The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-04-18
stanley

When Henry M. Stanley undertook to
attack the memory of the dead and to
traduce the living, he must have be-
lleved that he held in his hand the
strongest cards in the deck. And at
the first glance it was a good hand and
prominently suited for a bold attempt
at bluff. In his favor he could count on
the prestige that surrounds a veteran
explorer, who has had the signal good
luck Of acting as his own historian. He
was the sole possessor of an Arab aft
davit mill that required only a few
turns OF a crank to grind out whatever
testimony he desired. He could point
to the single little CLEAN of success that
had shone upon the Emin Pasha relief
expedition, and proudly declare that to
him and to him alone the measure of
success was due. AS for that unfortun-
ate rear camp at Yambuya, with it's hor-
rors Of murder, slckening maladlninis-
%tration and general inefficacy, not
one iota of that could be laid to his
charge. And he. posed as the outraged
champion of civilization. He wept bit
ter tears over the woes and lashes of in
jured natives. What answer need he
make to charges of desertion and lack
OF support and the necessary means of
existence preferred by subordinates
who had failed and failed VIGOROUSLY in
their allotted part of the exploring
scheme? Such attacks as these the
world would be slow to believe. And
when Jameson's diary, RISE Troup, and
Ward, each in turn, detailed his story,
Stanley waved them off and protested
that his was the only reliable account of
the SHAMELESS at Yambuya.
But the tender-hearted one has now
to face a new arraignment. and this time
it does not proceed from a disgraced
subordinate. 1t is the work of an Amer
ican citizen, one who served with credit
in the war and in the legislature of Ohio.
Men who know him say that Col. Will
Jams word IS as good as his bond. He
has travelled extensively in the Congo
Free State, and has used his naturally
acute powers of observation with con-
siderable effect. The results of his At
rican travels he has published in an
open letter to the king of the Belgians,
and later in pamphlet form. The col
onel does not care to mince his words.
has no AK to grind, no old Insults to
avenge, no favors to expect, but his
charges against Stanley are all the more
weighty for these very reasons. The ex-
plorer must give an answer, or the pub
lie will know at what value to rate his
previous stubborn assertions.
The agents of your majesty's govern
says Col. Williams, addressing King
Leopold, "have misrepresented the Congo
and tho Congo railway. H. M.
the man who was your chief agent
in setting up your authority in this country,
grossly misrepresented the character of
the country. Instead of being fertile and
productive it is sterile and unproductive.
The natives can scarcely subsist upon the
vegetable life produced in some parts of
their country, nor will this condition of af-
fairs change until the natives shall have
been taught by Europeans the dignity, util-
ity and blessing of labor. There is no i'm
uiiicAS Vic ldUlN5b. DtCduS6 JQeTp
IS an impossible gulf between them and
your majesty's governmental gulf which
can never be bridged.
Henry M. Stanley's name produces a
among this simple folk when men
They remember his broken prom
lses, his copions profanity, his hot temper,
his heavy blows, his severe and vigorous
by which they were muIcted of
their lands. His last appearance IN Congo
produced a profound sensation among
them. WhsA he led 500 Zanzibar soldiers.
with 300 camp followers, on his wa5 to re
Emin Pasha. they thought it meant
complete subsection. and they fed in con-
fusion. Bnt the only thing they found in
the wake of his march was misery. No
white man commanded his rear column.
and his troops were allowed to strasgel.
sicken and die, and their bones were scat
tered over more than 200 miles of TERRITORY"