Trends in Native Policy in the Belgian Congo

Abstract

There are two conceptions of the policy which should govern a colony; on the one hand the purely selfish view of the coloniser who considers the subdued land merely a source of inexhaustible wealth, on the other the more moral conception of the coloniser who recognizes the duties besides the privileges attaching to the colonial contract, and in view of the great benefits he derives from the colony feels duty-bound to adopt a liberal attitude towards the natives and to use every effort in raising their moral standards and promoting their economic advancement. Experience shows this humanitarian policy to be the one which is the most beneficial to the interests of the metropolis. This has been evidenced in the Belgian Congo. Belgium is a new-comer in colonial enterprise. When in 1908 she received the Congo from her King, Leopold II, she had none of the colonial traditions with which nations such as Great Britain and the Netherlands can pride themselves. She firmly intended however to redress the errors committed by the Independent State but lacked the necessary experience. The direct administration, the policy of assimilation were in existence over a long period. It was desired to turn the Congo natives into black-skinned Belgians and rapidly change them into citizens understanding European customs, obeying Belgian laws, accepting Belgium's institutions, assimilating our technological, individualistic and Christian civilization. This was a very ambitious policy scornful at the same time of the existing state of affairs. This is the conquest stage and that of the period immediately following on it; every colony has passed through this stage, even the colonies of States more expert than Belgium was. Colonials are very often strongly prejudiced regarding the hereditary and irremediable inferiority of the Negro race. When they arrive in Africa, entirely ignorant of the native tongue and customs, they are unable to conceive the existence of any social organization, and therefore deny it. It nevertheless exists. The tribes do not all live in the same manner; some are hunters, others agriculturists or shepherds. There is always, however, a great similitude in the main features of their political systems and social life. They are, further, characterized by a strong spirit of collectivism. They have a judiciary organization which is very practical and almost entirely of a civil nature: a marriage or a murder both entitle the clan to compensation inasmuch as it is thereby deprived of one of its members. The right to hold land is determined by the occupying and effective exploiting of the latter. Many other rules govern the tribe, namely, the inheritance laws, marriage laws, religious beliefs, all of which however of too complex a nature to be described briefly. There is also an economic organization where the function of each mem-