THE BELGIAN CONGO.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 48, 26 February 1908, Page 7

THE BELGIAN CONGO.

GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE UNCOMPROMISING. By Trtegrapli.-Press Association.— Copyrls»l:t (Received February 26, 8.5 a.m.) LONDON, 25th February. In a debate in the House of Lords, Lord Fitzmaurico, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, declared that the Congo ! Government's attitude was moro uncom- ; promising now than over before. ■ The Marquis of Lansdowne, who wns Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the last Administration, commented on what ho considered a serious announcement. Tho proposals for annexation of the Congo State by Belgium havo nob meb with much approval, and recently the Brlgian Premier asked .tho Congo Government to open fresh negotiations. Meanwhile, news of mn3sacres continues to reach 'Europe. Many tribes aro still in open revolt against the Government, heavy fighting is daily proceeding in many districts, and ono cannot escapa tho conclusion that tho feeling of me natives against the Congo authorities is deep and widespread, and that it will ' be a hard task for Belgium, with the small army sho Ims, to put a tlofinitb stop to all these- massacres. Tho Congo I State itsolf appears to bo helpless. It is said that a growing teeling is noticeable in Belgium, genuinely hostile to the idea of annexing tho Congo. Several politicians, such as M. Georges Lorand, have long sinco warned the eountiy of tho perils of so vast a colonial undertaking for so small a, power as ! Belgium, and it seems that the idea that that the country will flatly refuse to annex ths Congo is making some progress. Tho ultra-Conservative Courrier i de Bruxellos says on this subject: — "If! we refuse to annex the Congo wo shall ' have our hands quite free, and the perpetual menace of international compliications will thus easily be disposed of. Annexation will surely bring us into I difficulty, and might cwpn one day endanger our independence." An influential meeting of churchmen and nonconformists was held in London last month, when n- Christian committee was formed to agitato for the securing of real reforms in tho Congo.