602 



MADAGASCAR. 



liquors," a wise provision, when it is remem- 

 bered that Rudama I., Ranavalana, and Ra- 

 daraa II. were all given to this besotting vice. 

 It also abolishes the use of the tanguin. Other 

 provisions are the following : 



" The word of the sovereign alone is not to 

 be law, but the nobles and heads of the people, 

 with the sovereign, are tit make the laws. 



" Pefect liberty and protection are guaranteed 

 to all foreigners who are obedient to the laws 

 of the country. 



"Friendly relations are to be maintained 

 with all other nations. 



u Duties are to be levied, but commerce and 

 civilization are to be encouraged. 



"Protection, and liberty to worship, teach, 

 and promote tbe extension of Christianity, are 

 secured to the native Christians, and the same 

 protection and liberty are guaranteed to those 

 who are not Christians. 



" Domestic slavery is not abolished, but mas- 

 ters are at liberty to give freedom to their 

 slaves, or to sell them to others. 



" No person is to be put to death for any 

 offence, by the word of the sovereign alone ; 

 and no one is to be sentenced to death till 

 twelve men have declared such person to be 

 guilty of the crime to which the law awards 

 the punishment of death." 



During his short reign, and in the early por- 

 tion of it, Radama II. made treaties of friend- 

 ship and commerce with Great Britain and 

 France, and both nations, on the ratification 

 of the treaties, sent magnificent presents (the 

 Emperor and Empress of France crowns for 

 the royal pair, and the Queen of England a 

 Bible), to be presented on the day of the coro- 

 nation, which took place September 23d, 1862. 

 These treaties are alike in their provisions, and 

 are intended to encourage commercial relations 

 between the respective countries. They have 

 bean acknowledged by the new Government. 

 The adventurer Lambert, however, mindful of 

 his own interests, had taken advantage of the 

 besotted condition of the king to induce him 

 to recognize and confirm the grant he had 

 made to him in 1855, before coming to the 

 throne. No monarch in his senses would ever 

 have made such a grant to a foreigner, or even 

 to one of his own subjects. The following are 

 some of the items of this grant*. 



CHAP. I. We authorize J. Lambert to form a com- 

 pany, having for its object the working of the mines 

 of Madagascar, the forests, and the lands situated on 

 the coasts and in the interior. The said company shall 

 have the right of making roads, canals, building yards, 

 establishments of public utility, of coining money with 

 the king's effigy ; in a word, it shall do aU that it may 

 deem calculated to promote the good of the country. 



CHAP. II. Art. 1. We grant and concede to the com- 

 pany the exclusive privilege of working all the mines 

 in Madagascar, including those already known, and 

 those which may hereafter be discovered. 



Art. 2. We grant and concede equally to the said 

 company, as well for itself as for those whom it may 

 admit to take part in it, the privilege of choosing, on 

 all the coasts and in the interior of the country, any 

 unoccupied lands to be put into cultivation. In con- 

 sequence the company shall become proprietor of the 



lands which it shall have chosen, as soon as it shall give 

 us notice of having taken possession of them. 



Art. 8. The company shall not pay any duties upon 

 the ore produced, nor upon the profits made upon it. 



Aft. 4. The produce of the working of the mines of 

 Madagascar, and upon cultivation, shall enjoy the 

 privilege of free exportation without duty. Its [the 

 company's] property shall not be liable to be burdened 

 with imposts. What shall be brought in for the com- 

 pany shall pay no duty. 



Art. 5. We relinquish to this company all the mines 

 of Soatsimanampiovana, so as to put them into condi- 

 tion for tbe immediate employment of laborers. We 

 also give to the company the house at Soanierana to 

 establish there the headquarters of its administration. 



The company, for its part, engages to assist 

 to the best of its power the king's projects for 

 the amelioration and civilization of the coun- 

 try; and on the 12th of September, 1862, Lam- 

 bert added a clause, in which he promised to 

 give to Radama II., and his successors, ten per 

 cent, on the net profits. 



The company was formed at Paris, and was 

 authorized by an imperial decree, dated May 

 2d, 1863. The arrangements of the company 

 for choosing lands are admirably comprehen- 

 sive. They are to choose : 1. All such as from 

 vicinity to the ports are likely to become cen- 

 tres of population. 2. Those situated along 

 the course of navigable rivers. 3. The unoc- 

 cupied land nearest to the Hovate ports and to 

 the actual existing centres of population 4. 

 The fertile lands in the most healthy localities. 

 5 and 6, in the neighborhood of forests, and 

 where gum and caoutchouc are procurable. 7. 

 Lands suitable for pasturage and rice. 8. "Wher- 

 ever it may be presumed that there are metal- 

 lic and mineral riches. 



Ten days after the authorization of this com- 

 pany, Radama II. was strangled, and the new 

 Government, while acknowledging and con- 

 firming the commercial treaties, at once repu- 

 diated these grants. Indeed the Constitution 

 adopted at the accession of Rabodo, or as the 

 natives style her, Rasoahery Meujaka (the beau- 

 tiful and strong sovereign), closes with this ar- 

 ticle : " Rasoahery succeeds directly to Rana- 

 valana. Radama II. is as if he had never ex- 

 isted ; his body is deprived of sepulture." Thus 

 directly does it disavow all his acts and de- 

 crees, except such as may be reenacted by the 

 reigning sovereign. The French Government 

 are unwilling to relinquish the grant which 

 Lambert secured from the late king. In the' 

 October number of the Revue des Deux Mondes 

 an article appeared, entitled " La France et 

 Madagascar," written by M. Henri Galos, 

 avowedly deriving its facts from administra- 

 tive sources, and evidently inspired by the 

 French Government. This article, after stat- 

 ing the French claims, urges the propriety of 

 inciting the coast tribes of Madagascar, now 

 subject to the Hovas, the Sakalavas, Betsinso- 

 racas, and Betonimenes, to rise against the 

 dominant race, and to afford them French as- 

 sistance, that the Hova Government being 

 overthrown there may be a better opportunity 

 for Franco to claim from the conquering party 



