268 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 



1903. 



merit, without anything being weighed. At some posts, it is 

 asserted, the agents have entrusted to the headmen merchandise 

 to be exchanged for rubber, but the headmen usually appro- 

 priated the goods to their own use, taking the rubber without 

 any payment whatever. Some such headmen had thus become 

 able to own dozens of wives and many slaves. 



According to the same author, the victims of this system 

 have to search far and wide for the rubber vines. One having 

 been found, the native first attacks it near the ground, and after 

 no more sap can be gained there, he climbs into the supporting 

 trees, often remaining on the lofty perches all day, and sometimes 

 sleeping and falling to the ground, with a fatal result. Too fre- 

 quent tapping soon kills the vines, when the natives of one dis- 

 trict invade another, the people of which may be themselves 

 hard pressed to find rubber, causing constant quarrels and worse 

 disturbances. As a result of the enforced labor — every village 

 being required to supply definite amounts of rubber — it is 

 asserted that in many places the natives have ceased to grow 

 any food, for the lack of time, but now live " like wild beasts in 

 the forest, subsisting on roots, and ants and other insects." 



But half of the horrors in this book are not even hinted at 

 above — how refractory natives are tortured, mutilated, and even 

 put to death, and whole villages destroyed, for no better reason 

 than that their people have not brought in enough rubber. 

 For this whole condition of affairs the authors of " The Curse 

 of Central Africa*' indict the Belgian government— the real 

 power in the Congo Free State — under whose rule the best rub- 

 ber districts are completely monopolized. " Neither in the 

 Domaine Privi" says this book, " which includes nearly all the 

 rubber producing regions n t gifted away, for considerations, 

 to the concessionaires, nor in the territories handed over to the 

 latter, can an independent trader buy a pound of rubber or an 

 ounce of ivory, or sell a spoonful of beads or an ounce of brass 

 wire. The state fixes the prices of the products which the na- 

 tives are compelled, at the mouth of the Albini [rifle], to bring 

 to its posts ; and it is scarcely necessary to add that the price 

 so fixed is absurdly near to nothing. The close relation of the 

 state to the companies is shown in the fact that the former 

 holds half the shares in many of the latter, sharing in the large 

 profits. Besides, the natives must pay a head tax " in kind," 

 which makes the government itself a large handler of rubber.* 



The statements in this book are stoutly denied in Belgium. 

 Before it was printed in London steps were taken by certain 

 persons mentioned in the manuscript to prevent their names 

 from appearing in the book, and already libel suits against the 

 authors and publishers are pending in the English courts. It 

 may be, therefore, that the facts will thus be brought to light. 

 Meanwhile the book has been withdrawn from the trade. As 

 for the authors, they take pains to prove that they were not 

 discharged by the Congo state, but served their full enlisted 

 terms, and even entertained suggestions with regard to con- 

 tinuing in the service. It would have been better for their 

 reputations as men, if, after such experiences as they report, 

 they had resigned their offices. Their book would then have 

 commanded more respect. 



* The budget of the Congo Free State for 1003 includes an item of 16,440,000 

 francs \ =$3, 172,920] of taxes to be paid by ihe natives " in kind," most of which 

 will be rubber, 



LITERATURE OF INDIA-RUBBER. 



Octave J. A. Collet writes to the Journal d' Agriculture 

 Tropicale reporting the recent shipment from Borneo of 60,- 

 000 Gutta-percha plants, of which 20,000 were for Dr. Preuss, 

 director of the German botanic garden at Victoria, in Kamerun, 

 and the remainder for the Belgian companies " Abir," " Lo- 

 mani," " Luki," and " Lukula " for planting in the Congo state. 



IN a previous mention of the Brussels journal, Industrie et 

 < ommerce et du Gutta Percha, it was referred to as the 

 second of its class to appear in the French language, whereas 

 it really was first to become public. This is a handsome 

 appearing journal, published each month, and, in addition 

 to practical articles on the industries indicated by its title, 

 it contains much original matter of merit relating to the 

 sources of the raw material, particularly in the countries in 

 which Belgian and French capital is interested. The March 

 issue treats of a new vulcanizing press, rubber reclaiming pro- 

 cesses, the drying of washed rubber, and a technical description 

 of an important Landolphia species, besides minor articles and 

 a full review of the crude rubber market. Many of these arti- 

 cles are credited to other journals, but they appear here for the 

 first time in a form available for those whose reading is con- 

 fined to French. 



No. 3 of Le Moniteur du Caoutchouc (Brussels) is devoted 

 mainly to topics bearing upon raw Caoutchouc and its sources, 

 of which the one which will appeal most to manufacturers is a 

 table of shrinkages of Congo sorts, by the conductor of the 

 journal, M. Van den Kerchhove. The first installment appears 

 of an article on rubber collection on the Kasai river, in the 

 Congo state. 



IN CURRENT PERIODICALS. 



Note sur les Lianes du Laos. By Dr. C. Spire. =Bulletin £conom- 

 ique, Hanoi. V-12 (December, 1902.) Pp. 853-861. 



La Culture des Plantes a Caoutchouc en Nouvelle Guinee. By. W. 

 Kolbe. [From Der Tropenpflanzer. Vl\-2] = Revue des Cultures Colon- 

 iales, Paris. XII-I2I (March 20, 1903 ) Pp. 1 76- 179. 



Ule's Expedition nach den Kautschuk Gebieten des Amazonstromes. 

 By Ernst Ule. [Third installment; relates to Hevea species on the 

 river Jurua ~\—Notizblatt des Kimigliche Botanischen Gartens und Mu- 

 seums zu Berlin. III-30 (March 15, 1903). Pp. 224 237. 



Rendement de X Hevea sur le Rio Beni. By PaulCibot. [Continued ; 

 details of yield from tapping in various quarters ~\=Journal J Agricul- 

 ture Tropicale, Paris. III-2I (March 31, 1903.) Pp. 67 70. 



Le Funtumia elastica ou "Silk Rubber" du Lagos. By Emil De 

 Wildeman. [Considerations favorable to its culture in West Africa.] 

 =Revue des Cultures Coloniales, Paris. XII-122 (April 5, 1903.) Pp. 

 193 196. 



Landolphia Klainei (Pierre). By Kmil De Wildeman, [Description 

 of an interesting rubber yielding species found in the Congo Free State.] 

 ^Industrie et Commerce du Caoutchouc et la Guttapercha, Brussels. I-3, 

 March, 1903. Pp. 57 60. 



OTHER PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



HAND HOOK OF THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES. Compiled by H. 

 Conwav Belfield, British Resident at Selangor. London: Edward Stan- 

 ford, [1903-] [8vo. Pp. iv+t7o+plates and maps. Price, 2 shillings 6 pence.] 



A very practical work, full of information for all classes 

 likely to be interested in the progress of and the opportunities 

 for work and investment in a region, the great development of 

 which, under British rule, was referred to in this journal last 

 month, in an article on rubber cultivation. Numerous refer- 

 ences to India-rubber and Guttapercha appear in the book. 

 There are maps of the Federated States as a whole and of the 

 states separately, and several good views from photographs. 



A HANDBOOK OF PERU FOR INVESTORS AND IMMIGRANTS. WITH 

 a Description of the Central Route (region of the Pichis.) [umo. Pp. 54+ 

 plates and maps.] 



This is a translation into English, from an official publication 

 issued at Lima, by Seiior F. A. Pezet, secretary of the Peruvian 

 legation at Washington, where copies can be obtained on ap- 

 plication. It treats in part of the rubber resources of Peru, 

 with photographs of rubber extracting processes, and includes 

 the regulations governing concessions of rubber lands. 



