Minister Wilson to the Secretary of State.
Brussels, March 10, 1908.
Sir: Referring to my No. 306, with which are transmitted copies and translations of the amended treaty of annexation of the Kongo, the “exposé des motifs” of the ministry, and the royal decree suppressing the Foundation of the Crown, I have the honor to advise the department that the results secured through the conclusion of this convention would appear to be such as should satisfy international opinion and allay the opposition which existed in Belgium to the project of annexation as conceived by the original treaty.
The celebration of this treaty and its subsequent ratification by the Belgian Parliament will assure two definite and important results, which stand out clearly in the foreground.
- First, the Domain or Foundation of the Crown—which is only another name for the régime implanted by the King in the Kongo, which, it is alleged, is responsible for the conditions which have provoked [Page 550] international protest and action—is suppressed, and the Sovereign’s autocratic rule of these regions, through a system of secret bureaucracy, is ended.
- Second, the Government of the Kongo, through a responsible ministry with parliamentary control of the budget, in accordance with a colonial law framed under the pressure of an active and vigilant Belgian, as well as international opinion, should make it certain that these regions, with the native population and vast natural resources, will be ruled and administered in harmony with the beneficent prescriptions of the Berlin and Brussels acts.
Assuming that the treaty of annexation will be approved by Parliament, the first of these objects has been attained, and from the constitution of the committee of seventeen, and the evident temper of the dominant majority in Parliament—which has doubtless been quickened in its conscience by the influence of public opinion in America and England—the second will not be long delayed.
It does not appear to me that the terms upon which Belgium acquires the Kongo are of great importance from an international standpoint.
These are considerations which it would appear have to do only with Belgian interests. Our interest in the Kongo question being purely humanitarian in character, we have been concerned only in the abolition of the régime which is held to be responsible for conditions repugnant to civilization and to the humanitarian spirit of this age, and in the substitution therefor of constitutional government to be interpreted and executed in a spirit of benevolence and humanity.
There was some dissatisfaction with the treaty when it was first laid before Parliament, owing to the apparent intention to give the King absolute control of the expenditure of the $10,000,000 voted to him in recognition of his work in the Kongo.
This objection, however, was met by a declaration of the prime minister that each annual installment of this sum was to be approved upon by Parliament, in accordance with the Belgian constitution.
I am of the opinion that the treaty, as now submitted, will receive a substantial majority in Parliament, and that future consideration of the Kongo question will relate to the character of the colonial law.
I have, etc.,