A perverse combination of rewards and penalties…

A perverse combination of rewards and penalties lies at the heart of the Congo's system.

Congo Free State agents and native auxiliaries (the so-called capitas) are given authority to use as much force as they deem appropriate to meet delivery norms, and because their profits are proportional to the amount of rubber and ivory collected, the inevitable consequence is the institutionalization of force on a huge scale.

Although native chiefs are expected to cooperate, the incessant and arbitrary demands made on their authority are self-defeating.

Many chiefs turn against the colonial state; others are quickly disposed of and replaced by state-appointed "straw chiefs."

Countless revolts ensue, which have an immediate effect on the scale and frequency of military expeditions.

As the cost of pacification soars, Leopold II declares a state monopoly on rubber and ivory.

The free-trade principle that had once been the cornerstone of the Congo Free State thus becomes a legal fiction, aptly summed up in this pithy commentary of the time: "Article one: trade is entirely free; article two: there is nothing to buy or sell."