Without doubt largely as a result of these State activities and these restrictions on private enterprise, Belgium's proportion of the export trade of the entire Congo, negligible in 1888, increased in a decade to about 90 per cent of the total. State control of commerce also accounts in large part for the fact that Belgium's share of the import trade increased by 1897 to 70 per cent. These increases occurred in spite of the fact that in the Lower Congo, where foreign. traders had been well established long before the Belgian occupation, freedom of trade was restricted to a comparatively slight degree. During the years of King Leopold's government it was in this lower district almost alone that outside traders were able to carry on com merce. Prior to 1885 there had been free trade and equality of opportu nity on the Congo. At the conference of Berlin it was agreed that this freedom and equality should be written into the public law of Europe. Experienced diplomats put this purpose into the words of the general act of the conference of Berlin. Yet within a few years the Congo State and a few concessionary companies were monopolizing the products of the greater part of a million square miles. In the light of events it is now obvious that the diplomats when faced by a new problem failed to express themselves in such a way that the spirit of their agreement could be evaded only by a clear violation of its specific provisions. Freedom of commerce was destroyed in the Congo by invoking the proprietary rights of the State, which were not mentioned in the treaty, and which the State stoutly maintained were in no way limited by the treaty. Alternatively it may be said that the defect of the general act of the conference of Berlin lay in its failure to provide effectively for its interpretation and its continuous application. No periodic sessions of the conference were provided for no international body 53 was created to supervise the execution of the act, and no judicial body was instituted or authorized to determine whether or not the various possessors of territory within the free-trade area were maintaining that freedom and equality which were designed by the framers of the act. PART II. THE BELGIAN CONGO. I. INTRODUCTION. ANNEXATION OF THE CONGO FREE STATE BY BELGIUM. The Congo Free State was the outgrowth of an organization which was, in form at least, international. Until the recognition of the State in 1885 only a minority of the explorers and other agents employed had been Belgian. But as the enterprise was dominated by Leopold II it was even then looked upon as Belgian and the State 63 The general act provided for an international commission, but its province was limited to the regula tion of the navigation of the Congo, and the commission was in fact never instituted. By article 31 "the signatory powers of the present general act reserve to themselves to introduce in it subsequently, and by common accord, such modifications and improvements as experience may show to be expedient." This stipulation for revision by unanimous consent was legally superfluous and practically useless. The conference at Brussels which revised this act by allowing import duties up to 10 per cent, met before the Congo State adopted its policy of monopoly and exploitation, and the suggestion for revision of the rates of import duty at the end of 20 years has been ignored. But see p. 120, infra. was sometimes loosely spoken of in the eighties and nineties as a Belgian colony. In 1889 Leopold made a will by which he bequeathed the Congo to Belgium. In the following year, when the Belgian legislative bodies authorized a loan to the Congo State, they obtained the option of taking over that State at the end of 10 years. In 1895 the Congo State was again in financial difficulties and a project for its annexation was prepared by the Belgian minister of foreign affairs. This project was not favorably received by public opinion and the matter was dropped. In 1901 the question of exercising the option obtained 10 years previously was debated, but through Leopold's influence it was laid on the table. After the report of the Commission of Inquiry in 1905 and the report of another special commission early in 1906, the question of annexation took a prominent place in Belgian politics for more than two years. Leopold himself recommended this annexation, but he was reluctant to give up the Domaine de la Couronne, and long negotiations were necessary on this and other points. A law for the organization of a colonial office and for the government of the prospective colony was carefully drafted and discussed at length. This law and the treaty of annexation were finally enacted on October 18, 1908, and a month later (Nov. 15) the Congo was formally transferred to Belgium.54 SITUATION AND COMMERCE. Belgium's only colony covers an area of 909,600 square mileseighty times the size of Belgium. The peoples of the Congo are of many tribes, chiefly of Bantu stock. The population has been estimated officially at 7,000,000, but as there are 4,000 square miles to every station or post of the Government it is not surprising that this estimate is questioned. The European element in January, 1920, numbered only 6,971, of whom 51 per cent were Belgians. The Congo lies on both sides of the Equator and wholly within the Tropics, but the southeastern province, Katanga, which extends beyond 13° south, and which lies at an altitude of 3,000 feet and upward, is a "white man's country." Small mountain ranges separate the main area of the Congo from the coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean and from the basin of the Zambesi River, and much higher ranges run through and around Katanga and up the eastern boundary of the colony. Within these mountains lies a vast plain, once an inland sea. Most of the country is heavily wooded, but there are large savannas, especially in the northern part. The rivers. which cross the plain are navigable for great distances and form one of the world's most magnificent systems of waterways. The Congo carries a volume of water second only to that of the Amazon and its descent of some 600 feet between Leopoldville and Matadi offers the greatest unused water power in the world. The exportable wealth of the Belgian Congo until shortly before the war consisted chiefly of ivory and the native vegetable products – rubber, gum copal, and palm kernels. Coffee, cocoa, and rubber plantations had been established, but had not begun to produce on a large scale; in 1912 and 1913 only cocoa was exported to the value of more than a million francs. Tobacco, rice, cotton, and ground Keith; Op. cit., pp. 137-144; Harris, N. D.: Op. cit., pp. 47-64. nuts were also grown. Among the various exports, rubber, though it no longer constituted 80 per cent of the total as in 1900-1908, still ruled without a rival; through 1912 it continued to constitute more than one-half of the value of the total exports. Since 1912, through causes for the most part unconnected with the war, the situation has completely changed. Owing to the rapid development of plantation rubber in Malaya the price of rubber fell sharply in 1912 and 1913 and attention in the Congo was turned to gum copal and palı products. About the same time the development of the mineral resources of the Congo began to show striking results. The South African railway system was extended into the Katanga region and a rapid development of the copper mines began. Gold mining was also developed on a larger scale and in more recent years diamonds have been found in large quantities in the valley of the Kasai. The most recent figures show that both copper and gold now exceed in value the highest point ever reached by rubber. Palm products appear to have become of greater importance than rubber, and diamonds than ivory. Table 6 shows the chief exports-vegetable, animal, and mineral-of the Belgian Congo during recent years, and brings out strikingly the decrease in the value of the rubber exported and the increase in copper. 56 TABLE 6.-Principal exports from the Belgian Congo (general trade).1 1 General trade includes exports having their origin outside of the Belgian Congo. These figures can not therefore be compared with the figures for the special exports of the Congo Free State given on page 110. The figures for special exports are available for the years 1910-1912 and show that one-third of the rubber and more than one-third of the ivory included in general exports had its origin outside of the Belgian Congo. For gold, copal, and coroa the figures are practically identical. The more important differences are shown in the following figures for the special trade: 3,553 kilos valued at over 12,000,000 francs. In presenting the Belgian budget for 1920 M. Delacroix stated that it was expected that the production of gold in the Congo would reach 80,000,000 francs during the year. (The Times (London), Apr. 29, 1920.) 327,500 tons valued at over 85,000,000 francs. Diamonds only The import trade presents a feature unusual among the comparatively new colonies of Africa-its value seldom equals that of the export trade. The value of principal groups of imports for the years 1913 and 1916 are shown in Table 7. 6 See Table 6 but note that the figures (general trade) for rubber and ivory probably include foreign products to the extent of one-third or more, while a much smaller part of the palm kernels and palm oil is pro tside of the Belgian Congo and little or none of the copper. See note 1 to Table 6. TABLE 7.-Principal imports into the Belgian Congo (general trade). 1 "The goods imported, apart from iron and steel materials and other requirements for governmental purposes, consist of cheap articles for native use, such as cotton fabrics, loin cloths, blue and white striped prints, indigo blue drill, red scarlet baize, cotton covers, ready-made and second-hand clothing, all of the cheapest kind, a few British sunhats, straw hats, and German slippers. Germany in 1912 supplied nearly all the perfumes and perfumed soap, padlocks, scissors, pocket knives, imitation pearl beads, mirrors, machetes, and beer. Other articles in demand are matches, pipes from Gouda, condensed milk, biscuits (British or French), Portuguese sardines, Dutch gin, Portuguese wines, Belgian sugar, American or Australian corned beef, American tobacco, Dutch crockery, soap, starch, rice, and Austro-Hungarian flour." (Keith: Op. cit., p. 253.) At the time when the Congo became a colony of Belgium its trade. was already largely with that country-above 90 per cent of the colony's exports went to Belgium and 70 per cent of its imports came from Belgium. Until the beginning of the war there was no great change in these percentages,57 but the war of course practically annihilated Belgian trade. Table 8 gives the official figures for the shares of the leading countries in the import trade of the Belgian Congo in specified years during the period 1910-1916. As in other similar tables, the figures indicate rather the immediate source than the origin of the products. As the United States had no direct lines of communication with the Congo, most of its products were credited to Belgium, Great Britain, or Germany. TABLE 8.-Special imports into the Belgian Congo. a This item includes from Rhodesia 4,842 thousands, or 8.9 per cent: Union of South Africa 5,136 thousands or 9.5 per cent; United States 1,304 thousands, or 2.4 per cent 71912 shows a decrease in the Belgian share of imports to 65.4 per cent. Figures for 1913 are not available. II. GOVERNMENT AND MAKING OF TARIFFS. The organic act of the Belgian Congo is the law of October 18, 1908, known as the colonial charter, and its amendments. By this law all legislative power not otherwise specified in the charter is conferred upon the King of the Belgians; but by general legal theory and by the text of the law, the right to intervene at any time and pass a law on any subject is reserved to the legislature. The King, moreover, in this case is merely the constitutional figurehead who can act only through his ministers, and the law specified that the legislative decrees shall be made on the proposal of the minister of the colonies, and that every act of the King (executive as well as legislative) must be countersigned by a minister.58 Three of the reservations regarding legislative power are of some importance. By Article X of the charter, custom duties and taxes of all kinds may be imposed only by decree of the King. The delegation to the governor general of this power was thus precluded; but the intention of the framers of the bill to allow the executive & free hand was nullified by an amendment by the legislature which provided that the decrees should come into force only after approval in the next budget law.50 As treaties have been so important in the tariff history of the Congo, it should be noted that those relating to the Congo territory are subject to the same rule as those for Belgium itself the requirement of article 68 of the Belgian constitution that treaties of commerce and certain others shall receive the approval of Parliament." 60 The executive, except in cases of emergency, may exercise its legislative powers only after the opinion of the colonial council (in Brussels) has been obtained, and if this opinion is not followed, it is necessary for the colonial minister to publish the reasons for which it was disregarded. The colonial council consists of eight men appointed by the King, and six elected, three by (but not from) each house of the Belgian legislature." The colonial charter gave large powers to the governor general of the Congo. He had general supervision over the administration, and might enact legislative measures in cases of urgent need, but these lapsed if not confirmed within six months. He was assisted by a secretary general, State inspectors, seven directors of departments, and by vice governors general. By a policy of devolution or decentralization begun by a decree of March 22, 1910, and continued to and in that of July 28, 1914, these vice governors general acquired a large part of the powers of the governor general within their respective provinces. The various decrees which developed this policy during the years 1910-1912 applied only to the Katanga, but on November 3, 1913, an Eastern province was created, and on July 28, 1914, the whole Congo was divided into four provinces-Katanga, Eastern, Congo-Kasai, and Equator, each under a vice governor general. These provinces have separate budgets and are in many re Arts. 7 and 9 of the charter, Halot-Gevaert, Alexandre: La Charte Coloniale Belge, 1910. This gives the text in the appendix, and comment on these articles on pp. 52-69, 75-80. See also Halewyck, M.: La Charte Coloniale, 1910, pp. 216-248. Halewyck: Op. cit., pp. 291-298. Art. 27 of the colonial charter; Halot-Gevaert, op. cit., pp. 211-213. Arts, 24 and 25; Halot-Gevaert, op. cit., pp. 186-208. 2 Katanga had included since Mar. 29, 1912, the districts of Lomami, Tanganyika-Moero the Upper Luapula, and the Lulua. |