led to the signing of a protocol
at Brussels on April 29, 1887, whereby the Congo Free State gave up
certain of its claims in the northern part of the Congo region (the
right bank of the River Ubangi), but exacted in return the addition of a
statement "that the right of pre-emption accorded to France could not be
claimed as against Belgium, of which King Leopold is sovereign[460]."

[Footnote 460: _The Congo State_, by D.C. Boulger (London, 1896), p.
62.]

There seems, however, to be some question whether this clause is likely
to have any practical effect. The clause is obviously inoperative if
Belgium ultimately declines to take over the Congo territory, and there
is at least the chance that this will happen. If it does happen, King
Leopold and the Belgian Parliament recognise the prior claim of France
to all the Congolese territory. The King and the Congo Ministers seem to
have made use of this circumstance so as to strengthen the financial
relations of France to their new State in several ways, notably in the
formation of monopolist groups for the exploitation of Congoland. For
the present we may remark that by a clause of the Franco-Belgian Treaty
of Feb. 5, 1895, the Government of Brussels declared that it "recognises
the right of preference possessed by France over its Congolese
possessions, in case of their compulsory alienation, in whole or in
part[461]."

[Footnote 461: Cattier, _Droit et Administration de l'Etat independent
du Congo_, p. 82.]

Meanwhile King Leopold proceeded as if he were the absolute ruler of the
new State. He bestowed on it a constitution on the most autocratic
basis. M. Cattier, in his account of that constitution sums it up by
stating that

The sovereign is the direct source of legislative, executive,
and judiciary powers. He can, if he chooses, delegate their
exercise to certain functionaries, but this delegation has no
other source than his will. . . . He can issue rules, on which,
so long as they last, is based the validity of certain acts
by himself or by his delegates. But he can cancel these rules
whenever they appear to him troublesome, useless, or
dangerous. The organisation of justice, the composition of
the army, financial systems, and industrial and commercial
institutions--all are established solely by him in accordance
with his just or faulty conceptions as to their usefulness or
efficiency[462].

[Footnote