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Bible Encyclopedias
Congo Free State
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or The name formerly given by British writers to the Etat Independant du Congo, a state of equatorial Africa which occupied the greater part of the basin of the Congo river. In 1908 the state was annexed to Belgium. The present article gives (1) the history of the state, (2) an account of the topography, ethnology, &c., of the country and of its economic condition at the date of its becoming a Belgian colony.
I. History The Congo Free State owed its existence to the ambition and force of character of a single individual. It dated its formal inclusion among the independent states of the world from 1885, when its founder, Leopold II., king of the Inception Belgians, became its head. But to understand how formation. it came into existence a brief account is needed of its sovereign's connexion with the African continent. In 1876 King Leopold summoned a conference at Brussels of the leading geographical experts in Europe, which resulted in the creation of "The International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of Africa." To carry out its objects an international commission was founded, with committees in the principal countries of Europe. The Belgian committee at Brussels, where also were the headquarters of the International commission, displayed from the first greater activity than did any of the other committees. It turned its attention in the first place to East Africa, and several expeditions were sent out, which resulted in the founding of a Belgian station at Karema on Lake Tanganyika. But the return of Mr (afterwards Sir) H. M. Stanley from his great journey of exploration down the Congo forcibly directed the attention of King Leopold to the possibilities for exploration and civilization offered by the Congo region. On the invitation of the king, Mr Stanley visited Brussels, and on the 25th of November 1878 a separate committee of the International Association was organized at Brussels, under the name "Comite d'etudes du Haut Congo." Shortly afterwards this committee became the "International Association of the Congo," which in its turn was the forerunner of the Congo Free State. The Association was provided with a nominal capital of 40,000, but from the first its funds were largely supplemented from the private purse of King Leopold; and by a gradual process of evolution the work, which was originally, in name at least, international in character, became a purely Belgian enterprise. Mr Stanley, as agent of the Association, spent four years in the country,founding stations and making treaties with various chiefs. The first station was founded in February 1880 at Vivi, and before returning to Europe in August 1884 Mr Stanley had established twenty-two stations on the Congo and its tributaries. Numerous expeditions were organized by King Leopold in the Congo basin, and the activity of the International Association and its agents began seriously to engage the attention of the European powers interested in Africa. On behalf of Portugal, claims were advanced to the Congo, based on the discovery of its mouth by Portuguese navigators centuries before. In the interests of France, M. de Brazza was actively exploring on the northern banks of the Congo, and had established various posts, including one where the important station of Brazzaville is now situated. The fact that the International Association of the Congo had no admitted status as a sovereign power rendered the tenure of its acquisition somewhat precarious, and induced King Leopold to make determined efforts to secure for his enterprise a recognized position. Early in 1884 a series of diplomatic events brought the question to a head. The 2nd Earl Granville, then British foreign secretary, in February of that year concluded a convention with Portugal, recognizing both banks of the mouth of the Congo as Portuguese territory. This convention was never ratified, but it led directly to the summoning of the Berlin Congress of 1884-1885, and to the recognition of the International Association as a sovereign state.
The United States of America was the first great power, in a convention signed on the 22nd of April 1884, to recognize the Association as a properly constituted state. Simultane of preference accorded to France could be opposed to that of Belgium; and on the 29th of April the French minister took note, in the name of the French government, of this interpretation of the right of preference, in so far as such interpretation was not contrary to pre-existing international engagements. Germany was the next great power after the United States to recognize the flag of the International Association as that of a friendly state, doing so on the 8th of November 1884, and the same recognition was subsequently accorded by Great Britain on the 16th of December; Italy, 19th of December; Austria-Hungary, 24th of December; Holland, 27th of December; Spain, 7th of January 1885; France and Russia, 5th of February; Sweden and Norway, 10th of February; Portugal, 14th of February; and Denmark and Belgium, 23rd of February. While negotiations with Germany for the recognition of the status of the Congo Free State were in progress, Prince Bismarck issued invitations to the powers to an international conference at Berlin. The conference assembled on the 15th of November 1884, and its deliberations ended on the 26th of February of the following year by the signature of a General Act, which dealt with the relations of the European powers to other regions of Africa as well as the Congo basin. The provisions affecting the Congo may be briefly stated. A conventional basin of the Congo was defined, which comprised all the regions watered by the Congo and its affluents, including Lake Tanganyika, with its eastern tributaries, and in this conventional basin it was declared that "the trade of all nations shall enjoy complete freedom." Freedom of navigation of the Congo and all its affluents was also secured, and differential dues on vessels and merchandise were forbidden. Trade monopolies were prohibited, and provision made for civilizing the natives, the suppression of the slave trade, and the protection of missionaries, scientists and explorers. Provision was made for the powers owning territory in the conventional basin to proclaim their neutrality. As regards navigation, only such taxes or duties were to be levied as had "the character of an equivalent for services rendered to navigation itself"; and it was further provided that (Article 16) "The roads, railways or lateral canals which may be constructed with the special object of obviating the innavigability or correcting the imperfection of the river route on certain sections of the course of the Congo, its affluents, and other waterways, placed under a similar system as laid down in Article 15, shall be considered, in their quality of means of communication, as dependencies of this river and as equally open to the traffic of all nations. And as on the river itself, so there shall be collected on these roads, railways, and canals only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance, and management, and on the profits due to the promoters"; while as regards the tariff of these tolls, strangers and natives of the respective territories were to be treated "on a footing of perfect equality." The International Association not having possessed, at the date of the assembling of the Conference, any recognized status, was not formally represented at Berlin, but the flag of the Association having, before the close of the conference, been recognized as that of a sovereign state by all the powers, with the exception of Turkey, the Association formally adhered to the General Act.
Thus early in 1885 King Leopold had secured the recognition of the Association as an independent state, but its limits were as yet not clearly defined. On the 5th of February, as the result of prolonged negotiations, France conceded the right of the Association to the course of the lower Congo below Manyanga, and accepted the Chiloango river and the water-parting of the waters of the Niadi Kwilu and the Congo, as far as beyond the meridian of Manyanga, as the boundary between her possessions and those of the Association on the lower river. From Manyanga the frontier was to follow the Congo up to Stanley Pool, the median line of Stanley Pool, and the Congo again "up to a point to be settled above the river Licona-Nkundja," from which point a line was to be drawn to the 17th degree of longitude east of Greenwich, following as closely as possible the water-parting of the Licona-Nkundja basin. The identity of the Licona-Nkundja ously, Leopold had been negotiating with the ?'?
French government, the Association's most serious rival, not only to obtain recognition but on various boundary questions, and on the 23rd of April 1884 Colonel M. Strauch, the president of the Association, addressed to the French minister for foreign affairs a note in which he formally declared that the Association would not cede its possessions to any power, "except in virtue of special conventions, which may be concluded between France and the Association, for fixing the limits and conditions of their respective action." The note further declared that, as a fresh proof of its friendly feeling towards France, the Association engaged to give France the right of preference if, through unforeseen circumstances, it were compelled to sell its possessions. Mention may here be made of the fact that in a note dated the 22nd of April 1887, M. van Eetvelde, administrator-general of the foreign affairs of the Congo State, informed the French minister at Brussels that the International Association had not intended in 1884 that the right subsequently gave rise to considerable discussions with France, and eventually a protocol, signed at Brussels on the 29th of April 1887, continued the boundary along the Congo to its confluence with the Ubangi (Mobangi), whence it followed the thalweg of that river to its intersection with the 4th parallel of north latitude, below which parallel it was agreed that the northern boundary of the Congo Free State should in no case descend. In accepting this frontier King Leopold had to sacrifice all claims to the valley of the Niadi Kwilu, in which he had founded fourteen stations, and to the right bank of the Ubangi. With Portugal the Association concluded an agreement on the 14th of February 1885, by which the northern bank of the Congo was recognized as belonging to the Association, while Portugal retained the southern bank of the river as far as Noki. North of the Congo Portugal retained the small enclave of Kabinda, while south of the river the frontier left the Congo at Noki and followed the parallel of that place to the Kwango river.
In April 1885 the Belgian chamber authorized King Leopold "to he the chief of the state founded in Africa by the International Association of the Congo," and declared that "the union between Belgium and the new State of the Congo shall be exclusively personal." This act of the Belgian legislature regularized the position of King Leopold, who at once began the work of organizing an administration for the new state.' In a circular letter addressed to the powers on the 1st of August 1885 His Majesty declared the neutrality of the "Independent State of the Congo," and set out the boundaries which were then claimed for the new state. At the date of the issue of the circular the agreements with France and Portugal had partially defined the boundaries of the Free State on the lower river, and the 30th degree of longitude east of Greenwich was recognized as the limit of its extension eastwards.
The following is a list of the agreements subsequently made with reference to the boundaries of the state (see also Africa, §5) I. 22nd of November 1885, with France. - Protocol for delimitation of the Manyanga region.
2.29th of April 1887, with France. - Protocol for delimitation of the Ubangi region.
3.25th of May 1891, with Portugal. - Treaty for delimitation of the Lunda region, and convention of even date for the settlement of frontiers on lower Congo.
4.24th of March 1894, with Portugal. - Declaration approving delimitation of Lunda region.
5.12th of May 1894, with Great Britain. - Agreement as to Nile valley and boundaries with British Central Africa.
6.14th of August 1894, with France. - Agreement as to Mbomu river, and Congo and Nile basins.
7.5th of February 1895, with France. - Agreement as to Stanley Pool.
8.9th of May 1906, with Great Britain.-Agreement as to territories leased in 1894 in the Nile valley.
The net result of the above agreements was to leave the Congo Free State with France, Portugal and Great Britain as her neighbours on the north, with Great Britain and Germany as her neighbours on the east, and with Great Britain and Portugal on her southern frontier. The main object of King Leopold's ambition was to obtain an outlet on the Nile, and for the history of the incidents connected with the two important agreements made in 1894 with Great Britain and France, and their sequel in the agreement made with Great Britain in 1906, reference must be made to the article Africa, §5. The expenditure necessitated by the efforts of the king to attain his object involved a heavy strain on the finances of the state, reacting on its internal policy. The avowed object of the Free State was to develop the resources of the territory with the aid of the natives, but it early became apparent that the Arab slave-traders, who had established themselves in the country between Lake Tanganyika and Stanley Falls and on the upper river, opposed a serious obstacle to the realization of this programme. The scanty resources at the disposal of the state imposed a policy of restraint on the officers who were brought into relations with 1 The formal proclamation of sovereignty was made at Boma on the 1st of July 1885.
the Arabs on the upper river, of whom Tippoo-Tib was the chief. In 1886 the Arabs had destroyed the state station at Stanley Falls, and it was apparent that a struggle for supremacy was inevitable. But the Free State was at that time ill prepared for a trial of strength, and at Mr Stanley's suggestion the bold course was taken of appointing Tippoo-Tib governor of Stanley Falls, as the representative of King Leopold. This was in 1887, and for five years the modus vivendi thus established continued in operation. During those years fortified camps were established by the Belgians on the Sankuru, the Lomami, and the Arumiwi, and the Arabs were quick to see that each year's delay increased the strength of the forces against which they would have to contend. In 1891 the imposition of an export duty on ivory excited much ill-will, and when it became known that, in his march towards the Nile, van Kerckhoven had defeated an Arab force, the Arabs on the upper Congo determined to precipitate the conflict. In May 1892 the murder of M. Hodister, the representative of a Belgian trading company, and of ten other Belgians on the upper Lomami, marked the beginning of the Arab war. When the news reached the lower river a Belgian expedition under the command of Commandant (afterwards Baron) Dhanis was making its way towards Katanga. This expedition was diverted to the east, and, after a campaign extending over several months, during which several battles were fought and the Arab strongholds of Nyangwe and Kasongo were captured, the Arab power was broken and many of the leading Arabs were killed. The political and commercial results of the victory of the Free State troops were thus described by Captain S. L. Hinde, who was Baron Dhanis's second in command: "The political geography of the upper Congo basin has been completely changed, as a result of the Belgian campaign against the Arabs. It used to be a common saying in this part of Africa that all roads lead to Nyangwe. This town, visited by Livingstone, Stanley and Cameron, until lately one of the greatest markets in Africa, has ceased to exist, and its site, when I last saw it, was occupied by a single house. Kasongo, a more recent though still larger centre, with perhaps 60,000 inhabitants, has also been swept away, and is now represented by a station of the Free State 9 m. away on the river-bank. In harmony with this political change the trade routes have been completely altered, and the traffic which used to follow the well-beaten track from Nyangwe and the Lualaba across Tanganyika to Ujiji, or round the lake to Zanzibar, now goes down the Congo to Stanley Pool and the Atlantic." These results had been attained largely by the aid of native levies and allies, and a number of the men who had taken part in the Arab campaign were enlisted as permanent soldiers by the Belgians. Among these were some Batetelas, who in 1895 revolted in the Lulua and Lomami districts. The mutineers were eventually defeated; but in 1897, while Baron Dhanis was making his way with a large expedition towards the Nile, the Batetelas again revolted, murdered several of their white officers, and took possession of a large area of the eastern portions of the state. Although defeated on several occasions by the Free State forces, the mutineers were not finally dispersed until near the end of 1900, when the last remnants were reported to have crossed into German territory and surrendered their arms. In other parts of the country the state had difficulties with native chiefs, several of whom preserved their autonomy. In the central Kasai region the state had been unable to make its authority good up to the time it ceased to exist.
The international position of the Free State was from the first a somewhat anomalous one. It has already been noted that the right of preference accorded to France in 1884, as interpreted in 1887, was not intended to be opposed to that of Belgium. By his will dated the 2nd of August 1889 King Leopold bequeathed to Belgium "all our sovereign rights over the Independent State of the Congo, as they are recognized by the declarations, conventions and treaties concluded since 1884 between the foreign powers on the one side, the International Association of the Congo and 2 After 1900 Nyangwe and Kasongo again became towns of some importance, and traffic along the route to Tanganyika revived with the advent of railways, though the main traffic continued down the Congo river.
the Independent State of the Congo on the other, as well as all the benefits, rights and advantages attached to that sovereignty." In July 1890 Belgium acquired, by the terms of a loan to the Congo State which was granted free of interest, the option of annexing the state on the expiry of a period of ten years and six months. Notwithstanding this loan the state became involved in further financial difficulties,' and on the 9th of January 1895 the Belgian government entered into a treaty with King Leopold to take over the Free State with all its possessions, claims and obligations, as from the ist of January of that year. In anticipation of the consent of the Belgian parliament to this treaty, a Franco-Belgian convention was signed on the 5th of February 1895, by which the Belgian government recognized "the right of preference possessed by France over its Congolese possessions in case of their compulsory alienation, wholly or in part." But after long delays and a violent press compaign the ministry fell, the bill providing for annexation was withdrawn, and the chambers voted a further loan to the Free State to enable it to tide over its immediate difficulties. 1111901, on the expiry of the term of years fixed in the loan convention of 1890, the question of the annexation of the Congo State by Belgium again formed the subject of prolonged discussion. A bill was brought forward in favour of annexation, but this time it was opposed by the Belgian government, which proposed simply to let the loan run on without interest. King Leopold likewise declared himself to be opposed to immediate annexation, and the bill was withdrawn. Under the terms of the government measure, which finally passed through the Belgian parliament in August 1901, Belgium retained her right of option, though not the right to exercise it at a fixed date. Moreover, in anticipation of the time when the Congo State would become a Belgian colony, there was issued under date of 7th of August 1901 the terms of a proposed loi organique, regulating the government of any colonial possessions which Belgium might acquire.
The discussions which from time to time took place in the Belgian parliament on the affairs of the Congo State were greatly embittered by the charges brought against the state administration. The administration of the state had indeed undergone a complete change since the early years of its existence. A decree of the ist of July 1885 had, it is true, declared all "vacant lands" the property of the state (Domaine privé de Petal ), but it was not for some time that this decree was so interpreted as to confine the lands of the natives to those they lived upon or "effectively" cultivated. Their rights in the forest were not at first disputed, and the trade of the natives and of Europeans was not interfered with. But in 1891 - when the wealth in rubber and ivory of vast regions had been demonstrated - a secret decree was issued (Sept. 21) reserving to the state the monopoly of ivory and rubber in the "vacant lands" constituted by the decree of 1885, and circulars were issued making the monopoly effective in the Aruwimi-Welle, Equator and Ubangi districts. The agents of the state were enjoined to supervise their collection, and in future natives were to be obliged to sell their produce to the state. By other decrees and circulars (October 30 and December 5, 1892, and August 9, 1893) the rights of the natives and of white traders were further restricted. No definition had been given by the decree of 1885 as to what constituted the "vacant lands" which became the property of the state, but the effect of the later decrees was to assign to the government an absolute proprietary right over nearly the whole country; a native could not even leave his village with out a special permit. 2 The oppressive nature of these measures drew forth a weighty remonstrance from the leading officials, and Monsieur C. Janssen, the governor, resigned. Vigorous protests by the private trading companies were also made against this violation of the freedom of trade secured by the Berlin Act, and eventually 1 For an account of the loans and liabilities of the state see II. The Belgian Congo, § Finance. 2 The British parliamentary paper Africa No. z, 1909, contains a memorandum on the land laws in the Congo State, showing the extent to which trade was monopolized throughout its territories by the government.
an arrangement was made by which certain areas were reserved to the state and certain areas to private traders, but the restrictions imposed on the natives were maintained. Large areas of the state domain were leased to companies invested with very extensive powers, including the exclusive right to exploit the produce of the so11.3 In other cases, e.g. in the district of Katanga, the state entered into partnership with private companies for the exploitation of the resources of the regions concerned. The "concession" companies were first formed in 1891 under Belgian law; in 1898 some of them were reconstituted under Congo law. In all of them the state had a financial interest either as shareholder or as entitled to part profits.4 This system of exploitation of the country was fruitful of evil, and was mainly responsible for the bad treatment of the natives. Only in the lower Congo and a narrow strip of land on either side of the river above Stanley Pool was there any freedom of trade. The situation was aggravated by the creation in 1896, by a secret decree, of the Domaine de la couronne, a vast territory between the Kasai and Ruki rivers, covering about 112,000 sq. m. To administer this domain, carved out of the state lands and treated as the private property of Leopold II., a Fondation was organized and given a civil personality. It was not until 1902 that the existence of the Domaine de la couronne was officially acknowledged. The Fondation controlled the most valuable rubber region in the Congo, and in that region the natives appeared to be treated with the utmost severity. In the closing years of the 19th century and the early years of the 10th the charges brought against the state assumed a more and more definite character. As indicated, they fell under two main heads. In the first place the native policy of the Congo government was denounced as at variance with the humanitarian spirit which had been regarded by the powers as one of the chief motives inspiring the foundation of the Congo State. In the second place it was contended that the method of exploitation of the state lands and the concessions system nullified the free trade provisions of the Berlin Act. Reports which gave colour to these charges steadily accumulated, and gave rise to a strong agitation against the Congo State system of government. This agitation was particularly vigorous in Great Britain, and the movement entered on a new era when on the 10th of May 1903 the House of Commons agreed without division to the following motion: "That the government of the Congo Free State having, at its inception, guaranteed to the powers that its native subjects should be governed with humanity, and that no trading monopoly or privilege should be permitted within its dominions, this House request His Majesty's Government to confer with the other powers, signatories of the Berlin General Act, by virtue of which the Congo Free State exists, in order that measures may be adopted to abate the evils prevalent in that state." In accordance with this request the 5th marquess of Lansdowne, then secretary of state for foreign affairs, issued a despatch on the 8th of August 1903 to the British representatives at the courts of the powers which signed the Berlin Act, drawing attention to the alleged cases of ill-treatment of natives and to the existence of trade monopolies in the Congo Free State, and in conclusion stating that His Majesty's government would This concession was asserted by traders who had previously dealt direct with the natives, and by traders who hoped so to do, to contravene the provision of the Act of Berlin prohibiting any commercial monopoly in the Congo basin. The state maintained, however, that the proprietor who exploits and sells the produce of his land is not engaging in commerce.
4 The best known of these companies are the Abir (Anglo-Belgian India-rubber and Exploration Co.) and the Societe anversoise du commerce au Congo. In Katanga the companies holding concessions and the state are jointly represented by the Comite special du Katanga. In 1906 four new companies were formed in which British, American and French capital was largely invested. Of these companies the Union miniere du Haut Katanga had for object the development of the mineral wealth of the district named, while the Chemin de fer du Bas Congo undertook to build a railway from Leopoldville to Katanga. The American Congo Company was granted a rubber concession in the Kasai basin. The fourth company, the Societe internationale forestiere et miniere du Congo, combined mining operations with the exploitation of forest produce.
"be glad to receive any suggestions which the governments of the signatory powers might be disposed to make in reference to this important question, which might perhaps constitute, wholly or in part, the subject of a reference to the tribunal at the Hague." This despatch failed to evoke any response from the powers, with the single exception of Turkey, but the public agitation against the Congo State regime continued to grow in force, being greatly strengthened by the publication in February 1904 of a report by Mr Roger Casement, then British consul at Boma, on a journey which he had made through the middle Congo region in 1903 (described as the "Upper" Congo in the report). The action on the part of the British government resulted in considerable correspondence with the Congo government, which denied the charges of systematic ill-treatment of the natives and controverted the contention that its policy constituted an infringement of the Berlin Act. In July 1904, however, King Leopold issued a decree appointing a commission of inquiry to visit the Congo State, investigate the condition of the natives, and if necessary recommend reforms. The commission was composed of M. Edmond Janssens, advocate-general of the Belgian Cour de Cassation, who was appointed president; Baron Giacomo Nisco, president ad interim of the court of appeal at Boma; and Dr E. de Schumacher, a Swiss councillor of state and chief of the department of justice in the canton of Lucerne. Its stay in the Congo State lasted from the 5th of October 1904 to the 21st of February 1905, and during that time the com missioners ascended the Congo as far as Stanleyville. R The report of the commission of inquiry was published, minus the minutes of the evidence submitted to the In4u' "y commissioners, in November 1905. While expressing admiration for the signs which had come under its notice of the advance of civilization in the Congo State, the commission confirmed the reports of the existence of grave abuses in the upper Congo, and recommended a series of measures which would in its opinion suffice to ameliorate the evil. It approved the concessions system in principle and regarded forced labour as the only possible means of turning to account the natural riches of the country, but recognized that though freedom of trade was formally guaranteed there was virtually no trade, properly so called, among the natives in the greater portion of the Congo State, and particularly emphasized the need for a liberal interpretation of the land laws, effective application of the law limiting the amount of labour exacted from the natives to forty hours per month, the suppression of the" sentry "system, the withdrawal from the concession companies of the right to employ compulsory measures, the regulation of military expeditions, and the freedom of the courts from administrative tutelage. Simultaneously with the report of the commission of inquiry there was published a decree appointing a commission to study the recommendations contained in the report, and to formulate detailed proposals.
Naturally the development of the charges against the Congo State system of administration was followed with close interest in Belgium. Little or nothing was done, however, R to advance the bill brought forward in August 1901, providing for the government of the Congo State in the event of its becoming a Belgian colony. The changes in the administration of the Congo State. By the advocates of radical reforms these measures were regarded as utterly inadequate, and even in Belgium, among those friendly to the Congo State system of administration, some uneasiness was excited by a letter which was published along with the decrees, wherein King Leopold intimated that certain conditions would attach to the inheritance he had designed for Belgium. Among the obligations which he enumerated as necessarily and justly resting on his legatee was the duty of respecting the arrangements by which he had provided for the establishment of the Domaine de la couronne and the Domaine prive de l'etat. It was further declared that the territories bequeathed would be inalienable.
The fears excited by this letter that King Leopold desired to restrict Belgium's liberty of action in the Congo State when the latter should become a Belgian colony were not diminished by the announcement in November 1906 of four new concessions, conferring very extensive rights on railway, mining and rubber companies in which foreign capital was largely interested. This was immediately before the opening in the Belgian chamber of a fresh debate in which the history of the Congo question entered on a new stage of critical importance not only from the national but the international point of view. It had become evident, indeed, that things could not continue as they were. In reply to an influential deputation which waited upon him on the 10th of November, Sir Edward Grey, speaking as the representative of the British government in his capacity as secretary of state for foreign affairs, expressed the desire" that Belgium should feel that her freedom of action is unfettered and unimpaired and her choice unembarrassed by anything which we have done or are likely to do "; but he added that if Belgium should fail to take action" it will be impossible for us to continue to recognize indefinitely the present state of things without a very close examination of our treaty rights and the treaty obligations of the Congo State."The debate in the Belgian chamber opened on the 28th of November and was not concluded till the 14th of December. It was largely occupied with the consideration of the relations between Belgium and the Congo State from the constitutional point of view. A resolution was finally adopted by 128 votes to 1, thirty Socialist members abstaining from voting. In this resolution the chamber took note of" the replies of the government, according to which the declarations contained in the letter of the 3rd of June do not constitute conditions but ` solemn recommendations,' while ` the convention of cession will have no other object than to effect the transference and define the measures for its accomplishment, and the Belgian legislature will regulate the regime of its colonial possessions in unrestricted liberty.' "In conclusion the chamber," desiring without prejudice (sans prejuger sur le fond ) that the question of the annexation of the Congo should be brought before the chamber in the shortest possible time, in accordance with the intention expressed by the government,"recorded its desire that the central committee charged to examine the draft law of the 7th of August 1901 should" hasten its labours and lay its report at an early date."(J. S. K.) For the purpose of considering the proposed colonial law the central committee was changed into a special commission, which from the number of members constituting it became known as the Commission of XVII. The ogress of negotla commission held its first meeting on the 31st of January 1907, and did not complete its labours until the 25th of March 1908. Taking as the basis for discussion the draft loi organique of 1901, it elaborated a measure laying down the principles applicable to the Congo State when it should become a Belgian colony. The draft bill of 1901 had left the autocratic power of the sovereign unchanged; the colonial bill as passed by the commission completely reversed the situation, replacing the absolutism of the king by thorough parliamentary control. This result was only achieved after a severe struggle and after an emphatic declaration by Sir E. Grey that the British government would regard any other solution as inadmissible (see infra). existence of this measure was recalled in a five days' debate which took place in the Belgian parliament in the spring of 1906, when the report of the commission of inquiry and the question of the position in which Belgium stood in relation to the Congo State formed the subject of an animated and important discussion. In the resolution which was adopted on the 2nd of March the chamber," imbued with the ideas which presided over the foundation of the Congo State and inspired the Act of Berlin,"expressed its confidence in the proposals which the commission of reforms was elaborating, and decided" to proceed without delay to the examination of the projected law of the 7th of August 1901, on the government of Belgium's colonial possessions."The report of the reforms commission was not made public, but as the fruit of its deliberations King Leopold signed on the 3rd of June 1906 a number of decrees embodying various While the commission was sitting, further evidence was forthcoming that the system complained of on the Congo remained unaltered, and that the" reforms "of June 1906 were illusory. Various revolts of the natives also occurred, and in some parts of the state complete anarchy prevailed. Not only in Great Britain and America did the agitation against the administration of the Congo State gain ground, but in Belgium and France reform associations enlightened public opinion. The government of Great Britain let it be known that its patience was not inexhaustible, while the senate of the United States declared that it would support President Roosevelt in his efforts for the amelioration of the condition of the inhabitants of the Congo. The attitude of the powers was at the same time perfectly friendly towards Belgium. In this manner the movement in favour of ending the baneful regime of Leopold II. was strengthened. On the 10th of July 1907 the Belgian premier announced that negotiations with the Congo State would be renewed, and on the 28th of November following a treaty was signed for the cession of the Congo State to Belgium. This treaty The new stipulated for the maintenance of the Fondation de la treaty of p cession. couronne. This" government within a government "was secured in all its privileges, its profits as heretofore being appropriated to allowances to members of the royal family and the maintenance and development of" works of public utility "in Belgium and the Congo, those works including schemes for the embellishment of the royal palaces and estates in Belgium and others for making Ostend" a bathing city unique in the world."The state was to have the right of redemption on terms which, had the rubber and ivory produce alone been redeemed, would have cost Belgium about £8,50o,000.
Even those politicians least disposed to criticize the actions of the king protested vigorously against the provisions concerning the Fondation. It was recognized that the chamber would not vote the treaty of cession unless those provisions were modified. Negotiations between Leopold II. and the Belgian premier followed. While they were in progress the British government again expressed its views, and in very monitory language. They were conveyed in a passage in the king's speech at the opening of parliament on the 29th of January, and in a statement by Sir Edward Grey in the House of Commons on the 26th of February. Sir Edward Grey affirmed that the Congo State had" morally forfeited every right to international recognition,"and quoted with approval Lord Cromer's statement that the Congo system was the worst he had ever seen. The foreign secretary declared, in reference to the negotiations for the transfer of the Congo to Belgium, that any semi-transfer which left the controlling power in the hands of" the present authorities "would not be considered by Great Britain as a guarantee of treaty rights. On the same day that Sir Edward Grey spoke a parliamentary paper was issued ( Africa No. I, 1908) containing consular reports on the state of affairs in the Congo. The most significant of these reports was from Mr W. G. Thesiger, consul at Boma, who in a memorandum on the application of the labour tax, after detailing various abuses, added," The system which gave rise to these abuses still continues unchanged, and so long as it is unaltered the condition of the natives must remain one of veiled slavery."Eight days later (on the 5th of March) an additional act was signed in Brussels annulling the clauses in the treaty of cession concerning the Fondation, which was to cease to exist on the day Belgium assumed the sovereignty of the Congo and its property to be absorbed in the state domains. Leopold II., however, was able to obtain generous compensation for the surrender of the Fondation. Certain fragments of the domain, including an estate of 155 sq. m. in Africa, a villa at Ostend, and some land at Laeken, were kept by the king, who further retained a life interest in property on the Riviera and elsewhere. Belgium undertook at her own charges and at an estimated cost of £2,000,000 to complete" the works of embellishment "begun in Belgium with funds derived from the Fondation and to create a debt of £2,000,000 chargeable on the funds of the colony, which sum was to be paid to the king in fifteen annual instalments - the money, however, to be expended on objects" connected with and beneficial to the Congo."The annuities to members of the royal family were to be continued, and other subsidies were promised. But the most important provision was the agreement of Belgium to respect the concessions granted in the lands of the Fondation in November 1906 to the American Congo Company and the Compagnie forestiere et miniere, companies in which the Congo State had large holdings.
Both the treaty of cession and the additional act were submitted to the Commission of XVII. That body expressed its approval of both measures. Its report on the treaty and the proposed colonial law were presented to the chamber on the 3rd of April. Neither the treaty, the additional act, nor the colonial law expressly modified the land, commercial and concessionary regime established in the Congo, but article II. of the colonial law provided that laws should be passed as soon as possible to settle the natives' rights to real property and the liberty of the individual, while the Belgian government announced its determination to fulfil scrupulously all the obligations imposed on the Congo by international conventions. Public opinion in Belgium was disturbed and anxious at the prospect of assuming responsibility for a vast, distant, and badly administered country, likely for years to be a severe financial drain upon the resources of the state. But, though those who opposed annexation formed a numerous body, all political parties were agreed that in case of annexation the excesses which had stained the record of the Free State should cease.
On the 15th of April 1908 the chamber began a general debate on the Congo question. The debate made it clear that while the Belgian people did not desire colonial possessions, annexation was the only means of escape from a situation the country found intolerable. The debate closed on the 10th of August, when the treaty of annexation, the additional act and the colonial law were all voted by substantial majorities. Amendments had been made in the colonial law giving parliament fuller control over Congo affairs and securing greater independence for the judicature. On the 9th of September following the three measures were also voted by the senate. Thus at length ended the hesitation of the legislature, fourteen years after the first annexation bill had been submitted to it. On the 14th of November the state ceased to exist, the rights of sovereignty being assumed by Belgium the next day without ceremony of any kind.' Administrative control in Brussels was transferred to the newly created ministry of the colonies.
II. THE Belgian Congo The colony of which Belgium became possessed in the manner narrated in the historical sketch has an area estimated at 900,000 sq. m. It is bounded W. by the Atlantic, N. by French Congo, N.E. by the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, E. by the Uganda Protectorate, British and German East Africa, S.E. by northern Rhodesia (British), S.W. by Angola (Portuguese). The coastline is only 25 m. long. It extends north from the estuary of the Congo, the northern bank of the estuary belonging to Belgium, the southern to Portugal. The greater part of Belgian Congo lies between the parallels of 4° N. and 10° S. and 18° and 30° E.
Physical Features
Except for its short coast-line, and for a comparatively small area on its eastern frontier, the colony lies wholly within the geographical basin of the Congo. It may roughly be divided into four zones: - (1) the small coast zone west of the Crystal Mountains, through which the Congo breaks in a succession of rapids to the Atlantic; (2) the great central zone, described below; (3) the smaller zone east of the Mitumba range (including the upper coursesof some of the Congo tributaries which have forced their way through the mountains), and west of Lake Mweru and the upper course of the Luapula; and (4) an area which belongs geographically to the Nile valley. The Crystal Mountains form the western edge of the great Central African plateau and run, roughly, parallel to the coast. The 1 The first power to recognize the transfer of the state to Belgium was Germany, which did so in January 1909.
Completion of Act. Mitumba range extends from the south-eastern frontier of the colony, in a north-easterly direction towards Lake Tanganyika, and northwards along the western shore of that lake past lakes Kivu and Albert Edward to Albert Nyanza, forming the western edge of the western or Albertine rift-valley. This long mountain chain has numerous local names. It varies in altitude from 5000 to io,000 ft. The eastern escarpment is precipitous, but on its western face it slopes more gently into the Congo basin. North of the Lukuga river the main chain throws out into the central zone, in a north-westerly direction, a secondary range known as the Bambara Mountains, which forms one of the boundaries of the Manyema country. The interior or lake zone is a high plateau with an average elevation of 3000 ft. above sea-level.
The central zone dips with a westerly inclination from the Mitumba Mountains towards the western edge of the plateau. It is described as" a country of alluvial plains, without any marked mountain features, very well watered, covered with forests and wooded savannahs "(A. J. Wauters). The forests occupy the river valleys and are densest in the east and north-east of the state. In these primeval forests the vegetation is excessively rank; passage has to be forced through thick underwood and creeping plants, between giant trees, whose foliage shuts out the sun's rays; and the land teems with animal and insect life of every form and colour. Describing the forests of the Manyema country, west of Lake Tanganyika, David Livingstone wrote:" Into these [primeval forests] the sun, though vertical, 'cannot penetrate, excepting by sending down at mid-day thin pencils of rays into the gloom. The rain water stands for months in stagnant pools made by the feet of elephants. The climbing plants, from the size of a whipcord to that of a man-of-war's hawser, are so numerous, that the ancient path is the only passage. When one of the giant trees falls across the road, it forms a wall breast high to be climbed over, and the mass of tangled ropes brought down makes cutting a path round it a work of time which travellers never undertake."This description is equally applicable to the forest region extending eastward from the mouth of the Aruwimi almost to Albert Nyanza. This forest covers an area of some 25,000 sq. m., and into a great part of it the sunshine never enters. It is known variously as the t -._._ 1 .......
....
u: ..... ...
a'nBena Dibe. Luku!u A Longitude E.ust of Capitol Pygmy Forest (from the races inhabiting it), the Aruwimi or Ituri Forest (from the rivers traversing it), the Stanley Forest (from its discoverer), or the Great Congo Forest. It is the largest fragment within the colony of the immense forest which at one time seems to have covered the whole equatorial region. By the banks of the rivers occur the" gallery "formations; i.e. in what appears an impenetrable forest are found avenues of trees" like the colonnades of an Egyptian temple,"veiled in leafy shade, and opening" into aisles and corridors musical with many a murmuring fount "(Schweinfurth).
The Congo and its tributary streams are separately noticed. They form, both from the point of view of the physical geography and the commercial development of the colony, its most important feature; but next in importance are the forests. The wooded savannas are mostly situated on the higher lands of the central zone, where the land dips down from the Mitumba Mountains to the Congo.
The part of the colony within the Nile basin is geographically of great interest. It includes some of the volcanic peaks which, north of Lake Kivu, stretch across the rift-valley and attain heights of 13,000 and 14,000 ft.; Albert Edward Nyanza and part of the Semliki river; part of Ruwenzori, the so-called" Mountains of the Moon,"with snow-clad heights exceeeding 16,50o ft. The colony also includes the western shores of lakes Tanganyika and Kivu (q.v.).
Geology
The portion of the great basin of the Congo included in the colony is mainly occupied, so far as it has been explored, by sandstones. These are separable into a lower group (Kundelungu) of red felspathic grits and into an upper group (Lubilasch) of white friable sandstones. Both are considered to represent the Karroo formation of South Africa. The basin in which these sandstones were laid down is limited on the east by ancient gneisses and schists overlain by the highly inclined red felspathic grits. The ancient rocks of Katanga form the southern boundary. The northern periphery lies in French Congo: the western boundary is formed by a zone of Archean and metamorphic rocks and a region composed of several rock groups considered to range between the Silurian and Carboniferous periods; but it is only in the limestones of one group that fossils, indicating a Devonian age, have been found. Rocks of Cretaceous and Tertiary ages are confined to the maritime zone.
Flora
The most valuable of the forest flora are the lianas, notably Landolphia florida, which yield the india-rubber of commerce. There are also timber trees such as mahogany, ebony, teak, lignum vitae, African cedars and planes, while oil, borassus and bamboo palms are abundant. Other trees are the redwood and camwood. Gumand resin-yielding trees and plants (such as the acacia) are numerous. Euphorbias attain great size and orchillas are characteristic of the forest weeds. There are innumerable kinds of moss and lichens and ferns with leaves 12 ft. in length. Of the creepers, a crimson-berried variety is known as the pepper climber. Orchids and aloes are common. In the savannas are gigantic baobab trees. In the densest forests the trees, struggling through the tangle of underwood to the light, are often 150 ft. and sometimes 200 ft. in height. The undergrowth itself rises fully 15 ft. above the ground. In many districts the coffee and cotton plants are indigenous and luxuriant. Of fruit trees the banana and plantain are plentiful and of unusual size. Peculiar to the maritime zone are mangoes and the coco-nut palm. Papyrus is found by the river banks.
Fauna
The forests are the home of several kinds of monkeys, including the chimpanzee in the Aruwimi region; the lion, leopard, wild hog, wolf, hyena, jackal, the python and other snakes, and particularly of the elephant. Among animals peculiar to the forest regions are a tiger-cat about the size of a leopard, the honey badger or black Ituri ratel and the elephant shrew. The zebra, giraffe and the rare okapi are found in the north-eastern borderlands. In the more open districts are troops of antelopes, including a variety armed with tusks, and red buffaloes. Hippopotami and crocodiles abound in the rivers, which are well stocked with many kinds of fish, including varieties resembling perch and bream; and otters make their home in the river banks. The manati is confined to the lower Congo. Bird and insect life is abundant. Among the birds, parrots (especially the grey variety) are common, as are storks and ibises. Herons, hawks, terns, Egyptian geese, fishing eagles (Gypohierax), the weaver and the whydah bird are found in the lower and middle Congo. Whenever the crocodile is out of the water the spur-winged plover is its invariable companion. The innumerable butterflies and dragon-flies have gorgeous colourings. White and red ants are very prevalent, as are mosquitos, centipedes, spiders and beetles.
Climate
Situated in the equatorial zone, Belgian Congo shows, over the greater part of its area, only a slight variation of temperature all the year round. The mean annual temperature is about 90° F. From July to August the heat increases slightly, with a more rapid rise to November. During December the thermometer remains stationary, and in January begins to rise again, reaching its maximum in February. March is also a month of great heat; in April and May the temperature falls, with a more rapid decline in June, the minimum being reached again in July. The mean temperature is lowered on the seaboard by the coast stream from the south, and the thermometer falls sometimes to little over 50° F. Again in the plateau regions in the south the night temperature is sometimes down to freezing point. There is a marked distinction between the wet and dry seasons in the western districts on the lower Congo, where rains fall regularly from October to May, the dry season being from June to September. But nearer the centre of the continent the seasons are less clearly marked by the amount of precipitation, rain falling more or less regularly at all times of the year. The seasons of greatest heat and of the heavy rains are thus coincident on the lower river, where fever is much more prevalent than on the higher plateau lands nearer the centre of the continent. The amount of the rainfall shows great variations in different years, the records at Banana showing a total fall of 16 in. in 1890-1891 and of 38 in. in 18 931894. Even in the rainy season on the lower river the rain does not fall continuously for a long period, the storms rarely lasting more than a few hours, but frequently attaining great violence. The greatest fall registered as occurring during a single tornado was 6 in. at Bolobo. In July grass fires are of common occurrence, and frequently sweep over a great expanse of country. M. A. Lancaster, the Belgian meteorologist, formulated, as the result of a study of all the available data, the following rule: - That the rainfall increases in the Congo basin (1) in proportion as one nears the equator from the south, (2) as one passes from the coast to the interior. On the lower Congo the prevailing winds are from the west and the southwest, but this prevalence becomes less and less marked towards the interior, until on the upper river they come from the south-east. The wind, however, rarely attains any exceptional velocity. Storms of extreme violence, accompanied by torrential rain, and in rare instances by hailstones, are of not uncommon occurrence. On the coast and along the course of the lower river fogs are very rare, but in the interior early morning fogs are far from uncommon. Europeans are subject to the usual tropical diseases, and the country is not suited for European colonization. This is due more to the humidity than to the heat of the climate.
I nhabitants
The population is variously estimated at from 14,000,000 to 30,000,000. The vast bulk of the inhabitants of the Congo basin belong to the Bantu-Negro stock, but there are found, in the great forests, sparsely distributed bands of the Pygmy people, who probably represent the aboriginal inhabitants of Central Africa (see AK &; Bambute; Batwa; Wochua).
In the north-east of the colony, in the upper basin of the Welle and the Mbomu, the Niam-Niam or Azandeh, a Negroid race of warriors and hunters with a social, political and military organization superior to that of the Bantu tribes of the Congo basin, have intruded from the north. They were forcing their way southwards when the Belgians appeared in the upper Congo about 1895 and arrested their further progress. Neighbours to the Azandeh are the Mangbettu and Ababwa, who are found chiefly in the country between the Welle and the Aruwimi. The Mangbettu, who formerly established a hegemony over the indigenous population, Mundu, Abisanga, Mambare, &c., have practically disappeared as a tribe, though their language and customs still survive. The characteristics of the inhabitants of this region are well summed by Casati, who states that the Mege are considered the most skilful in elephant-hunting, the Azandeh in iron-work, the Mangbettu in wood-carving, the Abarambo in ivory-carving, and the Momfu in agriculture. Arab culture and traces of Arab blood are found in the districts where the slave traders from the east coast had established stations. This Arab influence extends, in varying degrees of intensity, over the whole eastern province, that is the region bounded east by Tanganyika, west by the Lualaba, and north by Stanley Falls and the Mangbettu country. It is mainly evident in the adoption of Arab clothing and the building of houses in Arab fashion. In the valley of the Sankuru the population has been slightly modified by Chinese influences. About 1894 a party of coolies from Macao who had been working on the railway in the cataracts region endeavoured to return home overland. They got as far as the Sankuru district, where the survivors settled and married native women.
Of the Bantu tribes several main groups may be distinguished. The lower Congo and coast regions are occupied by the Ba-Kongo (otherwise Ba-Fiot), a division including the Mushi-Kongo, found chiefly in the Congo division of Angola, and the Basundi, who live on both banks of the river in the cataracts districts, the Kabinda and the Mayumbe - the two last named dwelling in the coast districts and foot-hills immediately north of the mouth of the Congo. A custom prevails among the coast tribes of placing their marriageable maidens on view in little bowers specially built for the purpose - the skin of the girls being stained red. The Ba-Kongo, as a whole, appear to be a degenerate race, the primitive type having been degraded by several centuries of contact with the worst forms of European civilization (see further Angola: Inhabitants). Extending from the Kwango affluent of the Kasai to Lake Tanganyika are the Luba-Lunda groups. Of these the most widespread tribe is the Ba-Luba. The next in importance, the Ba-Lunda, are mostly confined to the western half of this vast region. They have given their name to the Lunda district of Angola. From the 16th century (and possibly earlier) down to the close of the 19th century the Lunda peoples formed a more or less homogeneous state, the successive sovereigns being known as the Muata Yanvo. The Katanga, one of the Luba tribes, also founded a kingdom of some extent and power. They occupy and have given their name to the south-east part of the colony. In southern Katanga a tribe called Bassanga are cave-dwellers, as are also the Balomoto, who live in the Kundelungu hills west of Lake Mweru. Possibly connected with the Luba-Lunda group are the cannibal Manyema (q.v.), whose home is the district between Tanganyika and the Lualaba at Nyangwe.
Living north of the Luba-Lunda tribes, and occupying the country enclosed by the great bend of the Congo and bounded west by the Kasai, are a large number of tribes, the chief groups being the Bakuba, Basongo Mino, Balolo, Bakete, Bambala, Bayaka, Bahuana, &c. Of these the Basongo Mino are spread over the country between the Kasai and Lomami. Between the last-named river and the Lualaba dwell the savage and cannibal Batetela and Bakussu. Farther north and largely occupying the valley of the Ruki are the Mongo, a large forest tribe. Along the middle Congo from Stanley Pool to Stanley Falls the more important tribes are the Bateke, in the Stanley Pool district, but chiefly on the north side of the river in French territory; the Bayanzi (Babangi), between the mouths of the Kasai and the Ubangi; the Bangala, one of the most gifted of the Congo tribes, whence are recruited many of the soldiery; the Bapoto and the Basoko. These Bangala are not to be confused with the Bangala of the Kwango, also cannibals, who in marauding bands under leaders styled Jaga were devastating the country in the days of the early Portuguese settlements in the Congo regions. The Banza and Mogwandi are large tribes living in the region between the Congo and the Ubangi.
These Bantu races may be further divided into plain, forest and riverine tribes. With the exception of a few riverine tribes, such as the Wagenia who are fishers only, all are agriculturists and the majority keen traders, going long distances to buy and sell goods, but there are marked differences among them corresponding to their environment. The riverine tribes build excellent canoes and large" fighting "boats, and are almost uniformly expert boatmen and fishermen and live much on the water; so much so that Hermann von Wissmann and other travellers were struck by the insignificant leg development of several of these tribes. In general the physical development of these people is scarcely so great as that of the average northern European, but the majority are well formed. The most savage and truculent of the tribes are those who live in the forest regions; the most advanced in culture, the dwellers in the plains. Nearly all the tribes have tattoo markings on the face and body; to this rule the Ba-Kongo tribes are an exception. Save where the tribes have come under Arab or European influence, the clothing is extremely scanty, but absolute nudity is not known. The villages of the tribes of the lower Congo are usually surrounded by a palisade; the houses or huts are rectangular and about 7 f t. high, fetishes are usually found over the entry. The Bateke build their houses in circular groups opening on a sort of courtyard; the houses in Bangala villages are built in parallel rows about 200 ft. apart; plantations of manioc usually surround the villages. Two varieties of culture exist among the tribes inhabiting the state: that extending over the western and central area, and that of the Welle district and eastern fringe. In the former the bow with vegetable string is the chief weapon, and clothing is woven from palm fibre; in the east spears are found, and in the Welle district swords and throwing-knives also; clothing made from skins also makes its appearance, and more attention is paid to the shades of departed ancestors.
Some tribes, notably the Ba-Luba, possess considerable skill in working in wood, ivory and metals (chiefly iron and copper). The knives, spears and shields of native workmanship frequently show both ingenuity and skill, alike in design and execution. Musical instruments of crude design are common. Over a great part of the country the natives manufacture cloth from vegetable fibre. They employ four different colours, yellow, the natural colour, black, red and brown, which are obtained by dyeing, and these colours they combine into effective designs. In some tribes a rude form of printing designs on cloth is practised, and on the Sankuru and Lukenye a special kin
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Congo Free State'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/c/congo-free-state.html. 1910.
