KING LEOPOLD DEAD

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 693, 18 December 1909, Page 5

KING LEOPOLD DEAD

A PEACEFUL END.

EMBOLISM SUDDENLY INTERVENES. '.:•.'■'.-■■.'• THE NEW KING. . (By TeleErapn—Press Association-Oo'pyrlsbU ' : .'(Kec. December 17/9.25 p.m.). ; •'..•,".''. ,;' " : Brussels, Decomber 17. After passing an excellent night and taking nourishment, King Leopold took a turn for. the worse, and died suddenly.' ' The end, which came at 2.30 'o'clock" this morning, waa peaceful. The causo of death was embolism (tho mechanical lodgment in a vessel of somei material, foreign to the normal blood, which has been carried along in the course of. tho circulation).. ■ , : Tho patient suddenly exclaimed': "Doctor, I am choking." Morphia was injected, but'thfe . King died almost immediatly.. ; . ... Prince Albert (King Leopold's nephew and successor on the throne) arrived shortly afterwards, and reverently kissed the dead monarch.

THE OLD RULER AND THE NEW. The late King Leopold II of Belgium—who y.-as recently the subject of an extended notice m these columns—was born 'at Urusseis on April B, 1835, arid was the 6on of King Leopold I, whom ho succeeded.on December .10, 1865. He travelled much in Europe-, Asia Minor, and Egypt, and was practically the founder of the Congo Free State.: Ho married, in 1853, the Arcfidnchoss Maria of Austria, who died' on Senember 19, 1902, and by.whom he had three daughters. . The eldest, Princess Louise, mat.ried in 1875 Prince Philip of Saxe-Cpbui'g-Gothn, biit tho marriage /was, dissolved in January, 1908. The second Princess was Stephanie, ; widow of the' late :Crown Prince Budolf, of Austria,' , married-Count Lonyay in 1599.: The third, is Princess Clementine. Tho heir preeumptivo is Prince , Albert, 'second eon of the late Count of Flanders, brother of the King. He was born April 8, 1875, married (October 2, 1300) the Duchess ': Elisabeth- of Bavariu, and has two sons, Prince Leopold; born-November 3, 1901,.Prince Charles Theodore, born October 10, 1903, and. a daughter born August i, 1906. The Chamber voted him an : annual allowance of SOOO francs in December, 1905. ■:-■. : " . . • . ....

King Albert's to .the Congo. . .-,'. .The- death of King, Leopold is of first importance in relation to:the delicate situntion existing between Britain and' Bolgiiiin with regard to the Congo. It'is also.of interest to recall that not long ago Prince Albert, the new King, visited the Congo: territory, to see for himself; nnd it was reported that he had been impressed by what he saw, and would in future bo found to be a force on the side of reform. Time will tell. ' .; .. '■■'-. _ At nnyrate, the Brussels 'Tatrioto," the,leading, Belgian' Catholic newspaper, lately . published the' following, "on high, authority" :— "Prince Albert has returned from the Congo ■very unfavourably impressed as to the acts of the old colonial administration We are assured , that he was both sorry and exasperated to see the terrible devastation and destruction of native-life "caused by the Leopoldian system ,'•'- In: the meanwhile, considering all that has been said in denunciation of .the Leopold regime in the Congo—where, according to some writers, throe million deaths lie at the door of "tho greatest criminal in history," etc.— it is fair to' quote the dead ;King in his own defence.. The following is taken from an interview:—' ■: . ' . -.■". , ■.' -. ~ .. , ....' ';■

"It is nsso'rted," - the interviewer, said, "that your Majesty, is : financially interested in the Congo,; and that you are making a huge fortune anaiially.' Is this ti-uo i" '"'■'■ ' "It isabsolrtely false," 'aid tho King. "I am .tho_ ruler of tho Congo, it is true; but tkt prosperity.. of tho country; no more affects iinanciaUy - than tho prosperity of tho United States increases the private means of President Roo.-welt. I havo not a penny: invested in Congo industries. I have received no salai'y for the'work I have donc.asithe Congo Executive duri the past 22 years, and in no shape or form, have I ever boUorei uiyself in monoy through- my relationship with tluCougo Vtea Stato. On ; th(> contrary;-I havu spent large sums of rnr own. iii developing; the conhtry, sutus tint amount : in.the' aggregate to millions af..dt.U-if=.. Financially sptakingj therefore,;' I am , a poorer man, not.a.richer;;becauso of .the Congo... The betterment of the country and tho imprbviraent: in-1 lie cmditioiis of the- natives are. the objects of niy efforts.. . .-.-.'."' ■•'■'. , "I know there ..are persons '• so. constituted mentally that. they, aw unable to ■ nnpreoiiue oiich a statement,/ They believe readily enough the falso charges that I am rolling in wealth secured/at the oxiw'nse of-dying natives.'They dee;mo as a boa-constrictor squeezing.the life but of the blacks,to.put gold.into my purse. '

Not a.Miser. - ■:.'-/.. ; "Why shqnld I,do such a'thing? Of what use is money to me?' 1 am not in itho prime of life;l have passed-the threo. score years and 'ten', in my-earthly-journey. I cannot tako money out of. this world. Why "should I wish to pile up gold for the more , sake of the wealth I should have? 1 hare sufficient money for my wants. .1 do not wish. any. more .. ; I am hot a businessman. I am a ruler, aiixions only for the welfare-of my subjects. It is rooje to me than in>i>ey is to.a miser to know that my work on the: Congo h'as-hdt boat! effort vainly spent, b'rom. a wild African forest inhabited by cannibals,; the Congo has developed- wonderfully, and itsrfivonues: have,increased from nothing to ten million dollars annually since the. Free Stito was organised 22 years ago. .:.'■: ; /'But what: has 'ie«i is nothing to.wtntwill be in the future. There is fabulous wealth in the onuntry, and. Pam making every'effort to see.that it is properly eared:for.; I cannot conceive of anything (hat-can'give a ;gi eater rv titrn ihanthe planting of rubber trees in thn Congo.■• The Congo is 'ho world's natural rubber, region." '-__^-__2_2i^i^_j : - -' ; •■■'•"■•'