Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-12-20


BY the rule that nothing but good
should be said of the dead, little VIII
Sc said OF the departed monarch OF
Belgium. But this must be said, that he
,aced death bravely. II It Is true that
L requires no less courage TO meet the
last enemy when he .approaches
,tealthily in the form of a surgical op-
eration than when he comes openly.
With thunder and crash. on the field OF
BATTLE. then LeopolG's death was that
of a hero. For he saw death coming
and. as far as he could, made every
preparation. In the moments when he
was comparatively free from pain he
arranged his temporal affairs and re-
,eIved such spiritual comfort as the
Catholic church offers. and then en-
trusted himself to the skilled surgeons
Leopold was born April 9, 1885, and
has been the ruler of Belgium since
1865 He was married, In 1853, to an
Austrian Archduchess, Maria Henri
ette. who died in 1902. Their children
are the Princess Louise, Stephanie.
and CIementine. Prince Albert. the son
Of his brother Prince Philippe, is his
successor. During the fourty-four
years King Leopold has been at the
head OF the affairs Of Belgium, the
country has developed and prospered.
as never before. And the position 1t
has reached In the council of nations
Is also due to his craftsmanship. OF.
oh
The Kings old age romance has been
widely published and commented on
And considerable space is still given to
it, in the press dispatches. Some years
ago, it seems. he was captivated by
the beauty of a daughter Of the porter
at the French legation at Budapest.
Miss Caroline Lacroix, but marriage
could, of course. not be considered be-
tween q king and a girl OF so humble
birth. So there was what is known In
The very highest circles. as a morgan
attic marriage" Such marriages are
Invariably. we believe, contracted with
the stipulation that neither the wife.
nor the children shall claim the rank
and property of the exalted husband
and father. They are also called left
handed marriages." because at tho
nuptals the left hand is sometimes
given. the right. presumably, being re-
served for union between equals
Miss Lacroix was subsequently known
as Baroness Vaughan, and she has
two children, Lucin, aged five years
and PHILIPPE, aged three years.
The Congo state In Africa is largely
the creation OF King Leopold. and 4
will be referred to In history as {
monument to his memory. 1t wa.
founded under the guarantee of tn
powers, In tho interest of peac
and the furtherance of civilization
But, as for the latter object 1t ha
been almost a failure. The most crue
barbarities have been perpcrated Il
tatives of civilization. The crueltie
of slave days were nothing in compar
ison. AS one writer expressed 1t; 9TH
so-called civilization in the Congo ha
the curse OF Midas on It. At its touc
everything, the most vile and the mos
holy. the feasts OF cannibals. and tn
pious prayers OF saints. smoking vi
lagos, and the pale Juice of the rubbc
vine, the lusts of savages and the wal
of little children; everything has bee
somehow and somewhere minted int
gold and has gone 10 swell the return
of the Antwerp rubber market" "Ar
the fact remains says another write
that in 1903 seventy years or so aft
the abolition OF the slave trade (b
cause 1t was crue) there exists
Africa q Congo State. created by Il
act of European Powers where rut
less. systematic cruelty towards Il
blacks is the basis of administratio
and bad faith towards all the 9th
States the basis OF commercial policy
That King Leopold. knowing VIII
transpired in the state created by /
business ability. took no step to am
liorate the conditions there, is I
blackest spot on his character. b
let US hope that civilization VIII ass'
Itself In Africa, and let as draw
veil of charity between the horrll
past and the more hopeful future.