128 



CONGO, INDEPENDENT STATE OF THE. 



Aug. 2, 1889, the King made his will as sovereign 

 of the Congo State, bequeathing to Belgium all 

 his sovereign rights therein. In July, 1890, a con- 

 vention was signed between Belgium and the 

 ( oii^o State, giving the former the right to annex 

 the latter, if it judge good, within a period which 

 i-xpires in January, 1901. 



The seat of the central Government is at Brus- 

 -cls, and a Secretary of State, Baron Edmond van 

 Ketvclde, directs the administration with the as- 

 sistance of secretaries in the different departments, 

 that <f Foreign Affairs being under the Chevalier 

 A. ili- ( 'livelier. Boma is the seat of the local Gov- 

 ernment, which is generally represented by a Gov- 

 ernor (ieneral </(/ interim, at present Major E. 

 \\ anj.'i-i nice. 



Area and Population. The area of the Congo 

 State i- about 900,000 square miles, and the popu- 

 lation probably not far short of 30,000,000. The 

 population was diminished formerly by incessant 

 slave raids and intertribal strife. These causes of 

 depopulation have either wholly disappeared or 

 greatly lessened in their effect, and a steady in- 

 e reuse in the number of the blacks is anticipated. 

 A census of the white population, taken on Jan. 1, 

 1899, shows that there were 1,030 Europeans and 

 Americans, of whom 959 were Belgians, 129 Portu- 

 guese, 113 Italians, 94 English, 81 Swedes, 65 

 Dutch, 41 Danes, 29 French, 28 Americans, 21 Ger- 

 mans, 18 Swiss, 8 Austrians, and 3 Spaniards. 

 The table of mortality among the State agents 

 alone shows a death rate in 1892, the worst year, 

 of 9 per cent, from all causes, of 7.3 per cent, from 

 sickness that is, excluding those killed on war- 

 like expeditions. In 1897 the rates were respect- 

 ively 0, 8, and 5.4 per cent. Steps to improve 

 hygienic conditions are in progress. Certain parts 

 of the Congo region are trying for Europeans, espe- 

 cially for those who have newly arrived; on the 

 other hand, there are extensive provinces Ka- 

 tanga, for example in which the climate can not 

 be surpassed. 



Finances. The financial position and progress 

 of the Congo State are revealed by a comparison of 

 the successive budgets, amounts being given in 

 francs : 



In the revenue is included the personal grant 

 from Kin-,' Leopold of 1,000,000 francs, and the 

 advance from the Belgian Government of 2,000,000 

 francs; but the proportion of State receipts to ex- 

 penditiire. which hud risen from less than 5 per 

 cut. in 1880 to over 68 per cent, in 1897, shows 

 a further increase to more than 86 per cent. An 

 .ili-olnte equilibrium without extraneous grants is 

 expected to be attained in Mini. The principal 

 items in the revenue for Is'.i!) are customs, 

 :{.7<X),(HX) francs; transport service, 1,200,000 

 francs; and produce of the domain, in the form 

 of native tribute and taxes, 10,200,000 francs. 

 Tin- hii-jc-t amount- under the head of cxpendi- 

 IMIC are the administration in At'iica. 2.1MI2330 

 francs; the public force, 7,623.9-lti francs; 'the 

 marine Krvice, l.lsl.r.L'4 francs; public works, 

 l.'Jiil,27(l francs; agriculture, i;no.:.:;n francs; and 

 development of the domain. 4.(l_'(),~20 francs. In 

 addition to tin- regular expenditure, the sum of 



'Mi.vjo Irani--, provided for by loan, was spent 

 on extraordinary public works, more than half of 

 this total for the improvement of the means of 



communication on the Upper Congo, and a grant 

 of 500,000 francs was assigned to the telegraph 

 from Lake Tanganyika to Boma. For 1900 the 

 revenue was estimated at 26,256,500 francs. Of the 

 23,256,500 francs of local revenue, 11,200,000 francs 

 come from the State domain, 4,680,000 francs from 

 customs, 3,800,000 francs from transport, 2,950,000 

 francs from administration, and 626,500 francs 

 from various sources. The total expenditures were 

 estimated at 27,731,254 francs, of which 15,423,681 

 francs were allotted to Finance, 11,050,013 franca 

 to the Interior, 158,000 francs to Foreign Affairs 

 and Justice, 110,360 francs to the central office, and 

 989,200 francs were calculated for contingencies. 



Military Force. The army of the State is 

 known as the Congo public force. The Interna- 

 tional Association employed foreigners Hau 

 and Zanzibaris for its expeditions, but in 1 

 the first national corps was raised in the form o: 

 a regiment of 8 companies, or 1,200 men. In July, 

 1891, the official scheme for the public force \va-; 

 promulgated. The troops were to consist of two 

 separate bodies, the first, or regulars, voluntarily 

 enlisted for a period of seven years five in active 

 service and two in the reserve and the second an 

 enforced levy of militia by order of the Governor 

 General. In 1897 the numbers had risen to 4,000 

 volunteers and 9,500 militiamen. The training of 

 the men is carried out in fixed camps, and covers 

 a period of eighteen months. The troops are arm 

 with the Albini rifle and a short bayonet, whi 

 the white officers carry the Mauser with a maga- 

 zine of five cartridges. Great care has been taken 

 with the fire discipline of the troops. Recent 

 events have suggested doubts as to the trust- 

 worthiness of the force, but the adoption of pre- 

 cautions similar to those taken in the Angl 

 Indian army may avert serious danger. The tw< 

 chief precautions are the employment of the mi 

 at a distance from their tribal homes, and 

 mixing of the tribes in the composition of eae 

 battalion. The principal stations are generally d 

 fended by a rampart and ditch, but two regul 

 forts, Chinkakassa and Kinshassa, guard the riv< 

 Congo below Boma and Leopoldville respectively. 



Justice and Treatment of the Natives. I 

 the earlier years of the Congo State the admini 

 tration of justice was not thoroughly organi 

 Throughout the greater part of the State milita 

 law was in force. The task which preceded eve: 

 other was the settlement of the question whethe 

 the Arabs or the Europeans were to be suprcnn 

 The abolition of military law in the Upper Congo 

 only became possible in 1897, and at the same time 

 power was vested in the public prosecutor to sum- 

 mon Europeans guilty of some particularly gra\e 

 offenses, such as murder, before the tribunal of 

 the Lower Congo, even when such offenses we 

 committed within the jurisdiction of the up 

 river tribunals. The Court of Appeal at Boma w 

 strengthened by three councilors of different na 

 tionalities being substituted for one Belgian jud 

 The access to this Court of Appeal was made 

 simple and cheap that the blacks might be neither 

 vmaware as to how they should proceed nor unable 

 to do so. As a final safeguard, the lower courts 

 are enjoined to lodge an appeal on behalf of t In- 

 accused against their own decisions. A commis- 

 sion for the protection of natives, international in 

 its composition and with Protestant missionaries 

 as well as Catholic among the members, was formed 

 for the purpose of watching over the intere-i 

 the natives and preventing acts of tyranny. It 1ms 

 the right to notify to the judicial authorities and 

 the Governor General all acts that are injurious 

 to the natives or acts of violence of which they 

 are the victims. Finally, the president of the 



