19 MAY 1906, Page 22

Bruxelles. 3fr. 50c.)—This is a most candid and courageous book,

which we trust will attract widespread attention. It is, on the whole, the most damaging criticism of the Congo adminis- tration which has been published, for it is not the work of a foreigner, but of a well-known Belgian publicist, who has h-ng been a student of colonial problems, and is convinced that on the Congo Belgium has a chance of a great colonial career. It is a plea for annexation, not for abandonment ; an argument for a reform of methods, and not a mere philippic. Most of the charges which have been made by travellers and philanthropists are admitted to be true in the recent Report of the Commission of Inquiry. M. Cattier is therefore freed from the necessity of proving his facts. He takes the findings of the Commission and their recommendations, and subjects them to a patient and search- ing criticism, illuminated by parallels from the colonial practice of other Powers. The book is long and full of detail, and we can only point out some of the main conclusions. M. Cattier con- demns in tote the land policy of the Administration. Ever since 1891, when the Government became a trading concern, " territory occupied by natives " has been so whittled down that the wretched aborigines are mere squatters on their ancient lands ; while, except to the Government and its concessionaires, the liberty of access which the Berlin Treaty promised has been denied. M. Cattier is no negrophilist, and is quite prepared to allow the State to cut down native territory where it is too large for its population, but he demands that the well-being of the aborigines be made the first care of the State, and that vacant lands be impartially allotted after full inquiry. He condemns, also, the system of forced labour, and argues for the use of coined money, the payment of taxes in cash, and the introduction of some form of hut-tax based on the number of wives. He has no diffi- culty in showing that the present methods offend not only against humanity, but against public economy. But his most damaging criticisms are reserved for the administration of the Domaine de is Couronne. This is in effect a private estate of the King of the Belgians, and since 1896 some seventy million francs of net revenue have been obtained from it, which have been spent on the King's own enterprises in Belgium. The Budgets of the Congo State since its foundation have shown a total deficit of

twenty-seven million francs. The Domaine is therefore, in M. Cattier's words, "un moyen de gouvernement personnel sans et contre la volonte des Chambres." We may quote in conclusion an admirable summary of the true role of the State :—" L'Etat doit se confiner dans son role gouvernemental. II doit surveiller, moderer, discipliner Faction du commerce libre. Entre le commercant et l'indigene, it doit apparaitre comme un arbitre desinteresse, ne perdant de vue ni ses obligations envers les noirs, ni son propre interet au developpement economique du pays. L'Etat n'est sorti, an Congo, de la sphere de son activite specifique qu'au prix de sacrifices qui ont compromis son bon renom et mis son avenir et son existence en peril."