[No. 99 (E ) GENERAL REMARKS Though the resources of the Congo are large, both in minerals and in agricultural products, it must be borne in mind that there are many factors which will certainly tend to make progress slow, and which must be weighed against those considerations which point to an early development of the territory after the war. Of these the chief are the following : ( i) The Expense of Communication . — The energetic development of means of transit by the Government is extremely satisfactory, and the river system is an invaluable asset, but none the less the necessity of trans -shipment and the heavy charges on the Matadi Léopoldville section of the railway, though these have been diminished in deference to pressure by the Govern ment, make carriage in any event costly. Some reduction can doubtless be effected by improving the steamship service through the employment of larger vessels carrying goods at a cheaper rate, but this in its turn requires considerable improvement of the channel of the river, steps to effect which are being carried out . Whatever may be the improvements ultimately possible by generation of electricity from water-power, the immediate future shows this grave impediment in the way of rapid progress.

( ii ) The Inadequacy of the existing Railway System, which will have to be supplemented by measures de signed to remedy the congestion of traffic on the Congo, and by the construction of a number of new lines.

As regards new construction the most important ques tion from the British point of view is that of the establishment of communication between Rhodesia and Rejab,1 the limit of navigation on the Nile, or some i Rejaf is separated from Dufile, to which Uganda steamers run , by 104 miles of cataract .