New-York tribune., 1920-12-19

eAoe' ana ingenious method OF reducing
tho natives to slavery. BY force or
fraud they acquire possession of large
tracts of land. Then the natives, their
only means of livelihood taken away
from them, are driven to work in the
mines and other industries under hor-
rible conditions. Both authors are en-
phatic in their condemnation Of this
effort to engraft the harshest and most
oppressive features of factory life upon
primitive people who are quite unsuited
for any form of industrialism. Both
insist that the fundamental prerequisite
of just, humane colonial administra-
ton is the assurance Of an adequate
supply of land to the natives.
Mr.. Morel, who will be remembered
for his notable services in exposing the
atrocities committed in the Belgian
Congo under the regime of King Leo
pold, traces the steady increase Of "the
black mans burden" from the days Of
the early siave-traders to the present
time. His writing is often character
lied by mordant irony, of which Che
following passage is an excellent illus
tration:
an 1862 the first British sub-con~
tractor appeared on che scene in the
person of john Hawkins, and with
Queen Elizabeth as sleeping partner
embarked on his career Of murder and
brigandage in the good ship Jesus, lent
him by his royal confederate Ten
years later Elizabeth knighted him as
reward for his persistent energies
contemporaneously described as going
every day on shore to take the in
habitants with burning and spelling
their towns"
The author goes on to record the
sins of Hawkins's modern successors.
With fierce, honest indignation he re-
lates the hideous story of the Bel
gian Congo, where ten million natives
were slaughtered to satisfy the greed
Of Leopold and his accomplices. He
describes the "war Of determination"
waged by the Germans against the
Hereros. He denounces the French
government for its policy in Morocco
and in the French Congo. In the lat
ter province a system Of administra-
tion similar to that Of Leopold was
temporarily set up. The British and
the Portuguese also come in for their
share Of deserved condemnation.
In conclusion Mr.. Morel sketches a
scheme for placing Africa under in
ternational control and thereby elimi-
mating some Of the worst features of
the present system. He advocates the
exclusion Of Africa from the area Of
future international conflicts, and de-
nounces the practice OF training the
natives in the use Of arms.
Mr.. Harris's work is tinctured with
strong and genuine religious feeling;
ne almost invariably concludes his de-
unciation Of European oppressive
Acasures by declaring that they are
unworthy Of Christian civilization. He
quite as vehement as Mr.. Morel in
ecndemning the abuses Of white dom-
nation. Discussing the diminution of
frica's population, he sscribes it to
lie following causes;
Easily first in destructive force
me the crimes attendant upon slave
.rading, laveowning and modern labor
Ystems; second, to the breakdown of
tive customary law, involving, among
tier things, sexual diseases; third,
nunitive expeditions, loss of lands, in
.ernecine warfare, and, finally, the con-
'umption of ardent spirits; these lat
ter have taken roughly an equal share
n the destructive work"
MIR. Harris discusses a number Of
the problems which confront South
Africa at the present time. At the de-
mand Of the colonists, restrictions have
been imposed on Indian immigration
and land ownership which roughly cor
respond to our own anti-alien laws and
regulations in California. Mr.. Harris
attacks this attitude as bigoted and
un-Christian. He explains and criti-
cizes General Botha's elaborate pro
gram Tor the dlstrlDutlon or the land
between the natives and the white set
tiers. This program has been attacked
as too generous to the negroes. Mr..
Harris takes exception to it on oppo-
site grounds. The author also analyses
such questions as missionary work
education, restrictions upon the liquor
traffic, etc.
The treatment which the helpless AZ