Even had I done so, I am not an expert
on rubber, and would have understood nothing of Para trees, Lagos
silk, and liane. I am speaking not of my own knowledge, only of what
was told me by people who live on the spot. I found that this
particular concession was well known, because, unlike the land given
to the Forestry and Mines Company, it is not an inaccessible tract,
but is situated only eight miles from Leopoldville. In our language,
that is about as far as is the Battery to 160th Street. Leopoldville
is the chief place on the Congo River, and every one there who spoke
to me of the concession knew where it was situated, and repeated
that it had been given up by Leopold as unprofitable, and that he
had unloaded it on Mr. Ryan. They seem to think it very clever of
the King to have got rid of it to the American millionaire. To one
knowing Mr. Ryan only from what he reads of him in the public press,
he does not seem to be the sort of man to whom Leopold could sell a
worthless rubber plantation. However, it is a matter which concerns
only Mr. Ryan and those who may think of purchasing shares in the
company. The Guggenheims, who are to operate this rubber, say that
Leopold did not know how to get out the full value of the land, and
that they, by using the machinery they will install, will be able to
make a profit, where Leopold, using only native labor, suffered a
loss.
To the poor the ways of the truly rich are past finding out.
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