No one has ever yet pretended to make that a grievance against the English and the French, and it must appear astonishing that the favourable trade statistics of the Congo State should lead to an attack on the system of its administration.
It would be very desirable if, following the example of the Congo State, and as we have seen of the English and French colonies, our possessions [the German] across the sea were to show exports exceeding their imports. For a commercial firm that is the best proof of success, and it cannot in any way be concluded from this fact that the “poor” blacks of Africa are being exploited by Europeans devoid of conscience.
But let us see if the Congo State exports really do exceed the imports, and if so, by what sum. The exports of the State are estimated in the tables at their value in Antwerp, after they have been harvested, prepared for transport from remote parts of the Congo Basin, stood charges of porterage, freight, export duties, taxes, insurance, brokerage at the African and European terminals, and merchant profits of an indefinite measure—in all, at least half their European value. The original value of Central African ivory, rubber, palm oil, gum copal, and other exports is, in fact, less than half their market value in Europe. In other words, if the exports of the Congo State were estimated at their value as they left the forests or the native collector, instead of aggregating 54,597,835.21 francs for the year 1903, they would show but 27,298,917.16 francs.
On the other hand, the imports, also estimated at their European value, but having similar distances to undergo and similar charges to bear, represent when they reach their consumers at least double their invoiced European cost. On a proper basis of value in their ultimate African market the imports for the year 1903 would amount to 42,792,662.04 francs. Thus the exports would stand at 27,298,917.16 francs, and the imports at 42,792,662.04 francs for the year 1903.
But even this is not a just comparison with the exports and imports of the British colonies, inasmuch as in the colony of Lagos, for instance, the imports include about sixty-five per cent. of alcoholic liquors,[32] leaving the native the beneficiary of an aggregate import of really civilising products of only thirty-five per cent. of the total, while the Congo imports, containing only five per cent. of alcoholic liquors, bestows upon the native legitimate products for his civilisation to the extent of ninety-five per cent. of the total of all the imports of the State. Deducting, therefore, from the Lagos imports sixty of their sixty-five per cent. of gin, rum, and whisky, thereby placing them on an equation with the imports of the Congo, we find in Herr von Schkopp’s figures an arraignment of Lagos “civilisation” which indicates where the real curse of Central Africa abides.
The foregoing is an astonishing record of exports and imports for a country practically developed in the short period which has elapsed since 1886. Congolese products are largely sent to Antwerp and, as the tables show, Belgium is by far the largest exporter and importer. A few years ago England was the chief exporter to the Congo of its cotton stuffs and other goods, but the same laggard spirit which caused Englishmen once interested in the Anglo-Belgian India-Rubber Company (known as the Abir) and other undertakings to abandon their Congolese enterprises has lost England a large and growing market in Central Africa. That the Belgians have developed the Mid-African trade by dint of hard work, organisation, and the risk of capital, is a state of things intolerable to those who have neglected and lost it. The awkward English monetary system is alone responsible for a large percentage of the world-wide diminution of British trade. All other nations have shown greater adaptability to the characteristics of foreign markets, and the capabilities and peculiarities of the peoples who compose those markets. The Germans, French, and Americans circulate their catalogues and price lists in the language of the country where they seek a market and quote prices in its coin, giving the equivalents in francs, marks, and dollars. British merchants, on the other hand, have adhered to their ancient custom of employing a monetary system so needlessly cumbersome that it can hardly be attributed to intelligent origin.
Belgian manufacturers have patiently studied the needs of the natives and have successfully endeavoured to supply them with the textures and food stuffs, machinery, agricultural implements, and building material which, being of simple construction, they are capable of putting to intelligent use.
The mineral wealth of the country which prospecting during the last five years has revealed in many sections of the Congo Basin, it is not the purpose of this volume to more than mention. Fine outcroppings of gold, coal, and copper have been discovered in the Katanga district in the south-eastern corner of the State. It has lately been rumoured in Europe that foreign prospectors have discovered territory marvellously rich in gold near the borders of British East Africa in the south, and again in the Enclave of Lado in the north. On this subject, and the likelihood of early and interesting mineral developments in that region, the Congo State authorities appear to have considerable knowledge. They do not, however, discuss the matter with any degree of candour. When the secret of certain political phases of Congolese history shall have been revealed, a connexion may be found between the mining and rubber industry and the calumnious campaign now proceeding against the State. But with that story, the present volume has naught to do.
The State’s revenue, consisting of import and export dues, tolls, excise, and direct personal taxation, is indicated in the following table:
| 1902 | Nature of Receipts | 1903 | ||||
| Estimates | Estimates | |||||
| Frs. | Frs. | |||||
| 3,000.00 | Registration Taxes | 3,000.00 | ||||
| 70,000.00 | Sale and Letting of Domanial Land, Timber Felling, etc | 20,000.00 | ||||
| Customs Duties on Exports, | ||||||
| Frs. 4,550,000.00 | ||||||
| 6,055,000.00 | Customs Duties on Imports, including | 6,150,000.00 | ||||
| the Duties on Alcohol, | ||||||
| Frs. 1,600,000.00 | ||||||
| 580,000.00 | Direct Personal Taxation | 600,000.00 | ||||
| 1,000.00 | Road Tolls | 1,000.00 | ||||
| 125,000.00 | Taxes on Timber Felling | 140,000.00 | ||||
| 155,000.00 | Postal Receipts | 155,000.00 | ||||
| 55,000.00 | Maritime Rates | 60,000.00 | ||||
| 25,000.00 | Judicial Receipts | 25,000.00 | ||||
| 8,000.00 | Chancery Duties | 6,000.00 | ||||
| 4,160,000.00 | Transport, and Different Services of the State | 3,100,000.00 | ||||
| 60,000.00 | Taxes on Portage | 60,000.00 | ||||
| 15,452,000.00 | Proceeds from the Private Domain of the State, from Tributes and Taxes Paid in Kind by the Natives | 16,440,000.00 | ||||
| 1,703,000.00 | Interests and Dividends | 1,100,000.00 | ||||
| 122,000.00 | Fees for Licences Granted to Congolese Companies | 105,000.00 | ||||
| 135,000.00 | Extra and Casual Receipts | 125,000.00 | ||||
| 28,709,000.00 | Total Receipts | 28,090,000.00 | ||||