Bongbon Belgian ] EVENTS LEADING TO ANNEXATION 37 its progress and were the chief cause of ruthless exploitation, are outside the scope of the present sketch . It remains to give in briefest outline a chrono logical summary of the constitutional events which led to its annexation by Belgium in 1908. In his will, dated August 2, 1889, King Leopold made Belgium heir to the sovereign rights of the Congo Free State. Further, on July 3, 1890, His Majesty signed an agree ment with the Belgian Government whereby the latter consented to advance a loan of 25,000,000 francs, in the course of ten years, on condition that, six months after the expiry of that period, Belgium should have the option of annexing the Free State with all its possessions, rights, duties, and liabilities. It was pro vided that, if this was not done, the debt should only be recoverable after another period of ten years, interest being paid on it meanwhile at the rate of 31 per cent. per annum. When the time limit expired on January 2, 1901 , the actual debt had swollen to 31,850,000 francs, by the addition of a loan of 6,500,000 francs, bearing interest, which had been illegally con tracted by the Congo Government with a syndicate of Antwerp bankers in March 1894, and for which the Belgian Chamber had been induced to make itself responsible in 1895 .

The question of the annexation of the Congo State by Belgium formed the subject of prolonged parlia mentary discussion in the Belgian Chamber. The King strongly opposed immediate annexation, while the Belgian Government, begging the question , proposed to let the debt run on without interest. Under the terms of the measure which eventually passed the Belgian Parliament in August 1901 , Belgium retained the right of option , though not the right to exercise it at a fixed date . Meanwhile, the exploitation of the country continued apace, the situation being aggra vated by the creation in 1896 of the Domaine de la