[Inclosure.]
Having been authorized to accompany you on a trip to the upper Kongo,
and thus having had the opportunity to observe conditions in a large
part of the Kongo Free State, I have the honor to say that I concur
in the conclusions reached by you in your report to the Department
of State on “Conditions in the Kongo Free State.”
My observations convinced me that the system of taxation in labor in
the Kongo Free State is not imposed in an equitable manner, and
through the exercise of compulsion results in grave abuses. I am
convinced, moreover, from the conditions in the part of the country
which we visited, that the natives of the Kongo are not deriving
from the Government which they are forced to support any measure of
the benefits to which they are entitled. In return for the imposts
of labor and products levied upon them they receive, so far as I
have been able to observe, in no sense a commensurate remuneration,
nor does the payment of this tax gain for them compensating
advantages, or serve to better the economic condition of the people.
One is forced to conclude that the Government is not administered in
the interest of the native population. The system in effect rather
operates to their oppression.
In some localities the State has constructed public works, and
throughout the country has improved communications, thereby
rendering the country more habitable for white men, of whom by far
the largest percentage are state officers. But in the benefits of
these improvements, necessary for carrying on the state’s business
as a commercial organization, the natives do not share to an
appreciable extent. Where state posts are established, in fact, an
additional burden is imposed upon them. They are compelled to supply
the state agents and employees with prestations of food. Invariably,
near the state posts, I found the neighboring villages to be in a
destitute condition. The material well-being of the native
population seemed in no wise improved by the proximity of the people
to the government stations. At Leopoldville, the principal
commercial town of the upper Kongo, I saw in the surrounding country
only a few small villages, the inhabitants of which seemed to be in
a desperately poor condition. I was informed that this region
previous to state occupancy was thickly populated by a people not
unfriendly to the white man and who, according to the native
standard, were in a highly prosperous condition.
I saw no evidence of effort on the part of the State to assist the
population in the improvement of native industries by practical
education, or by the application of improved methods and
implements—this in spite of the fact that by development of the
native along these lines it is admitted his capacity for working the
resources of the country from which the Government derives its
revenue would be increased; at the same time that there would be no
relative increase of the amount of labor exacted as a tax. Instead,
it would diminish the burden.
In general, the condition of the people in the upper Kongo seemed
unhappy and led to the conclusion that the system of government
under which the natives must live does not promote their welfare. In
its operation the system seems to be one in which considerations of
humanity and benevolence are least important.
Lucien Memminger,
Vice-Consul-General.
Boma, November 23,
1907.
