In order that the occupation may be legitimate, the thing itself should be susceptible of exclusive property and belong to no one. (A) The state should have the intention of acquiring the property thereof.”

In the note (A) the author says: “Property thus is acquired rightfully by an occupation without flaw; it is preserved by continuous possession. In consequence no nation is authorised, no matter what its pretensions, especially if of a higher degree of culture, to seize upon the property of another nation. It cannot even take it from savages or nomads.”

The author cites in support of this, Gunther, Völkerrecht, vol. ii., p. 10 et seq. See also the beautiful and energetic passage from Heffter, Le droit international public, vol. i., par. 70, pp. 141, 142: “Droit d’Occupation.”

[Pg 519]

To give validity of occupation it is necessary that the property should be without master, and that the intention to acquire the domain should be joined to the fact of an effective taking possession. Let us examine each of the three conditions:

1. Occupation is only to be applied to property which, although susceptible of being possessed, has no master. It does not extend to persons, who can only be the object of a submission, whether voluntary or forced. Occupation is to be applied notably to countries and islands uninhabited or not entirely occupied; but no power on earth has the right to impose its laws upon wandering or even savage peoples. Its subjects can seek to establish commercial relations with these latter, can remain among them, in case of necessity can demand of them indispensable articles of provisions, and even negotiate with them the voluntary cession of a portion of the territory, with the object of colonising it. Nature, it is true, does not forbid nations to extend their empire upon the earth; but it does not give the right to a single one among them to establish its dominion anywhere wherever it chooses to do it. The propaganda of civilisation, the development of commercial and industrial interests, the putting into activity of unproductive values, do not justify it either. All that can be accorded on the subject is, that in the interest of the preservation of the human kind, it may be permitted to nations to unite in order to open by common accord the ports of a country hermetically sealed to their commerce.

See, to the same effect, Bluntschli, Droits des gens, codifié, par. 20, p. 63.

Similar citations could be multiplied.

Communities of non-civilised tribes, forming according to the law of nations, as to-day admitted, independent states, the first logical consequence which follows is that these states cannot be acquired by reason of occupation by other states. A second consequence which necessarily follows from the same premises is, that these states, or their chiefs, can make international treaties of every kind—treaties which have obligatory force for the contracting parties, and which should be respected by all other states, if they do not interfere with existing rights.

We would remark here, with Calvo,[73] that “international treaties may be concluded, even with nomadic peoples, having no territory of their own nor fixed domicile, when they have an expressed political organisation and a common council by the intermediary of their chiefs or their assemblies.” “In this category [adds the same author] may be classed the Bedouins, scattered over the deserts of Arabia, Syria,[Pg 520] Egypt, and barbarous Africa, and the Turcomans, who wander over the plains of Central Asia.”

“There are conglomerated populations which do not compose a state.... But the nomads and the savages have, either among themselves or with civilised people, an international law which is observed equally with the international law of civilised nations,” say Funck, Brentano, and Sorel.[74]

By still stronger reasoning the tribes composing states dwelling in determined territory can make international treaties. Savage African tribes, possessing determined territories, can make all kinds of treaties. Their chiefs can therefore cede territory, in whole or in part, to whom, we will see under No. 2. This rule, or rather this consequence, cannot be impeached in theory.

“Sovereignty of a state, in the sense of international law [says Klüber, Droits des gens moderne de l’Europe, p. 22], consists essentially in independence of all foreign control in relation to the exercise of rights of sovereignty; it ought by its nature even to be exercised independently of the antiquity of the state, or the form of its constitution of government, or the order established for the succession to the throne, or the rank, title, or state of its sovereign; of the extent of its territory; of its population, political importance, manners, religion, state of culture in general, the commerce of its inhabitants,” etc.

And the same author, par. 127, says:

“In regard to public domain, the state has, over the things which form part thereof, all rights of property, not only of exclusive possession and the right to enjoy it as owner, but also that of disposing freely thereof. The conventions or arrangements which it may make in this respect, whether with its subjects or with foreigners, are absolutely independent of other Governments. Nothing forbids it alienating its property, its putting it in pledge, or abandoning it. It has the capacity to acquire by accession.”[75]

Without going back to antiquity, modern history, since the seventeenth century up to our own days, furnishes us numerous examples of treaties, of cessions of territories, etc., concluded between civilised states on the one hand and savage tribes on the other. It is sufficient to recall the most noted cases:

In 1620 the English Puritans embarked on board the Mayflower, after establishing themselves in the northern part of Virginia, concluded with the chief or sachem of the Indians, Massasoit, a treaty of friendship, the most ancient treaty concluded by New England.[76]

In 1639 the founders of the colony of New Hampshire concluded[Pg 521] with the Indians conventions for the purchase of land situated between the Piscataqua and the Merrimac, and there established the town of Exeter.[77]

Later, William Penn made treaties with chiefs of Indians. It is useless to cite here the numerous treaties between the different States of New England and the chiefs of Indian tribes.

Wheaton[78] recounts that some of these Indian tribes have recognised by conventions that they held their existence entirely at the will of the State within the limits of which they resided, and that others preserved a limited sovereignty and the absolute dominion of the territory inhabited by them; and he adds that by two decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1831 and 1832, the Cherokee Nation, residing within the limits of the State of Georgia, are held to constitute a distinct political society; that numerous treaties made by this nation with the United States recognise it as a people capable of maintaining relations of peace and war; that the English Government, having preceded the United States, bought their lands by contracts of sale, freely assented to, and never forced them to make sale against their will.

Let us pass from America to Africa and Asia. In the course of the last fifty years England has concluded with the chiefs of countries adjacent to the Congo thirteen treaties, of which we mention specially two, one concluded the 11th of February, 1853, with the King and chiefs of Cabinda, the other concluded the 20th June, 1854, with divers chiefs of the river Congo.

The treaty concluded by M. Savorgnan de Brazza with the King Makoko is of public notoriety.

To terminate the series of historical documents in support of the theory that chiefs of savage tribes can validly make treaties and cessions of territories in full sovereignty, let us recall further the recent treaties of the 29th of December, 1877, and the 22nd of January, 1878, by which the Sultans of Brunei and of Sulu, in the island of Borneo, ceded a part of their territory to Mr. Alfred Dent and Baron Overbeck.

If, from the point of view of international law, it is indisputable that no state, civilised or not, has the right to arbitrarily trouble the chiefs of savage tribes in the possession of their sovereignty, the same prohibition applies to those to whom they have conceded, whoever they may be.

The cessionnaires have the same rights as the ceders. Under what pretext could another state trouble them? Their cession is valid, and thus all motive, or even all pretext for trouble is wanting; or, the cession is null, according to the law of nations, and then the sovereign who made the cession has, in right, preserved all his sovereignty, and[Pg 522] no other state has the right to trouble it, or even to intervene to make good the nullity of the cession.

II

Let us take the second question. Can a cession be made to a private citizen?

We are happy to be able to abridge this part of our work by referring to the article, “The Free Navigation of the Congo,” published by our eminent colleague of the Institute, Sir Travers Twiss, in the sixth number of the Revue du droit international for 1883.

It is true that Sir Travers Twiss occupies himself with the question whether those associations which are not organised as States can exercise sovereign rights, rather than whether these rights of sovereignty can be conceded to private individuals; but the argument which he invokes in support of his thesis applies in great part to cessions made to individuals.

When writers establish their point of departure to arrive at a demonstration they commence often by saying:

“It is an established principle,” etc. Or, “It is a principle of law,” etc. And they employ this form when their principles are the most contestable. In the article we have just cited, Sir Travers Twiss mentions an article in the Revue de géographie of Paris,[79] in which Mr. Delavand says: “It is a principle of law that states alone can exercise sovereign rights, and that no private company can have them.” He (Sir Travers Twiss) adds, with reason, that this proposition is affirmed in too absolute a manner, and he proves conclusively by historical facts that his criticism is just.

Doubtless an individual, as such, and a private society, in that capacity, are not sovereigns, and exercise no act of sovereignty. This needs no demonstration. But, in virtue of what principle of international law is it sought to be shown that one who is a private citizen to-day cannot become a sovereign to-morrow, and be in possession of the plenitude of sovereignty? Such a principle does not exist. No author of international law has ever sustained it, and all the history of humanity, from the earliest down to modern times, denies it.

Individuals can become sovereigns, and exercise the rights of sovereigns, in two ways:

First. By creating themselves into a state—that is to say, by establishing themselves upon a territory which belongs to them, and forming themselves into a community with a regular government, and legal organs of public power—in a word, with all the constituent elements of a state.

Most of the states of antiquity, according to legends and traditions,[Pg 523] or positive historical information, have been created in no other way.

The states of the Middle Ages had the same origin. The Franks, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Burgundians, and others, were only nomadic peoples, composed of chiefs who, in the eyes of international law, were only individuals, but who founded states.

The Italian republics of the Middle Ages were only municipalities without international sovereignty, and they have become sovereign states. Simple individuals, poor fishermen, caused the republic of Venice to rise from the waves of the Adriatic and to become its queen.

Almost all the States of New England, in America, have been founded by individuals.[80]

States, to exist, have no need to be recognised by other states. Those who have founded them are the sovereigns, and therefore have the right to exercise the rights of sovereignty in so far as this exercise has not been delegated to an authority instituted under the constitution of the state.

And a revolution which has for result the detaching from a state of one of its parts, is it not at the commencement the work of individuals? And those individuals, if they unite themselves in their enterprise, can erect a simple province or provinces into a new and sovereign state, and exercise then sovereign rights.

And if to-day, simple individuals should establish themselves on a desert island, or on territory unoccupied by another state, they can establish a new state, with all the rights of sovereignty. We have seen Texas thus formed.

Second. An individual can become sovereign by succeeding to another sovereign in the exercise of the sovereignty of a state. From a private individual he becomes a sovereign.

The question whether a private individual can accept a sovereignty when the interior laws of his state forbid him is outside of our subject, and we do not treat of it.

Philip, Duke of Anjou, great-grandson of Louis XIV., was, from the point of view of international law, a simple individual. After the death of Charles II., by the treaty of Utrecht the states belonging to the Crown of Spain were dismembered, and Philip V. was recognised as the King of Spain, and acquired part of the states of the Spanish monarchy. Other examples might be cited.

When a prince was elected King of Germany he became a sovereign from a private individual that he was.

Or, again, when a chief of an African tribe, forming a sovereign state, cedes to an individual in full sovereignty a part of his state, does he do other than to call another person to the exercise of rights of[Pg 524] sovereignty over one part of his state, erected into a new state? What difference is there between the case of a European prince who is called as sovereign to a state, or part of a state, and that where an African chief calls upon an individual to exercise sovereign powers over part of his state? In the fact undoubtedly there is much difference, but in law there is none; and that is the question. It is a question of law (droit) we have to study here.

It is even possible that an individual may remain a subject of the state to which he belongs, and may be the sovereign of another country. The sovereign, therefore, can have a double personality. Thus, Ernest Augustus, and George V., Dukes of Cumberland, were subjects of Queen Victoria and peers of England and at the same time Kings of Hanover. In 1787 the sovereign bishop of the principality of Osnabruck, the Duke of York, sat as a peer of England in the House of Lords.[81]

The question which has been laid down at the head of this opinion is a novel one. It has not been foreseen or treated in works of international law. Many authors treat a question which touches upon this one, but which differs from it a good deal. They ask if an individual can make in his own name an act of occupation of a territory newly discovered without a master. They reply negatively to this question, and, in their line of ideas, they are right; for those who discover new territories are almost always navigators, travelling in a public ship, often public officers or individuals commissioned by their governments—agents of the government—and they cannot occupy in their own name.

A recent event furnishes a powerful support to the theory that rights of sovereignty can be ceded to individuals, namely, the treaty between the Sultans of Borneo and Sulu and Mr. Dent and Baron Overbeck, who, in their turn, have ceded their rights to a private British company, the “British North Borneo Company.” This fact has importance in itself, as a new event which enlarges juridical science; but what especially gives strong support to our thesis is the manner in which this event has been appreciated, be it inferentially or explicitly, by several governments, by jurisconsults, and by eminent statesmen whose opinions can be invoked as having authority.

The opinions of jurisconsults and publicists are ranged among the sources of international law.[82]

In the first place, the Governments of Holland and of Spain, who believed themselves most directly affected by the concessions, accorded by the two Sultans of Borneo, did not deny the principle of the capacity of individuals or of associations to have ceded to them rights[Pg 525] of sovereignty, but they raised reclamations against these treaties by invoking rights previously acquired.

Let us reproduce here the passage written by M. de Laveleye upon the discussion to which the giving of a charter of incorporation to the British North Borneo Company gave rise in the English Parliament[83]:

“Certain members of the left, adversaries of what is called in England the imperial policy, that is to say of the policy which seeks extension of territory and of influence, criticised the measure because it created a new responsibility for the country; but no one contested the right of individuals or of the company—rights resulting from treaties concluded with indigenous chiefs. In the reply made in the House of Commons by the attorney-general, Sir Henry James, we read:

“‘These rights were conceded to the company and became legally its property. The Government of Her Majesty had no power to enter into a general examination of the propriety of the occupation of Borneo by a commercial company. It would have been an act of confiscation if, after what had happened, the Government had interfered, and had endeavoured to take from it the rights which it had acquired. ... The only thing the Government had to decide was whether or
not it was necessary to leave the company to act without impediment and entirely without control.’

“Mr. Gladstone was not less affirmative. Said he, at the same sitting:

“‘The charter has not conferred upon the company a single privilege above and beyond what it had already acquired by virtue of a title sufficient to enable it to exercise all these powers.’

“From the explanations given by Lord Granville in the House of Lords, the 13th March, 1882, it appears that if Holland and Spain have protested against the rights invoked by the Overbeck-Dent Company, it was because of anterior rights which these states pretend to have over the northern part of Borneo; but, no more than Germany, formally consulted in the matter by the British Government, have they raised any doubt as to the capacity of individuals and companies to obtain from non-civilised sovereigns the cession of rights implying the exercise of sovereignty. This capacity also was not denied by the members on the opposition side of the House of Commons.”

Thus, the opinion of four Governments, the opinion of two English ministers, Lord Granville and Mr. Gladstone, and of the attorney-general, Sir Henry James, that of Sir Travers Twiss, and of M. de Laveleye, to which we would add the considerations developed in the[Pg 526] open letter addressed, the 23d April, 1883, by a member of the African International Association to the Courrier des États-Unis, form an assemblage of authorities of a nature to fortify us in our conviction if we had any doubts.

We conclude with these observations:

1. It is evident that if some powers have raised against similar concessions, made by chiefs of savage tribes to individuals and associations, reclamations founded upon rights previously acquired, there would be ground to submit these pretensions to serious examination, or perhaps they might be submitted to arbitration, as Great Britain and Portugal, in 1875, submitted to the arbitration of the President of the French Republic, M. MacMahon, the contest in regard to certain lands situated on the bay of Delagoa.

2. New sovereignties, at the head of which are individuals or associations, the concessionaries of the chiefs of savage tribes, exist of themselves, of their own right and their own strength, without having need of the recognition of other States. (See Klüber, par. 24; Heffter, par. 23, p. 42, and par. 51, p. 104; Bluntschli, pars. 28 and 38; and all the authors.)

It depends upon the convenance of other States to recognise or not to recognise these new sovereignties. But whatever may be their determination in this respect, the want of recognition does not give them the right to act as if these sovereignties did not exist, and to consider their territories susceptible of occupation.

3. According to the practice of international law, at this day, the recognition of one to whom sovereignty has been conceded, as a sovereign, can even follow of itself, in certain cases. Almost all governments, especially Great Britain and the United States of America[84] have adopted the rule of considering de facto governments as legitimate, as far as they themselves are concerned. (See Heffter, pars. 51, 53, pp. 101-105.)

Let us suppose a European nation had concluded a treaty of friendship or commerce with the chief of a savage tribe, inhabiting a fixed territory. This treaty is supposed to be concluded, and is effectively concluded with the State which the chief represents. The chief had ceded his rights of sovereignty to a European individual or a European association, who are put in real possession of the sovereignty. Could the European nation deny the legitimacy of this new Government if it was a government de facto, according to international usages? No. At least, Great Britain and the United States would recognise it, and probably other States also. And if the preceding chief had been displaced by internal revolution—which can break out among blacks as among whites—and if the black chief had ceded his sovereignty to another Negro, a relation or even a stranger to his family, would that[Pg 527] be a reason for refusing recognition to the new sovereign? And if the chief of the tribe had ceded his sovereignty to a white man, in place of choosing for his successor a black man, or an association composed of whites, certainly the difference of colour could not be a reason for refusing recognition to the new sovereign.

Thus it is seen that in wandering away from true and simple principles difficulties of every kind are encountered.

Therefore I am of opinion that independent chiefs of savage tribes can validly cede to a private individual the whole or part of their State, with the sovereign rights which belong to them, and conformably to the traditional customs of the country.

Brussels, December 15, 1883.

OTHER AUTHORITIES CITED

(Page 68, paragraph 35): A new State has the right to enter into the international association of States, and to be recognised by other powers when its existence cannot be put in doubt and is assured. It has the right because it exists, because international law unites existing States by common laws and principles based upon justice and humanity.

Recognition by other sovereign States is a voluntary act on a part of these latter. It is not, nevertheless, an absolutely arbitrary act, because international law unites, even against their will, diverse existing States, and makes of them a kind of political association.

The opinion is frequently advanced by the older publicists that it depends upon the good pleasure of each State to recognise or not to recognise another, outside of the necessary and absolute line of international law. If this law rested solely upon the arbitrary will of States, it would not be just that it should be simply a conventional law.

(Page 164): A State has evidently the right to constitute itself without the ratification of another State. This would be the case when emigrants, for example, found a State upon an uninhabited island, as did the Norwegians in Iceland in the middle ages. A number of new States of North America were founded by individuals; it was only later that they were recognised by England, and to this day they proceed in the same manner in the United States. If new states can in this way constitute themselves, by still stronger reasoning analogous extensions of territory already existing should be recognised.

ANOTHER MANNER OF ACQUIRING THE SOVEREIGNTY OF A FREE COUNTRY

If free families, scattered over an independent country, unite to form themselves into a nation or a State, they acquire the sovereignty[Pg 528] over the whole State which they inhabit, for they possess already the domain; and since they wish to form a political society and to establish a public authority to which all will owe obedience, it is quite manifest that their intention is to confer upon this public authority the right of sovereignty of the whole country.

(Pages 32 and 33): The existence of a state supposes the following conditions, to wit:

I. A society capable of existing by itself and independently.

II. A collective will regularly organised, or a public authority charged with the direction of society for the end which we have just indicated.

III. A permanent status of society, the natural base of a free and permanent development, and which depends essentially on the fixity of the tenure of real estate and the intellectual and moral tendencies of its members.

We regard as idle the questions discussed by the schools, such as, What is the number of persons necessary to form a state? or, If one or three persons are sufficient? The distinctive characteristics of a state which we have just indicated sufficiently answer these questions.

(Page 42): A state exists de facto so soon as it unites the necessary elements indicated above; that is to say, will, united to the indispensable means and strength to defend its independence.

(Page 43): The entry of a new state upon the political scene depends in no wise upon an express preliminary recognition by foreign powers. It is fully accomplished the day when it commences to exist. On the other hand, political reasons alone may decide foreign powers to recognise or enter into direct relations with it. Recognition only confirms what legally exists by admitting the new member into the grand European family.

(From the Commentary upon the Elements of International Law, and History of the Progress of International Law, by William Beach Lawrence.)

(Page 162): It is not necessary that there should be a determined number of persons to form a state.

(Page 197): Texas was recognised by England in 1839, when its population was not more than 60,000 souls. Lord Palmerston said on that occasion to Mr. O’Connell that “the principle of the Government was to recognise every state which had a de facto independence.”

At an adjourned meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, held January 10, 1884, the following resolutions, presented by Mr. A. A. Low, were adopted:

[Pg 529]

Whereas, the President of the United States has, in his recent message, called attention to the fact that the rich and populous valley of the Congo is now being opened to commerce by the International African Association, and has especially dwelt upon the interest, for the purposes of trade and commerce, that we have, as a people, in the neutrality of that valley, free from the interference or political control of any one nation: Therefore,

Be it resolved, As the opinion of this Chamber that it is incumbent upon the Government of the United States, through its accredited representative, to apprise the Portuguese Government that it will not recognise, but denies the right of the latter to interfere with the free navigation of the Congo; that the discovery of this great waterway into the interior of Central Africa is not due to Portugal, but was the discovery of an explorer in the interest of no one nationality; and that the entry, 400 years ago, into the mouth of the Congo, by the Portuguese, not having been followed up by actual and continued occupation, can give that nation no territorial right to the river, or to the countries upon its banks.

Resolved, That the recognition by the Government of the United States of the flag of the International African Association, now extending over twenty-two settlements, in the heart of Africa, will be but an acknowledgment of the fact that that organisation, under rights ceded to it by African chiefs of independent territories, is exercising rule and authority over a large part of Africa in the protection of life and property, the extinguishment of the slave trade, the facilitating of commercial intercourse, and other attributes of sovereignty; and that it be recommended to the President to send an accredited agent of the Government to the Congo, to confer with that association in the adopting of such measures as may secure to American citizens free commercial intercourse along the course of that river, and through the various settlements or stations established by the association.

A true copy.

Jas. M. Brown,
President.

George Wilson,
Secretary.

(From copy of correspondence of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.)

His Majesty the King of the Belgians has, during the last two years, incurred considerable expense in an expedition to the Upper Congo for the purposes of opening roads, establishing stations for trade, and for communication with the vast tribes inhabiting the interior of Africa. For the result of this expedition merchants are watching with[Pg 530] interest, believing that this river will ultimately become one of the great highways for trade in the heart of Africa.

... It is, therefore, both manifest and notorious that the African tribes who inhabit the coast-line claimed by Portugal, between 5° 12´, and 8th degree south latitude, are in reality independent, and that the right acquired by Portugal from priority of discovery at the end of the fifteenth century has for a long time been suffered to lapse, owing to the Portuguese Government not having occupied the country so discovered. In the presence of these facts the undersigned must repeat the declaration of Her Majesty’s Government that the interests of commerce imperatively required it to maintain the right of unrestricted intercourse with that part of the coast of Western Africa extending between 5°, 12´, and the 8th degree of south latitude....

I have the honour to be, my lord, your lordship’s obedient, very humble servant,

John Slagg,
President.

(From Earl Granville’s reply to Lord Mount Temple in the House of Lords, March 9, 1883.)

... The labours of men like Livingstone, Stanley, and others have given us a knowledge of the physical character of Central Africa, and of the populations which inhabit it, showing that there are great capabilities for the development of trade, and of the civilising effects which are the result of commerce. The work of the philanthropic International Association, in which the King of the Belgians takes a great interest, the mission of M. de Brazza, the increasing trade in different degrees, of the English, the Portuguese, the French, the Germans, the Dutch, and the Belgians, on the Congo and its banks, are acting as a stimulus and afford grounds why no reasonable endeavours should be neglected to insure freedom of commerce and navigation, and to anticipate possible jealousies, which so easily check trade, and which, under the pretence of securing peculiar advantages to some, are really injurious to all....

In the name of Almighty God,—

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary; His Majesty the King of the Belgians; His Majesty the King of Denmark; His Majesty the King of Spain; the President of the United States of America; the President of the French Republic; Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and[Pg 531] Ireland, Empress of India; His Majesty the King of Italy; His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, etc.; His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, etc.; His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias; His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, etc.; and His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans,

Wishing, in a spirit of good and mutual accord, to regulate the conditions most favourable to the development of trade and civilisation in certain regions of Africa, and to assure to all nations the advantages of free navigation on the two chief rivers of Africa flowing into the Atlantic Ocean; being desirous, on the other hand, to obviate the misunderstandings and disputes which might in future arise from new acts of occupation (prises de possession) on the coast of Africa; and concerned, at the same time, as to the means of furthering the moral and material well-being of the native populations: Have resolved, on the invitation addressed to them by the Imperial Government of Germany, in agreement with the Government of the French Republic, to meet for those purposes in Conference at Berlin, and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, to wit:—

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, Otho, Prince von Bismarck, his President of the Prussian Council of Ministers, Chancellor of the Empire; Paul, Count von Hatzfeldt, his Minister of State and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Auguste Busch, his Acting Privy Councillor of Legation and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and Henri von Kusserow, Privy Councillor of Legation in the Department for Foreign Affairs;

His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary, Emeric, Count Széchényi de Sárvári Felső-Vidék, Chamberlain and Acting Privy Councillor, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the King of the Belgians, Gabriel Auguste Count Van der Straten Ponthoz, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; and Auguste, Baron Lambermont, Minister of State, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary;

His Majesty the King of Denmark, Emile de Vind, Chamberlain, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the King of Spain, Don Francisco Merry y Colom, Count Benomar, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

The President of the United States of America, John A. Kasson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; and Henry S. Sanford, ex-Minister;

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The President of the French Republic, Alphonse, Baron de Courcel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, her Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the King of Italy, Edward, Count de Launay, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Frederic Philippe, Jonkheer Van der Hoeven, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, etc., Da Serra Gomes, Marquis de Penafiel, Peer of the Realm, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia; and Antoine de Serpa Pimentel, Councillor of State and Peer of the Realm;

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, Pierre, Count Kapnist, Privy Councillor, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands;

His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, etc., Gillis, Baron Bildt, Lieutenant-General, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Méhemed Saïd Pasha, Vézir and High Dignitary, his Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia;

Who, being provided with full powers, which have been found in good and due form, have successively discussed and adopted:—

1. A Declaration relative to freedom of trade in the basin of the Congo, its embouchures and circumjacent regions, with other provisions connected therewith.

2. A Declaration relative to the Slave Trade, and the operations by sea or land which furnish slaves to that trade.

3. A Declaration relative to the neutrality of the territories comprised in the Conventional Basin of the Congo.

4. An Act of Navigation for the Congo, which, while having regard to local circumstances, extends to this river, its affluents, and the waters in its system (eaux qui leur sont assimilées), the general principles enunciated in Articles CVIII. and CXVI. of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, and intended to regulate, as between the Signatory Powers of that Act, the free navigation of the waterways separating or[Pg 533] traversing several States—these said principles having since then been applied by agreement to certain rivers of Europe and America, but especially to the Danube, with the modifications stipulated by the Treaties of Paris (1856), of Berlin (1878), and of London (of 1871 and 1883).

5. An Act of Navigation for the Niger, which, while likewise having regard to local circumstances, extends to this river and its affluents the same principles as set forth in Articles CVIII. and CXVI. of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.

6. A Declaration introducing into international relations certain uniform rules with reference to future occupations on the coasts of the African Continent.

And deeming it expedient that all these several documents should be combined into one single instrument, they (the Signatory Powers) have collected them into one General Act, composed of the following Articles:

Chapter I.—Declaration relative to Freedom of Trade in the Basin of the Congo, its Mouths, and circumjacent Regions, with other Provisions connected therewith.

Article 1. The trade of all nations shall enjoy complete freedom—

1. In all the regions forming the basin of the Congo and its outlets. This basin is bounded by the watersheds (or mountain ridges) of the adjacent basins, namely, in particular, those of the Niara, the Ogowé, the Schari, and the Nile, on the north; by the eastern watershed line of the affluents of Lake Tanganyika, on the east; and by the watersheds of the basins of the Zambesi and the Logé, on the south. It therefore comprises all the regions watered by the Congo and its affluents, including Tanganyika, with its eastern tributaries.

2. In the maritime zone extending along the Atlantic Ocean from the parallel situated in 2° 30´ of south latitude to the mouth of the Logé.

The northern boundary will follow the parallel situated in 2° 30´ from the coast to the point where it meets the geographical basin of the Congo, avoiding the basin of the Ogowé, to which the provisions of the present Act do not apply.

The southern boundary will follow the course of the Logé to its source, and thence pass eastwards till it joins the geographical basin of the Congo.

3. In the zone stretching eastwards from the Congo Basin, as above defined, to the Indian Ocean from the 5° of north latitude to the mouth of the Zambesi in the south, from which point the line of demarcation will ascend the Zambesi to five miles above its confluence with the Shire, and then follow the watershed between the affluents of Lake Nyassa and those of the Zambesi, till at last it reaches the watershed between the waters of the Zambesi and the Congo.

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It is expressly recognised that in extending the principle of free trade to this eastern zone the Conference Powers only undertake engagements for themselves, and that in the territories belonging to an independent Sovereign State this principle shall only be applicable in so far as it is approved by such State. But the Powers agree to use their good offices with the Governments established on the African shore of the Indian Ocean for the purpose of obtaining such approval, and in any case of securing the most favourable conditions to the transit (traffic) of all nations.

Article 2. All flags, without distinction of nationality, shall have free access to the whole of the coast-line of the territories above enumerated, to the rivers there running into the sea, to all the waters of the Congo and its affluents, including the lakes, and to all the ports situate on the banks of these waters, as well as to all canals which may in future be constructed with intent to unite the watercourses or lakes within the entire area of the territories described in Article 1. Those trading under such flags may engage in all sorts of transport, and carry on the coasting trade by sea and river, as well as boat traffic, on the same footing as if they were subjects.

Article 3. Wares, of whatever origin, imported into those regions, under whatsoever flag, by sea or river, or overland, shall be subject to no other taxes than such as may be levied as fair compensation for expenditure in the interest of trade, and which for this reason must be equally borne by the subjects themselves and by foreigners of all nationalities. All differential dues on vessels, as well as on merchandise, are forbidden.

Article 4. Merchandise imported into those regions shall remain free from import and transit dues.

The Powers reserve to themselves to determine after the lapse of twenty years whether this freedom of import shall be retained or not.

Article 5. No Power which exercises or shall exercise sovereign rights in the above-mentioned regions shall be allowed to grant therein a monopoly or favour of any kind in matters of trade.

Foreigners, without distinction, shall enjoy protection of their persons and property, as well as the right of acquiring and transferring movable and immovable possessions; and national rights and treatment in the exercise of their professions.

Article 6. Provisions relative to Protection of the Natives, of Missionaries and Travellers, as well as relative to Religious Liberty.—All the Powers exercising sovereign rights or influence in the aforesaid territories bind themselves to watch over the preservation of the native tribes, and to care for the improvement of the conditions of their moral and material well-being, and to help in suppressing slavery, and especially the Slave Trade. They shall, without distinction of creed[Pg 535] or nation, protect and favour all religious, scientific, or charitable institutions, and undertakings created and organised for the above ends, or which aim at instructing the natives and bringing home to them the blessings of civilisation.

Christian missionaries, scientists, and explorers, with their followers, property, and collections, shall likewise be the objects of especial protection.

Freedom of conscience and religious toleration are expressly guaranteed to the natives, no less than to subjects and to foreigners. The free and public exercise of all forms of Divine worship, and the right to build edifices for religious purposes, and to organise religious missions belonging to all creeds, shall not be limited or fettered in any way whatsoever.

Article 7. Postal Régime.—The Convention of the Universal Postal Union, as revised at Paris the 1st June, 1878, shall be applied to the Conventional Basin of the Congo.

The Powers who therein do or shall exercise rights of sovereignty or protectorate engage, as soon as circumstances permit them, to take the measures necessary for the carrying out of the preceding provision.

Article 8. Right of Surveillance vested in the International Navigation Commission of the Congo.—In all parts of the territory had in view by the present Declaration, where no Power shall exercise rights of sovereignty or protectorate, the International Navigation Commission of the Congo, instituted in virtue of Article 17, shall be charged with supervising the application of the principles proclaimed and perpetuated (consacrés) by this Declaration.

In all cases of difference arising relative to the application of the principles established by the present Declaration, the Governments concerned may agree to appeal to the good offices of the International Commission, by submitting to it an examination of the facts which shall have occasioned these differences.

Chapter II.—Declaration relative to the Slave Trade

Article 9. Seeing that trading in slaves is forbidden in conformity with the principles of international law as recognised by the Signatory Powers, and seeing also that the operations which by sea or land furnish slaves to trade ought likewise to be regarded as forbidden, the Powers which do or shall exercise sovereign rights or influence in the territories forming the Conventional Basin of the Congo declare that these territories may not serve as a market or means of transit for the trade in slaves, of whatever race they may be. Each of the Powers binds itself to employ all the means at its disposal for putting an end to this trade and for punishing those who engage in it.

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Chapter III.—Declaration relative to the Neutrality of the Territories comprised in the Conventional Basin of the Congo

Article 10. In order to give a new guarantee of security to trade and industry, and to encourage, by the maintenance of peace, the development of civilisation mentioned in Article 1, and placed under the free trade system, the High Signatory Parties to the present Act, and those who shall hereafter adopt it, bind themselves to respect the neutrality of the territories, or portions of territories, belonging to the said countries, comprising therein the territorial waters, so long as the Powers which exercise or shall exercise the rights of sovereignty or protectorate over those territories, using their option of proclaiming themselves neutral, shall fulfil the duties which neutrality requires.

Article 11. In case a Power exercising rights of sovereignty or protectorate in the countries mentioned in Article 1, and placed under the free trade system, shall be involved in a war, then the High Signatory Parties to the present Act, and those who shall hereafter adopt it, bind themselves to lend their good offices in order that the territories belonging to this Power and comprised in the Conventional free trade zone shall, by the common consent of this Power and of the other belligerent or belligerents, be placed during the war under the rule of neutrality, and considered as belonging to a non-belligerent State, the belligerents thenceforth abstaining from extending hostilities to the territories thus neutralised, and from using them as a base for warlike operations.

Article 12. In case a serious disagreement originating on the subject of, or in the limits of, the territories mentioned in Article 1 and placed under the free trade system, shall arise between any Signatory Powers of the present Act, or the Powers which may become parties to it, these Powers bind themselves, before appealing to arms, to have recourse to the mediation of one or more of the friendly Powers.

In a similar case the same Powers reserve to themselves the option of having recourse to arbitration.

Chapter IV.—Act of Navigation for the Congo

Article 13. The navigation of the Congo, without excepting any of its branches or outlets, is, and shall remain, free for the merchant ships of all nations equally, whether carrying cargo or ballast, for the transport of goods or passengers. It shall be regulated by the provisions of this Act of Navigation, and by the rules to be made in pursuance thereof.

In the exercise of this navigation the subjects and flags of all nations shall in all respects be treated on a footing of perfect equality, not only for the direct navigation from the open sea to the inland ports of[Pg 537] the Congo and vice versâ, but also for the great and small coasting trade, and for boat traffic on the course of the river.

Consequently, on all the course and mouths of the Congo there will be no distinction made between the subjects of Riverain States and those of non-Riverain States, and no exclusive privilege of navigation will be conceded to companies, corporations, or private persons whatsoever.

These provisions are recognised by the Signatory Powers as becoming henceforth a part of international law.

Article 14. The navigation of the Congo shall not be subject to any restriction or obligation which is not expressly stipulated by the present Act. It shall not be exposed to any landing dues, to any station or depôt tax, or to any charge for breaking bulk, or for compulsory entry into port.

In all the extent of the Congo the ships and goods in process of transit on the river shall be submitted to no transit dues, whatever their starting-place or destination.

There shall be levied no maritime or river toll based on the mere fact of navigation, nor any tax on goods aboard of ships. There shall only be levied taxes or duties having the character of an equivalent for services rendered to navigation itself, to wit:

1. Harbour dues on certain local establishments, such as wharves, warehouses, etc., if actually used.

The tariff of such dues shall be framed according to the cost of constructing and maintaining the said local establishments; and it will be applied without regard to whence vessels come or what they are loaded with.

2. Pilot dues for those stretches of the river where it may be necessary to establish properly qualified pilots.

The tariff of these dues shall be fixed and calculated in proportion to the service rendered.

3. Charges raised to cover technical and administrative expenses incurred in the general interest of navigation, including lighthouse, beacon, and buoy duties.

The last-mentioned dues shall be based on the tonnage of vessels as shown by the ship’s papers, and in accordance with the rules adopted on the Lower Danube.

The tariffs by which the various dues and taxes enumerated in the three preceding paragraphs shall be levied shall not involve any differential treatment, and shall be officially published at each port.

The Powers reserve to themselves to consider, after the lapse of five years, whether it may be necessary to revise, by common accord, the above-mentioned tariffs.

Article 15. The affluents of the Congo shall in all respects be subject to the same rules as the river of which they are tributaries.

[Pg 538]

And the same rules shall apply to the streams and river as well as the lakes and canals in the territories defined in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 1.

At the same time the powers of the International Commission of the Congo will not extend to the said rivers, streams, lakes, and canals unless with the assent of the States under whose sovereignty they are placed. It is well understood, also, that with regard to the territories mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 1, the consent of the Sovereign States owning these territories is reserved.

Article 16. The roads, railways, or lateral canals which may be constructed with the special object of obviating the innavigability or correcting the imperfection of the river route on certain sections of the course of the Congo, its affluents, and other waterways placed under a similar system, as laid down in Article 15, shall be considered, in their quality of means of communication, as dependencies of this river, and as equally open to the traffic of all nations.

And as on the river itself, so there shall be collected on these roads, railways, and canals only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance, and management, and on the profits due to the promoters.

As regards the tariff of these tolls, strangers and the natives of the respective territories shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality.

Article 17. There is instituted an International Commission, charged with the execution of the provisions of the present Act of Navigation.

The Signatory Powers of this Act, as well as those who may subsequently adhere to it, may always be represented on the said Commission, each by one Delegate. But no Delegate shall have more than one vote at his disposal, even in the case of his representing several Governments.

This Delegate will be directly paid by his Government. As for the various agents and employees of the International Commission, their remuneration shall be charged to the amount of the dues collected in conformity with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 14.

The particulars of the said remuneration, as well as the number, grade, and powers of the agents and employees, shall be entered in the Returns to be sent yearly to the Governments represented on the International Commission.

Article 18. The members of the International Commission, as well as its appointed agents, are invested with the privileges of inviolability in the exercise of their functions. The same guarantee shall apply to the offices and archives of the Commission.

Article 19. The International Commission for the Navigation of the Congo shall be constituted as soon as five of the Signatory Powers of the present General Act shall have appointed their Delegates. And pending the constitution of the Commission the nomination of these[Pg 539] Delegates shall be notified to the Imperial Government of Germany, which will see to it that the necessary steps are taken to summon the meeting of the Commission.

The Commission will at once draw up Navigation, River Police, Pilot, and Quarantine Rules.

These Rules, as well as the tariffs to be framed by the Commission, shall, before coming into force, be submitted for approval to the Powers represented on the Commission. The Powers interested will have to communicate their views with as little delay as possible.

Any infringements of these Rules will be checked by the agents of the International Commission wherever it exercises direct authority, and elsewhere by the Riverain Power.

In the case of an abuse of power, or an act of injustice, on the part of any agent or employee of the International Commission, the individual who considers himself to be aggrieved in his person or rights may apply to the Consular Agent of his country. The latter will examine his complaint, and if he finds it primâ facie reasonable, he will then be entitled to bring it before the Commission. At his instance then, the Commission, represented by at least three of its members, shall in conjunction with him inquire into the conduct of its agent or employee. Should the Consular Agent look upon the decision of the Commission as raising questions of law (objections de droit), he will report on the subject to his Government, which may then have recourse to the Powers represented on the Commission, and invite them to agree as to the instructions to be given to the Commission.

Article 20. The International Commission of the Congo, charged in terms of Article 17 with the execution of the present Act of Navigation, shall in particular have power—

1. To decide what works are necessary to assure the navigability of the Congo in accordance with the needs of international trade.

On those sections of the river where no Power exercises sovereign rights, the International Commission will itself take the necessary measures for assuring the navigability of the river.

On those sections of the river held by a Sovereign Power, the International Commission will concert its action (s’entendra) with the riparian authorities.

2. To fix the pilot tariff and that of the general navigation dues as provided for by paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 14.

The tariffs mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 14 shall be framed by the territorial authorities within the limits prescribed in the said Article.

The levying of the various dues shall be seen to by the international or territorial authorities on whose behalf they are established.

3. To administer the revenue arising from the application of the preceding paragraph (2).

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4. To superintend the quarantine establishment created in virtue of Article 24.

5. To appoint officials for the general service of navigation, and also its own proper employees.

It will be for the territorial authorities to appoint Sub-Inspectors on sections of the river occupied by a Power, and for the International Commission to do so on the other sections.

The Riverain Power will notify to the International Commission the appointment of Sub-Inspectors, and this Power will undertake the payment of their salaries.

In the exercise of its functions as above defined and limited, the International Commission will be independent of the territorial authorities.

Article 21. In the accomplishment of its task the International Commission may, if need be, have recourse to the war-vessels of the Signatory Powers of this Act, and of those who may in future accede to it, under reserve, however, of the instructions which may be given to the Commanders of their vessels by their respective Governments.

Article 22. The war vessels of the Signatory Powers of this Act that may enter the Congo are exempt from payment of the navigation dues provided for in paragraph 3 of Article 14; but unless their intervention has been called for by the International Commission or its agents, in terms of the preceding Article, they shall be liable to the payment of the pilot or harbour dues which may eventually be established.

Article 23. With the view of providing for the technical and administrative expenses which it may incur, the International Commission created by Article 17 may, in its own name, negotiate loans to be exclusively guaranteed by the revenues raised by the said Commission.

The decisions of the Commission dealing with the conclusion of a loan must be come to by a majority of two thirds. It is understood that the Governments represented on the Commission shall not in any case be held as assuming any guarantee, or as contracting any engagement or joint liability (solidarité) with respect to the said loans, unless under special Conventions concluded by them to this effect.

The revenue yielded by the dues specified in paragraph 3 of Article 14 shall bear, as a first charge, the payment of the interest and sinking fund of the said loans, according to agreement with the lenders.

Article 24. At the mouth of the Congo there shall be founded, either on the initiative of the Riverain Powers, or by the intervention of the International Commission, a quarantine establishment for the control of vessels passing out of as well as into the river.

Later on, the Powers will decide whether and on what conditions a[Pg 541] sanitary control shall be exercised over vessels engaged in the navigation of the river itself.

Article 25. The provisions of the present Act of Navigation shall remain in force in time of war. Consequently all nations, whether neutral or belligerent, shall always be free, for the purposes of trade, to navigate the Congo, its branches, affluents, and mouths, as well as the territorial waters fronting the embouchure of the river.

Traffic will similarly remain free, despite a state of war, on the roads, railways, lakes, and canals mentioned in Articles 15 and 16.

There will be no exception to this principle except in so far as concerns the transport of articles intended for a belligerent and, in virtue of the law of nations, regarded as contraband of war.

All the works and establishments created in pursuance of the present Act, especially the tax-collecting offices and their treasuries, as well as the permanent service staff of these establishments, shall enjoy the benefits of neutrality (places sous le régime de la neutralité), and shall therefore be respected and protected by belligerents.

Chapter V.—Act of Navigation for the Niger

Article 26. The navigation of the Niger, without excepting any of its branches and outlets, is and shall remain entirely free for the merchant-ships of all nations equally, whether with cargo or ballast, for the transportation of goods and passengers. It shall be regulated by the provisions of this Act of Navigation, and by the rules to be made in pursuance of this Act.

In the exercise of this navigation the subjects and flags of all nations shall be treated, in all circumstances, on a footing of perfect equality, not only for the direct navigation from the open sea to the inland ports of the Niger and vice versâ, but for the great and small coasting trade, and for boat trade on the course of the river.

Consequently, on all the course and mouths of the Niger there will be no distinction made between the subjects of the Riverain States and those of non-Riverain States; and no exclusive privilege of navigation will be conceded to companies, corporations, or private persons.

These provisions are recognised by the Signatory Powers as forming henceforth a part of international law.

Article 27. The navigation of the Niger shall not be subject to any restriction or obligation based merely on the fact of navigation.

It shall not be exposed to any obligation in regard to landing, station, or depôt, or for breaking bulk, or for compulsory entry into port.

In all the extent of the Niger the ships and goods in process of transit on the river shall be submitted to no transit dues, whatever their starting-place or destination.

No maritime or river toll shall be levied based on the sole fact of[Pg 542] navigation, nor any tax on goods on board of ships. There shall only be collected taxes or duties which shall be an equivalent for services rendered to navigation itself. The tariff of these taxes or duties shall not warrant any differential treatment.

Article 28. The affluents of the Niger shall be in all respects subject to the same rules as the river of which they are tributaries.

Article 29. The roads, railways, or lateral canals which may be constructed with the special object of obviating the innavigability or correcting the imperfections of the river route on certain sections of the course of the Niger, its affluents, branches, and outlets, shall be considered, in their quality of means of communication, as dependencies of this river and as equally open to the traffic of all nations.

And as on the river itself, so there shall be collected on these roads, railways, and canals only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance, and management, and on the profits due to the promoters.

As regards the tariff of these tolls, strangers and the natives of the respective territories shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality.

Article 30. Great Britain undertakes to apply the principles of freedom of navigation enunciated in Articles 26, 27, 28, and 29, on so much of the waters of the Niger, its affluents, branches, and outlets, as are or may be under her sovereignty or protection.

The rules which she may establish for the safety and control of navigation shall be drawn up in a way to facilitate, as far as possible, the circulation of merchant-ships.

It is understood that nothing in these obligations shall be interpreted as hindering Great Britain from making any rules of navigation whatever which shall not be contrary to the spirit of these engagements.

Great Britain undertakes to protect foreign merchants and all the trading nationalities on all those portions of the Niger which are or may be under her sovereignty or protection as if they were her own subjects, provided always that such merchants conform to the rules which are or shall be made in virtue of the foregoing.

Article 31. France accepts, under the same reservations, and in identical terms, the obligations undertaken in the preceding Articles in respect of so much of the waters of the Niger, its affluents, branches, and outlets, as are or may be under her sovereignty or protection.

Article 32. Each of the other Signatory Powers binds itself in the same way, in case it should ever exercise in the future rights of sovereignty or protection over any portion of the waters of the Niger, its affluents, branches, or outlets.

Article 33. The arrangements of the present Act of Navigation will remain in force in time of war. Consequently, the navigation of all neutral or belligerent nations will be in all times free for the usages of commerce on the Niger, its branches, its affluents, its mouths, and[Pg 543] outlets, as well as on the territorial waters opposite the mouths and outlets of that river.

The traffic will remain equally free in spite of a state of war on the roads, railways, and canals mentioned in Article 29.

There will be an exception to this principle only in that which relates to the transport of articles destined for a belligerent and considered, in virtue of the law of nations, as articles of contraband of war.

Chapter VI.—Declaration relative to the essential Conditions to be observed in order that new Occupations on the Coasts of the African Continent may be held to be effective

Article 34. Any Power which henceforth takes possession of a tract of land on the coasts of the African Continent outside of its present possessions, or which, being hitherto without such possessions, shall acquire them, as well as the Power which assumes a protectorate there, shall accompany the respective act with a notification thereof, addressed to the other Signatory Powers of the present Act, in order to enable them, if need be, to make good any claims of their own.

Article 35. The Signatory Powers of the present Act recognise the obligation to ensure the establishment of authority in the regions occupied by them on the coasts of the African Continent sufficient to protect existing rights, and, as the case may be, freedom of trade and of transit under the conditions agreed upon.

Chapter VII.—General Dispositions

Article 36. The Signatory Powers of the present General Act reserve to themselves to introduce into it subsequently, and by common accord, such modifications and improvements as experience may show to be expedient.

Article 37. The Powers who have not signed the present General Act shall be free to adhere to its provisions by a separate instrument.

The adhesion of each Power shall be notified in diplomatic form to the Government of the German Empire, and by it in turn to all the other Signatory or adhering Powers.

Such adhesion shall carry with it full acceptance of all the obligations as well as admission to all the advantages stipulated by the present General Act.

Article 38. The present General Act shall be ratified with as little delay as possible, the same in no case to exceed a year.

It will come into force for each Power from the date of its ratification by that Power.

[Pg 544]

Meanwhile, the Signatory Powers of the present General Act bind themselves not to take any steps contrary to its provisions.

Each Power will address its ratification to the Government of the German Empire, by which notice of the fact will be given to all the other Signatory Powers of the present Act.

The ratifications of all the Powers will be deposited in the archives of the Government of the German Empire. When all the ratifications shall have been sent in, there will be drawn up a Deposit Act, in the shape of a Protocol, to be signed by the Representatives of all the Powers which have taken part in the Conference of Berlin, and of which a certified copy will be sent to each of those Powers.

In testimony whereof the several Plenipotentiaries have signed the present General Act and have affixed thereto their seals.

Done at Berlin the 26th day of February, 1885.

(Here follow the signatures of the Plenipotentiaries in
the order of their names in the preamble.)

THE TEXT OF THE DECLARATIONS AND TREATIES BETWEEN THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE CONGO AND ITS NEIGHBOURS, GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND PORTUGAL. ALSO ITS DECLARATION EXCHANGED WITH BELGIUM.

On 8th November, 1884, a convention was concluded between the German Empire and the Association. The following are its terms:

Article 1. The International Association of the Congo engages not to levy any duty on articles or merchandise imported directly or in transit into its present or future possessions in the basins of the Congo and the Niadi-Kwilu, or into its possessions situated on the Atlantic Ocean. This exemption from duties especially applies to merchandise and articles of commerce which are carried by the roads made round the cataracts of the Congo.

Article 2. The subjects of the German Empire shall have the right of sojourning and of establishing themselves on the territories of the Association. They shall be treated on the same footing as the subjects of the most favoured nation, including the inhabitants of the country, so far as concerns the protection of their persons and possessions, the free exercise of their religion, the recognition and defence of their rights, as well as in matters of navigation, trade, or manufactures.

[Pg 545]

Especially, they shall have the right of buying, selling, and leasing lands and buildings situated in the territories of the Association, of establishing commercial houses, and carrying on trade or the coasting trade under the German flag.

Article 3. The Association engages never to grant any privileges whatsoever to the subjects of any other nation without their being immediately extended to German subjects.

Article 4. In the event of the cession of the present or future territory of the Association, or of any part of it, the obligations contracted by the Association towards the German Empire shall be transferred to the occupier. These obligations and the rights granted by the Association to the German Empire and its subjects shall remain in force after every cession as far as regards each new occupier.

Article 5. The German Empire recognises the flag of the Association—a blue flag with a golden star in the centre—as that of a friendly State.

Article 6. The German Empire is ready on its part to recognise the frontiers of the territory of the Association and of the new State which is to be created, as they are shown in the annexed Map.

Article 7. This Convention shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be exchanged with the least possible delay.

This Convention shall come into force immediately after the exchange of the ratifications.

Done at Berlin the 8th November, 1884.

(Signed) Count v. Brandenbourg.
Strauch.

On 16th December, 1884, Great Britain and the International Association of the Congo exchanged declarations and concluded a Convention. The following is the declaration of the Association:

The International Association of the Congo, founded by His Majesty the King of the Belgians for the purpose of promoting the civilisation and commerce of Africa, and for other humane and benevolent purposes, hereby declares as follows:—

Article 1. That by Treaties with the legitimate Sovereigns in the basins of the Congo and of the Niadi-Kwilu, and in adjacent territories upon the Atlantic, there has been ceded to it territory for the use and benefit of Free States established, and being established, in the said basins and adjacent territories.

Article 2. That by virtue of the said Treaties, the administration of the interests of the said Free States is vested in the Association.

[Pg 546]

Article 3. That the Association has adopted as its standard, and that of the said Free States, a blue flag with a golden star in the centre.

Article 4. That with a view of enabling commerce to penetrate into Equatorial Africa, the Association and the said Free States have resolved to levy no customs duties upon goods or articles of merchandise imported directly into their territories or brought by the route which has been constructed around the cataracts of the Congo.

Article 5. That the Association and the said Free States guarantee to foreigners established in their territories the free exercise of their religion, the rights of navigation, commerce, and industry, and the right of buying, selling, letting, and hiring lands, buildings, mines, and forests, on the sole condition that they shall obey the laws.

Article 6. That the Association and the said free States will do all in their power to prevent the Slave Trade and to suppress slavery.

Done at Berlin, the 16th December, 1884.

(On behalf of the Association),
(Signed) Strauch.

The declaration of the British Government was as follows:

The Government of Her Britannic Majesty declare their sympathy with, and approval of, the humane and benevolent purposes of the Association, and hereby recognise the flag of the Association, and of the Free States under its administration, as the flag of a friendly Government.

(On behalf of Her Majesty’s Government),
Edward B. Malet.

The Convention itself was couched in the following terms:

Whereas the Government of Her Britannic Majesty have recognised the flag of the International Association of the Congo, and of the Free States under its administration, as the flag of a friendly Government;

And whereas it is expedient to regulate and define the rights of British subjects in the territories of the said Free States, and to provide for the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction over them, in manner hereinafter mentioned, until sufficient provision shall have been made by the Association for the administration of justice among foreigners;

It is hereby agreed as follows:—

Article 1. The International Association of the Congo undertakes not to levy any duty, import or transit, on articles or merchandise[Pg 547] imported by British subjects into the said territories, or into any territory which may hereafter come under its government. This freedom from custom-house duties shall extend to merchandise and articles of commerce which shall be transported along the roads or canals constructed, or to be constructed, around the cataracts of the Congo.

Article 2. British subjects shall have at all times the right of sojourning and of establishing themselves within the territories which are or shall be under the Government of the said Association. They shall enjoy the same protection which is accorded to the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation in all matters which regard their persons, their property, the free exercise of their religion, and the rights of navigation, commerce, and industry. Especially they shall have the right of buying, of selling, of letting, and of hiring lands and buildings, mines, and forests, situated within the said territories, and of founding houses of commerce, and of carrying on commerce and a coasting trade under the British flag.

Article 3. The Association engages itself not to accord any advantages whatsoever to the subjects of any other nation without the same advantages being extended to British subjects.

Article 4. Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland may appoint Consuls or other Consular Officers to reside at ports or stations within the said territories, and the Association engages itself to protect them.

Article 5. Every British Consul or Consular Officer within the said territories, who shall be thereunto duly authorised by Her Britannic Majesty’s Government, may hold a Consular Court for the district assigned to him, and shall exercise sole and exclusive jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, over the persons and property of British subjects within the same, in accordance with British law.

Article 6. Nothing in the last preceding Article contained shall be deemed to relieve any British subject from the obligation to observe the laws of the said Free States applicable to foreigners, but any infraction thereof by a British subject shall be justiciable only by a British Consular Court.

Article 7. Inhabitants of the said territories who are subject to the Government of the Association, if they shall commit any wrong against the person or property of a British subject, shall be arrested and punished by the authorities of the Association according to the laws of the said Free States.

Justice shall be equitably and impartially administered on both sides.

Article 8. A British subject, having reason to complain against an inhabitant of the said territories, who is subject to the Government of the Association, must proceed to the British Consulate, and there[Pg 548] state his grievance. The Consul shall inquire into the merits of the case, and do his utmost to arrange it amicably. In like manner, if any such inhabitant of the said territories shall have reason to complain against a British subject, the British Consul shall no less listen to his complaint and endeavour to settle it in a friendly manner. If disputes take place of such a nature that the Consul cannot arrange them amicably, then he shall request the assistance of the authorities of the Association to examine into the merits of the case and decide it equitably.

Article 9. Should any inhabitant of the said territories, who is subject to the Government of the Association, fail to discharge any debt incurred to a British subject, the authorities of the Association will do their utmost to bring him to justice, and to enforce recovery of the said debt; and should any British subject fail to discharge a debt incurred by him to any such inhabitant, the British authorities will in like manner do their utmost to bring him to justice, and to enforce recovery of the debt. No British Consul nor any authority of the Association is to be held responsible for the payment of any debt contracted either by a British subject or, by any inhabitant of the said territories, who is subject to the Government of the Association.

Article 10. In case of the Association being desirous to cede any portion of the territory now or hereafter under its Government, it shall not cede it otherwise than as subject to all the engagements contracted by the Association under this Convention. Those engagements, and the rights thereby accorded to British subjects, shall continue to be in vigour after every cession made to any new occupant of any portion of the said territory.

This Convention shall, be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged with the least possible delay. It shall come into operation immediately upon the exchange of ratifications.

Done at Berlin the 16th December, 1884.

(Signed) Edward B. Malet.
Strauch.

On 5th February, 1885, was concluded a Convention with the French Republic.

Article 1. The International Association of the Congo hereby declares that it extends to France the privileges it has conceded to the United States of America, the German Empire, England, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, and Spain, in virtue of the Conventions which it concluded with those Powers respectively on the 22nd April, 8th November, 16th, 19th, 24th, and 29th December,[Pg 549] 1884, and 7th January, 1885, the text of which is annexed to the present Convention.

Article 2. The Association engages moreover never to grant any privileges whatever to the subjects of any other nation without their being immediately extended to French citizens.

Article 3. The Government of the French Republic and the Association adopt as frontiers between their possessions:—

The River Chiloango from the ocean to its northernmost source;

The water-parting of the waters of the Niadi Quilloo and the Congo as far as beyond the meridian of Manyanga;

A line to be settled, which, following as far as possible some natural division of the land, shall end between the station of Manyanga and the cataract of the Ntombo Mataka, at a point situated on the navigable portion of the river;

The Congo up to Stanley Pool;

The centre of Stanley Pool;

The Congo up to a point to be settled above the River Licona-Nkundja;

A line to be settled from that point to the 17th degree of longitude east of Greenwich, following, as closely as possible, the water-parting of the basin of the Licona-Nkundja, which is part of the French possessions;

The 17th degree of longitude east of Greenwich.

Article 4. A Commission, composed of an equal number on each side of Representatives of the two parties, shall be intrusted with the duty of marking out on the spot a frontier-line in conformity with the preceding stipulations. In case of a difference of opinion, the question shall be settled by Delegates, who shall be named by the International Commission of the Congo.

Article 5. Subject to the arrangements to be made between the International Association of the Congo and Portugal as to the territories situated to the south of the Chiloango, the Government of the French Republic is disposed to recognise the neutrality of the possessions of the International Association comprised within the frontiers marked on the annexed Map, conditionally upon discussing and regulating the conditions of such neutrality in common with the other Powers represented at the Berlin Conference.

Article 6. The Government of the French Republic recognises the flag of the International Association of the Congo—a blue flag with a golden star in the centre—as the flag of a friendly Government.

In testimony whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention and have affixed thereunto their seals.

Done at Paris the 5th February, 1885.

(L. S.) (Signed) Jules Ferry.
(L. S.) (Signed) Comte Paul de Borchgrave d’Altena.

[Pg 550]

The Convention concluded with Portugal is dated 14th February, 1885.

Article 1. The International Association of the Congo hereby declares that it extends to Portugal the privileges it has conceded to the United States of America, the German Empire, England, Italy, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, France, and the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, in virtue of the Conventions which it concluded with the Powers respectively on the 22nd April, 8th November, 16th, 19th, 24th, and 29th December, 1884, 7th January and 5th and 10th February, 1885, certified copies of which the Association engages to transmit to the Government of His Most Faithful Majesty.

Article 2. The International Association of the Congo engages moreover never to grant any privileges whatsoever to the subjects of any other nation without their being immediately extended to the subjects of His Most Faithful Majesty.

Article 3. The International Association of the Congo and His Most Faithful Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves adopt the following frontiers between their possessions in West Africa, namely:—

To the north of the River Congo (Zaire) the right frontier joining the mouth of the river which empties itself into the Atlantic Ocean, to the south of the Bay of Kabinda, near Ponta Vermelha, at Cabo-Lombo;

The parallel of this latter point prolonged till it intersects the meridian of the junction of the Culacalla with the Luculla;

The meridian thus fixed until it meets the River Luculla;

The course of the Luculla to its junction with the Chiloango (Luango Luce);

The course of the Congo (Zaire) from its mouth to its junction with the little River Uango-Uango;

The meridian which passes by the mouth of the little River Uango-Uango between the Dutch and Portuguese factories, so as to leave the latter in Portuguese territory, till this meridian touches the parallel of Nokki;

The parallel of Nokki till the point where it intersects the River Kuango (Cuango);

From this point, in a southerly direction, the course of the Kuango (Cuango).

Article 4. A Commission, composed of an equal number on each side of Representatives of the two sides, shall be intrusted with the duty of marking out on the spot a frontier-line in conformity with the preceding stipulations. In case of a difference of opinion, the question shall be settled by Delegates who shall be named by the International Commission of the Congo.

[Pg 551]

Article 5. His Most Faithful Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves is inclined to recognise the neutrality of the possessions of the International Association of the Congo, conditionally upon discussing and regulating the conditions of such neutrality in common with the other Powers represented at the Berlin Conference.

Article 6. His Most Faithful Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves recognises the flag of the International Association of the Congo—a blue flag with a golden star in the centre—as the flag of a friendly Government.

Article 7. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Paris within three months, or a shorter time if possible.

In testimony of which the Plenipotentiaries of the two Contracting Parties, as well as his Excellency Baron de Courcel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France at Berlin, as representing the mediatory Power, have signed and affixed their seal to the present Convention.

Done in triplicate at Berlin this 14th day of the month of February, 1885.

(Signed) Strauch.
Marquis de Pénafiel.
Alph. de Courcel.

Declarations were exchanged between the Belgian Government and the Association on 25th February, 1885.

The International Association of the Congo declares by these presents that, by Treaties concluded with the legitimate Sovereigns in the basin of the Congo and its tributaries, vast territories have been ceded to it with all the rights of sovereignty, with a view to the creation of a free and independent State; that Conventions mark off the frontiers of the territories of the Association from those of France and Portugal, and that the frontiers of the Association are shown on the annexed Map;

That the said Association has adopted as the flag of the State administered by it a blue flag with a golden star in the centre;

That the said Association has resolved not to levy any customs duties on goods or products imported into its territories or carried by the road which has been made round the cataracts of the Congo; this resolution has been adopted to assist commerce to penetrate into Equatorial Africa;

That it insures foreigners who may establish themselves in its territories[Pg 552] the right of buying, selling, or leasing lands and buildings therein situated, of establishing commercial houses, and carrying on trade under the sole condition of obeying the law. It engages, moreover, never to grant the citizens of one nation any privilege whatever without immediately extending it to the citizens of all other nations, and to do all in its power to prevent the Slave Trade.

In testimony of which the President of the Association, acting in its behalf, has hereunto affixed his seal and signature.

Berlin, the 23rd day of February, 1885.

(Signed) Strauch.

The Belgian Government takes note of the declarations of the International Association of the Congo, and by these presents recognises the Association within the limits indicated by it, and recognises its flag as on an equality with that of a friendly State.

In testimony of which the Undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have hereunto affixed their seal and signature.

Berlin, the 23rd day of February, 1885.

(Signed) Comte Auguste van der Straten-Ponthoz.
Baron Lambermont.

The Powers assembled in Conference at Brussels, who have ratified the General Act of Berlin of the 26th February, 1885, or who have acceded thereto,

After having drawn up and signed in concert, in the General Act of this day, a collection of measures intended to put an end to the Negro Slave Trade by land as well as by sea, and to improve the moral and material conditions of existence of the native races;

Taking into consideration that the execution of the provisions which they have adopted with this object imposes on some of them who have possessions or Protectorates in the conventional basin of the Congo obligations which absolutely demand new resources to meet them;

Have agreed to make the following Declaration:—

The Signatory or adhering Powers who have possessions or Protectorates in the said conventional basin of the Congo are authorised, so far as they require any authority for the purpose, to establish therein duties upon imported goods, the scale of which shall not exceed a rate equivalent to 10 per cent. “ad valorem” at the port of entry, always excepting spirituous liquors, which are regulated by the provisions of Chapter VI. of the General Act of this day.

[Pg 553]

After the signature of the said General Act, negotiations shall be opened between the Powers who have ratified the General Act of Berlin or who have adhered to it, in order to draw up, within the maximum limit of 10 per cent. “ad valorem” the conditions of the Customs system to be established in the conventional basin of the Congo.

Nevertheless, it is understood:—

1. That no differential treatment or transit duty shall be established;

2. That in applying the Customs system which may be agreed upon, each Power will undertake to simplify formalities as much as possible, and to facilitate trade operations;

3. That the arrangement resulting from the proposed negotiations shall remain in force for fifteen years from the signature of the present Declaration.

At the expiration of this period, and failing a fresh Agreement, the Contracting Powers shall return to the conditions provided for by Article IV. of the General Act of Berlin, retaining the power of imposing duties up to a maximum of 10 per cent. upon goods imported into the conventional basin of the Congo.

The ratifications of the present Declaration shall be exchanged at the same time as those of the General Act of this day.

In witness whereof the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have drawn up the present Declaration, and have affixed thereto their seals.

Done at Brussels, the 2nd day of the month of July, 1890.

[L. S.] Vivian, John Kirk, Alvensleben, Göhring, R. Khevenhüller, Lambermont, E. Banning, Schack de Brockdorff, J. G. de Aguera, Edm. van Eetvelde, A. van Malgeghem, A. Bourée, G. Cogordan, F. de Renzis, T. Catalani, L. Gericke, Henrique de Macedo, Pereiro Coutinho, L. Ouroussoff, Martens, Burenstam, Et Caratheodory.

His Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, and

The United States of America,

desiring to perpetuate, confirm and encourage the relations of commerce and of good understanding existing already between the two respective countries, by the conclusion of a treaty of amity, commerce, navigation and extradition, have for this purpose named as their respective Plenipotentiaries, viz.:

His Majesty Leopold II., King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo,

Edm. van Eetvelde, Administrator General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Officer of His Order of Leopold, and

[Pg 554]

His Excellency the President of the United States of America,

Edwin H. Terrell, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles:

Article I.—There shall be full, entire and reciprocal liberty of commerce, establishment and navigation between the citizens and inhabitants of the two High contracting Parties.

The citizens and inhabitants of the Independent State of the Congo in the United States of America and those of the United States of America in the independent State of the Congo shall have reciprocally the right, on conforming to the laws of the country, to enter, travel and reside in all parts of their respective territories; to carry on business there; and they shall enjoy in this respect for the protection of their persons and their property the same treatment and the same rights as the natives, or the citizens and inhabitants of the most favoured nation.

They can freely exercise their industry or their business, as well wholesale as retail, in the whole extent of the territories, without being subjected as to their persons or their property, or by reason of their business, to any taxes, general or local, imposts or conditions whatsoever other or more onerous than those which are imposed or may be imposed upon the natives other than non-civilised aborigines, or upon the citizens and inhabitants of the most favoured nation.

In like manner, they will enjoy reciprocally the treatment of the most favoured nation in all that relates to rights, privileges, exemptions and immunities whatsoever concerning their persons or their property and in the matter of commerce, industry and navigation.

Article II.—In all that concerns the acquisition, succession, possession and alienation of property, real and personal, the citizens and inhabitants of each of the High contracting Parties shall enjoy in the territories of the other all the rights which the respective laws accord or shall accord in those territories to the citizens and inhabitants of the most favoured nation.

Article III.—The citizens and inhabitants of each of the High contracting Parties shall be exempt in the territories of the other from all personal service in the army, navy, or militia, and from all pecuniary contributions in lieu of such, as well as from all obligatory official functions whatever, except the obligation of sitting, within a radius of one hundred kilometres from the place of their residence, as a juror in judicial proceedings; furthermore, their property shall not be taken for the public service without an ample and sufficient compensation.

[Pg 555]

They shall have free access to the courts of the other, on conforming to the laws regulating the matter, as well for the prosecution as for the defence of their rights, in all the degrees of jurisdiction established by law. They can be represented by lawyers, and they shall enjoy, in this respect, and in what concerns domiciliary visits to their houses, manufactories, stores, warehouses, etc., the same rights and the same advantages which are or shall be granted to the citizens and inhabitants of the most favoured nation, or to natives.

Article IV.—The citizens and inhabitants of the two countries shall enjoy, in the territory of the other, a full and entire liberty of conscience. They shall be protected in the free exercise of their worship; they shall have the right to erect religious edifices and to organise and maintain missions.

Article V.—It will be lawful for the two High contracting Parties to appoint and establish consuls, vice consuls, deputy consuls, consular agents and commercial agents in the territories of the other; but none of these agents can exercise his functions before having received the necessary exequatur from the Government to which he is delegated.

The said agents of each of the two High contracting Parties shall enjoy, in the territories of the other, upon the footing of a complete reciprocity, all the privileges, immunities and rights which are actually granted to those of the most favoured nation or which may be accorded to them hereafter.

The said agents, citizens or inhabitants of the State by which they are appointed shall not be subject to preliminary arrest, except in the case of acts qualified as crimes by the local legislation and punished as such. They shall be exempt from military billeting and from service in the army, navy, or militia, as well as from all direct taxes, unless these should be due on account of real estate, or, unless the said agents should exercise a profession or business of any kind.

The said agents can raise their national flag over their offices.

The consular offices shall be at all times inviolable. The local authorities can not invade them under any pretext. They can not in any case examine or seize the papers which shall be there deposited. The consular offices can not, on the other hand, serve as place of asylum, and if an agent of the consular service is engaged in business, commercial or other, the papers relating to the consulate shall be kept separate.

The said agents shall have the right to exercise all the functions generally appertaining to consuls, especially in what concerns the legalisation of private and public documents, of invoices and commercial contracts, the taking of depositions and the right of authenticating legal acts and documents.

The said agents shall have the right to address the administrative and judicial authorities of the country in which they exercise their[Pg 556] functions in order to complain of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the two Governments, and for the purpose of protecting the rights and interests of the citizens and inhabitants of their country. They shall have also the right to settle all differences arising between the captains or the officers and the sailors of the sea-vessels of their nation. The local authorities shall abstain from interfering in these cases unless the maintenance of the public tranquillity requires it, or, unless their assistance should be asked by the consular authority in order to assure the execution of its decisions.

The local authorities will give to the said agents and, on their default, to the captains or their casual representatives, all aid for the search and arrest of sailor deserters, who shall be kept and guarded in the prisons of the State upon the requisition and at the expense of the consuls or of the captains, during a maximum delay of two months.

Article VI.—The citizens and inhabitants of each of the High contracting Parties shall have reciprocally, according to the same rights and conditions and with the same privileges as those of the most favoured nation, the right to enter with their vessels and cargoes into all the ports and to navigate upon all the rivers and interior waters of the other State.

The vessels of each of the contracting Parties and of its citizens or inhabitants can freely navigate upon the waters of the territory of the other, without being subject to any other tolls, charges or obligations than those which the vessels belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of the most favoured nation would have to bear.

There will not be imposed by either of the contracting Parties upon the vessels belonging to the other or to the citizens or inhabitants of the other, in the matter of tonnage, port charges, pilotage, lighthouse and quarantine dues, salvage of vessels and other administrative expenses whatsoever concerning navigation, any taxes or charges whatever, other or higher than those which are or shall be imposed upon the public or private vessels of the most favoured nation.

It is agreed that every vessel belonging to one of the High contracting Parties or to a citizen or inhabitant of one of them, having the right to bear the flag of that country and having the right to its protection, both according to the laws of that country, shall be considered as a vessel of that nationality.

Article VII.—In what concerns the freight and facilities of transportation, and tolls, the merchandise belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of one of the contracting States transported over the roads, railroads and waterways of the other State, shall be treated on the same footing as the merchandise belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of the most favoured nation.

Article VIII.—In the territories of neither of the High contracting[Pg 557] Parties shall there be established or enforced a prohibition against the importation, exportation or transit of any article of legal commerce, produced or manufactured in the territories of the other, unless this prohibition shall equally and at once be extended to all other nations.

Article IX.—Relating to extraction was stricken out by the Senate.

Article X.—The Republic of the United States of America, recognising that it is just and necessary to facilitate to the Independent State of the Congo the accomplishment of the obligations which it has contracted by virtue of the General Act of Brussels of July 2nd, 1890, admits, so far as it is concerned, that import duties may be collected upon merchandise imported into the said State.

The tariff of these duties cannot go beyond 10 per cent. of the value of the merchandise at the port of importation, during fifteen years to date from July 2nd, 1890, except for spirits, which are regulated by the provisions of Chapter VI. of the General Act of Brussels.

At the expiration of this term of fifteen years, and in default of a new accord, the Independent State of the Congo will be placed as to the United States of America in the situation which existed prior to July 2nd, 1890; the right to impose import duties to a maximum of 10 per cent. upon merchandise imported into the said State remaining acquired to it, on the conditions and within the limitations determined in Articles XI. and XII. of this treaty.

Article XI.—The United States shall enjoy in the Independent State of the Congo, as to the import duties, all the advantages accorded to the most favoured nation.

It has been agreed besides:

1. That no differential treatment nor transit duty can be established;

2. That in the application of the tariff régime which will be introduced, the Congo State will apply itself to simplify, as far as possible, the formalities and to facilitate the operations of commerce.

Article XII.—Considering the fact that in Article X. of the present treaty, the United States of America have given their assent to the establishment of import duties in the Independent State of the Congo under certain conditions, it is well understood that the said Independent State of the Congo assures to the flag, to the vessels, to the commerce and to the citizens and inhabitants of the United States of America, in all parts of the territories of that State, all the rights, privileges and immunities concerning import and export duties, tariff régime, interior taxes and charges and, in a general manner, all commercial interests, which are or shall be accorded to the Signatory Powers of the Act of Berlin, or to the most favoured nation.

[Pg 558]

Article XIII.—In case a difference should arise between the two High contracting Parties as to the validity, interpretation, application or enforcement of any of the provisions contained in the present treaty, and it could not be arranged amicably by diplomatic correspondence between the two Governments, these last agree to submit it to the judgment of an arbitration tribunal, the decision of which they bind themselves to respect and execute loyally.

The tribunal will be composed of three members. Each of the two High contracting Parties will designate one of them, selected outside of the citizens and the inhabitants of either of the contracting States and of Belgium. The High contracting Parties will ask, by common accord, a friendly Government to appoint the third arbitrator, to be selected equally outside of the two contracting States and of Belgium.

If an arbitrator should be unable to sit by reason of death, resignation, or for any other cause, he shall be replaced by a new arbitrator whose appointment shall be made in the same manner as that of the arbitrator whose place he takes.

The majority of arbitrators can act in case of the intentional absence or formal withdrawal of the minority. The decision of the majority of the arbitrators will be conclusive upon all questions to be determined.

The general expenses of the arbitration procedure will be borne, in equal parts, by the two High contracting Parties; but the expenses made by either of the parties for preparing and setting forth its case will be at the cost of that party.

Article XIV.—It is well understood that if the declaration on the subject of the import duties, signed July 2nd, 1890, by the Signatory Powers of the Act of Berlin, should not enter into force, in that case, the present treaty would be absolutely null and without effect.

Article XV.—The present treaty shall be subject to the approval and the ratification, on the one hand, of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, and on the other hand, of His Excellency the President of the United States, acting by the advice and with the consent of the Senate.

The ratifications of the present treaty shall be exchanged at the same time as those of the General Act of Brussels of July 2nd, 1890, and it will enter into force at the same date as the latter.

In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries of the High contracting Parties have signed the present treaty, in duplicate, in French and in English, and have attached thereto their seals.

Done at Brussels, the twenty-fourth day of the month of January of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-one.

[S.] Edm. van Eetvelde. [S.] Edwin H. Terrell.

[Pg 559]

RATIFICATION BY THE UNITED STATES

And whereas the said Treaty has been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the city of Brussels, on the 2nd day of February, 1892,

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Treaty to be made public as amended, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this second day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and sixteenth.

[SEAL] Benj. Harrison.

By the President.
James G. Blaine,
Secretary of State.

PROTOCOL RECORDING THE RATIFICATION BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OF THE GENERAL ACT OF BRUSSELS OF JULY 2, 1890—SIGNED AT BRUSSELS, FEBRUARY 2, 1892

On the 2nd February, 1892, in conformity with Article XCIX. of the General Act of the 2nd July, 1890, and with the unanimous decision of the Signatory Powers prolonging till the 2nd February, 1892, in favour of the United States, the period fixed by the said Article XCIX., the Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, deposited in the hands of the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs the Ratification by the President of the United States of the said General Act.

At His Excellency’s request the following Resolution whereby the Senate of the United States consented to the Ratification of the President, was inserted in the present Protocol:—

“Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein),

“That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of the General Act signed at Brussels on the 2nd July, 1890, by the Plenipotentiaries of the United States and other Powers, for the suppression of the African Slave Trade, and for other purposes.

“Resolved further: That the Senate advise and consent to the acceptance of the partial ratification of the said General Act on the part[Pg 560] of the French Republic, and to the stipulations relative thereto, as set forth in the Protocol signed at Brussels on the 2nd February, 1892.

“Resolved further, as a part of this act of ratification, That the United States of America, having neither Possessions nor Protectorates in Africa, hereby disclaims any intention, in ratifying this Treaty, to indicate any interest whatsoever in the Possessions or Protectorates established or claimed on that Continent by the other Powers, or any approval of the wisdom, expediency, or lawfulness thereof, and does not join in any expressions in the said General Act which might be construed as such a declaration or acknowledgment; and, for this reason, that it is desirable that a copy of this Resolution be inserted in the Protocol to be drawn up at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty on the part of the United States.”

The above Resolution of the Senate of the United States having been textually communicated in advance by the Government of Belgium to all the Signatory Powers of the General Act, the latter have assented to its insertion in the present Protocol which shall remain annexed to the Protocol of the 2nd February, 1892.

An official notification to this effect was made to the United States Minister.

The Ratification of the President of the United States having been found in good and due form, notification of its deposit was made to his Excellency Mr. Edwin H. Terrell. It will be retained in the archives of the Belgian Foreign Office.

On proceeding to the signature of the present Protocol the Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the King of the Belgians announced that the Representative of Russia, in his note expressing the assent of his Government, expressed the opinion that it was desirable that, in the Protocol, a French translation should accompany the English text of the Resolution of the Senate of the United States of America, and that, in any case, the absence of such translation should not form a precedent.

A certified copy of the present Protocol will be sent by the Belgian Government to the Signatory Powers of the General Act.

Done at Brussels the 2nd February, 1892.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs,
(Signed) Prince de Chimay.
The Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America,
(Signed) Edwin H. Terrell.

[Pg 561]

DISPATCH FROM HIS MAJESTY’S MINISTER AT BRUSSELS RESPECTING THE COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE NATIVES, INSTITUTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE INDEPENDENT CONGO STATE UNDER THE DECREE OF SEPTEMBER 18, 1896

Sir C. Phipps to the Marquess of Lansdowne.—(Received May 19.)

(Extract.)

Brussels, May 18, 1903.

M. De Cuvelier handed to me this morning the documents herewith inclosed on the subject of the working of the Commission for the Protection of the Natives, instituted by the Congo State Government under the Decree of the 18th September, 1896, which had been collected and prepared for me in consequence of my request made to that effect the day before yesterday.

Your Lordship will observe that the Congo Government places at my disposal, without concealment, the whole correspondence which has passed in regard to the Commission under discussion, including dispatches not intended for publication. It undoubtedly leads to the conclusion that, if the operation of the Commission has not been so effective as might have been anticipated, the fault has rather been due to the great extent of territory which it had the duty to watch, and to the considerable distances by which its members were separated, and not to any deficiency of conception or absence of energy on the part of the Central Government.

SETTLEMENTS FOR NATIVE CHILDREN

Leopold II., King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo,

To all present and to come, greeting:

Whereas it is expedient to make provision for the protection of those children who have been victims of the Slave Trade; and

Whereas it is the general duty of the State to assume the guardianship of abandoned children, or of those whose parents do not fulfil their duties;

Now, therefore, on the proposal of our Administrator-General of the Foreign Department, we have decreed and do hereby decree:—

Article 1. The State shall assume the guardianship of children liberated in consequence of the arrest and dispersal of a convoy of slaves; of fugitive slaves who demand such protection, of children forsaken, abandoned, or orphans, and of those whose parents do not fulfil their duty with regard to maintaining and educating them.

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They shall be provided with the means of livelihood and a practical education, and established in life.

Art. 2. With this object agricultural and professional settlements shall be established, which shall admit not only such children as come under the definitions of Article 1, but, as far as may be, those children who shall ask to be admitted.

Art. 3. From the day of their admission the children shall be placed exclusively under the guardianship of the State, to which they shall remain subject, and shall be liable to work, at the discretion of the Governor-General, up to the expiration of their twenty-fifth year in return for maintenance, food, lodging, and free medical attendance.

Art. 4. Rules of administration prescribed by our Governor-General shall decide the mode and conditions of admission to the settlements, the composition of the directing staff, the programme of manual and intellectual work, the details of supervision, disciplinary penalties and their application, and the public services to which the children shall be attached.

Art. 5. The administration of the guardianship of the children admitted to the settlements shall, as far as their personal rights and property are concerned, be regulated by the Civil Code.

Art. 6. Our Administrators-General of the Foreign and Home Departments are charged, each in so far as it concerns him, with the execution of this Decree.

Done at Brussels this 12th day of July, 1890.

(Signed) Leopold.

By the King-Sovereign:
The Administrator-General of the Foreign
Department,
(Signed) Edm. van Eetvelde.

INSTITUTION OF A COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIVES

Leopold II., King of the Belgians, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, to all present and to come, greeting:

On the motion of our Secretary of State,

We have decreed and do hereby decree:

A permanent Commission is instituted to watch over the protection of the natives throughout the territories of the State.

The members of this Commission are nominated by the King-Sovereign for a period of two years from among the representatives of philanthropic and religious Associations.

Are named in the first instance:

Mgr. van Ronslé, Bishop of Thymbrium, Vicar Apostolic of the Congo Independent State, President;

[Pg 563]

Father van Hencxthoven, J., Superior of the Jesuit Mission at Leopoldville;

Father de Cleene, of the Congregation of Scheut;

William Holman Bentley, of the Baptist Missionary Society Corporation;

Dr. A. Sims, of the American Baptist Missionary Union;

George Grenfell, of the Baptist Missionary Society Corporation, Secretary.

The members of the Commission are to inform the Judicial authorities of any acts of violence of which the natives may be the victims.

Each of the members, individually, may exercise this right of protection, and communicate directly with the Governor-General.

The Commission shall further indicate to the Government the measures to be taken to prevent slave-trading, to render more effective the prohibition or restriction of the trade in spirituous liquors, and gradually to bring about the abolition of barbarous customs, such as cannibalism, human sacrifices, ordeal by poison, etc.

Our Secretary of State is charged with the execution of the present Decree.

Done at Brussels, the 18th September, 1896.

(Signed) Leopold.

By the King-Sovereign:
The Secretary of State,
(Signed) Edm. van Eetvelde.

LETTER OF INSTRUCTION FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AT BOMA IN RE PROTECTION OF NATIVES

Brussels, October 1, 1896.

Sir,

I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a certified copy of a Decree, dated the 18th September, appointing a Commission for the protection of natives.

It has seemed advisable that selected and impartial men, without official or administrative connection, should be placed in a position to form a perfectly independent opinion in regard to any acts of violence of which the natives may have to complain. Such is the object of the new Commission which has been appointed to watch over the protection of natives throughout the country.

Its members are nominated by the King-Sovereign, for a period of two years, from among the representatives of philanthropic and religious Associations.

By this expression the Decree pointed specially to the missionaries,[Pg 564] who were, indeed, marked out for nomination in virtue of their office.

The first members nominated are: Mgr. van Ronslé, Fathers van Hencxthoven and De Cleene, the Protestant missionaries William Holman Bentley, Dr. A. Sims, and G. Grenfell. The last mentioned is appointed Secretary; Mgr. van Ronslé is nominated President.

I have to request you to inform them individually of their selection by the King-Sovereign; the Government are confident that they will not be appealing in vain to the devotion of these gentlemen in requesting the assistance of their services in a work of humanity and protection. One of the authenticated copies of the Decree hereto annexed is intended for each, and will serve as a letter of appointment.

The Decree specifies the duty intrusted to them as being that of notifying to the judicial authorities acts of violence of which the natives may be the victims. This right of initiative belongs to each member individually, that is to say, that he can act separately without any co-operation on the part of the other members of the Commission. Each member may of his own accord address direct communications to the Governor-General with regard to any matters which come within the scope of his mission.

It is the express desire of the Government that the authorities should act upon the information thus given by the members of the Commission, and open an inquiry and institute proceedings either administrative or, in cases of infractions of the law, judicial, in accordance with the general instructions given to the Department of Criminal Justice (le Parquet).

It will hardly be necessary to call the attention of the members of the Commission to the fact that, by reason of the great attention which will be paid to any complaint which they may make, it will behove them to act with circumspection, and to give the authority of their support only to those facts of which they may have personal knowledge, and which are based on trustworthy evidence.

The Decree lastly provides that the Commission may, through the medium of its Secretary, indicate to the Government the measures to be taken to prevent slave-trading, to render more effective the prohibition or restriction of the trade in spirituous liquors, and gradually to bring about the disappearance of inhuman practices. The simplest mode of procedure will be for the Secretary of the Commission—and I am sure that Mr. G. Grenfell will be willing to accept the duty—to forward to the Governor-General a half-yearly report on these questions, containing the observations and proposals of the members of the Commission on the subject. This half-yearly report would also deal with the working of the Commission, the acts of violence definitely established by the members, the complaints made, and the results achieved.

[Pg 565]

I have to request you to keep me informed of the manner in which the new Decree is carried out, and to acquaint me with the definite constitution of the Commission.

The terms of the Decree seem calculated to afford the natives a real guarantee. In order to strengthen this still more, the Government have decided that all offences against the persons of natives, and all attempts against their liberties committed by Europeans, shall be remitted exclusively to the Court of First Instance at Boma, that is to say, before a Court sitting under the fullest conditions of publicity and control. I therefore request that you will instruct the Public Prosecutors (Parquet) to bring offences of the kind before that Court, instead of sending them to the territorial Courts, reserving of course the special jurisdiction which the law gives to military Courts (Conseils de Guerre) in the case of soldiers.

Believe, etc.,
The Secretary of State,
(Signed) Edm. van Eetvelde.

Bolobo, December 26, 1896.

Reverend Sir,

I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a certified copy of the Decree of the 18th December last appointing a Commission for the protection of natives, and nominating you to fulfil the duties of Secretary to the said Commission. This authenticated copy will serve you as your letter of appointment to the important functions for the performance of which the King-Sovereign has selected you. The Government are confident that their appeal for your assistance in a work of humanity and protection will not be in vain.

Owing to the powers devolving upon you as a member of the Commission, you will be in a position to form a perfectly independent opinion in regard to any acts of violence of which the natives may have to complain, and it will be your duty to notify to the judicial authorities any improper proceedings of which the natives in question may be the victims. This right of initiative belongs to you individually, that is to say, you may act separately, without any co-operation on the part of the other members of the Commission. On your information the authorities will open an inquiry, and will institute proceedings, either administrative or, in cases of infractions of the law, judicial.

In view of the action which will be taken on any complaint emanating from you or from the Commission, it is scarcely necessary to remind you that circumspection is called for, and that you should give the authority of your support only to those facts of which you may have a personal knowledge, and which are based on trustworthy evidence.

[Pg 566]

The Commission will also have the duty of drawing the attention of the Government to the measures to be taken to prevent slave-trading, to render more effective the prohibition or restriction of the trade in spirituous liquors, and gradually to bring about the disappearance of inhuman practices. The simplest mode of procedure in this matter would be, in the opinion of the Government, that you, in your capacity as Secretary—and the Government is convinced that you will be willing to accept this duty—should send in a half-yearly report on these questions, containing the observations and proposals of the members of the Commission on the subject. This half-yearly report might also deal with the working of the Commission, the acts of violence definitely established by its members, the complaints made, and the results achieved.

But in this matter, as in everything which relates to the working of the Commission, the Government give it full discretion.

In forwarding to each of the members a copy of the new Decree, and in announcing his nomination to each individually, I am informing them of your appointment as Secretary. You will be good enough to place yourself in communication with them in order, if possible, in spite of distance, to arrange, at Leopoldville, for instance, a meeting of all the members of the Commission, or of a certain number of them, or definitely to constitute the Commission by correspondence, and to settle such measures as should be taken for the execution of the Decree.

Believe, etc.,
The Governor-General,
(Signed) Wahis.

To
The Reverend George Grenfell,
Baptist Missionary Society, Bolobo.