Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-07

ment are to a certain extent doing away
with these practices. but it will be long be-
lore they have abolished them
The New Railroads.
The secretary of the Congo State tells
me that the railways which have been bpilt
There are prospecting. especially the one
about the cataracts This railway is 80
niles long. 1t runs about twenty miles
south of the river connecting Matadi with
stanley Pool and is now open for traffic
throughout its length. Matadi is the farth-
~ IuIahd that the ocean steamers can
Come- 1t IS a thriving port right ut the foot
OF The cataracts The Relgiars have buitt
PIERS and docks there They have establish
ed warehouses and factories ana have made
IL one of the reutcrs of African trade Tho
railroad begins At Matadi and climbs the
mountains. reaching "A height Of soTueth hing
IKE LOO feet above the sea 1t goes
through a most picturesque region and
hnaliy ends at Ndol3 a little east of Leo
poldNille and under the shadow of Mount
Leopold. The road was begun i'm 1857 and
TWO years later the Belgian government
subscribed for two-ffths of its capital stock.
which altogether amounts to five million
dollars. 1t took nine years to construct Il
and the cost was about $4,000 mile.
The Shipping of the Congo.
The terminus of this railroad might be
called the Chicago of the Congo.
The river is navgable for steamers
as large as those on the MISSISSIPPI
pi for thousand miles further up
and 1t has branches which communicate
with almost the whole Congo basin. Rail-
roads are now planned to run from Stan
leyVille on the Upper Congo to Lake AL
bert Nyanza and from Nyang to Lake
Tanganyika. The latter road will be con-
nected by boats on the lake with the
railroad which is to be built by the Ger
mans from the Indian ocean somewhere OPP
posite Zanzibar to Tanganyika. and then
the trip across Africa will be comparatively
easy. These roads will probably also have
connection with the line which is to be built
from Cairo to the Cape
Both the Lower and Upper Congo have
excellent steamers There are thirty steam
ers on the Upper Congo, a large number of
them belonging to the government and
there are several ocean lines which sail
regularly from Liverpool Hamburg Rot
terdam and Lisbon to Bona and Matadi
There are ships every three weeks for Ant
werp. so that in all 230 steamships visit
Bona every year. There are seven govern
ment steamers which ply between Bona
and Matadt, making the trip up stream in
about six or seven hours and down in
about half that time
Who Do the Business.
The United States ought to have mora
trade on the Congo but it will not get it
until it sends its own steamers from New
York to Africa. At present all the business
is done by European companies. The Bel
sian Commercial Company deals largely in
the Upper Congo. 1t has stations at Ma
tadi and all along the river.
There are also large Dutch firms. AT the
time that Belgium took possession Of the
country there n Rotterdam Company
with capital of three-quarters of a mill
lion dollars, which had eighty different
stores on this great river 1t had five
steamers and 15o white agents
Another big firm was Daumas. Beraud &,
Company. founded forty-eight years ago.
1t had twelve trading stations. with head
quarters at Bona. In addition was Hot
ton and COokson of Liverpool and the Cen
trail Africa Trading Company. which was
afterwards reorganiZed the British
Congo Company, with its offices at Man
chester.
At present the Belgians are crowdine the
British and Dutch out of business. They
are increasing their trade right along and
rapidly developing an African market
for their factories. They had practically
no trade when the king took possession,
but now the imports amount to about
00,000.0O0 francs year. anu the exports to
more than 100,o00,0OO francs, of which Bel
GUM has by far the lions share Belgium
gets about nine-tenths of the products of
the Congo shipped abroad, and it's tariff
arrangements are such that ii promises to
do better in the future.
1t has now export duties on ivory and
rubber and there are import duties well.
1t is selling factory rights and other rights
along the Congo, and is dSposing of farm
lands and estates in the interior. At pres
ent lands are selling for less than 81 am
acre and factory sites for 500 and upwards
an acre, with Il minimum price of $500 IL
they are situated beyond Stanley Pool.
A license of 81 600 is charged to all who
engage in the rubber business. and there
are other taxes as well, The government
is now establishing plantations of Havana
and Sumatra tobacco. it is setting out
coffee plantations and cocoa orchards and
in time il hopes to be able to raise enough
cotton to supply its own factories.
FRANK @. CARPENTER.