On Wednesday the Belgian Chamber began the debate on the
annexation of the Congo Free State,—a question, as the Times correspondent truly says, more momentous than any
considered by the nation since the separation from Holland in 1830. After some preliminary discussion of procedure, it was decided to debate the additional Act of the Treaty, the Treaty itself, and the Colonial Law in a general dificussion,-and then to vote on them in one sitting in the order named. The Prime Minister, M. Sehollaert, after tracing the history of the Congo from 1878, said : " We are firmly decided to fulfil scrupulously all the obligations of the Conventions, and especially of the Treaty of Berlin." The Belgian Govern- ment would enable private persons, whatever their nationality, to acquire land for trading purposes. The prices at which large tracts had already been sold were such as to remove any anxiety as to the financial position of the future. M. Davignon, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that the Government would know how "to justify the confidence of Europe," and added : "No one will be able to doubt our honesty or good faith." The Prime Minister has evidently abandoned the idea of forcing a vote before the elections. The debate was continued on Thursday, the dulness of the proceedings being, as the Times correspondent remarks, a proof of the unexpected absence of bitterness, and it was then adjourned till Tuesday, when the Chamber will meet again, to sit until May 9th. For the present we need say nothing, except that we earnestly hope to discover in the ultimate proposals that complete reversal of the existing economic conditions of native labour which is indispensable.
