The Consul-General at Boma to the Secretary of State.

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a report by Vice-Consul-General Memminger in reference to conditions in the Kongo. The report is forwarded without comment other than to say that the [Page 824] opinions expressed therein are in conformity with my own, and based upon personal observation during our recent trip to the upper Kongo.

I have, etc.,

Jas. A. Smith.

[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.