The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1904-10-11
FLAYS King LEOPOLD
His Policy in Congo Free State At
tackled at Peace Congress.
APPALLING CONDITIONS EXPOSED

< ~ WoTcl DAYS NdN'es nc ~ ~
Produce Rubber and FoodstuHs Un'
der Penalty of Death and That They
Are Utterly Crushed and Broken
Boston. oct S.-The policy OF King
Lcopold. OF Belgium. Ia treating with
the people Of the Congo Free state
was attacked at public meeting held
under the auspices of the international
Peace Congress. by f.. ID. Morel, Of
ENGLAND representing the Congo Re-
form Association
The meeting was called to discuss
the relations of races and the menace
10 the worlds order through the eX-
uloitation of weaker peoples.
Mir. MoroI said in part; The errand
which has brought me TO the United
States Is a very simple one. 1t Is 10
appeal to you in behalf Of the oppressed
and prosecuted people of the Congo
for whose present unhappy condition
you and We have n great moral respon'
sibility from which we cannot escape.
and from which in honor we should not
attempt 10 escape. IL is my privilege
TO ask You who are met here in the
cause of peace whether you will not
lend a hand i'm staying the cruel and
destructive wars If the murder OF
HELPLESS mon and women can be digni-
fed by such a name which for 10 long
years have been decimating the Congo
peoples
Mr.. Morcl related the circumstances
under which. he said, King Leopold Of
Belgium Obtained recognition for the
Congo Free State from the world pow
crs.
with such feryor" he said, did
Leopold protest the purity Of his mo-
lives and tho sincerity OF his philan-
thropic aims. that he succeeded in con-
,incing the whole world, and the asSO-
citation blussomed forth into the inde-
pendent state of the Congo. Thus brief
~ were the destinies of 10000 600 hui
man beings assigned to King Leopold
in trust for civilization.
For nearly 20 years this policy OF
peace and liberty Of moral and ma
terial regeneration has been In full
swing. But behind this unse OF So
called civilization the light shines upon
another picture. a picture Of misera-
bly, oppressed people. 1t discloses an
enslaypd and stricken race. grOanng
beneath a yoke heavier than the ten
plaques OF Egypt and. unlike them
undeseryed The Congo State has trans
lated the freedom to which il was dedi-
Gated by making free OF everything the
African possessed including his body
and his lie. The sovereign of the Con
60 state has fulfilled his pledges by
asserting his unquestioned personal
rights 10 every article Of commercial
value the Congo territories produce. A
vast system Of forced production in
India rubber and lu0d5luffs has been
instituted which allows the native no
time TO cultivate his plantations, to
maintain himself, or to have any lei
sure for his own affairs. native
army larger than the combined forces
OF England France and Germany in
western central Africa. has been raised.
armed and quartered upon the pOpula-
ton Where these demands have met
with resistance slaughter wholesale
and pitiless has been and is exercised
to enforce compliance, while the peo-
pie utterly crushed and broken. have
no option. what is left OF them. but 10
obey and in obeying slowly perish
That is the true picture proved beyond
the possibility of doubt which the up
rolling of the Congo curtain discloses. u
Mr. Morers speech provoked yig0r-
Gus reply from George Herbert Head,
Of Cambridge. England. in defense of
King Leopold MIR Head said in part:
THE Congo Free State IS doing all
that il is able to do to prevent acts OF
cruelty to the natives. The govern
ment desires an investigation and is
not afraid of it, and if these people
bring charges against the administTa-
ton the government undertakes that
it will show that, il the facts are al
ready in its possession, that that mar
has already been punished if. on the
other hand. the facts have not been
known to them. the government viii
make an investigation. and that man
will be punished. il guilty"