HISTORY. The Congo Free State was estab lished as a neutral independent sovereignty in 1884. In 1876 King Leopold II. of Belgium had organized, with the cooperation of the lead ing African explorers and the support of several European governments. the International African Association (q.v.), for the promotion of African exploration and colonization. In the following year Henry M. Stanley called attention to the Congo country, and was sent there by the Asso ciation, the expense being defrayed by Leopold. By treaties with native chiefs, rights were acquired to a great area along the Congo. and posts were established. After 1879 the work was under the auspices of the Comiti: d'Etudes du Haut Congo, which developed into the Inter national Association of the Congo. This organi zation sought to combine the numerous small territories acquired into one sovereign State, and asked for recognition from the civilized govern ments. Ou April 22, 1884, the United States Government, having decided that the cessions by the native chiefs were lawful. recognized the International Association of the Congo as a sovereign independent State, under the title of the Congo Free State, and this example was followed by Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, England, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Rus sia, Spain, and Sweden. The international con ference on African affairs which met at Berlin, 1884-85, determined the status of the Congo Free State. whieh occupies a peculiar position among States because of the conditions surrounding it and the auspices under which it was founded. By the act of the Conference, signed February 26, 1885, the Congo Free State was declared neutral and open to the trade of all nations, the Powers reserving for twenty years the right to decide as to the taxation of imports; the naviga tion of the Congo and its afiluents was to be free, under the supervision of an international commission; religious freedom and equality of treatment of all settlers were guaranteed; and war was declared upon the slave trade. The United States refrained from ratifying this act, on the ground that it would thereby be com mitted. contrary to its policy, to certain inter national engagements. The new State was placed under the personal sovereignty of Leopold II., who. by will, four years later, bequeathed it to Belgium. Soon, however, other interests had been acquired in Africa by the Powers. and they correspondingly lost interest in the Congo enter prise, which became less international and more Belgian. On July 31, 1890, the territories of the Congo Free State were declared inalienable, a convention between Belgium and the Congo Free State having already reserved to Belgium the right to annex the Congo State after ten yea rs.
In accordance with the tariff reservation in the net of 1885, the international conference at Brussels iu 1890 authorized the Congo Free State to levy duties on certain imports. in order to provide the needed revenue. By the Treaty of 1891 the United States established relations with the Congo Free State, providing for com mercial intercourse and a eousular system, and for the arbitration of any dispute under the treaty. Several separate treaties with the Euro pean States having colonial possessions in Africa adjoining the Congo Free State have defined its boundaries. The Belgian Chambers have liberally supported the King in the development of the Congo, and the ultimate transfer of the sove reignty to Belgium was acquiesced in by the European Powers because Belgium, like the Congo Free State itself, is under an international guarantee of neutrality. There is a difference of opinion in regard to the success of the work done by Belgium on the Congo. The slave trade has been restricted, if not wholly suppressed, but the officials have not been wholly successful in dealing with savage tribes in the interior, and it is doubtful to what extent the authority of the Government may be regarded as estab lished. Critics assert that Leopold has regarded the Congo State more as a commercial enterprise to be exploited for profit than as a country to be redeemed for civilization, and that his capital has been insufficient for the expenses of so vast an undertaking. The latter is undoubtedly true. There seems to be no doubt, on the other hand, that intertribal wars and cannibalism, as well as abuses arising from the liquor traffic, have been largely reduced in the territories subject to Leopold.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Stanley, The Congo and theBibliography. Stanley, The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State (London, 1885) ; Burrows, The Land of the Pigmies (London, 1899) ; Mih?, The Fall of the Congo Arabs (London, 1897) ; Reeves, International Be ginnings of the Congo Free State," in Johns Hopkins University Studies (Baltimore, 1891) ; Boulger, The State and the Crotvtli of Civili,:atton in Central Africa (London. 1898), extremely laudatory of the Belgian work in this field: Raab, Der Ole and der acne Kongostaat (Hamburg, 1892) : Goehet, Lc Congo beige il lustr(5 (Liege, 1888) ; Kassa;, La civilisation africaine, 1876-88 (Brussels, 1888) ; Blanchard, Formation et constitution politique de n'tat in thpendant du Congo (Paris, 1809) : dozon, L'eto do Congo (Th. 1900) ; Walt ters, L'Oat iiuMpendant du Congo (Brussels, 1899). See AFRICA.