, 1890-12-18
TRADE ON THE CONGO
A Fine Field for American
Commerce.
WHAT THE COUNTRY WANTS
The Great Work of Building a
Portage Railroad Around
the Cataraots.

ITeSs reporter:
$50 you want to know what
chance there Is for American enter.
prise In Africa? Well, at present,
trade could only be carried forward
on small scale by private enter.
prise. OF course, the immeasurable
possibilities for the development in
Africa need colossal sums of money.
And yet great deal of trade may
be picked up by vessels bringing to
the coast cargoes of Yankee notions.
Before the war Yankee shippers
used to visit African shores in
Yankee shooners, and they made
fortunes. They could do 80 now,
better than even before; but for
some unaccountable reason they
don't Now there are five or six
factories along the Congo river
alone Do you know what factories
are? They are markets, places
where goods are stored, and where
the barter takes place. There
must be immense factories in
which to store the goods, for
these are In bales as large as
n big table. OF course, the bales
taken inland are much smaller.
Now, suppose a Yankee schooner
comes over there laden with canned
goods, lumber, chairs, tables, Amer
lean notions of that kind, few
hams, pork, wheat, flour, cornmeal,
etc. Then the cargo must include
all kinds of fabrics, from the most
precious velvet or silk to the COM
monest cotton. Well, you get n
cargo of those things to the Congo
aud they will sell like lightning for
100 per cent. profit. In exchange
you can get either money or palm
oil and on bringing the latter back
to civilized countries you can realize
immense profits. | am convinced
that fortunes can be made i'm this
way to-day, just as we'll as before the
war, by American cargoes. If you
think of going out with such
cargo and don't know exactly what
to include In 1t, just sit down and
think what you yourself would like
to have If set off in such land, far
from civilization. Then again, all
the factories spoken of require
podtuot ctC.
the factories are burned down and
find 1t difficult to get lumber. A
ship loaded with lumber, chairs,
tables, and a few hams, cornmeal,
pork, W heat -four, r,cannedfruits, would
contain commodities most needed.
Supposing that we take the sales
men OF Philadelphia aud land them
on the Congo. Exactly what they
should wish to buy is what the ship
ought to contain. A barrel of flour
is there considered to be q gOdsend,
and sugar-cured hams, a side of
bacon, cannedafruits, tobacco, ETC.,
are valued greatly. The ship can go
right to the river. 1t is not neces-
sary for 1t to go inland. To Kabinda
Is about twenty miles from the river,
then 20 to Goboon, then right along
to the Spanish factories, and then to
Old Kalabar. . When / started my
work on the Congo should have
bought shiploads of goods If had
found the things 1 wanted. |
wanted plank to build chairs, bed
steads. / wanted mosquito bars,
gin, whisky, rum, slippers, smoking
caps. They would have gone like
hot cakes. One trouble Is this:
There never has been an American
agent there who understood his busi-
ness and could represent things
fairly. Government agents have
gone there, got the fever, become de-
moralized and come back home"
The Press man then asked
"With all your experience, do you
consider that the efforts OF foreign
missionaries really have proved a
SUCCESS Y'
Stanley exclaimed:
"Tes, sir, most emphatically /
am as certain of 1t as that am sit
ting here talking to you. L ain per-
fectly convinced of the fact that the
work of missionaries IL successful.
1t has not always been carried on
rightly or managed wisely never
theless, they can be shown to-day as
something marvellous, considering
the country where they have been
Mt work, and considering that the
people were rum-drinking savages.
accustomed to robbery, fraud and
murder wherever 1t was possible"
In speaking further of opportuni-
ties for business enterprise, Mr..
Stanley added: mo private trade
can be carried on with the interior
until the railway is finished. This
is now being built, and will prob
ably be completed In five years. 1t
will reach the pool, and when 1t
does you can go from the sea to
Stanley Falls, 1900 miles, within
two weeks.
"The Congo river is through one
of the most magnificent sections of
country in the world, but between
Stanley Pool and the sea the coun-
try Is hilly and mountainous, and
cut up too much by ravines to be
appreciated. There Is plenty Of
copper, iron, etc. Their prepara-
tions are being carried on for civil
ization and for the comfort of the
people, 30 that they have little time
to prepare q government or ways of
communication.
"They use our American canned
goods there, where are 800 Euro
peans, officers, and, of course, as tho
railway advances there will be more
and more.
"Of course, the railway is Just be-
gun, but they are constructing it.
j ust where the railway begins Is the
biggest work, and when they get a
little headway II will go on more
They have begun at can
yon, and when they get out of 1t
will be able TO getalong much faster. |
"It is impossible to say anything
at all about the future of the Congo
free state, inasmuch as the Congo
free state without n railway 10 not
worth s cents. The Europeans