THE GRAB FOR AFRICA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 746, 19 February 1910, Page 13

THE GRAB FOR AFRICA.

OTO NEW SUDAN PEOVINCE.; ■ The death: of King Leopold of Belgium 'restores' to the. Anglo-Egyptian i Sudan a province founded by. General ; Gordon in 1875 on the west bank of tho. Upper Nilo and known as : tho Lado Enclave.. When King Leopold in 1882 founded the Ojngo Free' State,! ; he 'sought to add ! toi this vast territory' the Equatorial ; Provinces '.which .were• cut oil. from the^Sudan by;the.forces'of the Mahdi;i 'iGreat Britain: agreed-to leaab .to the King of the ; Belgians the whole basin of the: Nile' w«6t! of. the'river and':south:of In N. : lat, the post, of Fashoda ibeing''included as. well' as the'3ahr-el'-Ghazal.;and' the.iLado 13n-. clave.:

Though the eastern-portion - bordering on tho Upper Nile was leased to- his 'Majesty . only-.during his lifetime,-' he did not hesitate to make concessions that left the road to Fashoda open to tho French. ' The consequence ''of, this -was -- : apparent :when • Captain •, Marchand' . appeared at Fashoda-at'the';very moment when Lord .'Kitchener had overthrown - the power "of, tho Itahdi's successor at Oindurman. A conflictwith' - France a was avoided, :. and the 'British Government-sought to annul :the;leaseV

;'-'For. so'me-time King Leopold refused to withdraw'his forces,:,but in" 1906 '/an agreement -was signed - under/.whioh the Lado Enclave"Temained part of.the Congo l during the reign fof King Lcopold, provision V also .' being i made'vior " construc-' tibn" of a railway.' from :Ladb to'"the* Congo State frontier, tho establishment of a. commercial port at,'the railway terminus, 1 . free.; navigation on'.tho!; Upper :: Nile' 1 for. Congo::a'nd Belgian Bteaipers/..and : . free : transit: of; passengers, and 'dver the"'.-'territories -of tho '-'Egyptian Sudan. ■"The' 'Anglo-EgjTitian "and Cong'o'leso sections "of : the railway wero linked up and formally opened lo.st month. Tho purposo for whicli tho Lado Enclavo was originally conceded has therefore been accomplished .by ' this railway, and' by: the terms of the lease the pro-vince-.feyerts to thoAnglo-Egyptian Sudan at -the end of six months from tho death oi King Leopold—that is to say;' bniJunb.l7.'