Belgian) CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 51 the political, economic, financial, and moral state of the Congo must be presented annually to Parliament along with the budget .

The Local Government. — Since 1911 , for all practical purposes, the Congo has been divided into two Colonies , separated in everything except the possession of a common budget, the Congo 1 and Katanga, to which has been assigned some portions of the Kasai and other districts. The head of the executive power in the Congo is the Governor-General, who has also the right in cases of urgency to exercise the power of legislating by ordonnance, in derogation even of a decree, but such legislation ceases to be effective after six months, if not within that time approved by decree. He is assisted by a head -quarters staff of seven directors, by vice-governors and inspectors, and a secretary general ; with other official and unofficial members if desired, these form a consultative council whose ser vices are little used. The twenty -two districts are administered by commissioners, who represent the Governor-General and exercise wide powers. Theformer independence of the heads of secteurs and zones has disappeared, and the commissioners control the administrators and agents of the territories into which each district is divided. Under the new regulations these officers are not in a position to abuse their powers. The administrators are formally forbidden by a decree of June 25, 1912, to order military expeditions against the natives, to remove villages, or to prohibit or subject to conditions the recruiting of men.

1 No term is in official use for the Congo in this reduced sense . By a royal decree of November 3, 1913 , a Province Orientale was created under a Vice -Governor, and another decree of July 28, 1914, divided the territory into four Provinces , Congo -Kasai (capital Léopoldville ), Equateur (capital Coquilhatville ), Orientale (capital Stanleyville), and Katanga (capital Elisabeth ville), each under a Vice -Governor -General.

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