hard-working, and faithful they may be, _cannot remedy the excessive
impositions on the natives under the present system_....
"The grant of land and seed to the natives is of _absolutely no use_
to them _till they are left time to use them_....
"To say that the State cannot afford the expense is absurd. The Congo
is taxed unmercifully, and I do not suppose any country has less money
spent upon it. The taxpayer gets literally nothing in return for the
life of practical slavery he has to spend in the support of the
Government.
"If trade and navigation were really free, and guarded by proper
police, German trade through Ujiji, which already exists to some
extent, might be greatly developed, as well as that with the British
colonies and Zanzibar.
"The operations of the Dutch traders, who up to a few months ago had
quite a considerable fleet of steamers on the Upper Congo and its
affluents, and of the French at Brazzaville, and of the Portuguese,
would also benefit greatly.
"_All these have practically disappeared from the Upper Congo._
"Here, as elsewhere, the natives appeared to me to be so heavily taxed
as to be depressed and to regard themselves as practically enslaved by
the 'Bula Matadi.' The incessant call for rubber, food and labour,
leaves them no respite nor peace of mind."
The following are extracts from Vice-Consul Armstrong's report, dated
October, 1906:
"As the result of my journey through this portion of the country, I am
forced to the conclusion that the condition of the people in the
A.B.I.R. territory _is deplorable_, and although those living in the
vicinity of the mission stations are, comparatively speaking, safe
from ill-treatment by the rubber agents and their armed sentries,
those in other parts are subjected to the gravest abuses.
"There is no free labour, the natives being forced to work at a
totally inadequate wage. In visiting the various rubber-working towns,
one would expect to see some signs of European commodities that had
been given in exchange for the millions of pounds' worth of rubber
that has been extracted from them, but the native residents possess
actually nothing at all.
"_Their conditions of living are deplorable_, and the filth and
squalor of their villages is only too apparent. _The people live in a
state of uncertainty as to the advent of police officers and soldiers,
who invariably chase them from their abodes and destroy their huts,
and for this reason it is impossible for them to better their
condition of living by the construction of suitable dwellings._
"_No change of system to be looked for._
"No change in the existing system can be looked for until a more
reasonable method of taxation is adopted. The present system permits
the rubber agents to extract the largest possible quantity of rubber
from the native at the lowest possible wage, and allows the employment
of armed sentries to enforce this deplorable system."
In these despatches Vice-Consul Armstrong gives evidence of a plot against
the sturdy Mr. Stannard upon the part of the infamous A.B.I.R. Company.
Their idea, no doubt, was to break down his health and embitter his
existence by successive law-suits. In May of 1906, the natives of a
village called Lokongi rose up against his murderous sentries and burned
their houses. A charge was at once made against Mr. Stannard of having
instigated them to this very natural and commendable action. Natives had
been suborned or terrified into giving evidence against him, and it might
have gone ill with him had it not been for the prompt action of the
Consul. He set off for the village, accompanied by Mr. Stannard and the
A.B.I.R. director. The natives were assembled and asked to speak the
truth. They said, without hesitation, that Mr. Stannard had had nothing to
do with the matter, but that the representatives of the company had
threatened to torture them unless they said that he had. The A.B.I.R.
director held his peace before these revelations and had no explanation to
offer. Consul Armstrong then pointed out to the Public Prosecutor in good,
straight terms, which his official superiors might well imitate, that the
matter had gone far enough, that English patience was almost exhausted,
and that Mr. Stannard should be baited no longer. The case was dropped.
I shall pass straight on now to the most recent reports received from the
Congo, to show that there is no difference at all in the general
condition, so far as it is reported by the impartial men at the spot, save
that the actual killings and maimings have decreased. The great oppression
and misery of the people seem to grow rather than abate. The following
extracts are from Consul Thesiger's report of his experiences in the
Kasai Company's district. This company, it may be worth remarking, has
paid the enormous dividend of seven hundred per cent. The first paragraph
may be commended to the consideration of those British or American
travellers who, on the strength of a flying visit, venture to contradict
the experience of those white men who spend their lives in the country:
"Although from the evidence of State officials it has been proved that
individual cases of abuses are not infrequent even at these posts, the
chance traveller will certainly see nothing of them, and when he
judges of the condition of the country by what he actually sees at
these stations, his opinions may be perfectly honest, but they are
absolutely worthless. It is as though some well-meaning person, who
had heard that a certain fashionable firm was making a fortune by
sweated labour, were to venture to deny the facts because a cursory
visit to the West End establishment showed that the salesmen behind
the counter were well-dressed and well-nourished, ignoring altogether
the festering misery of the sweaters' dens in which every article sold
over that counter was made up."
After showing that the Kasai Company, in their haste for wealth (and,
perhaps, in their foresight, as knowing that their occupancy may be
brought to an end), are cutting down the rubber vines instead of tapping
them (illegal, of course, but what does that matter where Belgian
Concessionnaires are in question), goes on to show the pressure on the
people:
"The work is compulsory; it is also incessant. The vines have to be
sought out in the forest, cut down and disentangled from the
high-growing branches, divided into lengths, and carried home. This
operation has to be continually repeated, as no man can carry a larger
quantity of the heavy vine lengths than will keep him occupied for two
or three days. Accidents are frequent, especially among the Bakuba,
who are large-built men, hunters and agriculturists by nature, and
unaccustomed to tree climbing. Large as the Bakuba villages still are,
the population is diminishing. Here there is no sleeping sickness to
account for the decrease, there have been no epidemics of late years;
exposure, overwork, and shortage of proper food alone are responsible
for it. The Bakuba district was formerly one of the richest
food-producing regions in the country, maize and millet being the
staple crops, together with manioc and other plants. So much so was
this the case that the mission at Luebo used to send there to buy
maize. Under the present _regime_ the villagers are not allowed to
waste in cultivating, hunting or fishing--time which should be
occupied in making rubber.
"In a few villages they were cultivating by stealth small patches in
the forest, where they were supposed to be out cutting the rubber
vines; but everywhere else it was the same story: the capitas would
not allow them time to clear new ground for cultivation, or permit
them to hunt or fish; if they tried to do so their nets and implements
were destroyed. The majority of the capitas, when questioned,
acknowledged quite frankly that they had orders to that effect. These
villages are living on the produce of the old manioc fields, and are
buying food from the Bakette. Under these circumstances it is not
surprising that the population is diminishing. As one woman expressed
it: 'The men go out hungry into the forest; when they come back they
get sick and die.' The village of Ibunge, where formerly the largest
market of the district was held weekly, now consists of a collection
of hovels, eight of which are habitable, and the market is all but
dead."
So the capitas are at their old work the same as ever. The Congo idea of
reforming them has always been to change their name--so by calling a
burglar a policeman a great reformation is effected.
Read, however, the following passage, which shows that if the capita is
the same, so also is the agent. The white race is certainly superior, for
when the savage sentry's heart relented the white man was able to scourge
him back to his inhuman task:
"Once I had got outside the zone surrounding Ibanj, where the villages
are not taxed in rubber, I found the capitas, with very few
exceptions, were all armed with cap-guns. I met them frequently,
escorting the rubber caravans to the company post, or going from
village to village collecting the rubber from the centres under their
charge and distributing the trade goods for the coming month. I
noticed that they invariably carried their guns, and, in fact, I have
seldom seen a capita stir outside his own home without his gun. These
are the men who are appointed by the Kasai Company agents to enforce
the rubber tax. Chosen always from a different race, they have no
sympathy with the natives placed under them, and having the authority
of the agent behind them they can do as they please, so long as they
insure the rubber being brought at the proper times and in sufficient
quantities. In the villages they are absolute masters, and the
villagers have to supply them gratis with a house, food, palm wine,
and a woman. They exercise freely the right of beating or imprisoning
the villagers for any imaginary offences or for neglecting their work
in any way, and even go as far as imposing fines in cowries on their
own account, and confiscating for their own use the cowries paid over
by the plaintiff or defendant's family in the case of trial by poison,
which, in spite of statements to the contrary recently made in the
Belgian Chamber, are of frequent occurrence in this country. The
native cannot complain or obtain satisfaction in any way, as the
capita acts in the name of the company, and the company's agent is
always threatening them in the name of 'Bula-Matadi.' If the
authorities wish to act in the matter, they might profitably make
inquiry into the doings of the capitas at Bungueh, Bolong, and into
those of the Zappo Zap capita, who appears to exercise the chief
control over the villages near Ibunge, though he does not live in the
latter town. These appear to me to be among the worst where most are
bad. The capitas, however, are scarcely to be blamed, as, if they do
not extort enough rubber, they are liable in their turn to suffer at
the hands of the agent. Witness a case at Sangela, when it was
reported that the capita had some time back been chicotted in the
village itself by the agent for not bringing in rubber sufficient.
Endless cases could be quoted, but these will probably be sufficient
to show the methods pursued under the auspices of the Kasai Company.
Yet in a letter dated the eighth of March, 1908, we find Dr. Dreypondt
writing reproachfully:
"'You know we have no armed sentries, but only tradesmen going,
with goods of every kind, and unarmed, through the villages for
the purchasing of rubber. We use only one trading
principle--_l'offre et la demande_.'"
The laws at all points are completely ignored, "and many of the agents not
only punish the natives in these ways themselves, but allow their capitas
the same privileges. It is only by these means that the natives can be
kept at their incessant work."
Suicide is not natural with African, as it is with some Oriental races.
But it has come in with the other blessings of King Leopold.
"At Ibanj, for instance, only a day's march from a State post, two
Bakette from the village of Baka-Tomba were not long ago imprisoned
for shortage of rubber, and were daily taken out under the charge of
an armed native to work in the fields with ropes round their necks.
One of them, tired of captivity, pretended one day that he saw some
animal in a tree and obtained leave from the guard to try and get it.
He climbed the tree, tied the rope which was round his neck to a
branch and hung himself. He was cut down, and, after a considerable
time, was resuscitated, thanks to the medical experience of one of the
missionaries. I was able to question the man myself at his village,
and the story was also confirmed by the Capita."
The American flag presents no refuge for the persecuted.
"About the same time this same man had the effrontery to take some
seven armed natives on to the station of the American mission, during
the absence of the missionaries, and demand from the native who was
left in charge that he should hand over to him a native, not in his
own employ, who had run away in consequence of some dispute, and who
he declared was hiding at the mission. The overseer, a Sierra Leone
man, very rightly declared his inability to do so, and said he must
await the return of the missionaries. An altercation followed, and the
agent struck him twice in the face. The man being a British subject, I
told him if he chose to prosecute I would support him, or else I would
insist on the agent paying him an indemnity in cloth. As a prosecution
would have entailed his going to Lusambo, a fifteen days' journey,
with every prospect of being kept there some four to six months with
all the witnesses while awaiting the hearing of his case, he chose the
latter method. The cloth was paid."
He continues:
"These cases can all be substantiated, and are typical of a certain
class of agent which is unfortunately, although not general, far too
common. Numerous complaints were also made to me in different villages
against an agent, not only that he beat and imprisoned the natives for
shortage of rubber, but also that he obliged them to supply him with
alcohol distilled from palm wine, and was in the habit of taking any
of the village women that struck his fancy at the weekly market held
on or near his own post. The Company, I believe, promised the American
mission last May that this man should be removed, but when I passed
through he was still there. Placed in the power of men like these the
natives dare not complain to the authorities, and are entirely
helpless."
Nominally the Company makes no punitive expeditions. As a matter of fact
they have engaged Lukenga, a warlike chief of the neighbourhood, to do it
for them. Nominally the capitas are not supplied with guns. As a matter of
fact they all carry guns, which are declared to be their personal
property. At every corner one meets hypocrisy and evasion of law.
Speaking of the Bakuba, the Consul says:
"Although not wanting in physical courage or strength, they are rather
an agricultural than a warlike race, and their villages were formerly
noted for their well-built and artistically decorated houses and their
well-cultivated fields.
"It is, however, their misfortune to live in a forest country rich in
rubber vines, and they have consequently come under the curse of the
concessionary Company in the shape of the Kasai Trust. As a result
their native industries are dying out, their houses and fields are
neglected, and the population is not only decreasing, but also sinking
to the dead-level of the less advanced and less capable races.
"There is no doubt that the Bakuba are the most oppressed race to-day
in the Kasai. Harassed by their own king in the interest of the Rubber
Company, driven by the agents and their capitas, disarmed and deprived
even of the most ordinary rights, they will, if nothing is done to
help them, sink to the level of the vicious and degraded Bakette.
"One asks oneself in vain what benefits these people have gained from
the boasted civilization of the Free State. One looks in vain for any
attempt to benefit them or to recompense them in any way for the
enormous wealth which they are helping to pour into the Treasury of
the State. Their native industries are being destroyed, their freedom
has been taken from them, and their numbers are decreasing.
"The only efforts made to civilize them have been made by the
missionaries, who are hampered at every turn."
Consul Thesiger winds up with the remark that as the Company has behaved
illegally at every turn it has forfeited all claims to consideration and
that there is no hope for the country so long as it exists. Straight
words--but how much more forcibly do they apply to that Congo State of
which these particular companies are merely an outcome. Until it is swept
from the map there is no hope for the country. You cannot avoid the rank
products while the putridity remains.
The next document bearing upon the question is from the Rev. H. M.
Whiteside, from the notorious A.B.I.R. district. I give it in full, that
the reader may judge for himself how far the direct Belgian rule has
altered the situation.
"I should like to bring to your notice a few facts regarding the
condition of this (A.B.I.R.) district.
"After this extensive journey made through the district recently, and
particularly the Bompona neighbourhood, I found the people working
rubber in all the towns visited with the exception of those taxed in
provisions.
"It is difficult to know which 'tax,' rubber or provisions, is
hardest. The rubber workers implored us to free them from rubber, and
at one village upon our departure they followed us a considerable
distance, and it was difficult to get away from them. The amount of
rubber collected is small compared with what was formerly demanded,
but I have no doubt it requires one-third of the time of the people to
collect it. Many of the people of the villages behind Bompona were
away collecting rubber. We met many of the Ionji people in the forest,
either actually engaged in their work or hunting for a district where
the vines might have escaped other collectors. We also met other
villagers in the bush in quest of rubber. Almost all the village
migrates to the forest--men, many women and children--when rubber is
required.
"In the light of these facts, how worthless are the assertions that
rubber 'tax' has been stopped in the A.B.I.R. territory.
"With regard to the provision tax, it was difficult to get any data,
but it is easy for one to see the oppressed condition of the people
when one comes into contact with them. Between the provision tax,
porterage and paddlers, I believe that the people of Bompona have got
very little time to themselves. There is one thing that one cannot
help seeing, viz., the mean, miserable appearance of the people
residing around the State post of Bompona. The houses or huts are in
keeping with the owners of them. A very small bale of cloth could take
the place of all I saw worn. In all the district I never saw a single
brass rod, nor any domestic animals except a few miserable chickens.
The extreme poverty of the people is most remarkable. There is no
doubt as to their desire to possess European goods, but they have
nothing with which to buy except rubber and ivory, which is claimed by
the State.
"It may be thought that I am painting their condition in too dark
colours, but I feel it requires strong words to give a fair idea of
the utter hopelessness and abject appearance of the people of Bompona,
of the people of the villages behind the State post some twenty-five
miles away, and in a lesser degree of the rubber workers opposite
Bompona.
"H. M. WHITESIDE.
"Ikau,
"June 15th, 1909."
Finally, there is the following report from the extreme other end of the
country. It is dated June 1st, 1909. The name of the sender, though not
published, was sent to the Foreign Office. He is an American citizen:
"I am sorry to say there is need for agitation for the reform of the
Belgian Kwango territory along this frontier. Robbing and murder are
still being carried on under the rule of the Belgian official from
Popocabacca. Last month he came with an armed force to the district of
Mpangala Nlele, two days west of here, to decorate with the Congo
medal a new chief in the stead of our old friend Nlekani. Nlekani left
a number of sons, but none of them were willing to take the
responsibility of the Medal Chieftainship. They, therefore, placed
their villages under the authority of a powerful chief living to the
north of them.
"The official of the Congo Government had been insisting for a year
that a younger son of the old chief should consent to be the Medal
Chief. This young man, named Kingeleza, was a fine, bright fellow, but
thinking that, as a younger son, he would lack the necessary authority
over the people and would get into trouble with the Government if he
could not satisfy its requirements, he declined. The Belgian official
was, however, so insistent that Kingeleza had finally agreed in order
to avoid a clash with the Government.
"On his way to make the 'investiture,' the Belgian official robbed
some villages and killed two men. Kingeleza's people, who had gathered
together to witness the investiture, hearing of the treatment meted
out to the other villages, took fright and fled from their own
villages, which the Belgians, upon arriving, found deserted. Whereupon
the soldiers proceeded to ferret the fugitives out of the woods, where
they were hiding. Twenty were seized, among whom was one of
Kingeleza's sisters, a young and attractive looking girl. Four of the
villagers were subsequently released, and the balance marched off with
other spoils to Popocabacca. The evangelist attached to the American
mission, who was absent in the Lower Congo, had his house broken open
and a tent and school materials carried off.
"As for Kingeleza, some of the Belgian soldiers met him in the path
and shot him. They did not know that he was Kingeleza, and Kingeleza
is still being sought for by the Belgian official.
"This same 'Chief of Brigands,' as I prefer to call him, has just been
on another raid for which he even entered Portuguese territory within
a few hours of where I am writing, wantonly destroying all that he
could not carry off. The people had, happily, all escaped before he
arrived. The Portuguese are reporting this outrage to the
Governor-General at Loanda."
XII
THE POLITICAL SITUATION
I have not in this statement touched upon the financial side of the Congo
State. A huge scandal lies there--so huge that the limits of it have not
yet been defined. I will not go into that morass. If Belgians wish to be
hoodwinked in the matter, and to have their good name compromised in
finance as well as in morality, it is they who in the end will suffer. One
may merely indicate the main points, that during the independent life of
the Congo State all accounts have been kept secret, that no budgets of the
last year but only estimates of the coming one have ever been published,
that the State has made huge gains, in spite of which it has borrowed
money, and that the great sums resulting have been laid out in
speculations in China and elsewhere, that sums amounting in the aggregate
to at least L7,000,000 of money have been traced to the King, and that
this money has been spent partly in buildings in Belgium, partly in land
in the same country, partly in building on the Riviera, partly in the
corruption of public men, and of the European and American Press (our own
being not entirely untarnished, I fear), and, finally, in the expenses of
such a private life as has made King Leopold's name notorious throughout
Europe. Of the guilty companies the poorest seem to pay fifty and the
richest seven hundred per cent. per annum. There I will leave this
unsavoury side of the matter. It is to humanity that I appeal, and that is
concerned with higher things.
Before ending my task, however, I would give a short account of the
evolution of the political situation as it affected, first, Great Britain
and the Congo State; secondly, Great Britain and Belgium. In each case
Great Britain was, indeed, the spokesman of the civilized world.