The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1909-09-23
DISGRACE
TO THE OLD WORLD IS THE
SLAVE TRADE OF AFRICA.
News OF the Outrageous Conditions
in the Congo Received From tho
Wild Regions in Central Africa.

much Indignation on the latest re-
ports regarding slavery and the slave
trade In Central Africa. A deplor-
able state of affairs Is said to exist
In the southwestern portion of the
Congo State and in Portuguese and
British territory abutting upon the
Congo border.
This information, from a region
whence news Is not easily obtainable
dates back no later than last spring,
! and Is concerned both with the cues
ton of Belgian mis- government in
the Congo and with that Of the slave
,, traffic to the Angola coast ports for
San Thome and Principe. Through
out this whole region the fear of the
, slave-hunter is only equaled by the
terror of Bula Matadi (the Congo
GovernmenU.
The natives in Congo territory re-
quire guns and powder to protect
themselves against the Belgian SOL
diers, ever seeking to impose upon
them la courvee du caoutchouc (the
rubber tax on the. one part, and
against the rebel sold1ery Qes re-
voltes), who, despite their frequent
crushing defeats recorded at inter-
, walls in the Belgian press during re-
cent years, and once again last year,
continue to hold the country.
The rebels. require guns and gun
powder to keep up their desultory
tight with the Belgian columns.
Exchanged For Slaves.
These articles can only be obtain
ed through Portuguese territory, and
they are purchaseable in three ways
only-wlth ivory, rubber or slaves.
TO kill an elephant is not easy for
the native and involves much time
and danger. The rubber Is claimed
by the Belgian Government or by the
Kasai Trust, at any rate by Bula
Matadi under one or other Of his
many aliases, and If. the natives are
found with any in their possession,
destined for quarters other than
Bula Matadi's "postes," their fate
Is proverbial.
Notwithstanding the risk many
would appear Ito take it for rubber
to the extent of 500 to 600 tons a
year is gathered in the Southern
Kasai and 'Kwango, and disposed of
in Portuguese territory. The Bel
gians are well aware of this, and
their chains of fortified posts" along
the Portuguese frontier, ostensibly
erected to check the depredations Of
slave-raiding bands, are more con-
oerned. with efforts to prevent the
outflow Of rubber, every ton of which
going over the border is, of course,
loss to the Kasai Trust and to the
Belgian Government as holder Of
half the shares in that corporation.
On the whole, however, slave
catching Is less arduous business
for the native, and the profits on the
transaction are much larger. Hence
1t Is INDUCED in to a considerable
extent. 1t should be we'll under
stood that organized slave raids On
large scale by half-caste Portu-
guese and by Biheans, which used
to operate eastward as far as the
western shores of Tanganyika, are
now largely, If not. entirely, a thing
Of the past.
Slavery on the Sly.
The traffic has taken a different
form. The rebel solddery of the
, Congo, three or four warlike tribes
i'll the Southwest Congo and in An
COLA, and the Lundas in Northwest
| Rhodes1a and in the Kavunga dis
| trict-tf1e most easterly district of
Angola7-are the principal suDpliers,
! the rebels being unquestionably the
most important. The northern por-
ton ofNorthwest Rhodesia is left
very much to itself, and, although
| there Is no open slave-catching, still
less q slave market, the traffic is
carried on actively and surrepti.
tiously
The rebels, whose numbers are
variously estimated at from 1000
to 5000 have been roaming over q
vast stretch Of territory since 1895
| Derpetually shifting their quarters
under the pressure Of Belgian col
umDs, and as explained, are now set.
1
tled In q region where their fight
for existence intensifies the evils
connected with the traffic for the
cocoa plantations at San Thomo
Until they are either subdued Of
induced by promise Of immunit,
for past crimes to surrender, this I'm
happy country will continue to b.
subject to their depredations. It il
believed that they are weary of be
ing hunted and would willingly sur
Irender to the British authorities II
Rhodesia, give UP their arms AM
settle down quietly on British ter
Titory on the promise Of a pardon.
Disgrace to Europe.
Such is the condition Of things II
this particular region Of Central AT