The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-07-25
AMERICANS IN THE CONGO.

, From the Wheeling Intelligencer.
+, Richard Harding Davis may have
too much Of the, romanticist In him.
to be entirely reliable as a cold in
vestigator and collector Of facts, yet
his study OF the American partner
f,shdp It'll Leopld of Belgium in the
Congo state deserves the attention
lof, the American public. Just at the
time when his hold on the Congo Is
fmost seriously Threatened, Leopold
grants q concession to american cap
ltalfsts to develop rich and extern
sive section Of Congo territory. His
purpose Is as clear as If proclaimed
from the house tops. The United
States was one of the powers that
signed the Berlin act and gave, the
Congo UP to the tender mereies OF
Leopold and his Belgian butchers.
The nUited. States as well as Eng
land has become restless under the
Hood stories of atrocities that have
come up from the Congo. At an
| opportune moment senator Of the
United States, Nelson w. Aldrich; his
| son-in-law, John ID. Rockefeller, Jr.,
| and Thomas II. Ryan become part
ners with Leopold In the Congo COM
fcession and a powerful interest Is
thus created, which may be relied
| upon to excuse, If not to defend, the
| mal-administration of the Congo.
Concerning this Mr.. Davis writes, in
Golfers Weekly, as follows:
To the poor the ways of the truly
| rich, are past finding out After
| man has attained a fortune suffici-
ent to keep him in yachts and auto
| mobiles, one would think he could
afford toeindulge himself in the lux
| ury of being squeamish; that as to
where he obtained any further in
crease Of wealth, he would prefer
to pick and choose. There Is Rookie
Teller, Jr. Before him he has the
fate of his father. In his old age try
| ing to give away money that few
a very few, refuse as tainted.
| Is Rockefeller, Jr., appalled, by the
spectacle of his father trying, as
George AIDE says, Ito tip his way in
| to heaven"
| Does he look to 1t that his own
| money shall not he tainted? Appar-
emily not. On the contrary, he goes
| as far out Of his way as Belgium to
! make q partner of the man who has
wrung his money from wretchcd
| slaves, who were beaten, starved and
| driven in chains: This concession can
not made a Rockefeller, Jr., rich, for
already he is so rich that with his
money, in hundreds Of years, without
further effort, others could live con-
tent and in luxury. It can only make
him richer. And not richer in fact,
for all the money he may whip out
| of the Congo could not give him one
| thing that he can not now command,
| not an extra taste of the lips, not a
| fresh sensation. not one added power
| for good. TO him it can mean only
| a figure in ink on a page Of bank
book, But what suffering, what mis-
cry ID may mean to the slaves who
put it there! So it is with Aldrich.
SO it is with Thomas F. Ryan. Why
should men as rich as these elect
to go into partnership with one who
| sweats his dollars out of the naked
black? How really fine, how really
| wonderful it would be if these same
three men, working together, decid-
| ed to set free these twenty million
people-if, instead Of joining hands
with Leopold, and, with their money
and their hired lobbyists, congress-
men and senators, protecting him,
they would overthrow him and march
! into the Congo free men, without
his chain around their ankles. and
open it to the trade of the world, and
! give justice and a right to live and to
work and to sell and buy to millions
Of miserable human beings.