RED RUBBER.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14513, 20 December 1912, Page 7

RED RUBBER.

THE PUTAMAYO OUTRAGES.

United Prw* Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.

LONDON. December IS.

At the enquiry into the Putumayo scandals, a witness defended expenditure by the compauy of £7,000 on niles, which ho said were required to resist native attacks. He agreed ptaerally with Sir Casement's rerort that the directors ultimately became awr.ro of tho conditions in Putumayo.

THE PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATION.

SI» HOGEIfcASKMENTV! EVIDENCE.

(VROM OUR OWN CORRUSTONDENT.)

LONDON, Novcuihor 16. The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to enquire into the responsibility of the British directors of the Peruvian Amazon Company, has heard the evidence of Sir Uoger Casement, whose report on the rubber horrors of the Putumayo exposed tho cruelties perpetrated in that region. Sir Roger said the company had accepted tiio truth of his report. There was no foundation for tho statement that the atrocities had been caused through tho action of British or American firms and syndicates who ''jumped" claims or territory in. Putumayo. The Chairman: Then the Arana Bros, responsible ?— I suggest they aro criminally responsible. Discussing tho system in Putumayo, Sir Roger said that in his opinion it had not grown uj> by cliance or neglect. "I think, ,, he' added, with intense feeling, "'that this criminal system wns deliberately designed. 'J ho Putumayo directory were, in my opinion, cognisant of things in Putumayo." Raids had been carried out on certain Columbian estates. Natives were murdered, their houses taken possession of, and their property confiscated. In ono case twenty-three tons of rubber found in a Columbian trading settlement were actually brought to London .'is the property of the Putumayo Amazon Company. Senor Arana was perfectly aware of that. Ho visited tho region subsequently to those crimes. The Chairman : To sco what should bo done." —No, in order to cover up the crimes.

Men were sent out with Winchester rifles to catch Indians just as if they wcro wild animals. Those who ran away were shot down, and the Indians, after being driven from their homes, we.ro hunted in the forests. After capture, if they collected too little rubber, they were, flogged, and if they ran away commissions, armed with Winchester rifles, were sent out to shoot them. The Chairman: The company used British subjects to collect rubber by a series of crimes and murders wliich wero punishable ?—I have no doubt they used their subjects in a criminal way. 'iho essence of the system was terror.

■?i"'n s ? r ha< * severa l consultations with tho directors. "But I soon realised he said, "that tho directors wero ranch moro preoccupied with their financial position. Unless the company could bo saved there was no possibility of the company making any reforms. Their position was very difficult, for Arana was in effective ownership. <; I mado it quite clear that the wholo thing was organised piracy," said Sir Roger, speaking of his interviews with the Board in London. He believed the Putumnyo conditions were now improved. The Chairman:' Tiro directors who habitually sat in London, as a matter of fact, knew of these criminal methods; they knew that their firm was using British'subjects for tho purposes of murder ? —I have no doubt of it.

Tho Chairman: It by no means follows from that, that that knowledge was communicated to the British directors? —No.

• The Chairman: But that knowledge was in tho London office when thoso two gentlemen wero there? —Yes. SIR ROGER UNARMED.

Lord Alexander Thynno: Was it necessary for any agent of the company to go armed?—"'l went unarmed/ 1 replied Sir Roger, laconically. Further questioned by Lord Alexander Thynne, the witness said th%t there were an Englislunan and an Australian employed in the Putumayo. The Englishman, a young, man, who acted as storekeeper, told him that "the whole thing was prganised piracy." 'Aβ Australian thought bis enquiry was an unwarrantable interference, and was subsequently heard to remark: "If he had gone to ithe district where I used to work he would have been shot, and serve him jolly well right, too." (Laughter.) Replying to Mr Joynson-Hicks, tho witness said that when he saw the British directors ho told them that they .were presiding over a system of organised piracy. Did they throw up their hands in holy horror? —They bad already been told that in the Bluo Book. I think they were very much ashamed of what had taken place. But didn't they deny it?—Tiev had already denied it, and I think the Foreign Office had accepted it, or had placed on record its belief that the British directors were not responsible. Answering a further question by Mr Joynsou-Hicks, witness said that a letter was sent to the agents of the company from London on November 3rd, 190U, calling attention to tho charges of cruelty, and requesting them to see that the natives were properly treated. Tho cruelties continued for months after that, and he assumed that the letter was not seriously meant or complied with. In cross-examination by Mr Asquith, Sir Roger said that the British directors would not be likely to hear of any atrocities from the Aranas.