Evening star., 1914-04-12

nounces officially the
Transequatorial completion Of the
Railroad. .ns.1, man 80, I q Hs,eau-
Dar-es-Salaam, on the Indian ocean to
Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika. distance
of 793 miles.
This event, to which we have already
referred as of marked political signih-
canoe, is furthermore important by the
observation that express trains will now
reach the coast from the lake in two
days, compared with the forty-two DAYS
journey of the caravans. An important
proportion of the Central African trade is
bound to gravitate to Dar-es- -Salaau, and
is likely to have important influence,
notably upon the development of the Ger
man colony on the coast hut also upon
the economic future of the Belgian Kon-
go and of Central Africa generally,
Thus Germany and Belgium. which an
pear to have given each other rendezvous
on Lake Tanganyika, have risen suddenly
to challenge England's affected right of
way of that Cape to Cairo" road which
mas been the dream of century
Looking backward-less than a decade
we nave seen with what violence England
attacked the King of the kongo Free
1
1ues in the exploitation of rubber inter
ests, attacks which finally drove the king
IRON his kongo throne in order to save
the state to Belgium
When the press of England had worked
the public mind to frenzy over the '-atroc-
tiles. Lord Lansdowne, in the house OF
lords, in 1906 disclosed the animus of
the proceeding thus:
Our right is perfectly clear but [ may
add, quite irrespective of any right We
enjoy under the letter of the acts of Ber-
I'm, we have q moral right to interfere
which comes to us in CONSEQUENCE can
not use gentler word-of the false pre-
lenses under which the Kongo state has
acquired its privileged position in that
part of Africa
Now, the Public Ledger of Philadelphia
three years before, October %, 1903, fore
shadowed the animus of British desires
IN the matter OF the Kongo Free State,
thus:
The acquisition by Great Britain of
the kongo Free State would not only
JOIN her separate domains. but would give
wonderful wealth. Not only So but it
would open to British central Africa and
Rhodesia an outlet to the sea down the
kongo and given even the Transvaal a
chance of trading with England through
"a post on that great river, saving 2,0Do
miles of the sea voyage to London
The political interest of the central
African situation, in which Germany has
become great part, is rendered further
interesting by citing the following from
an article in the London Times of Sep
temher 2S, 1906. entitled, king Leopold
and the Hahl-el-GhaZaI':
whilst it must be regrettedly admitted
that the efforts of the British government
| have hitherto failed to procure any sub
stantial amendment of the misrule which
Hing Leopold has erected into an or
ganized system in the Kongo state the
success achieved by Sir Edward Grey in
setting limit to the extension toward
the Nile valley has hardly received the
attention and acknowledgment which it
deserves. The signature of the agree
ment of May 9, 1906 between Great
Britain and the kongo state has marked
for King Leopold the final defeat of a
long-cherished project, that, namely, of
securing for his African dominion a per-
manent lodgment in the basin of the
Nile He occupies, it is true, the Lado
enclave on the west bank of the upper
Nile, whence there is uninterrupted
steamer communication with Khartum.'
1t is in looking backward only that we
may turn light upon many questions
| which have been covered by darkness.
| The tragedy of Gordon's death at khar-
tum for a fact is due in great part to
the Belgian Kongo question. and may be
briefly recited here.
The naif public is told by the official
press with insistence that the tragedy at
khartum was due to Mr.. Gladstone's
failure to send relief to Gordon's rescue
and this fiction prevails and perhaps may
go into history with many other fictions
created by reason of state. Here are the
facts:
January $, 1884, Gen Gordon, in Brus-
sells, had arranged with King Leopold for
his future service in the kongo Free
state, and even his British army pension
which he would lose by his resignat ton
from the British army, was capitalized
by King Leopold at G7.2SS sterling Cor
don then wrote a friend: Privately tell
you ! am going Cd. W to Kongo next
month, but do not mention it,
=
January Is Gordon was en- route to
the Sudan, charged with the mission to
evacuate the Egyptian
Gordon and the garrisons of the SUI
c,,aon dan. Gordon, it will
be understood, had re-
signed his commission and expected to
receive notice of its acceptance. This
explains his appeal in Cairo that Zobair
should accompany him. He had no in
tention of stopping in Cairo. where he
would meet his old enemies, Cromer and
Nubar. But, as Mr.. Wilfred Blunt says:
Sir Evelyn Barring Uord Cromep
harnessed him. Sir Evelyn, as
soon as he heard of Gordon $
departure from London, telegraphed
Lord Granville that Gordon should be
ordered to report to him, and Lord Gran
VILE so ordered. Gordons resignation
from the British army was held up, and
OH Baring's confession 190S) Gordon was
ordered not to go south of Khartum.
Nor was this done until Gordon was
well on his way. That there may he no
discussion of the responsibility for the
tragedy at Khartum j cite from Lord
Cromer's book Modern Egypt volume
l. page iii:
wrote me from Korosko inclosng a let
ter for the King of the Belgians. In
this letter he spoke OF going up the
White Nile, taking possession or the
Bahr-el-GhaZaI and equatorial provinces
and then handing them over to the King
of the Belgians. l therefore te-egraph-
ed Lord Granville: 1 do not thihk that
Gen. Gordon should be allowed to so
anywhere south of khartuln.
OF course Zobair was not allowed 70
accompany Gordon. for Zohair would
have been delegated to deal with the
mahdi or evacuate the Sarrlsons IL neces-
sary. Gordon's resignation from the
British army was withheld; he was
And why not south of khartum! 10
leave nothing to the Imagination. be
cause, south of khartum were the Bahr-
el-GbaZal and the equatorial provinces
which Gordon was to hand over To the
King of the Belgians! Perish Gordon
rather than such a consummation!
Cordon's letter to the King of the
Belgians has never been published and
its contents perhaps were never known
to another than Lord Cromer That II
was a factor in the deep resentment On
the part of the British government