The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-30

II u an ~InstfntIsn for PilNge n Csnnos
ne me9ormcd From within.
n. Morei in tie SpsdkeT.

Il. n. Morsl in tie Speaker. e
IN his recent manifesto kinR Leopoio =
declared that IL Belgium annexes sns must
annex on his lines. In other Woros' tn1ts
portion OF the country four umes tine NHeOA'
England and Scotland shall be forever I'M
alIenable to him and his heirs; that the reVe-
nues of the entire territory shall contlnuc az
their present figure, and that all mrs hsroe-
ments with third parties shall hold so0a.
Public opinion outside Belgium couio nov
under any circumstances, agree 70 sucR y
solution, and Belgium could not agree IN ner
own interests. The Belgian refOrmers are.
therefore. placed in the position OF oompista
helpIessness short of q direct and bitter ocs-
nict with the King.
The danger Of the situation to-day lies In
the superstition that the Congo state can
reform itself under pressure from ouosioe'
This SUBJ osition is due to the noncompre-
hension OF the nature Of the Congo INDIE
pendent STATE" What Is the Congo Statet
In NO sense of the word can IL be regarded ~
a State. Imagination, however FERTILE must
refuse the attribute Of State" TO q vast tefr1-
tory in tropical Africa, of which the "citiSens
have been deprived OF everything tney pos.
sess. and Of freedom over their very bodies
by an absentee landlord thousands OF miles
away. who exercises his sovereignty over
them by 1000 aliens drawn from every coun-
try in Europe, assisted by $4,000 regular anu
irregular black troops. Is 1t a tropical oe-
tendency? But for a tropical dependency.
as the term IL understood, some civinzed
Power must be responsible. No civilized
Power is responsible for the Congo state:
The revenues drawn from the slave labor or
its citizens" are not handled by any civilized
nation. They ere not expended for the bene-
Mt Of the citizen" They are not even ao-
counted for. The raw produce OF the Congo
soil on which these revenues are raised 10
claimed as the property OF the absentee land
lord, or his absentee tenant farmers claimed
even as it lies ungathered in the forest, before
the citizen" Of the Congo. driven by bullet
and lash, spurred on by the chain gang ana
the hostage house, by never ending ewes
in wife and child, in life and limb. has col
lected IL. After deduction for the expenses
Of cement. the revenues are devoted
to Purchasing real estate in Belgium, on the
Riviera, and else wher to enterprises In
China. Persia and America; to speculations
in mining and industrial enterprises all over
the world: to press and literary propaganda
with endless ramihcations. and astonishing
alliances. The very raison d'etre OF this ex-
traordinary anachronism, which calls itself
the Con 20 Independent State" disappears
IL il ceases to be what il is and becomes some
thinR different. It lie an institution existing
for the pIllage, the systematic. calculated,
cynical pilla &c OF a vast portion of the African
tropics. The moment that for pillage 10
substituted fair commercial dealing, Tor ire
sponsibIe absOlutism International or national
control. for secret and unpublished revenues
audited balance sheets OF revenue and eX-
Denditure. the Congo state disappears
from the map OF Africa.
Tha is why the Congo State cannot be re-
formed from within by outside pressure.
That is why the problem Ia. in the last resort.
so difficult. But. difficult or not. civilization
must grapple with it.