Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1906-02-15
LEOPOLD'S
CRUELTY
HOW THE BELGIAN KING
BARBAROUSLY GROWS
RICH.
BLOOD, CRUELTY AND INFAMN
COVER HIS CONTROL IN THE
CONGO FREE STATES.
THE AGED MoNARcH's GREED APP
PALS THE WORLD BY ITS IN
HUMAN BRUTALITY.
Shocking Revelations.

10 uS an dNdTlClOuS, CIuel STdlleI ny
revelations contained in book on the
Congo Free State, published at Paris
and Brussels by the Belgian, Prof.
Gather indicating that during the
past decade King Leopold has drawn
an amount estimated at $l5,00O,0O0
from the rubber tradc in the Congo
domaine de la CourC nne), there be-
ing no trace of this IN the published
accounts of the Congo administration.
King Leopold's personal property, con-
sists of 2S9,375 square kilometres, or
an area l-2 times the size of Eng
land. bringing him profits on india rub
Der alone OF Sl5,147000 during the last
10 years.
Rev. Or. Herbert s. Johnson, Of the
Warren Avenue Baptist church. Bos-
ton, Mass, who is touring the coun-
try in the interests of the Congo Re
form Association, says that, up 10 with
in a comparatively short time, ne, ike
G. Stanley Hall, Lyman Abbott, and
others, hesitated about taking up the
work. But the official report of the
commissioners, quite different from al
legged resumes OF the same, has con-
verted him, and taking this report as
a basis, he paints a condition of things
in the territory known 10 the world
as the Congo Free State" which beg
gers anything known in civilized his
tory. King Leopold appears monster
of greed and blood, who. at the age Of
II years, destroys human life, ruins
commerce and productive land that he
may pour more gold into his Golfers.
DR.. Johnson laughed in derision
when shown the London dispatch
which says that. during the last de-
cade King Leopold has drawn an
amount estimated at $4,000, 900 from
the rubber trade OF the Congo
He gets more than that every
year" declared DR.. Johnson. I'VE es-
innate King Leopolds income at $780,
100000 year He is The richest man
In the world.
Never in the history of the
world has there been a crime equal to
the crime of King Leopold"
I'm the last fifteen years he has
millions of people. He has depopu-
lated whole districts
Every time a guard shoots a ma
tive he cuts off hand In one small
district 5000 right hands were cut off
within six months.
king Leopold is no longer on trial.
He has been tried and convicted by his
own commission The only thing that
remains now is to pass sentence.
The report OF the kings own COM
mission says that the natives are
Obliged to work $50 days year by way
of tax. They go into the woods two
weeks al a time to gather rubber. Then
they are allowed to stay in their viii
lagos for two or three days Then they
are sent back into the wilderness. TO
all. practical purposes they are slaves.
And King Leopold has chosen as
guards. cannibals from hostile tribes.
He has furnished them with rapid fire
guns and chicottes, whips formed of
hippopotamus hide. twisted when
green into corkscrew shape. lnese
guards pillage. massacre and outrage.
performing every cruelty known TO
savage warfare. Let me give you one
example OF the things that are fit TO be
told. for many incidents are too hor-
rible to be printed.
John II. Harris, who has returned
from the heart of the Congo region,
says that, on one occasion, he saw
one OF the rubber gatherers seized by
six men and stretched out on the
ground. and dashed with the chjcotte
until he was bleeding mass. You
must remember that chicotte will cut
clean to the backbone To intimidate,
they sometimes cut off the hands Of
the men and the feet of the women.
Every time a guard shoots a native he
ours off a hand. 10 show that he has
moi used his bullet i'm killing game.
For the game belongs 10 the king In
one small district 5000 right hands
were cut off within six months.
In 1891 Thomas Moody went to the
mission station at lrebu. He found
there between eight and ten thousand
natives. Six years later he revisited
the place. and there were only be-
tween three and five hundred remain.
ing. In 1890, fifty people out of the
original thousands were at the station.
The remainder had been enslaved, had
fed to the wilderness, or had been
killed. Most of them were dead
Forced as they are TO live in the
open forests without protection of
any sort. thousands Of these poor PEG.
pie succumb 10 pulmonary diseases.
dying like sheep.
And beside all this. the merchants
of America should know that the rich
est rubber-producing country in the
world is being ruined In their eager
ness to fulfill the demand of their
taskmasters the poor slaves are break
ing up the vines and are even digging
up the roots
Pope Plus. in order to insure pro-
lection to the invaluable paintings in
Nr.lii,ntt Nttill -, L.