CONGO, INPEI'KNDENT STATE OF THE. 



139 



in the State. The strength for 1*06 was inci 



MX) men, requiring an expenditure of 4.s-Jn.T;i:! 

 francs. The naval expenditure for 1*95 was :!!i?.- 

 '?:! francs. Tliis is to maintain a flotilla of 7 

 .ITS on the lower and 12 on the upper Congo, 

 .inland row boats. The other expendi- 

 tures were 219.0IM francs for the central adminis- 

 tration in Europe, 901.433 francs for the adminis- 

 tration in Africa. 547.1oO francs for public works, 

 338 francs for caravans, and 1,018,588 francs 

 for divers expe:: 



Coiinnerce. The general imports in 1894 were 

 valued at 11.S54.U21 franc-sand the exports at 11.- 

 031.704 francs. This commerce was divided among 

 the trading nations as follows: 



The values of the leading exports were : Ivory. 

 5.210.000 francs : caoutchouc, 2.727.000 francs : palm 

 nuts. 1.484.000 francs: palm oil. 1.044.000 francs; 

 coffee. 290.000 francs. Other exports are peanuts, 

 gnm copal, sesame, and cudbear. An export duty of 

 r cent, is levied on all ivory from the upper 

 Congo and 10 per cent, on that bought below Stan- 

 ley Pool. Rubber pays a duty of 10 per cent, and 

 all other exports 5 percent. Natives brought with- 

 in the jurisdiction of the Congo State pay Taxes in 

 goats, fowls, or yams, or in rubber or ivory, so much 

 being levied on each district. 



The value of the special imports in 1895 was 

 10.685,847 francs: of the special exports. 10.943,019 

 francs. The rubber exports in 1895 amounted to 

 2.500,000 francs : the export of ivory to 6.000.000 

 francs. The native stock of ivory is becoming 

 scarcer and consequently more difficult to obtain. 



A marked improvement has taken place in the 

 trade of Belgium with the Congo. Belgian cotton 

 goods have largely supplanted the English. More 

 than half the imports in 1895 were of Belgian ori- 

 gin. Besides cotton cloth, the principal imports 

 are old guns, pistols, and cartridges. Locomotives 

 and materials for the construction of the railroad 

 figure for a good sum. The imports consumed 

 within the territories of the Free State in l s '.'4 

 were 11.195.000 francs in value, and the exports of 

 prodacts of those territories 8,761,622 francs. The 

 chief imports are cotton goods, firearms, powder, 

 spirits, and tobacco. Under the Brussels conven- 

 tion alcohol is permitted to be sold only in a small 

 portion of the territory. The royal decree of July 

 16. 1890, forbade all traffic in spirituous liquor, in 

 the upper Congo region. Recently this prohibi- 

 tion has been extended to the transport zone be- 

 yond the river Kwilu. There was a slight decrease 

 in the imports of spirits in 1895. It is intended to 

 increase the rate of duty considerably, as the act of 

 Brussels allows to be done. During 1893 the num- 

 ber of vessels that visited the ports of Banana and 

 Boma was 677. of 217.996 tons. There is regular 

 steamship communication with Europe. The Free 

 State has a postal service and is a member of the 

 postal union. During 1893 the post office carried 

 49.544 internal and 119,784 international letters 

 and packets. 



The Congro Railroad. The Congo is navigable 

 for 100 miles from its mouth, as far as Vivi. Nu- 

 merous rapids above this point render the river 

 unnavigable for 200 miles, as far as Leopold- 



vine, on Stanley Pool, above which there are ov.-r 

 1,000 miles of navigation. A route for a railroad 

 parallel to the river and 30 miles south of it was 

 surveyed in 1888. Of the 250 miles 100 were com- 

 pleted and open for traffic in February. IMif;. when 

 the railroad bad reached Kimpesse. where the cara- 

 vans for Stanley P<>c >1 have b.-i-n accustomed to re- 

 cruit fresh carriers. The expenditure on the rail- 

 road during the year 1*95 \va- O.i >:;:!. 'jsT francs. A 

 convention was made in May. 1.^94. in accordance 

 with which the Belgian State, by an immediate ad- 

 vance of 5.000,000 francs, can acquire a controlling 

 interest, 20.000,000 francs out of a total capital of 

 o5.uoo.000 francs. A new agreement was made on 

 April 10, 1896, by which Belgium's interest will be 

 15,000,000 francs", the Government guaranteeing an 

 immediate loan of 5,000.000 francs, to take up one 

 that was due. and 10.000.000 francs of additional ob- 

 ligations, without making a fresh advance. This 

 guarantee the Belgian Chamber, on May 15, voted 

 to grant. A further guaranteed loan of 15.000,000 

 francs at 3 per cent, is to follow unless, as was ex- 

 pected, the improved traffic receipts from the road 

 after being opened to Tumba will enable the com- 

 pany to raise 20.000.000 francs more for the com- 

 pletion of the line to Leopoldville without further 

 recourse to State assistance. The line was completed 

 to Tumba. 116 miles from Matadi.the starting point, 

 and officially inaugurated on July 22. 

 Policy toward the Natives. When the Congo 

 first resorted to the imposition of taxes and 

 tributes for the purpose of reducing its annual defi- 

 cits notice was given to all the young white men 

 that they would receive a certain premium, from 10 

 to -J5 per cent., or even 50 per cent., on all the rubber 

 and ivory they collected. With the chance of 

 amassing" wealth thus opened to them, the agents 

 took the most rigorous means to bring in the full 

 quota of every village along the Congo and its 

 tributaries. If any settlement fell short the State 

 soldiery were sent to burn the village and murder 

 and mutilate its inhabitants. The liberated slaves, 

 as they are called, who are employed on the coffee 

 plantations or impressed in the public force are 

 'ially slaves still, and often they have been ob- 

 tained by raids such as the Arabs once organized. 

 In different districts of Ubangi, Welle, Aruwimi, 

 and Stanley Falls the native chiefs were formerly 

 required to furnish so many slaves a month. They 

 therefore raided neighboring villages weaker than 

 themselves and brought the captives taken to the 

 Free State officials, who formerly received a bounty 

 of 5 francs a head for every slave delivered at Kin- 

 shassa. This premium led the captains to cram as 

 many as possible into their boats, so overcrowding 

 theni that many died on the passage. The result 

 of the heartless tyranny and greed of young officers 

 remote from the eyes of their superiors was that 

 scores of large and once prosperous villages on the 

 middle Congo -were deserted, the natives taking 

 refuge in the French Congo, where such crimes are 

 not committed. The rapacity and cruelty of the 

 white agents of the Congo State was the chief cause 

 of the late revolt of the natives that extended from 

 the upper Mol-angi and the Aruwimi to the neigh- 

 borhood of Stanley Pool. The uprising was re- 

 pre->ed with a heavy hand, but disorders continued 

 and the wholesale migration of the people living near 

 the white settlements and highways. The officials 

 represented that only in the localities where the 

 slave trade was formerly carried on was it neces>ary 

 to punish the natives for refusing to work and bring 

 in rubber, and denied that any were killed except 

 when they rose against the officials. Canoes laden 

 with ivory w. -re fired upon, they admitted, but only 

 when the natives were smuggling it over to the 

 French side to sell. Circumstantial reports of mis- 



