1. To pay the soldiers and native workmen in cash, and also to pay in the same manner for all goods bought from the natives by the State;
2. To stop all payments in kind at the stations of the Lower Congo;
3. To substitute for the rations formerly issued by the State to the agents, an equivalent in cash, and so forth.
Immediately after the enforcing of these measures the State currency began to circulate rapidly, and merchants no longer hesitated to open retail stores, where the natives in the employment of the State and commercial companies, and other natives as well, came to exchange their money for European goods.
At the present time, in the region south of Stanley Pool, the greater part of the commercial transactions between Europeans and natives is carried on through the medium of the State currency, and in the native markets it is no longer possible to purchase anything except with the silver or copper Congolese money—the preference being given to silver.[34]
The native’s love of tinsel causes a large quantity of the silver and copper coins put into circulation to disappear from the sphere of commerce. Congolese vanity manifests itself in many forms. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets, and other ornaments are made of the State coins, and worn by the men and women of all the tribes which come in touch with the Congo coinage. Powerful chiefs are often buried with many coins placed upon their bodies.
FOOTNOTES:
[26] Descamps.
[27] About twenty-two gallons.
[28] Reported in the Bulletin Officiel, 1898.