vast and fertile territory inhabited by savage tribes. At a meeting of a Committee of the Conference held on December 10, 1884, Mr. Kasson, the Plenipotentiary of the United States, gave utterance, in retrospect of early American colonisation, to expressions of historic fact which graphically portray Mid-African conditions twenty years ago: The first colonies founded in America [said Mr. Kasson] have been the work of different nationalities. Even there, where at first emigration was of a free and peaceful nature, foreign Governments were soon installed, with military forces to support them. Wars immediately broke out in Europe. The belligerents had colonies, and soon the field of battle spread to America. In the heat of the struggle, each of the belligerents sought allies amongst the native tribes, where they thus excited their natural inclination for violence and plunder. Horrible acts of cruelty ensued, and massacres where neither age nor sex were spared. The knife, the lance, and the torch transformed peaceful and happy colonies into deserts. The present condition of Central Africa reminds one much of that of America when that continent was first opened up to the European world. How are we to avoid a repetition of the unfortunate events, to which I have just alluded, amongst the numerous African tribes? How are we to guard against exposing our merchants, our colonies, and their goods to these dangers? How shall we defend the lives of our missionaries and religion itself against the outburst of savage customs and barbarous passions? Finding ourselves in the presence of those whom we are urging to undertake the work of civilisation in Africa, it is our duty to save them from such regrettable experiences as marked the corresponding phase in America. [Sidenote: The Real Value of the Act.] [Sidenote: Belgian Dominance.] Whatever defective novelty may still reside in the Berlin Act, the Conference which begot it gave an immense impetus to the great work of African civilisation. It eliminated movements by the various Powers which were accomplishing little or nothing for lack of definition and unity. It organised a scramble, so to speak, into an orderly and intelligently directed set of enterprises, chief among which were those urged forward by the King of the Belgians and his diligent subjects. In that amplitude of pledges, which when applied to them the other Signatory Powers found it convenient to forget, little Belgium strove mightily not only to discharge her obligations under the Berlin Act, but to demonstrate her own innate genius for the work of colony-building and civilisation. It is perhaps in the inevitable result of this spirit that we find the explanation of Belgian dominance and Belgian progress far excelling that of its African neighbours. [Sidenote: Freedom of Commerce.]