The Congo and Coasts of AfricaDavis, Richard Harding
History
The Congo and Coasts of Africa
Davis, Richard Harding
Africa -- Description and travel; Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Description and travel
Mr. Morel, the American and English missionaries, and the English
Consul, Roger Casement, and other men, in Belgium, have made a
magnificent fight against Leopold; but the Powers to whom they have
appealed have been silent. Taking courage of this silence, Leopold
has divided the Congo into several great territories in which the
sole right to work rubber is conceded to certain persons. To those
who protested that no one in the Congo "Free" State but the King
could trade in rubber, Leopold, as an answer, pointed with pride at
the preserves of these foreigners. And he may well point at them
with pride, for in some of those companies he owns a third, and in
most of them he holds a half, or a controlling interest. The
directors of the foreign companies are his cronies, members of his
royal household, his brokers, bankers. You have only to read the
names published in the lists of the Brussels Stock Exchange to see
that these "trading companies," under different aliases, are
Leopold. Having, then, "conceded" the greater part of the Congo to
himself, Leopold set aside the best part of it, so far as rubber is
concerned, as a _Domaine Privé_. Officially the receipts of this pay
for running the government, and for schools, roads and wharfs, for
which taxes were levied, but for which, after twenty years, one
looks in vain. Leopold claims that through the Congo he is out of
pocket; that this carrying the banner of civilization in Africa
does not pay. Through his press bureaus he tells that his sympathy
for his black brother, his desire to see the commerce of the world
busy along the Congo, alone prevents him giving up what is for him a
losing business. There are several answers to this. One is that in
the Kasai Company alone Leopold owns 2,010 shares of stock. Worth
originally $50 a share, the value of each share rose to $3,100,
making at one time his total shares worth $5,421,000. In the
A.B.I.R. Concession he owns 1,000 shares, originally worth $100
each, later worth $940. In the "vintage year" of 1900 each of these
shares was worth $5,050, and the 1,000 shares thus rose to the value
of $5,050,000.
These are only two companies. In most of the others half the shares
are owned by the King.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account