The Minneapolis journal., 1903-11-07
Brussels Correspondence Boston Transcript.

nee Boston Transcript.
tions against the Congo administra-
ton. The Congo administration has
not waited for any commission of in
quiry to sit. 1t has already replied
fully to the charges brought against
1T, but no reply will silence it's ac-
cusers. They want the Cohgo's riches,
not it's kings defense, and will con-
tinue clamoring until the utter futil-
|ity of their shouting threats at Leo
Epold is brought home to them. Al
ready they have prepared a map, a
copy of which is before me as write,
of the Free State of the Congo parti-
toned out as they wish The districts
to be offered as bribes to France and
Germany are duly marked on it, but
they are small. The plotters do not
hide their hands, they show clearly
that England, and Englands puppet
Egypt Is to take the lions share.
How the Tuanult Arose.
This, which I have related, accounts
for the tumult of popular opinion in
England, always easily stirred up by
such tales. Multitudes, misled by the
cheap, If genuine, sympathy, felt with
the oppressed, join unthinkingly in the
cries against the Congo. A moments
thought, the putting of the old ques-
tion "Cui bono?" and its only possi-
BILE answer should surely set them
right and end the controversy.
King Leopold could gain nothing by
maintaining q bad administration in
the Congo. It is true the English note
suggests "the object Of the adninistra-
ton Is not to protect and govern the
natives, but to amass revenues but
no one knows more certainly than the
sovereign of the Congo that the de-
velopment Of a. tropical country is
l,bour1d up with the well-being Of its
4 natives, whose labor is Indispensable
! not only for the tillage Of the soil,
but even for the gathering Of its
riches. Moreover, King Leopold is no
grasping millionaire. He is not seek
his Congo enterprise. All his African
possessions are long since bequeathed ed
Ito Belgium. In spreading civilization
he has opened up the wealth of the
II country and gathered much from its
Il long neglected abundance, but it is
tor the Congo and for Belgium he has
worked from the beginning, and 1t i
! Belgium by sending Belgians to At
|rica to act as brutes there and become
, brutalized.
) Slavery Stopped by Leopold.
I The law of the Congo recognizes ne
: slavery, but the English note on thu
Congo government, says the arhassint
; Of revenues is pursued by means O.
compulsory work differing only il
; name from slavery" Compulsory worl
may, Of course, at all times be likeneC
to slavery, but between the hardes
labor and slavery, in the heart of AT
> rica, there is a difference so great tha
: : no twisting of phrases can bridge i
! over. More often than not, the mel
: that were sold as slaves by the black
to each other in the Congo, befor
: King Leopold ruled there, were sol
; ; not that they might be, forced to la
Dor, but that they might be eater
: Missionaries say in their published re
I ports that Of the slaves so sold al
almost fatally, served as victims i
the ceremonies, or ended in the cook
}. ing pots" Those who escaped thei
= cannibalistic kinsnen were in hourl
= danger of falling into the hands Of tn
a Arab slave hunter. Edouard Foa, a
: official Of the French government
= gigantic commerce In human flesh, tell
: how "the path from the Lake Tan
= ganyika to the Congo, followed former
= ly by the Arab caravans, is strewn fo
= four hundred kilometres (25O miles
:. with human bones, where millions {
: slaves fell on that fatal path. I hav
: seen there" he said, many skeleton
= = and even some corpses dating frol
a few weeks before
!, When he wrote some years late
:, the Arab slave raids were already
- =. thing of the past. To have suppresse
- them, as beyond all denial 1t has don'
:. :. is in itself alone justification the mos
= ample for King Leopold's administrs
- ton. The mere coming of the state
- representative was sufficient to disp,
:, the clouds Of horrors which thick
:, ened over the black mans sky. Car
> nibalisn, ordeal by poison, 1naimin
- and mutilation, let the libelers sa
: what they will. ceased at the appear
: ance Of the white officer. Even h,
- - cheap by cannibalistic savages, bega
- - to acquire security. Describing tt
- coming of a government represents
tive, an English missionary tells no
= : before he came athe native execution
ts er was hard set, and there were h,
:. = man sacrifices every day. The d.
% capitated corpses f1oated in such
- number that we could not use tt
= water of the river. We were witho1
~ aid to soften the sufferings of IL
:, slaves, but, thanks to God, that a
- came to us, for 1t pleased Him to ser
,e % us an officer Of the state, active, al
y. "a with his heart in the right place. Aft
of Cnat a slave canoe COulQ not De IOul
~ ~. on the river night or day!'' And Y
- forced laboris ktkened to slavery! Ki1
~ Leopold took possession of the Con!
~ ~ that he might introduce civilizati'
= IL there. Neither he, nor any other ma
=, could civilize the blacks without co
., straining them to work. The compr
=, sion of labor, however that compl
10 10 sion is brought about, is an absolu
70 70 necessity. In the Congo it is a nece
sity wisely enforced.
The Blacks Condition.
=. Tho the labor is in lieu of tax, Il
y. st blacks are paid for 1t. They a
~ taught something while they wor
=, =. Strong drink is kept from them.
~ ~ ninety-rline one-hundredths of tt
a. Congo it is a criminal offense to
=, troduce or sell alcoholic liquor; in t
a. remaining part alcohol is SO scar
se se amongst the blacks that a. bottle
- whisky passes current as money, al
goes thru hundreds of hands, as
means of exchange, before it is drum
a. The natives are preached to at t
~ oa white mems settlements. Often tn
,,4 are converted. There are in the Con
~ ~ 465 missionaries and over 1870
~ ar Christians, including 21,300 childre
q. Further, the converts seem to be ge
=, - uine ones They are men and ch
:. dren for the most part; the wo1n
81 = tied to their fetiches cannot be dray
=, from them.
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