Show CONGO fit E I 1 apat E the purchase will be made by the he british i I 1 LEOPOLD IS 19 ml 01 THE SEIT III teal deal will be HIS ni 83 00 D gas his own sul his sisters I 1 I 1 it special 5 F chwe aroi ch we fc service LONDON may 31 within a few mar weeks at the latest I 1 9 teat the announce will be officially made of tha the P purchase u by the britian government of the he congo tree freer state the area of which expeels square miles and the population the frequent tr trips i a 0 of I 1 I 1 KI king n leopold of beegi belgium am to in london anz daring drig the past few ew weeks and hia his numerous nume rouB and protracted with the marquis of salisbury and sec secretary detary of state for the colonies lord knutsford Knut ford are due to the impending impend ng sale which the british prime line minister in intends tends to spring upon th the country mush in the same manner as the late lord Beacons Beld did the purchase pur thase cf of the suez canal shares lord salisbury very verr rightly regards regard the acquisition of the congo state which is the richest district of the I 1 entire african continent as a magnificent coup which will appeal to the I 1 feeling of every englishman and will enable him to dissolve parliament next fall and to face fitce the general election with every certainty of success and consequent prolongation of parlia t tory r tenure orl or office for another parliamentary term of seven years all transactions transaction I 1 in connection wit with h th the purchase have already been completed 1 pate d and the official announcement of the sale delayed solely and alone bv b the hesitation of the united states government to consent to the repeal of article tour four of the berlin congo treaty of ISM 1835 which stipulates that all the merchandise imported into the free state shall remain free from tint import po ra or transit dues for twenty years the revision of this clause was first mooted at tile antislavery anti slavery congress in at brussels king le leopold apold basing liming his demands for authora authorization to by signatory powers of the be berlin lin treaty to levy custom dues on all I 1 imports m into the free state on the grou ground n d that revenues to be derived were absolutely necessary for carrying on the administration of the government in fact both be and his re representatives presen ta have given the powers to understand that it will be absolutely impossible to carry on the adminis tra I 1 tion and development of the state without pecuniary relief to be derived from the Impo imposition Biti ion ot ol custom dues I 1 on imports and that means of tb this IS it kind d are indispensable in order to avo avoid ida a deficit in the congo budget although stanley has bas reason to dig credit these statements by expressly declaring in two of his public speeches at the git anh ld hall and at albert hall that tt e congo free state was paying cent pr cent on money which bad been in vented there yet the br british ibish government has lent the ull weight of its official support to king leopolds demands on the subject of im PT i alo n 0 of f custom dues does this b z 1 in it fact was reluctantly admitted a few days ago in the house of commons by sir james ferguson the under secretary of state late for I 1 foje 11 ign affairs in la reply to an in inquiry quill of one of Glad sones stones fo followers lowers most ost of the other powers ere have followed great britaina Brit ains lead in in the matter or have dippl displayed ayed indifference in in reg regard rd there to trance ra nce has been c conciliated oo ciliated by En glands concessions in in egypt eg pt while germ germany a ny has been similarly by those concessions on the east coast of africa which recently aroused such a storm of indignation against lord salisbury and accusations to the effect that he was truck track line linz to emperor william the only various oll opposition position that has as yet been offered comes from the united states lord salisbury bow how ever is convinced that in in one way or another means w 11 be found to get around ground this objection and as soon as an this is achieved the announcement of the sale will be made the object of this movement in favor of the repeal of article four is perfectly factly ot obvious for although england engrand rand would be 3 ready to acquire the free state at any coat cost yet she naturally prefers to take it un hampered by any stipulations binding it to permit free entry to all foreign trade and commerce and lord salisbury la is old enough to realize that the signatory powers are far more likely to consent to a repeal of article four when petitioned to that effect by king leopold than when requested requests d to do so by wealthy john JIM this knowledge of the great coup which he had bad in in store for the british public goes far to account for lord Salis burys jaunty replies to stanleys Stan leys protests pro concerning the culpable indifference and indolence displayed by i the english government on african questions mr stanley is not behind t the e scenes the premier declared with avery a very knowing air and indulgent tone at the public banquet the other day dimand and although the tile government have already decided to offer stanley the governor generalship of the n new ew dependency yet et both ministers mini stera and in d king leopold have been careful I 1 to avoid giving the great explorer any hint of the negotiations wh ch have been going on for the pas few weeks for stanley although a famous explorer and and a hero in lu many senses of theford the word is utterly lacking in either tact tut or discretion a tact fact that no one d dp lores lorra more deeply than his friend an and admirer king leopold the latter bitterly sal ro ad averted v on this fault of stanleys Stan leys character daring during one of the many audiences which he had with him before the berlin congress of 1881 took I 1 ayon yon one occasion just after stanleys Stan leys discourteous re contre at paris with iha the t reach french explorer Savor goan de do brazza it ia is to this knowledge of evs lack of discretion that is st attributable toe the fill fact ct of his having been kept out 0 of I 1 the secret concerning the sale of the congo state to england although I 1 have the highest authority for or the above statements ants which although tiler they may for or reasons of policy be official officially I 1 ly denied for the present and will yet become accomplished facts within a few weeks or possibly y days yet I 1 have not been able to obtain any exact figures with regard gard to the price paid b by y I 1 england for or the purchase of the congo tree free state but I 1 understand that the sum Is is between forty and fifty millions of dollars or about double the amount paid to the khedive of egypt for the acquisition acquisition of the founders chares share of the suez wt canal al company to king leopold the as eale Is ia lit a matter I 1 of vital importance lor for he has sunk not only ODIT big his own enormous wealth rot but itis it b rumored also that 1 a still till more considerable fortune ha be bolda holds in trust for or big his demented elster sister toe the empress exempress ex carlotta Cat lotta of mexico il in I 1 toe congo enterprise lor for one or two years past he has I 1 I 1 1 be been moving heaven and earth to obtain the sanction of 0 franc and england to 0 o therong the gong congo lo 10 lottery loan with a view of reo recouping pin hi his s losses tills this is all the more argent since the conviction is Rain raining inic ground that the empress carlotta has recovered her reason and that she may shortly demand damand from her kingly brother an accounting of her fortune moreover as the sovereignty of the congo free state is vested in king leopold himself individually belgium aa as a state having no participation in the responsibility therein be he is a found to make arrangements for the continuation s tion of the congo enterprise after death for he is now an fin aeed aged and white bearded man who bag has but a few years more ti 0 live neither his brother the count of Fl andrea andres nor the lat batters la itera son prince baldan who la Is heir apparent to the throne has the slightest Bligh test taste tor for the congo enterprise but who have always discountenanced and deplored king leopolds infatuation in the matter |