Editor’s Table: Close of Vol. VI; Prospectus Vol. VII

936 IMPROVEMENT ERA,

as when hunted by the Arab slave trader. A Mr. Canisius de- scribes conditions, as he found them at a trading post of the Mon- galla rubber trust, among a tribe known as the Gombes, as follows:

Once in a fortnight these Gombes were obliged to bring rubber to the post. Each of these villages were under the surveillance of a "capita," or headman, sent by the post manager, whose duty it was to see that the natives gathered the rubber in time, and in proper quantity. At the time appointed, the post manager notified the "capitas" to bring in the rubber gathered by the villagers under their control, and in due course they arrived at the station, each man carrying a small bas- ket made of rattan, furnished by the white agent, in order that no na- tive could make a mistake as to the quantity he must furnish. When all the villagers had arrived at the station, they took up their position in rows, and the post manager then settled down to busi- ness assisted by the company's "soldiers," a number of whom were sta- tioned at every post. Each villager was in turn ranged up before him, every man with his basket before him. Each native wore, attached to a cord around his neck, a small disc made of the zinc lining of packing cases. These discs each had a number stamped upon it, and in a book which the manager had before him was inscribed the names of the natives against the number upon their "tags." One by one, the half frightened bushmen were called up and made to present their baskets to the white man, a proceeding frequently assisted by a cuff from one of the soldiers. If the quantity of rubber was satisfactory, the native

— — who had worked many days to procure it was paid what the agent thought was the proper amount in "mitakos," pieces of brass wire, six to eight inches long. If, on the other hand, the native had only a small quantity of rubber in his basket, he was taken aside by one of the sol- diers, and, after all had been called up, was severely castigated with the fearful whip made of hippopotamus hide. When all the villagers had deposited their quotas of rubber, the manager had a thousand pounds, or more, which I estimated cost him at the rate of about one penny per pound. As this rubber was worth over three shillings per pound in the Antwerp market, it is safe to as- sume that the company made a very considerable profit on it, even after paying heavy transport charges and a high export tax.

All this government is directly and indirectly the Belgian responsible for. Belgium were not a Christian nation, the If

Christian world would take her to task for her barbarous treat- ment of the Gombes and other negro tribes of central Africa, pro-

CURRENT STORY OF TEE WORLD. 937

vided the Gombes had first been converted to Christianity. It is

to be hoped that Great Britain will persist in her determination to correct these abuses until something is accomplished.

A Very Satisfactory Showing. In view of the large investments in Mexico by American cap- italists, it is gratifying to observe the growth of United States commerce with our neighbor on the south. Mexico is making wonderful strides in developing the resources of that country; the revenues there have trebled in the last twenty years, and for- eign commerce has more than quadrupled, and now amounts to about $130,000,000 a year. Many years ago England supplied Mexico with more than two-thirds of her imports, and while Eng- land today sends about the same amount of goods to Mexico, she has not increased her exports to that country, as the United States has done. The following table illustrates the steady but rapid increase of exports from this country and give3 a comparison between England and the United States that is altogether favorable to us: From England From the United States 1898 $8,750,000 $19,000,000 1899 10,000.000 23,000,000 1900 10,000,000 29,000,000 1901 7,500,000 29,000,000 1902 8,000,000 40,000,000

We are also increasing our exports in Canada, and the follow- ing table furnishes a comparison between the United States and Great Britain:

From England From the United States 1898 $32,500,000 $78,700,000 1899 37,000,000 93,000,000 1900 44,750,000 110,000,000 1901 43,000,000 110,500,000 1902 49,000,000 120,800,000

The fact that the north-west is now receiving so many emi- grants from the United States will do much to improve further the trade relations between this country and Canada.