Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 8, 1908

Minister Wilson to the Secretary of State.

American Legation,
Brussels, December 3, 1908.

No. 434.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith copies of the official report¹ of the session of the Belgian Chamber of representatives of November 24, which contains the proposed budget for the administration of the Belgian Kongo.

The proposed budget appropriates 962,450 francs or $192,450 for the central or Belgian administration, to be met by a charge against the revenue of the foundation of the crown; 36,094,036 francs or $7,218,807 for the current expenses of the local or active administration of the Kongo, to be met by a charge against the receipts thereof, and 8,423,300 francs or $1,684,660 for the extraordinary expenses growing out of the treaty of annexation, to be met by a loan.

A tabulated statement¹ showing the purposes to which the respective items of $7,218,807 and $1,684,660 will be applied accompanies the “exposé des motifs”¹ of the minister. This includes the extraordinary expenses incurred under the treaty of annexation, salaries for civil and military employees, and all of the other expenses which would naturally accompany the installation and maintenance of a new regime in the Kongo.

I have, etc.,

Henry Lane Wilson.

[To be continued in Foreign Relations, 1909.]

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