Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-24
CRIME IN THE CONGO
Rev. DR.. Sheridan Attacks Leo
pold and His Acts.
BELIEVES IN THE CHARGES
He Expresses Amusement That Any
One Can Condone Reign.
COUNTRY NOW A WILDERNESS
Evidence is Sufficient to Convince
Any One of the Conditions,
Declares the Minister.
BELIEVES IN THE CHARGES
COUNTRY NOW A WILDERNESS

BALTIMORE, December 2-Rev. Dr.
Wilbur F. Sheridan, pastor of Mount Yer
| non Place NJ. E. Church, preached last
| night the Coming of the Prince of
Peace to the Congo"
Additional significance was given to the
| sermon by the fact that DR.. Sheridan was
one Of the ministers who defended Cardinal
| Gibbons when the cardinal was attacked
| by Rev. DIR. II. Grattan Guinness of Lon
don, one of the leaders of the Congo re-
| form movement in speech in Brown Me-
mortal Presbyterian Church December IA.
DR.. Guinness declared that "the one strong
| hand that has been keeping this thing go
| ing is none other than that of Cardinal
| Gibbons. That is the hand that supported
Leopold in the Congo
| Pardon me-" said DIR. Sheridan. rising
| to his feet, but l entertain a profound re
gard for Cardinal Gibbons, whom l admire
| for his catholicity of view. l cannot think
| that such can be the case"
| Since the meeting Cardinal Gibbons has
| issued statement in defense OF King Leo
| pold. declaring him a wise and humane
! ruler and referring to the reports of afro
| cities as inspired by commercial rivalry
| and religious jealousy.
.-- DR.. Sheridan's Sermon.
| DR.. Sheridan said last night:
| 1.-THE song of the angels heraldng the
| coming of the King was of peace on
earth and good will, toward men, 1t was
that which the King came to bring. And
slowly but surely that peace and that good
| will are coming to prevail on earth
But l feel that / should be recreant to
| my trust a herald of this King II did
| not raise my voice in solemn protest against
| the utter violation of this Christmas mes
sage which is taking place almost under
| our eyes. and for which our nation IS in
part responsible. / refer to the atrocities
| being perpetrated in the Congo by LAT
| Christian king-God save the mark-Lco-
/ pold of Belgium And. inasmuch there
has been a great deal of dust thrown into
| the air to obscure the real issue, let me
give some Of the facts:
| Rev w. NJ. Morrison of the Southern
/ Presbyterian Church, who preached for us
| last year, tells how his colleague in mis-
| sionary work found eighty-one human
! hands drying over a slow fire. the owners
| of those hands having been murdered by
| King Leopold's soldiers. and murdered
| while prisoners in the soldiers stockade
| And those poor natives were prisoners be-
| cause they had not brought in the required
| per capita of rubber to enrich Leopold.
Women were seized by LeOpold's SOL
| diers and forced away from their homes
| and held hostages until they should
| bring in their required quota of rubber
villages have been burned until what was
| once populous region is now tenantlesS
wilderness. People by thousands have been
Unfortunately slaughtered, being hunted
down like wild beasts in the forests to
which they flee. and cannibal soldiers in
| the service Of King Leopold permitted
to feast upon the dead
Mr.. Scrivener, who penetrated the re-
gion, says that one may walk for five days
without seeing a single village, where once
village life abounded.
Mr. Grogan, in his work. From the Cape
to Cairo says a country formerly well
populated and apparently responsive to just
trea tment is now practically bowling
Wilderness.
Quotes Associate of Stanley.
Mr. f. J. GLave, an associate of Mr.
Stanley when the latter opened up the Con-
go. who made another trip through this
region after King Leopold took possession,
wrote of that trip in the Century Maya
zine:
1.-THE whole country is being beset by
the dreadful and thoroughly unjustifable
conduct Of the soldiers. In stations in
| charge of white men-government soldiers
en-. some of them mere skeletons, tramping
about in gangs with rope about the neck
naked except for miserable patch
of cloth. They are prisoners of war He
also says he saw cargo of 100 small
saves. principally boys seven or eight years
old in the hands of the authorities, and all
these children stolen from the natives.
They talk said Mr.. Giave, of phlan-
not know. Everywhere l hear the same
news of the doings of the Congo Free
State-rubber and murder and slavery in
its worst FORM.
"A white officer told one Of the mission
aries that he had recently killed many peo-
pie and secured a fine lot of curios. One of
the missona ries saw officer, when a new
lot of rifles was received, pick up one and
say: Let us see how it will shoot Aiming
at native not far away he shot him
through the heart. All remarked the Off
Ger, it is a good rifle
1.-The surviving victims of such outrages,
when told that they ought to complain to
the state replied: We should never be be-
lieved. They would put us in chains at
once In numerous cases those who have
attempted to secure justice before the
Wretched mockery of court have been put
out of the way.
Says Facts Are Sworn Too.
I'm view of the these facts-facts sworn
to by as veracious and intelligent Christian
gentlemen as walk the streets Of Baltimore.
what could any man with a heart in him do
but protest, and when he finds that protests
to the officials Of Leopold do no good to
protest to the civilized world?
"Fifty-two good and true men have join
ed in such statements of facts and pro-
tests as we have delineated, only very many
more facts. What does it signify If there
are several hundred other Europeans In the
Congo who have not borne witness to the
atrocities? Is not the evidence Of fifty-two
men sufficient? 1t would be in any court in
the world. Courts do not walt on the teSti-
mony of men who are hundreds of miles
away from the place where crime is COM
mitted, but the testimony OF the men
who were there"