I beg to inform the department that this report is based upon personal
observation, personal reading of public documents, and conversations
with officials, traders, and other trustworthy men of affairs.
[Inclosure.]
The Kongo Free State as a Commercial
Undertaking.
Boma
,
December 1,
1906
.
I have the honor to report that I find the Kongo Free State, under
the present régime, to be nothing but a vast commercial enterprise
for the exploitation of the products of the country, particularly
that of ivory and rubber.
Admitted by Belgian officials and other foreigners here, the State,
as I find it, is not open to trade in the intended sense of article
5 of the Berlin act, under which the State was formed.
The State’s regulations as to taxation of river craft is such as to
preclude the possibility of private competition in the waters of the
Kongo and its affluents, and thus, in my opinion, creates a
violation of the spirit of the same act.
The governing power of the State has apparently made every effort to
discourage trade in its proper sense, constantly increasing taxation
and various restrictions which, I shall point out further on, have
all tended to discourage the traders of years’ standing here,
especially as no public improvements have been made worthy of
comment.
While it is true that Boma, the capital, presents a much different
appearance than was the case a few years ago, and that railroads
have been constructed in the lower and upper Kongo, I state that
this has been done for the benefit of the State, or rather, to be
exact, the controller of the Kongo Free State, and as an aid to the
exploitation (?) of the products of the country; while, on the
contrary, public utilities, such as sewers, water pipes, etc., have
not been constructed except a few kilometers here at Boma, where the
tax for obtaining the service is so exorbitant that few are willing
to pay it.
With all the vast exportation of rubber and ivory, and its
compensating value in European markets, not even a closed shed as a
receptacle of imported goods exists in Boma.
[Page 792]
The quays at Boma and Matadi belong to railroad companies, in one of
which the State is reputed to possess no interest.
The charges are deemed so excessive that the boats of the Compagnie
Beige Maritime du Congo are the only ones to employ this means of
discharging their cargo.
The German, French, Portuguese, and English boats discharge their
cargo into small boats, which are beached, and occasionally the
contents spoiled through this necessity of trade.
At Matadi, I believe, the French boats pay the rate demanded and dock
accordingly.
rubber.
It is practically impossible for the trader to purchase and vend at a
profit this commodity, as, in accordance with a decree of the King
Sovereign under date of September 22, 1904, every trader purchasing
rubber must, for every 100 kilograms or fraction collected from
trees or vines, plant 50 trees, and for herb rubber collected or
purchased in like quantity, 15 trees.
If the trader possesses no ground upon which to plant the trees
required, and it is obvious that he has none, as none can purchase
land in quantity sufficient for such purposes, he must plant on the
territory of the State and the trees become the property of the
State thereby, and this notwithstanding the fact that the trader
pays import and export duties, in addition to other taxes, such as
that for the recruiting of clerks, office boys, servants, etc.—thus,
100 francs for a license to recruit the same, and an additional tax
of 300 francs per head for every clerical employee (black or white),
including the manager.
As a proof of the utter absurdity of the law governing the planting
of trees, I beg to offer the following incident:
A certain trader of Thysville, having bought rubber, was informed
that he would have to conform to the law as stated above.
He asked that ground might be indicated to him where he could plant
the required trees, but was officially informed, wherein lies the
pith of my remarks on this subject, that he could plant at
Leopoldville, a distance of 160 kilometers interior.
However, the more serious obstacle to rubber trading, so far as the
“free trade” is concerned, is the export tax on this product,
namely, the conventional tax for the present year of 40 centimes per
kilogram, a supplementary tax of 25 centimes, and a further domanial
tax of 25 centimes—thus, 90 centimes per kilogram—which, it is to be
noted, isa higher rate than the State allows the native for rubber
furnished in payment of taxes, which varies, for no apparent reason,
from 35 to 50 centimes per kilogram.
ivory.
The commercialism of the State or its governing power is further
evidenced in the local (?) ordinance of September 30, 1905,
regarding the stamping of ivory; thus, for each elephant killed, one
tusk becomes the property of the State (?) and the other must now,
by the ordinance referred to, be stamped before being placed on the
market.
As the chiefs of the posts charged with this duty are also charged
with the purchase of ivory for the State, it is natural to presume
that very little of the ivory reaches the open market, and, in fact,
does not.
résumé.
There being no money in circulation in the interior of the State, the
taxes are paid in kind, for the most part in rubber.
The same is equally true of the colonial territory of the French
Republic in the Kongo; but where the French Government have
periodical sales of the products collected for taxes, enabling
thereby the ordinary trader to acquire at its market value that
produce and ship to Europe, the Free State, on the contrary, ships
all produce so collected for its own account.
It is obvious that this report applies principally to the domanial
lands and not to the produce of the concessionary companies.
As to the concessionary companies, it is obvious that where there is
no competition the native is at the mercy of the concessionaire, so
far as the value of the goods given in exchange is concerned.
[Page 793]
In my opinion, it is thus obvious that under the system prevailing at
the present time in the Kongo Free State, the just equivalent of
foreign manufactures can not enter, and thus what should be a
profitable market for the foreign producer, if the spirit of the
Berlin act were carried out, is lost.
That this is true is borne out by the fact that there are no private
traders in the upper Kongo with the exception of five trading
companies at Stanleyville, which enjoy somewhat of a privilege in
trading in what is known as the Free Zone, an area of about 50 by 10
kilometers.
It is common report here, even among the officials of Belgian origin,
that in every one of the concessionary companies the State holds the
controlling interest.
I have no means at my disposal to prove this statement.
Respectfully submitted.
Clarence Rice Slocum,
Consul-General.
