304 



THE INDIA RUBBER "WORLD 



[June i, 1903. 



CIVILISATION IN CONGOLAND." 



THIS is not, like some other recent books, a record of per- 

 sonal observations, but a citation of authorities on con- 

 ditions existing in the Congo Free State, made by the secretary 

 of the Aborigines Protection Society, a philanthropic organiza- 

 tion which has existed in England for three quarters of a cen- 

 tury. The author writes, however, in a personal capacity, and 

 not as representing the society with which he is officially con- 

 nected. This society welcomed the decisions of the international 

 conference of 1SS4 which paved the way for the Congo Free 

 State, as an earnest of a great civilizing work, and King Leo- 

 pold, now sovereign of the Free State, was made an honorary 

 member of the society. But for some years past the chief ac- 

 tivity of the society has been directed against the scandals and 

 wrongs alleged to exist in t,he management of the Congo state, 

 in which the will of the sovereign, without legislative or con- 

 stitutional restraint, is law. Protests and appeals have been 

 made to the Belgian government and likewise to other govern- 

 ments—to the latter because of their implied responsibility, as 

 signers ol the treaty of 1884, out of which the Free State grew. 

 The United States, by the way, though not signing the 

 treaty, exerted an important influence in giving the Free State 

 a start, being the first great power to recognize its independence, 

 after having previously aided in checking a movement to make 

 Portugal, and not Belgium, the trustee of the great African do- 

 main. Henry M. Stanley, who discovered the Congo river and 

 planned largely the initial exploitation of that region, was an 

 American, and General Sanlord, a former United States minis- 

 ter to Brussels, held the first trading concession in the Free 

 State and was an adviser of the sovereign. For these and other 

 reasons American public sentiment became such as to give 

 great moral support to what the king of the Belgians has always 

 been pleased to term his service to the cause of progress and hu- 

 manity, albeit his servants might sometimes prove recreant to 

 their trusts and connive at cruelty to the natives gathering rub- 

 ber and ivory under their guidance. 



The author of this book, quoting from a mass of established 

 testimony regarding unsavory conditions on the Congo, is not 

 disposed to fix the blame alone upon the sovereign, but, as in- 

 dicated on his title page, treats the case as one of " international 

 wrongdoing," on the ground that since the abuses which have 

 been perpetrated on the Congo absolve the treaty powers from 

 further adherence to the compact of 1 884, theirs is the respon- 

 sibility if this crime against civilization is to continue. In the 

 name of humanity the world is called upon to protest against a 

 system under which ignorant black men who have been robbed 

 of their lands are forced at the mouth of rifles to pay heavy 

 taxes from which they derive no benefit, and to gather rubber 

 for private companies who pay their own price for it, while 

 competing buyers are excluded from the country. Yet the 

 Congo Free State was formed on the assurance that absolute 

 free trade should exist throughout its limits. 



* * * 

 The Congo state is interested in the collection of rubber— 

 the principal source of wealth in that region— in two ways : (1) 

 through its participation in the profits of the great concession- 

 ary companies at work in the Domaine privi, who monopolize 

 the richest rubber supplies; and (2) through the collection of 

 tribute from the natives "in kind," which is paid chiefly in 

 rubber. Taking leave here of Mr. Fox Bourne's book, we turn 

 to a recent issue of Le Mouvement Geographique (Brussels), 



♦Civilisation in Congoland : A Story of International Wrong-Doing. ByH. 

 R Fox Bourne. London: P. S. King & Co. 190! [Cloth, 8vo. Pp. KVI+3H + 

 folding map. Price, 10 shillings 6 pence.l 



containing an analysis of the Congo Free State budget for 1903. 

 The revenue for the year is estimated as follows : 



Tribute from the natives francs 16,440,000 



Customs, dues, licenses, etc 11,650,000 



Total 28,090,000 



If we consider now what the natives get in return for their 

 forced contribution of more than half the revenues of the state, 

 the following details from this year's estimate are available : 



Force publique [20,000 or more natives hired and armed to 



compel the othets to work] francs 7.701.765 



Exploitation of the Domaine' prive" [for the sole benefit of 



the so called state] 6,041.790 



Administration in Africa 3>7°°,735 



Administration in Europe 491,100 



Marine service. 2.023,376 



Interest on bonds, guarantees on capital, etc 1,656.228 



Agriculture [ nature net explained] 1 ,373. 93 2 



Foreign affairs and justice 1,116,200 



Public works 1,081,885 



All other items 2,633,545 



Total estimated disbursements 27,900,556 



Nowhere is there any evidence of expenditures for the bet- 

 tering of the condition of the native population or for the per- 

 manent improvement of the country, save for better facilities 

 for exporting rubber, the supply of which is diminishing every 

 year. Le Mouvement Geographique, however, comments on the 

 budget as follows : 



The product of the Domaine f>ri;; : . tributes and taxes paid " in kind " 

 by the natives, figures in the budget, of which it is the principal article, 

 at 16,440,000 francs, being an increase of about 1,000,000. Of course, 

 raw products are meant here. We have therefore not as yet arrived at 

 I7,oco,ooo francs, and the singular decree of June 25, 1902, will not 

 yet show its effects this year. Let us recall that this decree provides 

 that for the purpose of " letting the missionaries and commercial people 

 established on the Congo participate in the prosperity of the State do- 

 mains - - - the direct and personal taxes shall be reduced by one fifth from 

 the moment the product of the Domaine pn'v/ of the State, the tributes 

 and taxes paid ' in kind' by the natives, will permit of stating in the 

 budget a receipt of 17,000,000 francs." The progression of this item of 

 the budget being given, it can be hoped that from 1904 this reduction 

 will be granted, and that the Independent State of the Congo will offer 

 the rare spectacle of reducing its taxes. 



* * * 

 The Rev. William M. Morrison, of the American Presby- 

 terian mission on the Congo, after six years of work in that 

 region, arrived at New York on May 16. He intends laying 

 before the government at Washington the question of a protest 

 against conditions in the Congo Free State. Mr. Morrison 

 spoke at a public meeting in London, on May 5, attended by 

 many persons of prominence, giving the results of his expe- 

 riences in the Congo rubber district, as a result of which the 

 subject has been taken up by the British parliament. On the 

 evening of May 20 the house of commons adopted a resolution 

 that "the government of the Congo state having at its incep- 

 tion guaranteed to the powers* that the natives should be gov- 

 erned humanely and, that no trading monopoly or privilege 

 should be permitted, the House requests the government [of 

 Great Britain] to confer with the other signatories of the Ber- 

 lin general act, in virtue of which the Congo state exists, in or- 

 der that measures may be adopted to abate the prevalent evils." 

 In its original form theabove resolution recited that the Con- 

 go state had violated its obligations under the Berlin treaty, but 

 the British government refused to accept the resolution in that 

 form because it condemned a friendly government without di- 

 rect evidence. The resolution having been adopted as amend- 

 ed, Great Britain will communicate forthwith with the signa- 

 tories of the Berlin act, with a view to securing reforms. 



