Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-19
ssTHE PROJECT RECENTLY AGIrATED

SsTHE PROJECT RECENTLY AGITATED
l. for sending the colored people out of this
country to colonjze the so-called Congo Free
State has excited my interested attention be-
cause Of the investigation of that enterprise
which I made under the direction of the De-
partment Of State not long ago." said MIR. W.
p. Tisdel TO a STAR writer. 1T may be remem-
bered how it was proposed that the United
States should become associated in the control
Of the Congo region for the purpose of secur-
ing trade. powerful lobby secured from
Congress a formal recognition of this Free
State which was subsequently found to have
no real existence. For that matter it has none
TO this day.
The Department Of State sent me as special
diplomatic agent to travel through the Congo
valley and make my own observations respect
ing its commercial possibilities. My report
pricked the bubble and on the strength of it
the President. In message to Congress, rec
commended strongly that this government
should keep its hands of the dark continent
II was so determined Otherwise shrewd
statesmen have surmised that one or more
European powers might have taken advantage
Of the precedent at some future time for
claiming right to interfere with Mexico or In
Central America
SuCu ehrueSt cuOTLS nave Deeu Uidte tuc
international Congo Associatlon-which Is sim
ply n commercial company with the Hing OF
Belgium at its head, in his private capacity-to
prevent the facts about the alleged Free State
from becoming public that the region IN ques.
ton Is today popularity supposed to be a sort OF
earthly paradise filed with everything that Is
calculated to make life joyful. Explorer STAN
ley. himself an employe Of the association at a
huge salary. has done his best to spread this
idea bv his lectures and books
..lho country 3 represented having .0OO
600 square miles OF territory, q population of
5O,O0O. 900 and bouncless resources Its pro-
ductiyeness Is declared superior to that of the
valley Of the Amazon with climate of unsur-
passed salubrity. Unlimited quantities OF
Ivory. palm oil, g1m copal, rubber. wax, pea
nuts and other precious goods are said to be
offered by the gentle natives in exchange for
European products
WHAT THE NATIVES WOULD NEED.
In an address delivered at Manchester, Eng
land, Mr.. Stanley made half-humorous esti-
mate of the amount of cloth which the inhablt-
ants of the Congo basin were prepared to con-
sumo. Supposing them to require one Sunday
dress each annually, wearing nothing on week
days. they would require for this single costume
$40 OO0. 600 yards. Ii would be more reasonable,
however, to estimate their wants in the way of
garments ut two Sunday dresses each and four
everyday dresses per annum. This would make
necessary $3.50. 0OO. 900 yards. which, at pence
a yard, would amount to SOOO0O0O. They
would need night dresses, too. of course,
and these would up 160. 1000
yards more. Furthermore. two millions
of the people die every year, and
TO bury them decently. according to the custom
Of those who possess cloth. l6.0OO.00 yards
more would be requisite. with 100000 yards
extra for 1000 chiefs. Scarce family in the
Congo valley would not have its cloth fund or
currency chest of a dozen pieces of twenty-four
wards each. without which domestic necessities
could not very well be provided for, house
wives could not buy green's bread, palm OIL
peanuts. chickens or fish, and traffic would be
impossible IN gunpowder. guns. knives, copper
slugs. dye powders. palm kernels. wax and
gums Considering the perishable nature Of
this currency Mr.. Stanley thought that neces-
sary supplies Of the negotiable medium might
some day be drawn IN vast quantities from the
looms Of Manchester.
WHAT THEY DO NEED.
Unfortunately, practically the entire popu-
hs9p Of the basin Of the Congo goes stark
tAked. ha ring no use for clothing on Sunday
or any other day. A small minority wear .
loin cloth. but the average lady or gentleman
In all that vast region considers herself or him
self in rather exceptionally full attire when
wearing a single square red cotton handker-
chief. Such handkerchief, according to cur
rent rates. is two DAYS wages for able-bodied
man. That is the rate OF pay given by the rep
resentatives of the international Association.
which Is SO anxious to secure the immigration
OF COlOrtU people from the nit6Q states IN
order that their labor may assist in opening
the country. Labor is very hard to get over
there. Inasmuch as the natives prefer to spend
their time in loafing OF killing one another.
DANGER FROM THE NATIVES.
From time to time they make attacks with
out the slightest provocation upon the white sta
tions. burn the stores and buildings and muir
der as many Of the occupants they can. The
International Association has a number of such
trading stations scattered along the lower
Congo as far up As Stanley pool Each one is
surrounded by a stoekade and supplied with
arms for its defense Naturally, it has
tain influence upon affairs in its immediate
vicinity, until, a. often happens. the garrison
Is either massacred OF compelled BY fear OF the
always hostile natives to leave Not long ago
one Of the stations abandoned because of
the thieving propensities of the kouamout
women. who control everything In their tribe
the men being OF inferior intelligence and hav-
Ing no voice In affairs whatever. That is what
the International Association calls governing
the Congo Free State. vast and almost unex-
plored country, filed with the widest and most
cruel savsges on earth. and wholly controlled
BY independent tribes recognizing no author
ify save their own despotic chiefs
GIN As A CIyILIZER-
''Gin is the great agent employed for spread
ing white influence in the Congo country and
the only successful one. 1t composes four
made especially for the traffic in Holland, at a
cost Of about cents a quart bottle. Trade gin
II Is called. and with IL are purchased nearly all
Of the products of that region brought to Euro
pean markets. IL will go ten times further In
barter than an equal value in cloth. A native
viii often sell lump Of rubber big as he
can carry aud worth 20 cents q pound for one
bottle of gin.
Cloth Is not always negotiable: that imported
for trading purposes Is of coarse quality and
altogether inferior to the fabric, resembling
linen In fneness, which the savages make them
selves by plating grass Traders often return
TO the coast with their goods unsold, because
the blacks will not accept cloth, demanding
GIN bottle OF gin pays for two days work.
The natives are much addicted to intoxication
and they and tina; gin makes them drunk
quicker than the beverage they compose them
selves by fermenting palm sap Rum goes
equally well with them and enormous guam IL
ties OF It are brought in ships from Boston.
which 10 the main source of supply together
NTH Isstanents and hymn books from the Bible
socisties-
HOPELESS pRsERr.
pretty nearly all Of the Congo basin NAV
fairly be described q desert The country
produces no vegetation that will support a
beast Of burden. At last accounts there were
Just three mules In the valley and their food
had to be brought from Europe. The traveller
must cross vast expenses of treeless and arid
main. swlm great rivers and vada th,on,h