CONGO
233
CONGO
courts, appointed by the governor-general, and cotn-
posed (at least normally) of a judge, who need not
have studied law (very often he is the commiaaairc),
and an officicr du ministi-re public (substitute) who
must be a doctor in law. There are also military
courts (conscil dc guerre, conseil de guerre d'nppel).
At the head of this administration of justice is the
conseil supcrieur de BruxcUes, which constitutes the
cour de rasxniion. The judges and officers of justice
are not appointed for life, but are all removable ; the
governor-general possesses a sort of supremacy both
in their nomination and supervision.
Domanial Poliey.~At fu-st (1885-1891) the State favoured private initiative and claimed for itself no monopoly. Later on (since 1892), anxious to increase its resources, and hearing of the vast wealth of ruljber and ivory in the Upper Congo, it inaugurated a regime of monopoly. Invoking an ordinance of 5 July, 1885, which had declared that " the unoccupied lands mu.st be considered as belonging to the State", it invali- dated all acts of occupation made, whether by natives or strangers, after this date. It then put in jiractice a system of proprietorship and exploitation of the soil and its products. We add here a short resum^ of the extremely complex legislation now in force: — (a) Concerning the Natives. — The decrees profess respect for all native occupation "such as it existed before 5 July, 1885". Hitherto no adequate or serious in- quiry has determined the rights which the natives pos- sessed in virtue of this occupation. Does the State admit that they now have a true proprietary right to any part whatever of the soil? It is impossible to say. At any rate they may not, without the authorization of the governor-general, dispo.se of their lands to a third party. The natives may continue, then, to in- habit their plots of land where they plant rnxnim-: in addition, by virtue of the reform decrees of 19{l(i each village has been allotted an area triple the size of that which it previou.sly inhabited and cultivated. The natives are full possessors of the products of the lands thus cultivated. Further, if they formerly en- joyed any certain use of any woods or forests they may still retain that use.
(b) Concerning the Non- Natives. — Tlie rights above mentioned being safeguarded, all the rest of the Congo State has been declared the property of the State; it is consequently at the absolute disposition of the sov- ereign-king, who has distributed it thus: (1) One-third constitutes the Doraaine National, administered by a council of six charged with the task of developing its revenues. These revenues are intended to cover the ordinary budget expenses, to pay off the public debt, to form a reserve fund, and to serve certain purposes of public utility for the Congo State and for Belgium. (2) One-ninth, selected in the richest part of the coun- try, forms the Domaine de la Couronne. It is the pri- vate property of the king, who, however, has the in- tention of giving it eventually to some institution of pubUc utility, and in the meantime desires that its revenues should create and subsidize certain works and institutions for the general good, whether in the State or in Belgium. Six mines, hereafter to be se- lected, also belong to this Domaine, which is admin- istered by a committee. Hitherto both of these terri- tories have been administered (en r(gie) by the em- ployees of the State. (3) The rest of the territory con- stitutes the Torres Domanialcs, which the State re- serves to itself to sell, to let, or to grant as it pleases. All alienation or letting of these lands must, to avoid nullity, be ratified within six months by the king. Of these public lands about one third have been granted or alienated, principally to concessionary companies. The grants of u.se, however, far exceed the alienations, and they give to the companies in question the monop- oly of exploitation. In the greater number of the.se companies the State owns half the stock.
Fiscal System. — (1) The State subjects non-natives
to direct and jiersonal taxes similar to those in Eu-
rope. As a consequence of the Brussels Conference
(2 July, 1890) a customs duty was laid on all imports.
The export customs duty on rubber (0.65 fr. per kilo-
gram — about 6 cts. per pound) and ivory (1 to 2.1 fr.
per kilogram — about 9 cts. to 17 cts. per pound)
forms one of the principal sources of revenue of the
State. — (2) The natives are .subject to conscription.
Since the reforms of 1906 the annual contingent to be
supplied is divided into two .sections, one of which goes
to the army and the other furnishes labourers fof the
public works. The soldiers serve for seven years, the
workmen for five. Further, the natives who are not
so engaged are subject to a poll tax affecting every
adult, male or female. This tax varies from 6 to 24
fr. (about $1.20 to $4.80) a year; it may be paid in
money, in kind (food-stuffs as a rule), or in personal
labour. Every year the commissaire draws up for
the different villages tables of equivalence between
money, kind, and labour, which must, since the last
reforms, be publicly exhibited. The personal labour
demanded may not exceed in duration a total of forty
hours a month — hence the phrase "forty hours' tax".
For this labour the natives receive a certain remunera-
tion — by "an act of pure condescension" according to
the latest decrees. The annual income and outlay of
the State are about 30,000.000 fr. (roughly $6,000,000).
The products of the Domaine National together with
taxes paid in kind represent 16,500,000 fr. The re-
muneration paid (in kind) to the natives amounts to
2,500,000 or 3,000,000 fr.
VI. Criticis.vis of the Conoo. — For some years past the Independent State has been the object of very severe criticism, particularly on the part of the Congo Reform Association, directed by Mr. E. D. Morel. We do not presume to judge intentions; nevertheless this hostility, directed against one only of the four Congos, and that one dependent on a peo- ple powerless to defend itself, creates in Belgium pain- ful feelings of surprise. Grave accusations have been made against the French Congo; the German Parlia- ment in the name of humanity has heard earnest pro- tests against excesses in the Cierman Congo ; and it is not likely, if a commission of inquiry were to traverse Rhodesia, that it would have nothing but evilogies to record. Why then single out one countrj', and that .a defenceless one? It seems but fair, also, to remark that one cannot justly compare a colony in its begin- nings with a colony established more than a century ago. The e.arly history of colonies has ever been .a sad one, .as is instanced by Macaulay's account of Warren Ha.stings and tlie British occup.ation of India. On the other haml wrong does not justify wrong. The standard of a government should be absolute justice, and it is from this point of view that the wrongs im- puted to the Congo administration will be considered.
