New-York tribune., 1906-12-03
DENIES CONGO CRUEITrEc
Free State Consul General D,f.rd.
King LeopOlds Rule.
To the Editor Of the Tribune.

To the Editor OF the Tribune.
Sir: AS there IS at the presen. tim.
newal Of the anti-Congo campaign. NAV ..k
that you will be kind enough to give ma ,n,o.
for brief presentation OF the subject,
If the Congo reformers'' are SINGER. 49,,
revival OF the agitation at the present n,or,.,.
is inexplicahle. All the reforms which ,ha-.
have demanded have been granted by King -,
pold. and orders have been issued for n,,,,.
these reforms In operation througsout ~.
country-no small undertaking when II q, -
membered that the area OF the Congo 4, an.
third the size OF the United States On Nv.
5. 1906. the King issued twenty-ev, "a
crees, effecting all the reforms asked FOR ~
the agitators-and more than they asked ,o
The government viii no longer compel na,iv..
TO work for COncessiOnary companies and the
use OF "capitas," or armed native overseers ba
been prohibited. The instructions are that ~.
disarning OF the "capitas' shall be coraDla,.s
by January 1. 1901
There IS no doubt that these rero-,,,
/ being carried out in good faith and as ranf1I,,
as possible. In spite Of all the caIumny beanss
upon King Leopold. one can point to snv
single concrete Instance where the KIM h.,
made promise and has not fulfilled ~ NJ.
over, practical wisdom (and no one deniaa ,b,,
quality to the King dictates policy OF rovs-,-
nent which VIII make the native contentsd ar,
-4oe iepe41Ious' which Will make him an fndus
tElous' peaeeaoie worker. upbuilding thu coun-
Try and not a menace to the State T-he E,,.
has gladly seized every useful suggestion. and !,
Is absurd to paint him as a modern Nacb,,r.n,
and at the same time accuse him OF destrovi,v
ana harassing the natives upon whose labor
depends the welfare Of the State
II tho Congo refOrmers' want genuine -.
1orrns' they have them Their revival Of ths
agitation indicates that what they really wish
Is the destruction OF the Congo government.
The origin OF this animosity 70 King Leopola.
rule seems to have been partly religious teaIousv
and 10 some extent, the commercial and politt
cal ambition Of few private individuals Til,
King is Catholic. The large majority OF ths
missionaries are Catholic The criticisms hav.
come from Protestant missionaries alone and
in fact, from only a small proportion O. the
Protestant missionaries. There ara aItoseths-
about five hundred missionaries in ths Como
State Out of this number ffty-two Cau Prot
estanO have signed a document condernnins tia
administration. Sixteen OF the signers are ths
wives OF missionaries. thrty-fve live IN the dis
trtct near the coast, and were condemning con-
ditions hundreds OF miles Off In the Interior
One Of the signers. Mr.. Hensey. arrived in the
Congo for the first time on December %. 1905
and nineteen days later signed the docurnsn,
condemnins the administration OF country
one-third the size Of the United States
This snap Judgment OF hfty-two weighs bu.
lightly against the evidence OF nearly four hun
dred Catholic missionaries. reinforced by such
Protestants as have risen above religious preIu-
dice In December. 1904. the principals Of all tn.
Catholic missions in the Congo. after investi-
eating the matter through their missionaries
issued what they called "a public and conplets
denial" OF the accusations OF the secretary OF
the Congo Reform Association.
nent, 'have never gainsaid that IN Congoland
as In all colonies-cruelties have been
practised in Isolated instances. They have not
had to denounce such cruelties. however, be- i.
cause. as every one knows. the government Of
the Free State has always been prompt 20 re-
dress abuses. IN order TO prevent their recur-
renee
This is fair and dispassionate statement OF
the case AS Monsignor Van Ronsle. the apos-
tolic vicar in the Congo. says: 'T do not pretend
that find everything perfect IN every way.
but only a colonial government that Is above all
reproach would have the right to cast a stone
at the Congo Free State'
There have been isolated cases OF cruelty IN
the Congo, as i'm every other attempt 70 civilizs
inferior races. Nobody denies 1t. There were
some cases CT cruelty In the Abr conces-
sion. due chiefly to that practice OF employing
armed native overseers-a practice which has
now been prohibited by the DEGREES OF last June.
What we do deny most emphatically Is that such
unfortunate incidents usual or widespread,
that the state is IN any way negligent or re-
sponsible for such occurrences.
Many OF the stories on which the anti-Conso .
agitators build their campaign relate TO events
that occurred years ago. before the government
had completed its organization. or during the
period when every energy OF the Belsians was
engaged IN the death struggle with the Arab
slave traders BY that glorious struggle King
Leopold delivered thirty million natives from
that scorge which Livingstone called the open
sore of the world" The ant-Congo agitators
in dealing with that period refuse 10 look al
this great achievement for humanity. and. ever
raking in the muck. carefully gather together
few isolated cases OF cruelty during those
their collection OF atrocities IS not large !
could make longer and more startling collec-
ton from the record OF the Tenderoin poice
station.
The anti-Congo agitators show that they don't
give a square deal by the way In which they
attempt 70 pass OF old stories as new. In
recent publication the secretary OF the Bostoh
Congo Reform Association tries 10 prove Us
absurd statements as TO present DAY condl-
tons in the Congo by citing without dates
stories that are from seven to ten years old. anu
by relating them as current events. He reaches
the limit by trying TO prove the preyaIence OF
Cannibal orgies in the present year or grace ..
relating always without datel an incident tha.
occurred during the Arab campaign, more IMAM
ten years ago.
Take another example OF the absolutely reck,
less and unfair way In which accusations sle
made against the Congo State
This summer horrible story OF cruelty was
spread broadcast over this country II VS.
over the signature OF the Rev. Dr. K II. NSS
sau. who seemed 10 relate It as somethinS VIZ VIZ
in his personal knowledge The paper, rurths.
more. stated that Dr. Nassau had spent IoIt
five years in the Congo Free state lhNsSS
gated the matter and have obtained trom III.