The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-07-04

4 -
lsss, adhered 10 the resolutions s-or.,n,-
gated ay the conference. Prince Bismarck
closed the assembly with i speech IN
. ~nsca ne expressed best wishes for the
prosperity Of the new state.
hu' ruler for the stale WAS Necessary
he Berlin conference had unanimously
proposed Leopold II. Thereupcn the Bel
gan parliament authorized the king 10 ac-
cept the new sovereignty by declaring that
the union between Belgium and the new
state viii be an exclusively personal one
me government was then Immediately or
Canned. and IN July. ISIS. the conssI1sresiie>>
% Inc korgo state was proclaimed at
Banana and AZ al The stations % the in
terror districts. In August of the same
year Leopold notified al the powers Of he
creation OF the independent Konga state
ana that he had become its ruler. TIE
declaration Of neutrality Immediately fol-
lowed. and the state was thus definitely
founded
BY this time Stanley had. by the aid Of
three little steamers. got ND he river as
high as Stanley falls and had explored
several Of its affluea,s while stin Others
were explored by his successors SO that
there could be 10 longer any doub; as 20
what there was in that great white blank
found on even tie latest maps al that time
III rad been learned that al some 20 miles
from Aai2di, which the great ocean steam
ers could reach. spread out an ;ncompar-
able river system. some .a.ooe miles Of
whose banks. accessible TO steamers had
been visited The world now knows that
this immense basin was a hundred times
larger than Belgium. that il MAS once =
vast fresh water lake. which buried for a
time the fecundity Of the submerged SOL:
mat this great plain was virgin waiting
Tor conner; that it WAS covered with the
richest OF tropical vegetation. and was cai
UP by Il network Of navigahle waters. the
IKE or which could he found. proha bly,
nowhere else on The giobe-for there is no
point on Il more than sixty miles from a
river bank, that the Region was popped
with n lions OF negroes. those incompal-
able IA 9Ters 81 she tropics
But Stanley dec AIRED 10 all who would
listen that the full possibilities Of the re-
sion could be realized only through the in
struinenlalty OF a railway which should
connect Matadi with Leopoldville. He fur
Their stated that no other road was neces-
sary unless one wished to reach the most
distant confines of Central Africa and 10
pass from the basin Of the Kongo into that
OF the Tchad. the Nile and the Zamhesi
IheIeupon came 10 the aid of the king dar-
ing men who promised 10 build the road
from the ocean to Stanley pool Nothing
daunted them-neither numerous deaths
the continual d.sappointments at the start
nor the unmeriied attacks of low poll
ticians. So from 1889 the year when the
work began in Matadi until the present
moment the gigantic labor has gone on SO
slowly at first that even the most SAN
guine lost heart, then faster and faster. till
finally the whistle OF the frs, locomotive
from Matadi reached Stanley pool and was
answered by the whistle OF the steamers on
the Upper kongo. This memorable event
happened at the moment | was writing
these lines, and l can easily imagine the
emotion II must have oceasioned in the
hearts OF the white men assembled on that
occasion from every part of the Pool.
Under the pressure OF political parties
the Belgian government which had ac-
corded 10 the kongo railway undertaking
certain amount OF pecuniary support.
was forced to send out In 1886 a technical
commission charged with drawing I'D a
report on the condition of the work AL
ready inShed or under way, on the possi-
oliity OF completing the whole enterprise
anu on the amount of traffic which would
prooabsy occur or the line. This commits
sion, which was extremely cautious IN is
statements. reported that the work on the
ROAD was Well done. that the rolling stock
was Wen made and properly mounted. that
the trains ran regularly. that the whole
labor could be finished by the end OF laD
ana tnat the road could do an annual bust
ness amounting To 5000 tons weight Bilt
Inc TACT Is that the road will be ready from
Que eho 10 the other and inaueuraied this
month, thus requiring half the time far
completion stated by the commission. while
,he engineers now declare that IL can
easily handle $1,000 tons OF merchandise
annually
While the railway was being finished
european establishments Of one kind and
another began to spring up on all sides
Trees suppisnted brushwood S-ro.n vaar
20 year new steamboats,, carried ,Ip over
iahd. piece by piece on the backs OF men
were put together on the Inner knngo
oni'iereiaI agencies were set up on every
name. while Catholic and Protestant mis-
slohaiies divided the country amonrr ,hs,,
up as nigh as Tanganyika
Few figures will give ,,oro str,,,t.
ana exact idea Of the present situstior m
tue Nongo. There are now for,v-ava
steamers constantly plying on the waters
OF the Upper kongo and its tributaries
uanspoFung merchandise. food and troops
thus carrying life ard progress everv.
"here' III Is true that the largest of them
are OF only forty-fiye tons burden. for as
had already been said, they had To no
brought up from the coast on the t,acI,s
OF men But now thanks to the railway
steamer OF 80 tens has reached the Pool
where IL VIII be at work In two months
more. Another OF the same capacity is
now being built at Antwerp and will soin
its sister In due time
what do these steamers carry? All those
products collected since the fourteenth
century till now only along the coasts of
Hiffca-iFof}, gums, resin, wax, incense.
ostrich feathers. pepper, coffee. cocoa to-
oacco, cotton. rubber. skins oils indigo.
fruits, animals OF various kinds. etc To
give an idea of what may be exported
from the kongo. may state that the cof-
fee and cocoa fields planted only In 1881
now contain i.5t0.Oo coffee plants and 2a-
go cocoa plants. Not 10 pounds ~ rub
Der was exported in iss5 whereas not less
than soos.0oo pounds were extracted from
the forests of The Upper kongo In 1896
valued at H.5eos9. In 1897 these figures
were doubled. and coming years will see
them stu further Increased II il not az
ionishing. therefore. that Antwerp tends
TO become for rubbsr-8e il IS already for
tvory-the most important market In the
world. The following table showing ia
round numbers. the trade of the konEo
Independent State. speaks for itself:
Year. Imports Exports Totals
1883 .... -. 81 a2S 10 s. Sfa GO s. 81 80