344 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1903. 



THE CONGO CONTROYhkSY. 



IN an editorial article the New York Sun (June 9) intimates 

 that there may be two sides to the questions raised of late 

 in regard to conditions in the Congo Free State, and that a sus- 

 pension of judgment is called for. The Sun says : " The Congo 

 Free State undertook a tremendous and perhaps impossible 

 task in trying to open up central Africa without the barbarities 

 that have invariably accompanied the introduction of civiliza- 

 tion into savage lands. It might be fairer play perhaps to con- 

 sider what the Belgians have succeeded in doing, as well as 

 their failures." There might be more point in the Sun's com- 

 ment if any evidence existed of efforts to civilize the rubber 

 gatherers who are now being driven to exterminate the chief 

 source of wealth in the Congo state. And when the rubber is 

 gone, leaving no incentive to trading companies to remain on 

 the ground, how much will the country have been "opened up" ? 

 Tke Times (London), May 23 — Reiner telegram.] 

 ANTWERP, M ,iy 2:.— The arrival of yesterday's London pa- 

 pers containing full accounts of the Congo debate in the house 

 of commons has caused something like consternation in Congo 

 commercial circles. The resolution passed by the house will, 

 it is believed by many, prove a death blow to the Belgian mon- 

 opoly on the Congo. Free trade and equal rights to all for- 

 eigners will, it is believed here, result in stamping out the out- 

 rages for which the trading companies are responsible, and div- 

 idends of from 45 to 100 per cent, will no longer be earned by 

 the Belgian companies when foreign companies plant them- 

 selves in Congo territory. 



[From the New York Times, June Associated Press despatch J 



Brussels June 2. — It is stated that King Leopold is going 

 to London with several high Congo state functionaries, to en- 

 deavor to personally settle the Congo state questions, which, 

 particularly the charges of brutality brought against the Congo 

 st Ue officials, were recently discussed in the British parliament. 



[From The West African Mail (Liverpool), May 29.] 

 THE Brussels correspondent of the Stain lard stales that the 

 grand council of the Congo state is convened for Tuesday 

 [June 2] to deliberate on the situation. King Leopold is pre- 

 paring a memorial to the signatory powers to the Berlin gen- 

 eral act in reply to the charges made in the house of commons. 

 The king is convinced that the proposed British action will re- 

 in tin without practical results, as France and Germany are not 

 inclined to support it. 



ONE RUBBER MONOPOLY ON THE CONGO. 

 Reference has been made in these pages from time to 

 time to the formation of the Syndicat (or Compagnie) du Kas 

 ai, by the merger of the rubber concessionaire companies trad- 

 ing in the region of the Kasai and its tributaries, in the Congo 

 Free State. The reasons for the surrender of the independence 

 of the several companies, organized at various dates between 

 1888 and 1900, with a large combined capitalization, and at one 

 time reporting large profits, have never been announced public 

 ly. The West African Mail (Liverpool), in an effort to throw 

 some light on the subject, asserts that the companies began to 

 find their business seriously interfered with by the government, 

 though the activity of its agents in collecting rubber for taxes 

 before allowing the natives to barter for European goods im- 

 ported by the merchants. Complaints by the companies ap- 

 peared in the Belgian newspapers, says the Liverpool journal, 

 but there was no change in the situation until a plan proposed 

 by the state was adopted, whereby a " trust " was formed, 4020 

 "shares" being created — without designation of value — the state 

 reserving one-half, and the remaining 2oioshares beingdistrib- 

 uted among the companies. 



Thus the Congo Free State, without contnouting any capital, 

 now comes in for one-half of the profits of the following com- 

 panies, whose capital originally was as stated in the table. The 

 outer column of figures indicates the number of shares in the 

 syndicate allotted to each company : 



Companies. Capital. Shares. 



S. A. Helge pour le Commerce du Ilaut-Congo 



francs 5,050,000 340 



Neuwe Ilandels Vennootschap (<;) 340 



Socie'te' des Produits Vegecaux du Haul Kasai.... 1,250,000 255 



Cie. Anversoise des Plantations du Lubefu 600,000 217 



Plantations Lacourt 800,000 204 



Societe " I. a Belgika " 3,000,000 199 



Cumptoir Congolais " Velde " 1,000,000 77 



Societe " I. a Kassaienne" 150,000 75 



Socie'te Anonyme " t.a Djuma" 250,000 74 



L'Est du Kwango, S A 350,000 62 



Societe " I. a Loan je" 1,000,000 58 



Central Africaine (b) 55 



Cie. des Magasins C.ene'raux du Congo 1,200,000 31 



Socie'te Anonyme Trade Congolais 500,000 23 



Total. ... ftancs 15,150,000 2010 , 



[a— A Dutch company ; no dctai.s at hand, it — Capital 1,000,000 francs; en- 

 gaged chietly in industrial affairs and only to a small extent in the Congo trade.] 



A comparison of the financial statements of the several com- 

 panies shows them not to be uniform in style, but it would 

 appear that eight of them, capitalized at 12.050,000 francs, in 

 1899 showed profits of 3733438 francs. In 1900 nine of the 

 companies, with 13.250,000 francs capital, yielded profits of 

 3.080.214 francs. The remaining companies — the newer and 

 smaller ones — reported no profits for the years mentioned. 

 Whether there was a subsequent decline of profits to justify 

 The West African Mail's assertion that the companies became 

 " unable to make both ends meet " cannot be determined from 

 any reports now at hand. But the accompanying comparative 



table of quotations 



for the shares of some 



•5° of these companies, 



Jan. 1900. Jan. igoi. Nov. 1901. 



Haut-Congo, pref. . 530. 527.50 



Do o d. . 2292.50 2960. 



Prod. Veget., pref.. 170 185. 95. 



Do ord.. 155. 117.50 77.5° on the Brussels 



Lubefu, pref 400. 700. 455. , .. . .. 



Do ord .... 450. 605. 3.5. bourse, would mdi- 



Lacourt, pref 250. 368.75 207.50 ratP that at the latest 



Belgika, pref 95. 74 . 56.50 cate tnat, at tne latest 



Do ord.. ..... 750. 525. 21250 f t he dates given, 



Kassaienne, ord ... 315. t , ^ 



Est Kwango. pref.. 75. 14250 their earnings must 



Do ord .. 122.50 , , .. 



Loanje. pref 1 122.50 have been smaller 



Mag Generaux .. . 900. 245. than previously. 



Grisar & Co.'s annual review of the Antwerp rubber market 

 for 1902 — an admitted authority — mentioned the Compagnie 

 du Kasai as " now resuming operations in Africa alter some 

 months of inactivity in the district under its control." Yet the 

 arrivals of rubber at Antwerp during 1902 to the credit of the 

 Belgian companies above named amounted to 941,405 kilo- 

 grams [« 2.071,091 pounds], against 1,063815 kilograms [ = 2,- 

 340,393 pounds] in 1901 — a decline of only \\ x /i per cent, in a 

 year when the total arrivals from the Congo Free State showed 

 a decline of 9% per cent, from the preceding year. It must be 

 considered, however, that all the rubber gathered is not mar- 

 keted in the same year, and The West African Mail has re- 

 ports that the collection of rubber by the Kisai group of com- 

 panies during 1902 amounted to 565.000 kilograms. 



Evidently the Kasai still aff irds a rich rubber field, or the 

 stale would not care for shares in the companies trading there. 

 And it would not seem natural for the companies to surrender 

 half their profits if absolute " freedom of trade" prevailed in 

 that region. It is believed that the Congo Free State now 

 holds shares, to the extent of 50 per cent, or more, in all the 

 companies trading in its domains, with the exception of the 

 narrow strip south of the Congo, near the Atlantic. Which 

 constitutes without doubt the most extensive " corner " in rub- 

 ber that ever existed. 



