CONGO, INDEPENDENT STATE OF THE. 



129 



Court of Appeal is required to make periodical 

 tours of inspection, with the view of ascertaining 

 if there are any abuses or grievances. In 1898, 

 when a native proved that an official had requisi- 

 tioned supplies from him by force, the Court of 

 Appeal sentenced the offending official to a term 

 of hard labor. On another occasion the Matadi 

 tribunal decided against the State in favor of some 

 Zanzibar! petitioners, who claimed that they 

 should be sent to their homes by sea instead of by 

 land, as the authorities wished to do. With re- 



ard to the general treatment of the blacks, the 

 tate has done all it can by clear instructions and 

 peremptory orders to prevent tyranny in any form. 

 Allegations that it grants its officers or servants 

 a commission or premium for the collection of 

 ivory or caoutchouc are opposed to the truth. All 

 public employees are forbidden to take gratuities 

 or commissions, and are liable to immediate dis- 

 missal on detection. If cruelty is perpetrated by 

 the European agents of the different commercial 

 companies, the ill treatment of natives by whomso- 

 ever committed is a penal offense under the code, 

 and the commission for the protection of the na- 

 tives has a free hand to put the machinery of the 

 law in force. Cases of harshness and even of 

 cruelty now and then occur. The climate and 

 conditions under which the Europeans work are 

 not conducive to sweetness of temper, and the 

 negro is admitted by his friends to be lazy, im- 

 provident, and inattentive. It will be long before 

 the black races will take to work for its own sake 

 and remain persistently at it without stimulus or 

 coercion, but simply in their own permanent in- 

 terests. The Brussels act of July, 1890, was very 

 clear in the obligations it imposed on all its signa- 

 tories to exclude spirituous liquors from the in- 

 terior of Africa and to guard the natives against 

 the curse of drink, which would outweigh all the 

 benefits from the introduction of civilization. 

 King Leopold imposed the heaviest import duty 

 he could, and in the Upper Congo, where no prior 

 rights had to be respected, he restricted the im- 

 portation to non-Africans and limited the quan- 

 tity that might be sold to any European. It was 

 also forbidden to use alcohol as an article of barter 

 with the natives. The sale and introduction of 

 alcohol above a certain boundary on the Lower 

 Congo was thus made subject to the authority of 

 the Governor General. At first the boundary was 

 the Inkissi stream, then it became the Kwilu, and 

 finally it was fixed at the Mpozo, which may be 

 regarded as signifying Matadi. The practical re- 

 sult of these changes is that the Congo Railway 

 has been placed outside the strip of coast territory 

 within which alcohol can be imported by payment 

 of the duty of Is. a gallon. Alcohol forms only 

 1 per cent, of the total imports of the state, and 

 in the three years ending Dec. 31, 1897, there was 

 a diminution in the quantity imported of 25 per 

 cent. Statements having been made that the abuse 

 of absinthe was greatly increasing among the 

 Europeans, a decree was issued on Oct. 15, 1898, 

 prohibiting its import or sale throughout the whole 

 of the State's territory. 



Commerce and Production. The trade of the 

 Congo is steadily increasing, as is shown in the fol- 

 lowing returns of the total exports: 1887, 7,067,969 

 francs; 1888, 7,392.348 francs; 1891, 10,535,619 

 francs; 1894, 11,031,704 francs; 1895, 12,135,656 

 francs; 1896, 15,091,137 francs; 1897, 17,457,090 

 francs; 1898, 25,396,706 francs. The principal arti- 

 cles exported are caoutchouc, of which 8.311,900 

 francs worth was exported in 1897 ; ivory during 

 the same year, 4,916,480 francs; palm oil, 650,206 

 francs; palm nuts, 1,098,879 francs. Several new 

 products are beginning to make their appearance 

 VOL. XL. 9 A 



on the schedule. Of these, coffee and cacao are 

 the most promising, but the young plantations 

 can not be productive to any great degree before 

 1902. With the view of promoting this cultiva- 

 tion, the State made the following arrangement 

 with the recognized chiefs in the districts of Aru- 

 wimi and Stanley Falls. They were required to 

 cultivate either coffee or cacao on their waste 

 lands. The Government provided the necessary 

 seeds, and promised a reward for each shrub on its 

 attaining two feet in height. The chiefs are also 

 to receive as their share 50 per cent, of the value 

 of the coffee on the Belgian market. Nothing has 

 yet been done toward developing the undoubted 

 mineral resources of the country, but a large num- 

 ber of companies, formed for the exploitation of 

 the Congo region, promise an early movement in 

 this direction. The special imports in 1898 

 amounted to 23,084,447 francs, in which sum tis- 

 sues and clothing stand for 6,246,981 francs, food 

 substances for 6,246,981 francs, steamers and their 

 machinery for 2,374,424 francs, other machinery 

 for 1,928,586 francs, beverages for 1,579,989 francs, 

 metals and hardware for 1,228,159 francs, and arms 

 and ammunition for 872,533 francs. The special 

 exports, or exports of produce of the State alone, , 

 in 1898 were valued at 22,163,482 francs, of which 

 15,850,988 francs represent caoutchouc, 4,319,260 

 francs ivory, 1,279,769 francs palm nuts, 660,870 

 francs palm oil, 31,950 francs timber, 9,720 francs 

 hides and skins, and 1,381 francs kola nuts. 



Of the special imports in 1898, Belgium furnished 

 15,468,565 francs' worth; Great Britain, 3,457,739 

 francs; Germany, 1,669,164 francs; and the Neth- 

 erlands, 1,015,986 francs. Of the special exports, 

 the value of 19,329,387 francs went to Belgium, 

 1,305,619 francs to Portuguese possessions in Afri- 

 ca, 738,091 francs to the Netherlands, and 298,872 

 francs to Great Britain. 



Railways, Steamers, and Telegraphs. Ow- 

 ing to the existence of cataracts below Stanley 

 Pool, access to the main course of the Congo by 

 water is impossible. At an early stage it was rec- 

 ognized that a railway was essential to supply this 

 natural defect. In 1887, accordingly, the first' steps 

 were taken by the formation of a company for the 

 construction of a railway from Matadi to Leopold- 

 ville on Stanley Pool. The distance between those 

 places is 260 miles, and the principal obstacle to be 

 overcome was presented by the Pallaballa moun- 

 tain, which lies at a little distance from Matadi. 

 Four years were occupied in overcoming it, and 

 during that period very pessimistic views were 

 expressed as to the success of the line. Once the 

 Pallaballa was left behind, however, the difficulties 

 of the undertaking vanished, although a distance 

 of not more than 26 miles had been traversed. 

 The remaining 234 miles were completed at less 

 cost and in a shorter time than the first section, 

 so that the formal inauguration of the whole line 

 was celebrated on July 6, 1898. The great ad- 

 vantage of this railway is that it supersedes the 

 slow and costly porterage system in the district 

 of the cataracts. Two days only are required for 

 the transit where three weeks were necessary ; and 

 the material for railways in the interior and for 

 the large steamers that are to navigate the river 

 can now be easily and expeditious! y forwarded. 

 The terminus of the line is at Ndolo, near Leopold- 

 ville, where quays and slips for repairing the river 

 flotilla have been prepared. Several other railway 

 lines are urgently needed in the interior to supple- 

 ment and complete the natural communications 

 provided by the great river and its tributaries. 

 Of these, the projected railway in the Welle valley 

 and that connecting the upper courses of the San.- 

 kuru, Lomami, and Lualaba are the most impor- 



