THE CONGO QUESTION

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 139, 6 March 1908, Page 7

THE CONGO QUESTION

DOMAIN. TO BE SURRENDERED FOR £2,500,800. HOW THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT.' ny telegraph—press association—cqjs (Rec. March 5, 9.36' p.m.) Brussels, March 5. King Leopold.'wilt surrender tlio Grown Domain in the Congo for £2,500,000; which wjll be expended at the King's desire in embellishing Belgian cities. Parliament will spend £120,000 annually' on hospitals anil sanatoria in the Congo for a period of 15 years. Parliament' will 'iii-future control tho Congo Budget. Tho allegation by tlie, Brussels correspondent of "Le "Matin " (Paris), in reference ■ to Germany's attitude':bh tlio' Congo-.'ques-t-ion, cabled on March 3, is officially contradicted. . , , \ . ; ' THE POSITION. EXPLAINED. Negotiations were, ; throughout 1907, >in pro-1 ■ gress . Belgium anil. tlio - Congo State, on the question -of annexation. All depends on tlie terms., King Leopold, as a condition of annexation, alienatedone-sixth of tile entire Congo territory, known as tlie "Crown domain," from . Belgian-;, r.national,,.control.. Under the' Berlin Act it^is:laid down that the. territories of the Congo should be internationally free commercial' land, open to legiti-j mate .intercourse between the native races .and the outside world; that there'should 1)0 .no; monopolies or privileges, ana viuu the native .population should receive just and liumano. administration. Thesoecouditions. the- Congo State ban never observed, but, owing to growing public indignation at the scandalous treatment of tlio natives and ,thp illegpl mono'pplisa-t-ion of all trade facilities, -tlie - British Government ha? announced that .Belgium, if she annexes tlie country, will > be'-.bound-by , the. terms and:conditions of-.'-the -Berlin:, Act, ..and that the natives must retain the unrestricted right to buy and sell'in tho produce of the. soil. As .to the. Budget,the ..accounts ( havq always been manipulated by tlio - KingV servants, but it lias been definitely established that the public revenue,, declared to bo. m-. sufficient to effect reform, has-been systematically and privately drawn upon'by King Leopold for tho last eleven years.. 'At least JC3.0Q0.000 has .been thus extracted ,in : .ten, years from the Crown Domain. ' He'recently leased to a company, the Societe du Eoi Leopold 11, for a- very long term, practical sovereign pow- • ers, together with, tlie possession of all: tho products of commercial value in the area of this Crown Domain, und further ■ granted to an American .syndicate, ;the .Socicte Internationale Forestiere, et Miniere, the of search and exploitation of all mineral deposits within the'samp area. The King is a chief shareholder in both these epneerns.. if_ Belgium takes over the Congo, wsil-slio bo bound by theso Acts? Tlie Belgian Ministry aro tho King's servants:;.Theyijwill. actiiuesce,,and the proposal for annexation with King Leopold's significant reservations wil} bo accepted, despite the measure of opposition iii the Chamber. The only remaining .question is, AVill ,the Signatory Powers-tortile, Berlin Act agree to this. .The .'-'House*'of .Commons' .feels stronfdy on tho subject,' .and last session' both Sir 13. Grpy and Lord Fitzmaurico expressed confidence in tho people and I'arlia--1 liient of. Eelsium that they would do tlie right thing. Sir E. Grey .added, that if the; solution 1 of annexation broke down, tlio question would . become 'international, 'and ; the VPowers. .would have to take tho matter up. • /