128 



CONGO, INDEPENDENT STATE OP THE. 



to pacify the interior and encouraged the people 

 to resume their peaceful occupations. The Presi- 

 dent called upon each department to raise 2,000 

 men to clear the rebels from the isthmus. The 

 Government had bought a steamer in the United 

 States and expected to get an armored cruiser 

 from Chile. The peace negotiations were to be 

 resumed on board the battle-ship Wisconsin by 

 representatives of the Government and of the 

 revolutionary party. The Government, however, 

 after the latest successes declined to discuss any- 

 thing but the acceptance of the decree of am- 

 nesty. Gen. Vargas-Santos thereupon refused to 

 attend the conference, which he had arranged 

 with Gen. Santo Domingo with the object of 

 bringing about an effective and lasting peace by 

 harmonizing the interests of the several political 

 parties concerned in the revolutionary contest. 

 Gen. Uribe Uribe's condemnation to death after 

 he had capitulated further decided him to with- 

 draw from the conference and issue orders to the 

 revolutionary army to continue the warfare until 

 the Government should recognize the civil and 

 political rights for which the Liberals had taken 

 up arms. 



COLORADO. (See under UNITED STATES.) 

 CONGO, INDEPENDENT STATE OF 

 THE, a sovereign, monarchical, neutral, and inde- 

 pendent state in central Africa, created out of 

 the Congo International Association, which was 

 founded in 1883 by King Leopold of Belgium, 

 and exercised sovereign power recognized by the 

 powers. The general act of Berlin, signed on 

 Feb. 25, 1885, recognized the Independent State 

 with Leopold II, King of the Belgians, as its 

 sovereign. A convention was signed on July 3, 

 1890, between Belgium and the Congo State, 

 which provided for the annexation of the terri- 

 tories of the Independent State to Belgium after 

 the expiration of ten years, King Leopold hav- 

 ing by a will dated Aug. 2, 1889, bequeathed his 

 sovereign rights in the Congo territories to the 

 Belgian state after his death. In the convention 

 the Belgian Government agreed to advance to 

 the Congo Independent State the sum of 25,000,- 

 000 francs, 5,000,000 francs to be paid immediately 

 and 2,000,000 francs a year for ten years. The 

 loans were to bear no interest during the period 

 of ten years, at the end of which the Belgian 

 Government would have the option of annexing 

 the territories of the Independent State, with 

 all the rights, appurtenances, and advantages at- 

 taching to the sovereignty of that State, in 

 which case a law would be made to determine 

 the special regime under which the territories 

 should then be placed. If the Belgian Govern- 

 ment should decide against annexation the sums 

 advanced were to bear 3J per cent, interest 

 thenceforth and be redeemed after a further peri- 

 od of ten years, the sums accruing from conces- 

 sions of State lands or mines being set aside for 

 the payments. The Belgian Chambers on Aug. 

 10, 1901, passed a law reserving the option of 

 annexation for a further period of ten years in 

 consideration of the remission of all claims for 

 interest and the repayment of the loan during 

 this period. An additional loan was made for 

 the purpose of repaying one obtained from an 

 Antwerp bank and to cover a deficit caused by 

 an expedition into the Nile valley and a revolt 

 of the Arabs. This increased to 32.000,000 francs 

 the indebtedness of the Congo State to the Bel- 

 gian Government. 



The seat of the Central Government is at Brus- 

 sels, where the Secretary of State, Baron Edmond 

 van Kotvelde, directs the administration with the 

 assistance of secretaries in the various depart- 



ments. The headquarters of the local Govern- 

 ment is at Boma, where E. Wangermee, Vice- 

 Governor-General, directs the administration 

 with the assistance of Secretary-General van 

 Damme and a consultative committee composed 

 of the chief officials and non-official members, 

 not exceeding 5, appointed annually. The terri- 

 tories are divided into 14 districts: Banana, 

 Boma, Matadi, the Cataracts, Stanley Pool, the 

 district of the Equator, the Eastern Province, 

 Lualaba-Kasai, Eastern Kwango, Lake Leopold 

 II, Bangala, Ubangi, Welle, Aruwimi. The pub- 

 lic force consists of 12,800 trained native soldiers 

 under 116 European commissioned officers and 

 348 sergeants. 



Area and Population. The area of the 

 Congo State is estimated at 900,000 square miles, 

 and the population at 30,000,000. There were 

 2,204 Europeans on Jan. 1, 1901, comprising 1,187 

 Belgians, 170 Italians, 115 British, 114 Dutch, 107 

 Swedes, 91 Portuguese, 62 Germans, 58 French, 

 43 Danes, 30 Americans, 19 Swiss, 19 Norwegians, 

 14 Russians, 11 Spaniards, 9 Austrians, and 141 

 others. These include the white officers in the 

 Congo service, the traders of various national- 

 ities, and 180 Catholic and 120 Protestant mis- 

 sionaries. The missionaries teach mostly in the 

 Swaheli language of the Arabs rather than in 

 the numerous Bantu dialects. The Government 

 aids their schools and has established schools 

 of its own in 3 agricultural colonies. 



Finances. The revenue for 1900 was esti- 

 mated at 26,256,500 francs and the expenditure 

 at 27,731,254 francs; the revenue for 1901 at 

 30,751,054 francs and the expenditure at 31,256,- 

 054 francs. For 1902 the estimate of revenue was 

 28,709,000 francs, of which 6,055,000 francs were 

 derived from customs, 4,160,000 francs from 

 transport, 15,452,000 francs from domains, 1,703,- 

 000 francs from loans, 580,000 francs from direct 

 taxation, and 759,000 francs from various sources. 

 The expenditures for 1902 were estimated at 

 32,405,492 francs, of which 647,460 francs were 

 for administration in Europe, 3,630,545 francs 

 for administration in Africa, 7,865,132 francs 

 for the public force, 2,118,036 francs for marine, 

 2,300,000 francs for transport, 1,137,755 francs 

 for public works, 1,466,462 francs for agriculture, 

 5,752,905 francs for domains, 3,630,705 francs for 

 various expenses, and 3,856,494 francs for ex- 

 traordinary purposes. 



The debts of the Congo State consist of 422,- 

 220 francs of 2i-per-cent. bonds given in 1887 to 

 the original subscribers for the exploration of 

 the Congo region; 70,000,000 francs of bonds is- 

 sued under a decree of Feb. 7, 1888, authorizing 

 the issue of 150,000,000 francs; 14,000,000 francs 

 of 4-per-cent. bonds issued under the decrees of 

 Oct. 17, 1896, and June 14, 1898; 25,000,000 francs 

 advanced by Belgium under the convention rati- 

 fied by the Belgian Chambers on July 25, 1890; 

 6,804,415 francs advanced by the Belgian Govern- 

 ment under a convention of June 10, 1895; and 

 50,000,000 francs of 4-per-cent. bonds issued in 

 October. 1901, for railroads and other pliblic works. 



Commerce and Production. The chief prod- 

 uct of the Congo basin is rubber. Ivory is a 

 diminishing article of export. Palm-nuts and 

 palm-oil are less important than they are on the 

 Guinea coast. Coffee and cacao are grown with 

 success. The natives cultivate tobacco for their 

 own use, and an export trade has begun. The 

 Government has planted the Havana and Suma- 

 tra varieties for an experiment. All land belongs 

 to the Government except the district* expressly 

 reserved for native occupancy and the registered 

 private estates. 



