Minister Wilson to
the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Brussels
,
January 23,
1907
.
No. 146.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of department’s cablegram of January 15a
A study of the cablegram, after its translation, convinced me that the
department had not overlooked the fact that I hold no credentials to the
Kongo Free State and could not for that reason maintain an official
correspondence with it, but, desiring to have our attitude and the
President’s views brought to the attention of the Kongo Government,
relied upon me to accomplish that result in such way and manner,
officially or unofficially, as might seem most advisable.
On the day following the receipt of the cablegram I happened to meet at
breakfast, in the house of a mutual friend, Mr. Edmond Carton de Wiart,
the King’s secretary, whom I have known more or less intimately since my
first arrival here, and with whom I have frequently discussed phases of
the Kongo question.
When an opportunity offered, I asked Mr. Carton de Wiart whether it would
suit him, and would be agreeable to His Majesty the King, to take
knowledge of the contents of a cablegram from the Secretary of State
expressing our attitude on the Kongo question. He answered that he would
be very pleased to bring anything of that kind to the attention of His
Majesty in a purely informal way. I accordingly handed him a copy of the
cablegram.
He read the text carefully and understandingly, but did not ask for a
copy. The only comment he made was to inquire whether my government was
fully informed as to the present status of the Kongo question and the
reforms that were in contemplation.
I answered that the legation had transmitted all available information to
Washington.
On the next day, not being entirely sure that I had taken the most
effectual method of bringing our attitude to the knowledge of the King’s
Government, I paid a visit to the Chevalier van der Elst, the
secretary-general of the Belgian cabinet, who has been the unofficial
intermediary through which I have acted always in Kongo matters, and
said to him that I was in possession of an expression of the attitude of
our Government relative to the present status of the Kongo [Page 801] question, and being without
credentials to the Kongo Government I was uncertain as to what would be
the most acceptable manner of making these views known.
The Chevalier expressed his willingness to convey the contents of my
cablegram to the knowledge of His Majesty, and asked to be permitted to
take a copy of the same. This I gave him, and I understood him to
intimate that I might perhaps receive an acknowledgment, with some
comments, later on.
Yesterday the King’s secretary, Mr. Carton de Wiart, came to the legation
to ask me whether the department was in possession of the Bulletin
Officiel de l’Etat Independant du Congo, No. 6, twenty-second year,
June, 1906, which contains, on pages 230–231, under the caption
“Impositions directes et personnelles,” articles 1 and 2 of the royal
decree relative to direct and personal taxes to be paid by the natives.
This publication has already been forwarded to the department, but I
take the precaution of inclosing another copy herewith.
Whatever further information I obtain will be promptly transmitted to the
department.
I will be gratified to know whether my course in this matter meets with
the approval of the department.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Article I.
Article 2 of the regulation for direct and personal taxation annexed
to the decree of November 18, 1903, is to be substituted by the
following:
Art. 2. Every adult and able-bodied native
is subject to tax, either individually or collectively.
The governor-general shall fix the amount of the tax proportionally
to the resources of the several regions and to the population and to
the degree of development of the natives. It can not be less than 6
francs nor more than 24 francs per year.
The tax is payable monthly, but the district commissioners may extend
the period to two or three months, according to the requirements and
heeding the particular needs of the natives.
Art. 2 bis. The natives may pay either in
kind or in labor.
The district commissioners shall fix the articles, either from the
natural products or industry of the natives, which are to be
accepted in payment of the tax and their equivalent value.
They shall fix the kind of work which the natives may give in payment
of the tax. They shall, taking as a basis the local wage rate, fix
the equivalence in money of an hour’s labor. They shall fix the
quantity of produce representative of an hour’s labor, taking into
account the conditions under which the natives procure the product,
the richness of the forest, its distance from the villages, the
nature of the product, the method of gathering it, etc., but in such
way that the number of hours of labor corresponding to the tax shall
in no case exceed forty per month.
Article II.
Articles 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, and 34 are substituted by the
following:
Art. 28. Each year, before September 1, the
district commissioners shall assess the amount of taxes for the
following year according to the number of the natives residing in
the territory of the district.
Before the 1st of March of each year the district commissioner shall
take a supplementary census. The taxes set by the supplementary
assessment are not to be collected until the July following.
[Page 802]
The census shall bear the names of the natives and the share of tax
due from each. They shall indicate, by divisions of the region, the
various work or products utilizable which shall be accepted in
payment of the tax, conformably with article 2 bis of the present
regulation, and the share of compensation due to the contributors by
virtue of article 33 below.
Art. 29. In exceptional cases the
governor-general may, for good reason, remit part or all of the tax
to the natives or populations which he may designate.
Art. 31. A table of equivalents, as
provided by article 2 bis, is to be drawn up by the district
commissioners, which must be approved by the governor-general, at
the same time as the assessment for the tax.
Except in case of necessity, and then by permission of the
governor-general, upon the suggestion of the district commissioner,
the natives are not permitted to furnish as payment of the tax
domestic beasts or birds, nor ordinary station labor.
Art. 32. The heads of posts or agents of
the state specially designated by the governor-general, are charged,
under the surveillance of the district commissioners, with the
collection of the tax and may take to that end the necessary
measures. The collection may be direct or through the native
chiefs.
It is forbidden to arm “capitas” or sentries with breech-loading or
improved rifles in collecting payments overdue.
Art. 33. To encourage the taste for work
the natives are accorded, outside of the delivery of the products or
in return for days of labor which they shall furnish, remuneration
based on the value of the products or the local wage rate.
The remuneration is payable in merchandise at the choice of the
natives or in notes upon the state’s stores, payable upon
presentation.
