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wards, Great Britain had reason to believe that Portugal was not carrying out the purpose of the treaty and a series of new treaties was concluded in which more stringent measures were adopted. Portugal made a proclamation expressly prohibiting the slave trade and gave England permission to overhaul and search vessels off the coast of the Portuguese African colonies. Even with such measures the slave trade continued until 1871, when the Portuguese government was able to announce to Great Britain that the inhuman traffic was at an end.

During the period from 1810 to 1871 Portuguese power on the African coast steadily declined. Commercial enterprises of various kinds had been started by Dutch, French, and English traders along the seaboard and for some distance into the interior. Over each one of these establishments was hoisted the flag of the nation to which the proprietors belonged. The far interior, into which Stanley had penetrated, was divided among many petty chieftains, who acknowledged no sovereignty save their own. Beginning in 1880 the International Association had negotiated about one hundred treaties with these African chiefs, who surrendered in consideration of "puoents" a territory which covers over 14,000 square miles. By these treaties the chiefs and their people were not to be actually dispossessed of their lands but were to put themselves under the protection of the International African Association. Portugal became alarmed at these encroachments upon her territory and in 1884 drew up a treaty with England which recognized the sovereignty of Portugal over the west coast of Africa between the 5th and 8th degrees of south latitude and declared the navigation of the Congo and the Zambezi Rivers free. As a remuneration for recognizing Portugal's sovereignty England received the colony of San Juan Baptista.

This treaty seemed a deathblow to the association. Portugal's

dominions upon the Congo were a menace to the neutrality of the recently acquired possessions of the association. Its plans seemed impossible and its influence was fast waning when a hitherto apparently uninterested power appeared upon the scene and revived its drooping fortunes. No sooner had England by her treaty with Portugal discouraged the civilizing tendencies of the association, than Bismarck set his seal of approbation upon the movement and by his diplomacy, instead of an association under the patronage of private individuals, it became a corporation to be fostered and guided by the great powers of the world.

Bismarck had well said that the standing menace to the unity of the German Empire was the ever increasing emigration of the sturdy Teutonic stock to other countries. By what means could this mass of people be kept at home? Only by providing more extensive employment, and in order to do this, by enlarging the markets for German manufactures. To gain this end Bismarck inaugurated a regular colonial policy, which was not to encourage the emigration of German subjects but to increase the manufacture of German wares. The experiment had been tried in Samoa and in Fernando Po, of opening large warehouses for German goods and of establishing lines of German merchant vessels to supply them with the articles for which there was a demand. Samoa and Fernando Po rapidly came under German influence and exports to those ports became a considerable part of the commerce of the German Empire.

By the efforts of the International Congo Association an enormous tract of land had been opened whose population considerably exceeded a million souls. By the introduction of civilization, the wants of these people were to be increased and, as the prospects pointed to a rapid growth of population by immigration, there was an opening for German trade which

would make that with Samoa sink into comparative insignifi

cance.

Bismarck set about to gain the co-operation of France and England in support of the association. To England he wrote that Germany could not respect the right of parties who had been previously interested on the Congo. With such an announcement as this and with all of England's commercial interests demanding that the government should lend its aid to the association, the British minister hesitated to ratify, and finally rejected the treaty so lately drawn up with Portugal.

Bismarck next secured the good will of France by offering to abandon any German occupation in Africa, should it be considered prejudicial to French interests and he proceeded to show the inestimable advantage which would accrue to the French by co-operation in the plans of the association. The United States had already signified its approval of the plans of the association and on the 22d day of April, 1884, President Arthur with the advise and consent of the Senate, recognized the flag of the International African Association (a golden star on a field of blue), as that of a friendly government, avoiding in doing so any prejudgment of conflicting territorial claims that might be involved.

By this time, the association having received a strong backing, by Germany, France, England, and the United States, Bismarck issued an invitation to the powers of Europe and to the United States to a conference to be held at Berlin on the 15th of November, 1884, to consider and decide upon the free navigation of the Congo and also upon the establishment of rules which would govern future occupations on the west coast of Africa. It was expressly stipulated that all questions of sovereignty should be left untouched. Accordingly on the day appointed, representatives from nearly all the powers

appeared at Berlin and, for the first time in history, representatives from the United States joined in a diplomatic conference with the powers of Europe.

After a brief discussion, the navigation of the Congo was declared free to all the powers of the world and future occupations on the coast were to be regulated by a new association, "The International Conference of the Navigation and Commerce of the Congo." This commission was authorized to maintain sufficient authority to insure peace, and Great Britain was given the supervision of it.

Although the International African Association as such did not enter into the deliberations at the conference, yet the important questions which concerned it were settled. These out of the way, the association was on a sure footing and almost immediately after the conference ended, it developed into a political entity, called the "Congo Free State." With this new power nearly all of the nations represented at Berlin negotiated treaties of recognition and friendship.

It was a novel spectacle in international politics,—a state actually created by the good will of the great powers of the world, with its recognition immediate and its independence guaranteed. Germany is, perhaps, its guardian, but the United States is its godfather. The territory of the new state. was made known to the world by Stanley, and our government was the first to recognize its existence as an institution by declaring that, "in harmony with the traditional policy of the United States-this government announces its sympathy with, and approval of, the humane and benevolent purposes of the International Association of the Congo and will order the officers of the United States on land and sea, to recognize the flag of the International African Association as the flag of a friendly government."

On the first of August, 1885, King Leopold wrote to President

Cleveland, "Now that the position of the association in an international point of view, that its territorial position is established, that its mission has received valuable encouragement, I am prepared to bring to your notice and to that of the people of the United States that the possessions of the International Association of the Congo will hereafter form the Independent State of the Congo. I have at the same time, the honor to inform you that, authorized by the Belgian Chambres, I have taken the title of sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo."

The union between Belgium and the new state was to be wholly personal and President Cleveland replied, "I congratulate your majesty on being called to the chief magistracy of the newly formed government and the people of the United States cannot doubt that, under your majesty's good government, the people of the Congo region will advance in the paths of civilization and deserve the good will of all those states and people, which may be brought into contact with them.'

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Whatever the resources of the new state may be, and the reports on that subject are very conflicting, the method of its organization is strikingly novel and is a proof of the humanizing tendencies in nineteenth century politics.

The Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands.

The Hawaiian Islands, comprising a group of eight inhabited and four uninhabited islands, are the most important in the north Pacific Ocean, and, lying directly in the track of commerce between America and Asia and nearly equidistant from the two continents, their value to the United States as a port of refuge, as well as the seat of a profitable and flourishing trade, is fully recognized and appreciated. They are located between the nineteenth and twenty-second degrees of north latitude, nearly corresponding to the latitude of the

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