THE BLACK NEMESIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 7, 8 January 1908, Page 4

THE BLACK NEMESIS.

It is generally assumed by optimists and philanthropists that civilisation is of necessity a blessing to the savage race 3 who are brought under its influence. But we may doubt if the black peoples of Africa have much cause to be thankful for the benefits extended to them through contact with their European conquerors; and iv the case of the Congo Free State the evidence is all the other way. We have frequently quoted proofs of the miseries inflicted upon the wretched Congolese by Leopold's officials and administrators; and whoever is responsible for ~ thesd barbarities there, is no ! room for doubt about the deplorable effects of Belgian rule upon the condition, of the country and its inhabitants. The whole region is being rapidly eon- | verted into a desert waste, and the naj tive tribes are fleeing in terror from j the path of their hated taskmasters. But I there is in all these tragic and sanj quinary episodes an element of danger which has hitherto attracted little attention,' anil .which may yet produce the j most momentous effect upon the future fortunes of the Dark Continent. In carrying out their exploitation of the Congo country the Belgians have made a practice of drilling and arming bands of native cannibals, and turning | I them loose upon the more peaceful tribes. Naturally this policy has had I a most demoralising effect" upon the I savage races concerned; but it seems now likely to react upon the Belgians themselves. A body of cannibals, sick of their servitude to their brutal masters, have turned their arms against the Europeans, and have driven back an exploring party after a prolonged fight. The incident may be trivial in itself, but it may easily acquire a terribly significant meaning. If once the savage tribes of. Central Africa learn that their white masters are not invincible, and if once they combine to wreak vengeance on their tyrants, the door will be barred against civilisation in the Dark Continent; and the white intruders will be swept away before the irresistible onslaught of countless thouands of fierce barbarians. Those who have watched the course of events in Congoland have long since foreseen all this. When Leopold has finished with. the Congo he will leave behind him "a vast region peopled by fierce races with the undying hatred of. the whites imj planted in their breasts; a great army of cannibal levies drilled in the ecience of forest warfare, perfected in the usages of modern weapons of destruction—savages whose one lesson learned from contact with European civilisation has been lin the art of killing their neighbours; I eager to seize upon the first opportunity: .of turning their weapons upon their teni- ! . porary masters: rendered more d'esper-1 j ate, more dangerous and more debased! than before the advent of King Leopold's , rubber collectors, who by way of regeneration have grafted upon the natives' failings, born of ignorance, the worst vices of the Africanized civilisation of modern Europe, cupidity, lust and cruelty" If it be true that when nations sin, nations are punished, the Europeans in Africa I may yet have to pay a terrible price J for the iniquities perpetrated' in the j name of humanity and progress by the rulers of Congoland.