Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1904-04-27
WITNESS TELLS OF
BELGIAN ATROCITIES
Story Told by Former Superin.
tendent Congo Railway.
UNTOLD cRUELTIEs TO NATIVES

/ ~SNAf~N9 ~S@A W OiISdA q FCSSCl WISll
Terrified American Negroes Refused
To Observation-Disclosures They Were
Shot Down by Soldiers.
New York, April ga former SUI
perintendent of the Congo River rail-
| way, now residing in Brooklyn, gives
| some hitherto unpublished facts con-
cecnLg the brutal treatment of natives
and others by King Leopold's Belgian
officials. This man is German, who
| has lived in America some years.
AT the instance of the Belgian gov
| ernment, l took from America 300
negroes to the Congo region in July
| 1882, he said. Il engaged these men
to work as laborers for the Congo rail
way for rs cents a day and their
board. In crossing the Atlantic we
| touched at Las Palmas, in the Cana
ries. to Change steamers.
When we had boarded the steamer
for the Congo region priests came
aboard and warned the negroes that
| they would not be treated as paid
workers but as slaves by the Bel
gians, and begged them to leave the
vessel and return to America [ tolu
the negroes that L was not the slave
driver that the priests made me out;
and would see that they were proper
Iy and fairly treated and get their
pay and board as stipulated in the
contract.
This was my first experience work
ing fer the Belgian government, and
although had heard tales of the cru
elites of the Belgians, l thought them
exaggerat10ns. So persuaded my
men to remain aboard, but their fears
had been so worked on by the priests
that when the steamer reached Bona.
at the mouth of the Congo, they re-
fused to d.Sen bark. The command
lh9 official Of the railroad at Bona
became g?Catly incensed when | re.
ported that my consignment of ne
gcoCs refused to leave the vessel. He
said that ne would get them ashore.
He summoned a hundred of his native
soldlery and ordered them to shoot
into the negroes, who were hudled to.
gether on the deck forward. | plead.
cd with the official that he order only
blank car; ridges to be fired, and he
agreed. TIE volley from the hundred
rifles, however, had no effect on the
frightened negroes, who still refused
to leave the ship.
THE Belgian official then ordered
his men to load with ball cartridges.
Then, despite my pleading, the 100
soldiers fired at the defenseless, un.
protected negroes. Twelve were killed
outright and about 80 wounded. This
had the effect of soaring the survivors
into going ashore protested to the
official against this outrage and said
that | would report it to the Belgian
government He laughed and told me
to tell Leopold all about it. | learned
afterward that King Leopold was full.
ly aware of all the cruelties practised
by his officials in the Congo.
Il insisted that the dead should be
buried and the wounded attended in
the Bona hospital. heard afterward
that the unfortunates taken to the hos
pital received Indifferent care.
Il had noticed the cruel grins OF
satisfaction on the faces of the native
soldiers when they were ordered to
use ball cartridges and learned that
not only did they enjoy killing simply
because it suited their bloodthirsty
natures, but because the Belgian off.
GERS held out the reward OF promotion
to those who killed the most persons,
The uninjured survivors of this
massacre were herded on the wharf
and bound together with chains.
Chains were attached to their necks
aud feet. In this fashion they were
taken up the river to Mataidy. They
were forced at Mataldy to work still
chained together. They carried rail.
road ties and even the heavy steel
rails on their shoulders. When they
Jagged, or their strength gave out,
the inhuman slave drivers beat them
savagely with whips that brought the
blood from their bodies as if the lash.
es were knife cuts.
Il made such a protest over this.
declaring l would get the assistance
of the German government in stopping
it, that my men finally were released
and were not treated SO inhumanly as
the others. | also succeeded in com.
pelling the Belgian officials to pay all
of my men the rs cents day the
contract called for.
During the II months l remained
in the Congo region l saw many terri.
bic instances of the inhumaniEy of the
Belgian government and Congo rail
way officials. Petty larceny by ma.
tive was usually punished by death.
When a native became too weak to
work longer or grew i'll Of the fever
scourge that always prevails there, he
was dragged out of the gang and left
beside the road to die 1t was the
rule OF the native slave-drivers EN-.
ployed by the Belgians to work the
slaves until they dropped The slaves
were kept up to the work by the most
cruel beatings. Along this railroad
line were the skeletons of men and
women who had been slain or worked
to death by the Belgians and their
slave-Grivers or who had died of the
fever. The entire length of the rail.
road across the continent of Africa
is lined with these whitening bones.
"The American missionaries plead
IN vain with the Belgians to be less
| cruel. The missionaries are told that
cruelty is necessary to get any work
out Of the natives.
This whole Congo region ought to
be taken away from Belgium and plac-
ed i'll the care of decent nation like
the United States. AS long as the