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His Majesty the King of Spain, and in his name Her Majesty the Queen-Regent of the Kingdom, Don José Gutierrez de Aguera, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the Sovereign-King of the Congo Free State, M. Edmond van Eetvelde, Administrator-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Congo Free State; and M. Auguste van Maldeghem, Councillor of the Court of Cassation of Belgium;

The President of the United States of America, Mr. Edwin H. Terrell, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to His Majesty the King of the Belgians; and Mr. Henry Shelton Sanford;

The President of the French Republic, M. Albert Bourée, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to His Majesty the King of the Belgians; and M. George Cogordan, Minister Plenipotentiary, Chief of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France;

His Majesty the King of Italy, M. François de Renzis, Baron de Montanaro, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians; and M. Thomas Catalani, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary;

His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxemburg, Louis, Baron Gericke de Herwynen, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Imperial Majesty the Shah of Persia, General Nazare Aga, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, M. Henrique de Macedo Pereira Coutinho, Member of his Council, Peer of the Realm, Minister and Honorary Secretary of State, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, Léon, Prince Ouroussoff, Master of his Court, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the

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Belgians; and M. Frédéric de Martens, his Councillor of State, Permanent Member of the Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia;

His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, M. Charles de Burenstam, his Chamberlain, his Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and to His Majesty the King of the Netherlands;

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Étienne Carathéodory Efendi, High Dignitary of his Empire, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians.

His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar, Sir John Kirk; and M. Guillaume Göhring,

Who, furnished with full powers which have been found in good and due form, have adopted the following provisions:

CHAP. I. SLAVE TRADE COUNTRIES. MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IN PLACES OF ORIGIN.

ART. I. The Powers declare that the most effective means for counteracting the Slave Trade in the interior of Africa are the following:

Organization of Administrative, Judicial, Religious, and Military Services.

1. Progressive organization of the administrative, judicial, religious, and military services in the African territories placed under the sovereignty or protectorate of civilized nations.

Fortified Stations in the Interior.

Man-hunts.

2. The gradual establishment in the interior, by the responsible Power in each territory, of strongly occupied stations, in such a way as to make their protective or repressive action effectively felt in the territories devastated by man-hunts.

Roads and Railways.

3. The construction of roads, and in particular of railways, connecting the advanced stations with the coast, and permitting

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easy access to the inland waters, and to the upper reaches of streams and rivers which are broken by rapids and cataracts, so as to substitute economical and speedy means of transport for the present means of portage by men.

Steam-boats on inland Waters and on Lakes. Fortified Posts on Banks.

4. Establishment of steam-boats on the inland navigable waters and on the lakes, supported by fortified posts established on the banks.

Telegraph Lines.

5. Establishment of telegraphic lines assuring the communication of the posts and stations with the coast and with the administrative centres.

Expeditions and Flying Columns.

6. Organization of expeditions and flying columns to keep up the communication of the stations with each other and with the coast, to support repressive action, and to assure the security of roadways.

Fire Arms and Ammunition.

7. Restriction of the importation of fire-arms, at least of modern pattern, and of ammunition, throughout the entire extent of the territories infected by the slave trade.

Posts, Stations, and Cruizers, in Inland Waters.

ART. II. The stations, the cruizers organized by each Power in its inland waters, and the posts which serve as ports for them shall, independently of their principal task, which is to prevent the capture of slaves and intercept the routes of the Slave Trade, have the following subsidiary duties:

Protection to Natives.

1. To serve as a base and, if necessary, as a place of refuge for the native populations placed under the sovereignty or the protectorate of the State to which the station belongs, for the

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independent populations, and temporarily for all others in case of imminent danger; to place the populations of the first of these categories in a position to co-operate for their own defence;

Arbitration in Intestine Wars.

To diminish intestine wars between tribes by means of arbitration;

Agricultural Works and Industrial Arts.

To initiate them in agricultural works and in the industrial arts so as to increase their welfare;

Barbarous Customs. Cannibalism. Human Sacrifices.

To raise them to civilization and bring about the extinction of barbarous customs, such as cannibalism and human sacrifices.

Commercial Undertakings.

2. To give aid and protection to commercial undertakings;

Contracts of Service with Natives.

To watch over their legality, especially by controlling contracts of service with natives;

Permanent Centres. Commercial Establishments, &c. And to lead up to the foundation of permanent centres of cultivation and of commercial establishments.

Protection of Mission.

3. To protect, without distinction of creed, the missions which are already or may hereafter be established.

Sanitary Service. Assistance, &c., to Explorers.

4. To provide for the sanitary service, and to grant hospitality and help to explorers and to all who take part in Africa in the work of repressing the Slave Trade.

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Repression of the Slave Trade. Engagement of each Power.

ART. III. The Powers exercising sovereignty or protectorate in Africa, in order to confirm and give greater precision to their former declarations, undertake to proceed gradually, as circumstances permit, either by the means above indicated, or by any other means which they may consider suitable, with the repression of the Slave Trade; each State in its respective Possessions and under its own direction. Whenever they consider it possible they will lend their good offices to the Powers which, with a purely humanitarian object, may be engaged in Africa upon a similar mission.

Engagements of Powers may be delegated to Chartered Companies, but Powers remain responsible.

ART. IV. The Powers exercising sovereignty or protectorate in Africa may, however, delegate to Chartered Companies all or a portion of the engagements which they assume in virtue of Article III. They remain, nevertheless, directly responsible for the engagements which they contract by the present General Act, and guarantee the execution thereof.

National Associations and Private Enterprises.

The Powers promise to receive, aid, and protect national associations and enterprises due to private initiative, which may wish to co-operate in their Possessions in the repression of the Slave Trade, subject to their receiving previous authorization, which is revocable at any time; subject also to their being directed and controlled, and to the exclusion of any exercise of rights of sovereignty.

Penal Laws to be enacted:-against Offences against the Person, Man-hunts, Mutilation of Adults and Male Infants, Capture of Slaves by Violence.

ART. V. The Contracting Powers undertake, unless this has already been provided for by laws in accordance with the spirit of the present Article, to enact or propose to their respective Legistures, in the course of one year at latest from the date of the signature of the present General Act, a Law applying, on the