THE 
 
 LATEST PHASE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 
 IMPORTANT REFORMS DECREED AND PUT INTO 
 OPERATION—LARGE MAJORITY OF MISSION¬ 
 ARIES UPHOLD CONGO GOVERNMENT- 
 PUBLIC SENTIMENT IN BELGIUM 
 APPROVES KING LEOPOLD’S 
 AFRICAN POLICY. 
 
 STORIES OF “ATROCITIES” DENIED BY PROMINENT 
 MISSIONARIES WHO HAVE SPENT YEARS 
 IN THE CONGO FREE STATE. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 The Sun Book and Job Printing Office. 
 
Pages. 
 
 The Congo Question Up to Date. 3-9 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Pp.oofs a.no Documents,.10-30 
 
The Latest Phase of the Congo Question 
 
 IMPORTANT REFORMS DECREED AND PUT INTO OPERATION. 
 
 The Congo question has entered upon a new phase. The con¬ 
 ditions prevailing in the Free State have been investigated by a 
 commission whose honesty and integrity have been acknowl¬ 
 edged even by the bitterest enemies of the Congo Government. 
 
 The opinion of the Commissioners was: 
 
 1. That the charges against the Congo Administration had 
 been greatly exaggerated. 
 
 2. That in certain instances the Congo Government had been 
 guilty of negligence, but that, taking it all in all, the administra¬ 
 tion compared favorably with the government of the colonies of 
 other powers in Africa. 
 
 3. That a number of administrative reforms should be put in 
 operation as soon as possible—especially that the labor-tax should 
 be more strictly supervised and equitably levied and that the use 
 of “capitas” (armed native overseers) should be prohibited to 
 concessionary companies. These were the two defects in the 
 Congo Administration which had given rise to most of the criti¬ 
 cisms against the Government. 
 
 On the 3rd of June, 1906, King Leopold issued twenty-five 
 Decrees carrying out the recommendations of the Commission of 
 Inquiry. 
 
 These Decrees cover all the points on which the Administra¬ 
 tion has been criticized. They provide, among other things, for 
 the extension of the judicial system, for additional grants of land 
 to natives; above all they regulate the labor-tax and abolish the 
 use of capitas or armed native sentries. 
 
 It is a large undertaking to put these reforms into operation 
 throughout the whole territory of the Congo, which occupies an 
 area about one-third the size of the United States. Neverthe¬ 
 less the work has been pushed forward rapidly. Instructions in 
 
4 
 
 regard to disarming the native sentries were issued by the Vice- 
 Governor-General on August 3rd. The instructions in regard 
 to the labor-tax appeared under date of September 8th. Here¬ 
 after the State cannot compel the natives to work for any com¬ 
 mercial company. “Henceforth,'’ say the instructions, “the com¬ 
 panies shall have recourse exclusively to voluntary and paid 
 labor for the working of their property or concessions.” 
 
 There can be no doubt that the reforms will be carried out 
 thoroughly and in g'ood faith. In spite of the calumnies put 
 about by the King's enemies, no one can point to a single con¬ 
 crete instance where King Leopold has failed to carry out a prom¬ 
 ise. Moreover it is clearly to the commercial and political, as 
 well as humanitarian, interests of the King and his Administra¬ 
 tion to effect reforms which will make the Government run 
 smoother, and which will make the natives happy and industrious 
 rather than discontented and rebellious. 
 
 The reforms are of a nature to- satisfy the native, to satisfy 
 the Government, and, in fact, to satisfy everybody except the 
 professional reformers and the well-meaning but misguided mem¬ 
 bers of religious and philanthropic societies who blindly follow 
 these professional guides without examining the matter for them¬ 
 selves. 
 
 The professional reformers who continue their campaign 
 against the Congo are fighting a dead issue. The reforms they 
 asked for have been granted. If they really want reforms they 
 now have them. If they want something more they are not act¬ 
 ing in good faith, but are seeking an excuse to destroy the State 
 like the wolf in the fable who complained that the lamb had 
 muddied his drinking-pool. 
 
 THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE CONGO. 
 
 The accusations against the Congo are chiefly based upon four 
 kinds of evidence: 
 
 1. Stories, partly true and partly false, of a few isolated inci¬ 
 dents which occurred many years ago during the period when 
 all the energies of King Leopold's Government were engaged in 
 putting down the Arab slave-raids, and in the days when the 
 State was just beginning to set its hand to the task of administer¬ 
 ing this immense territory in Darkest Africa. 
 
5 
 
 2. Endless exaggerations and multiplications of those stories, 
 reminding one of Falstaff’s eleven men in buckram suits grown 
 out of two. 
 
 3. Fanciful stories told by natives and accepted by mission¬ 
 aries as gospel truth, without the slightest attempt at verification. 
 
 4. Flat libels. 
 
 As an example of old stories, galvanized and still doing duty 
 as current events may be cited some statements made by the Secre¬ 
 tary of the Boston Congo Reform Association in a magazine just 
 published (December, 1906). He relates as though it were the 
 newest piece of gossip an incident described by Mr. Sjoblom. 
 That incident was first related by Mr. Sjoblom nine years ago, 
 but it is now served up as something fresh and no date given to 
 it. It may or may not be a true story, but its resurrection sug¬ 
 gests that there is a scarcity of fresh “atrocities” in stock. 
 
 In the same article the Secretary of the Congo Reform Asso¬ 
 ciation of Boston affirms that “cannibalism exists in spite of the 
 dictum of the Inquiry Commission,” and then proceeds to prove 
 the prevalence of cannibalism in the present year of grace by 
 narrating without date an incident that occurred more than ten 
 years ago. 
 
 False stories are often accepted by simple-minded and zealous 
 clergymen and handed out again with their endorsement and with 
 the added authority of their names and priestly office. As an 
 example may be cited the story circulated extensively this sum¬ 
 mer on the authority of the Rev. Dr. R. H. Nassau. In June, 
 1906, a New York paper published the story of an alleged 
 “atrocity.” The article appeared over the signature of the Rev. 
 Dr. Nassau who seemed to relate the incident as something with¬ 
 in his personal knowledge. The paper, furthermore, stated that 
 Dr. Nassau had lived 45 years in the Congo Free State. The 
 Consul-General of the Congo State investigated the case, and 
 finally obtained from Dr. Nassau a written acknowledgment that 
 he had never been in the Congo Free State, that he had no per¬ 
 sonal knowledge of the incident related so vividly, that it was 
 simply a story he had read in a book—a book that had been con¬ 
 demned as a libel more than two years ago by an English Court. 
 
 The recklessness of certain missionaries in making accusa¬ 
 tions is also shown in the case of the Rev. Mr. Stannard, an 
 
6 
 
 English missionary, who was in June of this year found guilty of 
 libel against an officer in the Congo Service. 
 
 One of the most daring attempts to damage the Congo Free 
 State by trumped-up charges was made by Guy Burrows with his 
 book “The Curse of Central Africa.” The book related horrors 
 which made a deep impression. It was widely used as a cam¬ 
 paign document against the Congo and stories from it are found 
 in circulation to this day in spite of the fact that in 1904 the book 
 was condemned as a libel by the Court of King’s Bench in Lon¬ 
 don. It was, moreover, shown at the trial that an effort had been 
 made to coerce the Congo Government into buying the manu¬ 
 script before publication, but the Government refused to yield to 
 what they considered an attempt to “blackmail.” 
 
 THE LARGE MAJORITY OF MISSIONARIES IN THE CONGO IN FAVOR 
 
 OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The enemies of the Congo claim that their views are backed 
 by the great body of missionaries in the Congo. This claim is 
 absolutely false. 
 
 There are over 500 missionaries out there, Protestant and 
 Catholic. Out of this number 52 have signed an “Appeal” against 
 the Administration—in other words, about one missionary in ten 
 is against the Government. 
 
 Of these 52 signers sixteen are wives of missionaries and are 
 supposed to echo the opinions of their husbands. Thirty-five of 
 the signers have mission stations in the district near the coast 
 and, consequently, do not speak with any authority in passing 
 judgment on events which were alleged to have happened in the 
 interior—apparently they relied on stories told them by others. 
 One of the signers has his missionary station situated in Portu¬ 
 guese Africa, and another signer, Rev. Mr. Hensey, arrived in the 
 Congo for the first time on December 23, 1905 and nineteen days 
 later signed the appeal condemning the administration of a 
 country one-third the size of the United States. 
 
 The opinion of 52 missionaries, no matter how hastily formed, 
 should be treated with proper consideration, but the opin¬ 
 ion of the remaining 450 is evidently of much more weight, 
 and in the documents collected in this pamphlet will be found 
 extracts from letters which go to show r that the large majority of 
 
7 
 
 Congo missionaries uphold King Leopold’s rule in Africa and 
 praise him for the good work he has accomplished. 
 
 Among other documents will be found a letter from the prin¬ 
 cipals of all the Catholic Orders in the Congo, expressing the 
 sentiments of their 384 missionaries in repelling the attacks which 
 have been directed against the Government. 
 
 There will also be found at the end of this pamphlet expressions 
 of opinion from the British Baptist Missionary Society; Dr. 
 Samuel P. Verner, a Presbyterian; Rev. W. Millman, of the Bap¬ 
 tist Missionary Society ; Rev. Mr. Clarke, and Rev. William 
 George, English missionaries; Monsignor Van Ronsle, 
 Apostolic Vicar in the Congo Free State; Monsignor 
 Roelens, Apostolic Vicar of the Upper Congo; Monsignor 
 Augouard, Father Maguire, Father Colle, Father Beyen of the 
 Order of Premontre, and other missionaries who have had long 
 experience in the Congo. It is true that most of these witnesses 
 for the Congo are Catholics, but it must be remembered that the 
 large majority of missionaries out there are of that church. 
 No Christian, of whatever creed he be, can, for a moment, think 
 that this noble army of nearly 400 Catholic missionaries who are 
 laying down their lives for the salvation of Africa, would con¬ 
 done “atrocities” or uphold and defend a corrupt administration. 
 
 SENTIMENT IN BELGIUM SUPPORTS THE KING’S POLICY. 
 
 The enemies of the Congo, ignoring the opinions of some 
 400 missionaries who approve the Government, brazenly attempt 
 to pass off the views of 52 as the unanimous missionary sentiment 
 in the Congo. In the same way they try to palm off the opinions 
 of a few socialists and malcontents as the sentiment of the Bel¬ 
 gian Parliament and of the Belgian people. The bluff may go 
 with some people (particularly when they label a “Christian- 
 Democrat" as “Catholic and Conservative” or disguise a socialist 
 as a “Liberal”), but any one who is at all familiar with Belgium 
 is aware that Belgian public opinion upholds and approves King 
 Leopold’s administration of the Congo. Go where you will in 
 Belgium and you will find that the great majority of the Belgian 
 people, from the most distinguished statesmen down to the small 
 shop-keeper stand solidly by the King in his colonial enterprise 
 and speak with both admiration and gratitude of the great work 
 
8 
 
 he has accomplished for Belgium and for civilization in the 
 Congo. 
 
 In the succeeding pages will be found extracts giving the sen¬ 
 timents of such distinguished members of the Belgian Parliament 
 as Count de Smet de Naeyer, Monsieur Woeste, Senator Wiener, 
 and Monsieur Henry Carton de Wiart. 
 
 PROFITS DO NOT GO INTO KING’S POCKETS. 
 
 Some of the “proofs” against the Congo are so ridiculous that 
 they can hardly be considered seriously. For example the Secre¬ 
 tary of the Boston Congo Reform Association in a recent publi¬ 
 cation seriously asserts that as the exports from the Congo exceed 
 the imports by some $6,000,000 a year, it follows that King 
 Leopold, “according to his own figures is looting the country to 
 the extent of about six million dollars a year.” It sounds rather 
 like an argument from “Alice in Wonderland.” One could as 
 well say that because the exports of India exceed the imports by 
 $100,000,000 a year, England is looting India to the extent of 
 $100,000,000, or that she is robbing the Transvaal of fifteen 
 million dollars annually and the Malay States of a like amount. 
 The professional reformers of the Congo fear that somebody is 
 making money out of Central Africa besides themselves—hence 
 they call it “loot” and say it goes into the King’s pocket. As 
 usual, they are wrong on both points. There is no “loot” in the 
 matter and the revenues from the State do not go into the King’s 
 pocket. There is no mystery about the Congo finances. The rev¬ 
 enue from concessions goes to the stockholders of the companies. 
 The State receives in proportion to the number of shares it holds. 
 This money figures in the public budget and is used for the 
 expenses of the Government. Profits from lands managed by the 
 State are also put into the public budget of the State and like¬ 
 wise go into the treasury of the State. No public account 
 is made of the revenue from the Crown Lands, but the money 
 does not go into the King's pockets. It might reasonably be 
 expected that the revenue from the Crown Lands should go to the 
 Crown, but the King has voluntarily renounced personal partici¬ 
 pation in this revenue and has with great generosity turned the 
 whole amount of income from the Crown Lands into a fund for 
 public improvements in the Congo and in Belgium. 
 
9 
 
 This self-denial on the part of the King does not prevent his 
 enemies from making out fanciful balance-sheets for him and 
 crediting his imaginary account with fabulous amounts. A recent 
 anti-Congo writer goes so far as to say that the King makes four¬ 
 teen million dollars a year out of the Congo which looks like the 
 statement of a frenzied financier as the whole annual output from 
 the Congo is only about $10,000,000. 
 
 King Leopold gave millions of francs out of his own pocket 
 to support the Congo in its early days. It was his munificence 
 that made the existence of the State possible. It was his initiative 
 and generosity that opened up the country and enabled the mis¬ 
 sionaries to carry the Cross to the heart of Africa. He has 
 watched over the Congo and guarded it and has prepared it as a 
 rich legacy for Belgium. The Congo is the work of King Leo¬ 
 pold’s hands and, as His Majesty recently said, “There can be no 
 more legitimate and respectable right 4 han the right of the author 
 to his own work,—the fruit of his labor. 
 
 “The Powers assisted at the birth of the new State with benev¬ 
 olence, but not a single one of them was asked to participate in 
 my efforts; not one of them therefore possesses a right of inter¬ 
 vention in the Congo, which nothing could justify. 
 
 My rights in the Congo are absolute; they are the results of my 
 labor and expense.” 
 
 With this clear announcement of the international rights of 
 the Congo Free State should be compared the opinion of the Bel¬ 
 gian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Baron de Favereau: 
 
 “It would be contrary to all principles of international law that 
 a Government should interfere in the internal administration of 
 a sovereign State.” 
 
 Also with Mr. Root’s equally explicit opinion: 
 
 “The Congo State absolutely denies any right on their (i. e., 
 the Powers) part to intervene in its affairs, and none of the other 
 signatory Powers appear to controvert that denial. However 
 this may be, it is certain that the United States has no treaty right 
 of intervention. We could not rightfully summon or participate 
 in any international conference looking to intervention, adjudi¬ 
 cation or enforcement of a general accord by other African Pow¬ 
 ers against the Congo State.” 
 
TESTIMONY OF 
 
 Missionaries in the Congo Free State. 
 
 STATEMENT SIGNED BY 
 
 THE PRINCIPALS OE THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES 
 IN THE CONGO FREE STATE. 
 
 (It should be noted that the Catholic Orders constitute a majority 
 of the Christian Missionaries in the Congo Free State. They have 
 384 Missionaries and Sisters and 72,000 communicants and cate¬ 
 chumens. They have 88 Mission Posts scattered throughout the 
 whole country, 113 churches and chapels, 528 farm chapels and over 
 500 schools.) 
 
 * 
 
 The following extract is from a letter addressed by the Principals 
 of the Orders to the Catholic Herald, and dated December 29, 1904: 
 
 “The undersigned, principals of the Catholic missionaries of both 
 sexes in the Congo Free State, hold it a duty to express to you 
 their respectful and keen gratitude for the energetic way in which 
 your newspaper has defended them, and for the open letter in which 
 you have replied to the accusations leveled at them by Mr. Morel. 
 
 “L^p to this date we have left to others the care of answering the 
 unjustifiable charges made of late against the Free State. But as 
 Mr. Morel now accuses the Catholic missionaries of being silent, 
 either by order or out of self-interest, we owe it to our honor to 
 give his allegations a public and completely unanimous denial. 
 
 “Our Catholic missionaries have never gainsaid that in Congo- 
 land—as in all new colonies—cruelties have been practised in 
 isolated instances. They have not had to denounce such cruelties, 
 however, because—to the knowledge of all—the Government of the 
 
II 
 
 Free State has always been prompt to redress abuses, in order to 
 prevent their recurrence.” 
 
 (Signed.) 
 
 AD. VAN HECKE, 
 
 Superior General of the Seheut Fathers, established in the Apo¬ 
 stolic Vicariate of the Congo Free State and in the Apostolic 
 Prefecture of the Upper-Kasai. 
 
 JOS. STYBOL, 
 
 Provincial Superior of the Redemptorist Fathers, established in 
 the Congo Free State. 
 
 AD. DECKERS, 
 
 Abbot of Tongerloo, Superior of the Canons of the Order of 
 Premontre, established in the Apostolic Prefecture of the Uele. 
 
 JOS. DE VOS, S. J., 
 
 Provincial Superior of the Jesuit Fathers, established in the Apo¬ 
 stolic Prefecture of the Kwango. 
 
 FATHER BELAUE, 
 
 Superior of the White Fathers of Africa, residing in Antwerp. 
 
 FERD. BROECHOVEN, 
 
 Abbot of the Trappist Fathers, established in the Equator District 
 of the Congo Free State. 
 
 NORBERT AERTS, 
 
 Procurator of the Trappist missionaries in the Congo Free State. 
 
 S. DEHON, 
 
 Superior General of the Priests of the Sacred Heart, established 
 in the Prefecture of the Falls. 
 
 V. JEANROY, 
 
 Procurator of the Falls Mission. 
 
12 
 
 ADDRESS OF 
 
 THE BRITISH BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 TO HIS MAJESTY, 
 
 KING LEOPOLD II. 
 
 January, 1903. 
 
 ‘‘The Committee of the British Baptist Missionary Society of 
 London desire most respectfully to address Your Majesty, as 
 Sovereign of the Congo Free State, and to express their grateful 
 acknowledgments for Your Majesty’s gracious and helpful sympathy 
 with all wisely-considered efforts put forth for the enlightenment 
 and uplifting of Your Majesty's native subjects living within the 
 territories of the Congo Free State. 
 
 “In prosecution of these labors, the Committee of the Baptist 
 Missionary Society desire gratefully to acknowledge the many signal 
 and helpful proofs they have received of Your Gracious Majesty’s 
 approval and support; and very specially at this juncture they are 
 anxious to express to Your Majesty their respectful appreciation 
 of the great boon granted ‘to all religious, scientific and charitable 
 institutions,’ by the reduction of direct and personal taxes by 50 per 
 cent., from, on and after the first day of July last, as proclaimed by 
 .Your Majesty’s command, in the May and June issues of the 
 Bulletin Official de I’Etai Independant du Congo, which the Com¬ 
 mittee regards as a further and significant proof of Your Majesty’s 
 desire to promote the truest welfare of Your Majesty's Congo sub¬ 
 jects, and to help forward all institutions calculated to produce 
 enduring and beneficial results.” 
 
 LETTER FROM MONSIGNOR VAN RONSLE, 
 Apostolic-Vicar in the Congo Free State. 
 
 “There is very little time to write before the departure of the mail. 
 I will not, however, delay in telling you the painful impression pro¬ 
 duced upon us by the attempts that are being made to destroy or 
 injure a work which is one of the glories of our King and country. 
 
 “To those of our fellow-countrymen -who interrogate you, and 
 who wish to know what we think of the attacks of which the State 
 is the object, you can reply that in our opinion they are unjustified. 
 
 “The State condemns any abuses that come under its knowledge. 
 The law is well organized, extends like a network over all the State 
 territory, and is carried out in some degree independently of the 
 
i3 
 
 administration. I have known a great many magistrates, who have 
 formed part of it, honorable men, and who had their responsibilities 
 very much at heart, performing their duty in an independent and 
 conscientious manner. How, then, is it possible to affirm that atroci¬ 
 ties are erected into a system patronized by the State? 
 
 “I make it my duty in the present circumstances, to pay the 
 Government a tribute of admiration and gratitude. Of admiration, 
 in presence of the vast and fine organization that it has succeeded 
 in establishing here after such a few years, and which astonishes 
 even those who wish to injure it; of gratitude for the benevolent 
 protection and efficacious support which it has given to our missions. 
 
 “That is briefly what I had in my heart to tell you, and what I 
 beg you to communicate to those who might be in doubt as to our 
 views in the present circumstances .”—(Letter dated Leopoldville , 
 Congo Free State, July 28, 1903.) 
 
 DR. SAMUEL PHILLIPS VERNER 
 
 (Sometime connected with the missions of the Southern Presby¬ 
 terian Church, of America, in the Congo.) 
 
 IN REGARD TO THE TROUBLES BETWEEN CERTAIN 
 BRITISH MISSIONARIES AND THE 
 CONGO GOVERNMENT. 
 
 “The main point about these troubles is the fact that they do not 
 arise from any antagonistic policy between the Governments repre¬ 
 sented, or from any mischievous attitude on the part of the theoret¬ 
 ical program of the Government. They come principally from the 
 weaknesses and mistakes of individuals on the field, from the 
 alienation in nationality and language between the contiguous 
 settlers, and from the petty, and often pusillanimous quarrels and 
 officiousness, for which both parties are to blame. On the whole 
 sensible men may, and do, live together in peace and soberness, 
 and wrongs are righted, grievances redressed and just privileges 
 accorded, when the proper means are used, and the proper diplo¬ 
 matic usages observed. Certain it is, that the general effect of the 
 Government has been progressive and beneficial. There are some 
 flagrant abuses, but these are being corrected as rapidly as the con¬ 
 ditions permit, and it is a fact that many abuses have been corrected 
 when timely attention has been called to them .”—(From “Pioneer¬ 
 ing in Central Africa” by S. P. Verner, Richmond Presbyterian 
 Committee of Publication, 1903.) 
 
14 
 
 REV. W. MILLMAN, A BAPTIST MISSIONARY. 
 
 “It is a pleasure and an honor to be able to say that in this part 
 of the Province Orientale, that is, in the country lying between 
 Isanghi and Stanleyville, with which we are and have been for eight 
 years very intimately acquainted, we have never seen or known any 
 single case of grave maladministration or cruelty. 
 
 “Your Excellency, it is a joy to us, and you will pardon us if we 
 express the wish that a like joy may soon be the lot of every Congo¬ 
 lese, native and white, to testify to the ability, enlightenment, and 
 humanity of the officers who have occupied the highest position in 
 this province from the early days of Mr. Malfeyts residence here 
 until the present time of Mr. de Muelemeester’s term of office.”— 
 (Letter dated Yakusu, December 28, 1905.) 
 
 REV. JOHN ALEXANDER CLARKE AND REV. WILLIAM 
 
 GEORGE. 
 
 Rev. John Alexander Clarke and Rev. William George, both 
 English Protestant Missionaries of the Garenganze Mission, con¬ 
 tradict the statements of the Rev. Dugald Campbell: 
 
 “With reference to the grave charges brought against the Congo 
 Government by the Rev. Dugald Campbell, of NE. Rhodesia, in 
 your Weekly Edition Supplement of August 26, 1904—viz. (1) 
 ‘that it tolerates, profits by, and makes no effort to suppress the 
 slave traffic; (2) the slavers are well supplied with guns, rifles, and 
 ammunition’—we, as missionaries who have lived in Katanga district 
 for some years, desire to say that the first statement is absolutely 
 incorrect and altogether misrepresents the Government. Personally, 
 we know of vigorous measures having been taken to suppress this 
 horrid traffic carried on by Western traders, the Bambundu; even 
 as recently as the spring of this year expeditions have passed our 
 door for this very purpose. The second statement is entirely mis¬ 
 leading, the guns, rifles, and ammunition are brought in from the 
 West Coast, and are not supplied by the Congo authorities. While 
 other statements in Mr. Campbell’s letter require some modification, 
 others, again, are not true of the present regime.”—(Letter to “The 
 Times” dated Koni Hill, Congo, November 21, 1904.) 
 
 MONSIGNOR VAN RONSLfi. 
 
 A later letter from Mgr. Van Ronsle, Apostolic-Vicar of the 
 Lower Congo, who has had fifteen years’ experience in the Congo 
 and has never seen an act of cruelty there: 
 
i5 
 
 “During the period of fifteen years that I have been in the Congo, 
 never, neither myself nor, as far as I know, anybody amongst my 
 missionaries lias been an eye-witness to any act of cruelty, nor has 
 even seen the effects of such an act. 
 
 “The missionary'Fathers and myself have heard sometimes com¬ 
 plaints of reprehensible acts, but in most cases the stories which 
 were told to us left room for much doubt. 
 
 * ^ * * * * * * 
 
 “I do not pretend that we find everything perfect in every way, 
 but only a Colonial Government which is above all reproach would 
 have the right to cast stones at the Congo Free State .”-—(Letter 
 dated Leopoldville, Congo Free State, December 22, 1904.) 
 
 MONSIGNOR ROELENS, APOSTOLIC-VICAR OF THE 
 
 UPPER CONGO. 
 
 # 
 
 Monsignor Roelens, Apostolic-Vicar of' the Pepper Congo, has 
 spent twelve years in the Congo Free State, and “does not know a 
 single case of inhuman treatment inflicted by a white man on a 
 negro”: 
 
 ‘‘It is on behalf of true justice and of real humanity that we, 
 Belgian Missionaries, make bold to protest against the attacks 
 leveled at His Majesty our King and against our fellow-country¬ 
 men whom we believe attacked without any serious foundation. 
 
 “I say we ‘believe without foundation.’ We are positive about 
 it. In regard to a portion of the Congo known to us from having 
 visited it in detail, and in which we have been living for many years, 
 and from what we have learned and are learning every day, we are 
 satisfied that the same applies to the Congo throughout. 
 
 ^ if: ^ >|c * % 
 
 “The officers who have succeeded one another here in the Gov¬ 
 ernment of this portion of the Congo have proved themselves equal 
 to their humanitarian task. They have always exercised the strictest 
 control over their inferiors. I am able to assert as absolute truth 
 that during the twelve years I have spent out here, and though I 
 have always been acquainted with all that was going on in the State 
 stations and their vicinity, not a single case of inhuman treatment 
 inflicted by a white man on any negro has ever come to my knowl¬ 
 edge. 
 
 “I have roamed all over the part of the Congo State extending 
 from the Tanganyika to Stanleyville; I have resided for days and 
 days in various stations of the State; I have made a detailed inspec¬ 
 tion of the shores of the lake, a good part of Urua and Manyema; 
 
i6 
 
 I have conversed freely with the natives who have laid open all 
 their grievances to me. The only misdoings which they complained 
 of were those committed by the so-called Wangwanas (civilized), 
 former confederates or followers of the Arabs, whose principles 
 they put into practice. In spite of active supervision and of the 
 closest watch, the State has so far not succeeded in preventing all 
 the outrages which they are in the habit of perpetrating. Nowhere 
 have I ever heard a charge of inhumanity advanced against an 
 officer of the State. Everywhere I have found peace, security, 
 plentifulness and joy. I have not seen a single trace anywhere of 
 these so-called inhuman oppression and intolerable yoke .”—(Letter 
 dated Brandoinville, Congo > March 15, 1904.) 
 
 % 
 
 REV. MR. AVE, AN AMERICAN MISSIONARY. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Ave, an 'American missionary, as reported by Colonel 
 James J. Harrison ih London Times, June 10, 1904: 
 
 “Since writing the above I see in today’s Morning Post quotations 
 from some English trader in Matadi. He says: ‘From all I hear 
 things up country are worse than ever. In the Mayumbe country, 
 behind Boma even, the State has begun collecting rubber by force 
 from the natives.’ 
 
 “As I happened to travel home on the same boat as Mr. Ave, an 
 American missionary, who has for some years been in charge of this 
 Mayumbe district, his statements to me may be of interest. Mr. Ave 
 said : ‘All these reports were untrue; that the district was governed 
 by an officer who was most,kind and considerate in all his dealings 
 with the natives; that he had carefully readjusted the taxation so 
 as to fall as fairly as possible with regard to villages and population 
 of same; and‘that he was universally respected by all the natives as 
 a kind and just man.’ ” 
 
 REV. FATHER COLLE. 
 
 Letter from Rev. Father Colle to The Catholic Herald , giving- 
 results of six years’ experience in the eastern part of the Congo 
 Free State: 
 
 “February 5th, 1905. 
 
 “Sir: I hasten to reply to your esteemed letter of the 28th of 
 October, 1904, in which you do me the honor to consult me con¬ 
 cerning the ‘atrocities’ attributed to the Congo Administration. I 
 reply then quite candidly and without reticence, nor any ‘arriere 
 pensee’ whatever. 
 
“After nearly six years’ residence in the Congo, of which four 
 were spent in the neighborhood of the agents of the Comite Special 
 of the Katanga, I have never found the least act which merits in 
 the smallest degree the epithet ‘atrocity.’ On the contrary, it has 
 seemed to me many times that a little more firmness would have 
 heen better amongst the savage and intractable people which sur¬ 
 rounds us. 
 
 “May my feeble offering help to strengthen information more 
 authorized, and aid however little the work of truth and justice 
 that you have undertaken. 
 
 “(Signed.) PIERRE COLLE, 
 
 “Catholic Missionary in Urua.” 
 
 FATHER MAGUIRE, A MISSION ON THE UPPER CONGO. 
 
 Father Maguire, a mission on the Upper Congo: 
 
 “Before concluding, I would just mention that, though I have 
 traveled by boat and on foot from Boma to Amadi and higher 
 up to Surunga, calling at all the State stations; though I have visited 
 many establishments, both Catholic and non-Catholic, as well as 
 some stations of independent companies; though I have passed 
 nights and days in my tent in the forest and in villages of the 
 natives; though I have had ample opportunities of seeing much in 
 my journeys as to how the natives are treated, I have never seen or 
 heard of any of the atrocities with which the agents of the Free 
 State are charged. On the contrary, one cannot but admire the 
 wonderful progress that has been made in so short a time, the com¬ 
 mendable way in which the natives are treated, the little work that 
 is exacted of them, and the manner in which they are punctually 
 paid for every service rendered or work done. The little work 
 which is occasionally exacted of them by way of tax in porterage 
 or otherwise is as nothing when compared with the immense benefits 
 conferred upon them by the State. In fact the methods of the 
 Belgian officers drew a highly complimentary eulogium from the 
 Sirdar during his recent visit to the Enclave of Lado—methods 
 which, he stated, might be followed with advantage by our English 
 officers: Messieurs, nous avons d’excellentes leqons devant nos yeux, 
 said he, ‘Gentlemen, these are excellent object-lessons for us.’ ”— 
 ( Letter in “Manchester Guardian ” March 31, 1904.) 
 
i8 
 
 MONSIGNOR AUGOUARD. 
 
 Mgr. Augouard, Bishop of the French Upper Congo, on condi¬ 
 tions prevailing in the Congo Free State: 
 
 ‘‘Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of the 28th of October, last, I 
 hasten to send you the information you have asked in regard to the 
 atrocities of which the Congo Free State is accused. 
 
 ‘‘I gladly avail myself of this opportunity to protest against these 
 accusations, and I shall lay before you the truth of the matter in all 
 sincerity. 
 
 ‘‘I have been in the Congo region for 27 years. I was present at 
 the birth of the Congo Free State and have witnessed its rapid 
 development. Consequently I am better qualified than anyone else 
 to give you information acquired by long experience. 
 
 “The majority of the accusations made against the Free State are 
 only repetitions of accusations made ten or fifteen years ago; but 
 no new facts have been found in support of these charges. Among 
 the accusations formerlv made, some were well founded, and, at 
 the period to which I refer, I myself protested against certain abuses 
 and demanded their repression. But in what colony do you not 
 find some abuses of authority and some faults committed by the 
 officials? French, Germans, Portuguese and Belgians have more 
 or less abused their power at times, and the English themselves have 
 not always been very tender in their dealings with the natives of 
 Africa. Why should these latter now reproach the Belgians for 
 doing those things which they themselves have done in their own 
 colonies ? 
 
 “But I affirm that the majority of the stories which have been 
 recently put in circulation again are either false or considerably 
 exaggerated. 
 
 “Undoubtedly perfection does not exist in the Congo Free State 
 any more than it exists in the neighboring colonies. But I am 
 glad to say that the Free State endeavors to put down abuses and 
 that, especially during the past ten years, the judicial officers have 
 devoted special attention to the prosecution of agents guilty of 
 cruelty towards the natives. 
 
 “Whenever I have had the honor of being received in audience 
 bv King Leopold II. His Majesty has asked me to tell him frankly 
 and freely of any abuses which might have come to my knowledge, 
 promising me to apply a prompt remedy. 
 
 “If the Free State has occasionally employed severe measures to 
 subdue savage and cannibal tribes, it must be admitted also that for 
 a long time it has done everything in its power to protect the native 
 and to secure for him the benefits of civilization. The missionaries 
 all over the country are the object of special solicitude on the part of 
 the Government, which encourages everything that contributes to the 
 
19 
 
 material and moral uplifting of the savage tribes of the Congo. I 
 may add that for the last twenty vears the English missionaries have 
 obtained favors which I myself should not have been able to obtain 
 in the Congo Free State. 
 
 “To sum up, inevitable abuses took place in the beginning chiefly 
 at the time Stanley was laying the foundation of the State. The 
 Government does not attempt to deny it. But these abuses dis¬ 
 appeared many years ago, and the Government, with a perfectly 
 organized system of justice, constantly endeavors to punish offenses 
 which come to its knowledge. In my opinion the punishment is 
 sometimes even excessive. In some cases white men have under¬ 
 gone severe punishment for a very light correction administered to 
 a disobedient boy or to a thief. 
 
 “Let us therefore permit the Congo Free State to go on with its 
 development and to bring to good results the great work undertaken 
 by King Leopold. When I think of the sad plight of the Congo 
 when I first saw it 27 years ago. and then consider the flourishing 
 condition in which I see it today, I cannot refrain from admiring 
 the genius which has so quickly transformed these regions and 
 opened them to commerce and to civilization. The accusations, more 
 or less founded of certain malcontents, should not cause one to 
 forget the gratitude which Africa owes to the Sovereign of the 
 Congo Free State. 
 
 “I beg you to accept, sir, the homage of my respectful and 
 devoted sentiments in our Lord. 
 
 “(Signed.) PROSPER AUGOUARD, 
 
 “Bishop of the French F T pper Congo.” 
 
 “P. S. You may give to this letter such publicity as you think 
 proper, in order to establish the truth.” 
 
 VERY REV. BRUNO SCHMITE. 
 
 The Very Rev. Bruno Schmite, who has been a missionary in the 
 Congo ten years: 
 
 “Ten years’ residence on the banks of the Tanganyika have con¬ 
 vinced me that, from a humanitarian and civilized point of view, the 
 natives in our regions have nothing to envy from those in the 
 neighboring English and German territories. Quite the contrary. 
 
 'I' 'k d' -S' • 
 
 “The latter, i. e. the native, is nothing but a vicious and lazy child, 
 who has need of an energetic tutor as much to curb his inhuman 
 vices as to conquer his laziness. I will not go so far as to pretend 
 that the Congo State is so entirely disinterested as to urge the negro 
 
 S 
 
20 
 
 to work merely for the sake of civilizing him, but, whatever her 
 intentions are, they are honest, and, more than that, the steps which 
 she takes are eminently calculated to improve the moral status of the 
 native. 
 
 “Besides this, with a broad mind the State encourages, favors and 
 supports all important works which might further this end. And 
 on this same subject we, White Fathers, have nothing to envy in the 
 treatment of the Catholic missionaries elsewhere, and especially of 
 those living in the neighboring German and English colonies. 
 
 “Finally, I would that all the negroes of the world could have an 
 Administration such as that possessed by the Congo State in our 
 regions.” 
 
 REV. FATHER BEYNEN, OF THE ORDER OF 
 
 PREMONTRE. 
 
 Rev. Father Beynen, of the Order of Premontre: 
 
 “Having, in the absence of the Very Rev. Apostolic Prefect of 
 Uele, fulfilled the duties of that high office, from January, 1903, to 
 March of last year, I roamed over it from Ibernbo to Sumbari and 
 beyond, I saw every nook and corner of the place, I traveled on foot, 
 in a pirogue, on muleback, over the State highways as well as over 
 the small paths leading to the native villages, where—be it said in 
 passing—I stayed many days and nights and heard the natives fear¬ 
 lessly and openly talking about their interests and I never saw a 
 single act of cruelty committed by any agent of the State. 
 
 “All the State agents, more particularly the Belgian officers with 
 whom I had the honor to be acquainted in the Uele, have shown 
 themselves worthy of our small, but beloved country. 
 
 “Like Mgr. Roelens in the territory under his jurisdiction, I found 
 order, peace, security, abundance and joy. No trace whatever of 
 inhuman oppression, or of an unbearable yoke. Nor is the work 
 imposed upon the blacks at all exorbitant.”—( Letter dated Ibernbo, 
 Congo , January 11, 1905, to Federation for Defense Belgian 
 Interests Abroad .) 
 
 LETTER ADDRESSED TO KING LEOPOLD BY THE PRIN¬ 
 CIPALS OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 
 
 Letter addressed to King Leopold by the principals of Catholic 
 Missions in the Congo, 1906: 
 
 “Sire: By a recent letter addressed to the Secretaries General 
 of the Free State, Your Majesty has deigned to publicly and 
 solemnly acknowledge the importance of the religious mission work 
 in the Congo. 
 
21 
 
 “The national congregations particularly appreciate this proof of 
 high sympathy with which Your Majesty has deigned to honor 
 them. The representatives of the various communities who send 
 missionaries out to the Congo, beg Your Majesty to kindly accept 
 the expression of their warm and deep gratitude. 
 
 “It is with a new ardor, Sire, with a new perseverance, of which 
 Your Majesty gives a fine example, that our missionaries will unite 
 their efforts to those of all the devoted agents of Christian civiliza¬ 
 tion for the regeneration of the black race in the Congo. 
 
 “Please accept, Sire, the homage of the feelings with which we 
 have the honor to call ourselves the respectful and faithful subjects 
 of Your Majesty. 
 
 “(Signed.) 
 
 “AD. VAN HECKE, 
 
 “Superior General of the Missions of Scheut. 
 
 “F. A. DECKERS, 
 
 “Prelate of Tongerloo. 
 
 “J. DEVOS S. J„ 
 
 “Provincial of the Company of Jesus in Belgium. 
 
 “A. BROECKOVEN, 
 
 “Priest of Westmalle; per the Provincial Father of the Redemp- 
 torists. 
 
 “R. VERAMME, V. YEANROY, 
 
 “Procureur of the Mission of the Stanley Falls. 
 
 j 
 
 “BELAUE, 
 
 “Superior of the White Fathers.” 
 
 OPINIONS OF SOME PROMINENT CHURCH¬ 
 MEN IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 
 
 HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL GIBBONS. 
 
 His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons : 
 
 “It is only some score of discontented men, depending largely on 
 the untrustworthy hearsay evidence of natives, who have raised an 
 outcry against the Congo administration, out of a great band of 500 
 or 600 missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, who are working 
 on the Congo, and who give thanks to the Congo administration 
 for its support to the missions, and for its successful efforts to 
 introduce Christianity and civilization into Central Africa .”—(Letter 
 dated Baltimore, October 21, 1904.) 
 
22 
 
 ADDRESS OF CATHOLICS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 Address of Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland to His Majesty, 
 King Leopold, presented February 27, 1904, and signed by two 
 Archbishops, four Bishops, Members of Parliament, etc.: 
 
 “They [i. e., Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland] have seen with 
 much satisfaction that many foul and terrible charges, brought for¬ 
 ward by malignant and interested persons against Congo officials, 
 have been disproved, both in the Law Courts and bv the-highest and 
 most reliable testimony; and they, therefore, sympathize with the 
 Congo Administration, whose every action is clearly an object of 
 unprincipled attack by men who pose as honest defenders of the 
 natives, but who are, in reality, fomenters of religious hatred, and 
 are either themselves plotters or the ready tools of schemers who 
 have personal ends to serve by the crusade on which they have 
 entered. 
 
 “The revelations just made regarding the disgraceful bribing of a 
 Congo official by the Congo Reform Society’s secretary show clearly 
 the methods employed by those pseudo-philanthropists. 
 
 “Your memorialists earnestly desire to assure Your Majesty that 
 they will labor to the end that the schemes of these interested calum¬ 
 niators may be entirely overthrown and exposed; and they are satis¬ 
 fied that one way of defeating these plotters is to exercise the most 
 rigid care in the appointment of officials and the closest control over 
 such officials when appointed; and if delinquents are found, to 
 punish them and dispense with their services. 
 
 “It is, no doubt, true that cases of wrong-doing are bound to 
 occur, but such cases can in no way obscure the great and noble 
 work for progress and civilization which Belgium has carried out in 
 the reedon of the Congo, which competent authorities admit is being 
 improved and developed as rapidly as additional means of providing 
 for the welfare of the native races are available. 
 
 “Belgium’s mission in the Congo region is a high and noble one; 
 and your memorialists are satisfied that Your Majesty thoroughly 
 realizes this. They do not forget that the parties who are now 
 inspiring these attacks on the Congo Administration carefully 
 refrained from interesting themselves in Congo affairs until these had 
 been launched on their present highly-successful career under Your 
 Majesty’s supervision. Hence the jealousy and envy that have been 
 incurred by Belgium from those who would now endeavor to deprive 
 her of the fruits of her labor, and would seize for themselves the 
 results of the success which she has achieved. 
 
 “The conspirators against the Congo Administration have shown 
 clearly that these are the unworthy and disreputable motives inspir¬ 
 ing the many attacks that have been made, and so many of which 
 have been amply discredited.” 
 
23 
 
 % 
 
 VIEWS OF TRAVELERS, EXPLORERS AND 
 
 OTHERS. 
 
 LADY STANLEY. 
 
 Lady Stanley: 
 
 “Sir Henry Stanley believed there was gross and malicious exag¬ 
 geration of so-called atrocities in the Congo Free State. He believed 
 that many of the stories belonged to the past and were served up 
 again and again ; that many regrettable incidents and acts of cruelty 
 were inevitable in so great a territory peopled by uncivilized natives; 
 that evildoers are being brought to justice and punished. Sir Henry 
 moreover was convinced that there was a deep plot against the 
 Congo Free State.” 
 
 5jC ^ 'k 'K ^ ^ 
 
 “Sir Henry thought grand work had been done by Belgians on 
 the Congo .”—(Letter to Monsieur Harry, May 2, 1905.) 
 
 ROBERT WILLIAMS, ESQ. 
 
 Robert Williams, Esq., of the Tanganyika Concessions, Limited, 
 who has had a long experience in Africa, in the Congo, as well as 
 in British and Portuguese possessions—statement of conditions in 
 the southeastern district of the Congo: 
 
 “To the Editor of The Times: 
 
 “Sir: My attention has been called today to the report in your 
 issue of The Times of the 4th inst. of Sir Charles Dilke's speech on 
 Congo affairs, delivered in the House of Commons, and I hasten 
 to refute his statement that the mines of Katanga are worked bv 
 slave labor. 
 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 “The Congo State officials have carried out a native policy in 
 Kantanga which has, according to the competent opinions of Messrs. 
 Grey and Holland, been very fair to the natives themselves. 
 
 “It is no easy matter to change the habits of a country from 
 slavery and cannibalism and to convert natives from rule by a system 
 of mutilation to habits of peaceful industry, and I consider it says 
 a great deal for the work of the Congo State officials in Katanga 
 when it is considered that they have practically abolished slavery 
 and cannibalism from a district about which the late Dr. Livingstone 
 wrote: 
 
 “ “Slavery is so bad and the sights I have to witness so terrible, 
 and I feel so helpless to prevent it, that I could not go on with my 
 
24 
 
 work were I not buoyed up with the hope that my work may lead 
 others to follow in my footsteps and accomplish what I am power¬ 
 less to do.’ 
 
 “The work now being - done by our splendid staff of men in Central 
 Africa, in developing the resources of that country and in building 
 a railway to connect it along the, at one time, great slave route to 
 Benguella, with the friendly cooperation of Belgians and Portuguese 
 alike, is, in my opinion, going a long way to fulfil the hopes of 
 the late Dr. Livingstone. 
 
 “Yours faithfully, 
 
 “ROBERT WILLIAMS, 
 
 “Managing Director, 
 
 “Tanganyika Concessions (Ltd.)” 
 
 LORD MOUNTMORRES. 
 
 Lord Mountmorres on conditions which he found in the northern 
 part of the Congo : 
 
 “I can imagine no testimony to the efficiency and the benefit of 
 State rule stronger than the scenes one witnesses almost every day 
 in the Ubangi province. For here we see its effect, not in bringing 
 a feeble people into quiet subjection, but in converting a stalwart, 
 warlike, independent race of savage cannibals into a loyal, contented, 
 and industrious population. Only a few years ago this people was 
 one of the most lawless barriers in the way of white civilization to 
 be encountered in the whole of Africa, and even today the tradition 
 of their cruel savagery is so widespread that you will find that the 
 majority of the very functionaries of the State themselves, who are 
 unacquainted by actual experience with the work which is being 
 done in the Ubangi province, think of the Banza, the Ubangi and 
 the Banziri tribes as being still the most formidable and untameable 
 cannibals. Yet nowadays the visitor to this part of Africa can travel 
 almost anywhere in perfect security, alone and unarmed, on the 
 State side of the river. He will see in the villages a population 
 which is neither cringing on the one hand nor hostile on the other, a 
 population whose virile energy has been diverted from its old-time 
 occupation of war and robbery to the peaceful industries of forging, 
 smelting, agriculture, and textile handicrafts, such as the making 
 and dyeing of native cloth, of nets, rope, string, and the elaborate 
 and ingenious contrivances used by natives in the chase .”—(London 
 “Globe,” March 9, 1905.) 
 
25 
 
 MR. MARCUS R. P. DORMAN. 
 
 Mr. Marcus R. P. Dorman—cases of ill-treatment in the past— 
 exaggerated stories in newspapers—system of government sound 
 and suited to the country: 
 
 “The older residents in the Congo admit that there have been 
 cases if ill-treatment of natives in the past, but I am satisfied that the 
 reports which have appeared lately in European newspapers create 
 an entirely erroneous impression of the condition of the country 
 today. The chief officials are undoubtedly anxious to prevent any 
 one treating the natives badly, and any one doing so is severely 
 punished. . . . 
 
 “The system of Government, although novel, is undoubtedly sound 
 and suited to the country.”—( Letter dated Coquilhatville, Congo 
 Free State, August io, 1904, to London “Times.”) 
 
 COLONEL JAMES J. HARRISON. 
 
 Colonel James J. Harrison reports (1905) that natives prefer the 
 Government of the Congo to that of Uganda: 
 
 “We know how often it has been stated that the native tribes 
 dwelling on the Congo side of the Nile all fled across the river some 
 years ago and built their villages in Uganda, the reasons given 
 being the cruelty and oppression of the Belgian officials. Traveling 
 south from Redjaf to Mahagi I was astonished to find no end of 
 new villages being built and all by natives who formerly had run 
 over to Uganda, but were now returning. Passing Kadge Kadge I 
 met a powerful chief called Tokwe busily employed erecting kraals, 
 saying all his tribe were disgusted with Uganda Government and 
 were coming back. 
 
 “When questioning all these people one always got the same reply. 
 AVe have tried both Governments and like the Belgian one best, so 
 have returned.’ —( Letters to London “Morning Post.”) 
 
 SIR ALBERT ROLLIT, M. P. 
 
 Sir Albert Rollit, M. P., speech at Liege, September 5, 1905 : 
 
 “I wish to tell you how much I esteem the enlightened Sovereign 
 who desires Belgium to create outlets for herself by colonization, 
 and who has done all that is humanely possible for a chief of the 
 State to do. I well know that it has been said that the Congo is the 
 scene of atrocities. 
 
26 
 
 “I assure you that the larger proportion of the British nation 
 consider these reports a calumny and that many Englishmen, of 
 whom I am proud to be one, know from trustworthy reports that 
 if there have been abuses, everything has been done to remedy them, 
 and that honor, I may say, is safe. 
 
 “There are always difficulties at the beginning of the work of 
 colonization. We had the most evident proof of this in Australia, 
 but I regard as sincere the accounts of the travels of certain of my 
 compatriots, who have stated in a most emphatic manner that the 
 abuses have been repressed and that no atrocity is now committed 
 in the Congo.” 
 
 MR. JAMES PIRIE. 
 
 Mr. James Pirie, agent of the English Company “Tanganyika 
 Concessions, Limited,” writes of his experiences in the Katanga 
 District: 
 
 “I have been reading again those extracts from various papers 
 calling attention to the Slavery (?) in this country. What a pity it 
 is that those who so loudly denounce this Government should not 
 pay a visit to the country and see things for themselves, as they 
 really are. It is impossible to imagine a happier race of people than 
 these are whom I have seen since coming under the ‘Lone Star’ 
 again. 
 
 * * ^ * sjc 
 
 “Having asked Mwenda what taxes his people pay to Government 
 he says that his people pay no taxes at all, but that he supplies the 
 Lukafu station with sixty baskets of meal per month, besides all 
 the ground nuts, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, beans, etc., they require, 
 for which he receives an annual payment, the householders of his 
 village and the younger men also receiving payment through him. 
 
 “He denies that any one of his people have ever been forcibly 
 removed from the village to work since the occupation of the 
 country by the Belgians and states that sixty baskets of meal per 
 month is nothing to them considering the quantity they raise, and 
 that it is in consideration of his being able to regularly supply this 
 amount that he and his people are exempt from any farther taxation. 
 
 * * * * * >i= * 
 
 “I have just been reading the home newspapers on Katanga, and 
 comparing the actual state of things with what is written there, I 
 cannot understand what it advantages any man to make such a gross 
 misstatement of facts. I have no wish to get into controversy with 
 anyone, but I have not the slightest hesitation in telling you that 
 those who wrote the stories I read are liars and every word of their 
 damnatory utterances on the condition of the natives here, and their 
 treatment by the Belgian Government are malicious lies.” 
 
 I 
 
27 
 
 EDOUARD FOA. 
 
 Edouard Foa, the well-known French traveler: 
 
 “The Congo State is the finest colonizing work that exists in 
 Africa.” 
 
 MUTILATIONS. 
 
 Maimed natives found everywhere in Africa—not specially fre¬ 
 quent in the Congo—cutting off hands an ancient custom—some¬ 
 times done to secure a trophy from dead enemy—like Indian custom 
 of scalping—white men not responsible for such acts. 
 
 Cutting Off Hands a Native Custom. 
 
 “Again. Dr. Guinness has exhibited all over the country photo¬ 
 graphs of living native victims with their hands cut ofif, a custom 
 he and other missionaries swear to ‘as not being a native custom, 
 but one introduced by civilization.’ Why, I ask, do they not explain 
 how this same custom comes to be practiced in Khartum, the Sudan, 
 and Uganda? 
 
 “Nor has any answer been given to my suggestion that the natives 
 looked on Consul Casement as a protege of the missions; there is, 
 no doubt, the Consul's former connection with a Congo mission— 
 his being obliged to conduct much of the inquiry from a mission 
 steamer, besides being accompanied at times by missionaries. These 
 facts alone were bound to weigh with the native mind, however 
 impartial our Consul (whose own honesty and integrity of purpose 
 to get at the truth I have never doubted) might try to make it.”— 
 {Letter from Col. James J. Harrison, London “Times,” October i, 
 1904.) 
 
 Mutilations Occur All Over Africa. 
 
 “With regard to the mutilations in the Congo, described by Mr. 
 Casement, I may tell you that only last year in Uganda I saw similar 
 mutilations, which, it is well known, were done by the natives in 
 Uganda, notably on King Mtesa’s day. In walking through Toro 
 and Unyoro, I have seen men without noses, ears, and, frequently, 
 without hands.”— Dr. Christy of the Liverpool School of Tropical 
 Medicine {Interview in Liverpool “Echo,” June 23, 1904). 
 
28 
 
 Maimed Natives Rarely Found in Congo—Only Two 
 Discovered in 4,000-MiLE Voyage. 
 
 “During the ascent of the entire length of the Ubangi River, the 
 descent of the Congo from Stanley Falls to Boma, and the march 
 across Uele I demanded at the mission stations to see the originals 
 of the photographs of atrocities so common in Europe, but they were 
 not forthcoming. The famous boy Epondo is, however, always on 
 view, for he is employed as a gardener by the Commissaire at 
 Cocjuilhatville, so that he can be produced at a moment’s notice for 
 the inspection of curious visitors. 
 
 “One other boy without a hand was shown to me at Ikoko on Lake 
 Tumba. It was supposed to have been cut off by a State soldier 
 nine or ten years ago, but there is no proof of this. These are the 
 only cases which could he found for me during a tour of about four 
 thousand miles in the interior .”—(Marcus R. P. Dorman in letter to 
 London “Morning Post ” February 16, 1905.) 
 
 Note.—Epondo referred to by Mr. Dorman is the boy whom the British 
 Consul, relying on native evidence, reported as maimed by a native sentry, but 
 who was afterwards shown to have lost his hand in a boar hunt—one of the 
 many cases in which the accusations against the Congo Government have been 
 shown to be groundless. 
 
 Such Mutilations as Exist Attributable to Ancient Native 
 
 Customs. 
 
 “It is needless to enter fully into the state of the country before 
 civilization was attempted, when all the tribes were at war with 
 one another, when the strongest Chief conquered the smaller tribes 
 and murdered and made slaves of them. 
 
 “In Bangala you can still see the traces of the former acts of 
 barbarism: children with a mass of cuts all over their bodies, with 
 various members mutilated and such like, and as regards the hand 
 cutting which Dr. Guinness wished to particularly put forward, I 
 will give you an actual illustration of this, which is not an exception 
 but one of many such cases, and a custom which was usual in this 
 part of the world. 
 
 “Near Dungu a Sultan called Renzi had three or four sons, one of 
 whom I saw myself, by .name Monoko Pamba, and this one not only 
 had his hands cut off, hut also his feet, ears, and lips, and from his 
 own brother I heard the story. This was to the effect that his own 
 father had ordered him to cut off all the members of his brother's 
 body owing to a certain interference in his Father's harem which 
 consisted of over 200 females. It used also to be the custom when a 
 great Chief died to bury his slaves with him, after which others 
 
29 
 
 were killed and eaten to show respect to the dead Chief. I now 
 .ask who is responsible for the changing of such acts but the 
 Belgian colonists who have at the cost of many lives brought peace 
 amongst the various tribes, and by degrees made such acts of bar¬ 
 barism a thing of the past.”— (Mr. T. Beaumont, who lived two 
 years in the Congo State. Letter in “Standard,” October 30, 1904.) 
 
 No Such Mutilations Ever Inflicted, Directly or Indirectly, 
 
 by a White Man. 
 
 “From the mass of statements, testimony and information gathered 
 by the Commission it appears that the mutilation of dead bodies is 
 an ancient custom which does not have in the eyes of the native the 
 horrible character which it does in ours. The cutting off of certain 
 parts of a dead body fulfils the natives desire to procure a trophy 
 or simply a piece of evidence. The mutilation of fallen enemies 
 frequently occurred in the wars between natives in certain 
 regions. 
 
 “One point is beyond doubt ; a white man has never inflicted such 
 mutilations, nor caused such mutilations to be inflicted, upon living 
 natives as a punishment for failure to bring in taxes nor for any 
 other cause. Deeds of such a kind have never been stated to us by 
 a single witness, and in spite of all our investigations, we have never 
 "been able to discover such a case .”—(Report of the Commission of 
 Inquiry.) 
 
 BELGIAN PUBLIC OPINION. 
 
 MONSIEUR WOESTE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 Monsieur Woeste, Member of Parliament: 
 
 “I have not denied, and I do not deny, that reforms are useful in 
 the Congo State, that they be even necessary. Neither have I denied, 
 nor do I deny, that regrettable incidents have occurred out there, 
 although it is difficult to conceive how it could be otherwise. But, 
 taking the enterprise as a whole, it must be admitted that it deserves 
 praise and encouragement, not blame and criticism. . . . The 
 
 work of the Congo will remain, I am convinced, in all impartial 
 ■eyes, a grand and fine enterprise. Such also will be the judgment 
 of posterity. Whatever may be done, whatever may be said, it will 
 be to the honor of King Leopold II, as it will be to the honor also 
 of all those in Belgium who, considering only the moral and material 
 interests of the native population, have devoted themselves to those 
 
30 
 
 interests, following the King, and have refused to allow themselves 
 to be turned aside bv critics.” 
 
 COUNT DE SMET DE NAEYER. 
 
 Count de Smet de Naeyer: 
 
 ‘‘After the incontestable proof which the Congo Government has 
 given of its wisdom, its foresight and its perseverance in the working 
 of its internal organization, to deny to it the intention, will and 
 energy to bring about reforms which may be necessary is to inflict 
 upon it an outrage against which reason and justice protest.” 
 
 MONSIEUR NERINCX, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BEL¬ 
 GIAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 Monsieur Nerincx, Vice-President of the Belgian House of 
 Representatives, in speaking of Vandervelde's attacks upon the 
 Congo Government: 
 
 ‘‘I do not in the least agree with Mr. Vandervelde, and I do not 
 think that the large majority of the Belgian people and Belgian 
 Parliament agree with him. King Leopold has accomplished a great 
 work for civilization in the Congo.” 
 
 BARON WAHIS. 
 
 Baron Wahis, on the Socialist attacks: 
 
 "It would be a grave mistake to take a few discordant voices as 
 the expression of the general opinion. The cause is well known in 
 Belgium, which makes this insignificant minority speak in a hostile 
 sense of the Congo Government.” 
 
 MONSIEUR HENRY CARTON DE WIART, MEMBER OF 
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 Monsieur Henry Carton de Wiart, Member of the House of 
 Representatives: 
 
 "The Belgian Socialistic Party has always been anti-Colonial, and 
 is against everything the King undertakes. The Socialists have 
 taken up the anti-Congo campaign for political purposes, but in 
 Belgium the public, including all classes of society, knows what to 
 think about these Socialistic attacks. The majority of the Belgium 
 people are with the King and are devoted to his Colonial work.” 
 

 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 - * • I 
 
 f 
 
 )