Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/755

 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS 703

total length of railways on January 1. 1920, was 1,267 miles. Principal lines:— The Matadi-Leopoldville line, 248 miles ; the Mayumbe railway (Boma to Tshela), 90 miles ; the Stanleyville- Ponthierville line, 78 miles ; the Kindu-Kongolo line, 220 miles ; the Rabalo-Albertville line, 170 miles ; the Bukama to the Rhodesian frontier vid Elisabethville, 451 miles ; the Katanga branch line to Lubumbashi, 1 mile ; to Hikola, 9 miles. Two sections of the Cape-to-Cairo railway are included in the system. The distance from Eliiabethville, Katanga, on the Cape-to-Cairo Railway, to Cape Town is about 2,300 miles.

An important development in 1911 was the construction of a pipe line from Matadi to Leopoldville, 246 miles long, for the purpose of transporting crude oil for the use of river steamers. It has a diameter of 4 inches, with 8 pumping stations capable of delivering 50.000 tons of oil at Leopoldville the terminus. The concession is for 50 years, at the expiration of which period all the pipe lines, with the material, except the vessels and stores of petroleum, will pass into the hands of the Congo Government.

The length of the Congo-Tanganyika Lake Railway is 169 miles. It was completed in March, 1915, and links up the whole of tie Upper Congo with the railway from Dar-es- Salaam to Ujiji.

From Leopoldville a public transport service on the Upper Congo and it* tributaries has been organised by the Government and several com- panies, 59 steamers and barges being employed for this purpose.

In 1919 there were 50 post, telegraph and telephone offices. There are in addition 23 special telegraph offices, and there are 24 centres where there is a telephone wire. In 1919 in the internal service 917,997 letters, papers, &c, were transmitted ; and in the external, 1,816,571 were handled. The Congo is included in the Postal Union. Telegraph lines connect Banana with Coquilhatville ; 800 miles ; Boma with Tshela, 85 miles ; Stanleyville and Ponthierville, 79 miles ; Kasongo and Uvira( Lake Tanganyika), 265 miles; Kindu and Kongolo, 219 miles; Kabalo and Lake Tanganyika, 169 miles ; and S&kania and Bukama 448 miles. Total length, 2,065 miles. There are at present 15 stations of wireless telegraphy in the Belgian Congo — at Banana, Boma, Kinshasa, Coquilhatville, Basankusu, Umangi, Basoko, Stanleyville, Kindu, Kongolo, Albertville, Kikondja, Elisabethville, Lusambo, and Kilo. All these posts communicate with each other. It is hoped to establish a direct communication between Brussels and Boma.

Four banks are in existence, the ' Banque du Congo Beige,' and the ' Banque Commerciale du Congo, ' both with branches in all the commercial centres, the Banco Nacional Ultra-marino, and the Standard Bank.

The currency of the Congo is that of Belgium and is now generally used, even by the natives. It consists of 20 and 10 franc pieces in gold ; 5, 2 and 1 franc pieces and 50 cent pieces in silver : 20, 10 and 5 cent pieces (perforated) in nickel ; and 2 and 1 cent pieces (perforated) in copper. Banknotes of 20, 100 and 1,000 francs issued by the. Banque du Congo Beige were put in circulation during the year 1912. Gold disappeared from circula- tion almost immediately upon the outbreak of war, and silver was hoarded to such an extent that it became necessary for the Banque du Congo Beige to issue bank notes for nominal values of 1 and 5 francs, a large emission of which was made on October 15, 1914.

The Metric System was introduced by law on August 17, 1910.

British CvrmU.—K. J. Wallach (at Boma).

There is a British Vice-Consul at EHsabethviiie.