56 
EUROPE AND AFRICA 
annexation; and a commission of sixteen members, com- 
posed of the leading men of all political parties, was ap- 
pointed to study the whole matter carefully. After an 
extended discussion between the Congo administrators and 
the commission, a tentative treaty of cession and annexa- 
tion was signed on November 28, 1907, and approved by 
Leopold on the same day. It was agreed, pending the ap- 
proval of these measures by the Belgian Legislature, that 
the Belgian Government should take over the control of the 
Congo revenues and expenditures on January 1, 1908, and 
that a special “Colonial Law” providing for the government 
of the Belgian Congo should be drafted immediately. The 
“Commission of Seventeen” entered promptly upon its la- 
bors, and, although interrupted from February 4 to March 5 
by the controversy between the cabinet and the king over 
the disposition of the crown domain, completed its work on 
March 25, with an almost unanimous vote approving the 
bill for annexation and the Colonial Law, and laid its report 
on the table of the Chamber on April 3. 
The main difference between these measures and the draft 
law of 1901 was, that it was now proposed to give the Cham- 
ber a share in the government of the Congo territory and the 
right to control the budget, while the former law left the 
power of the sovereign absolute. There were no mate- 
rial alterations in the old system of administration, but the 
changes recommended were suggestive of a genuine interest 
in the welfare of the natives and mark a decisive step in the 
progress of reform. The king was to rule the Congo, as 
formerly, through a Governor-General and such Vice- 
Governors as were necessary; but a “Colonial Office” 
was created in the Belgian Cabinet to which a “Colonial 
Council” was added with power to supervise all royal de- 
crees affecting the colony, to advise changes and make 
recommendations in the form of periodic reports. It was to