THE CRIME OF THE CONGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14225, 23 November 1909, Page 7

THE CRIME OF THE CONGO.

SIR A. CONAN DOYLE'S

PAMPHLET.

A STRONG • INDICTMENT.

[from cup. own correspondent.]

London, October 15. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has published, iii a short, readable pamphlet, a strong and vigorous indictment of the Belgian administration of the Congo. It is high time that a problem which has been debated backwards and forwards for a great number of years by politicians, reformers, and missionaries should at last come before the judgment of the general public in Britain. For, as Sir Arthur says, the only reason why public opinion has not been more sensitive upon the question of the Congo Free State is that the terrible story has not been brought thoroughly home to the people. One or two names stand out among those who have worked in this matter-—Mr. E. D. Morel, above all, to whom this pamphlet is dedicated by the author, and the Congo Reform Association itself, which has struggled hard for a long time past with very scanty means. But if anything is to be done by the British Government, acting either in concert with other Powers or, if need be, acting alone, such vigorous action can only become practicable if the public conscience be first aroused by the definite and detailed information which Sir Arthur is able to give in his vivid and well-written pamphlet.

England's responsibility. From a public point of view one or two main facts have to be borne in mind. The first of these is that the British Government is definitely responsible, because, in combination with other nations, it practically helped in the founding of the Congo State at the Berlin Conference of ' 1885. ' Of course, the objects of King Leopold were, at the start, of blameless integrity. There was to be free trade everywhere ; the ports were to be open the natives were to be raised physically, morally, and intellectually ; and the enormous wealth of the country was to be exploited solely in humanitarian interests. What actually happened was the direct contrary of all these laudable objects. The Congo State became the private domain of the King. Every obstacle was thrown in the way of traders other than Belgian. The land was taken away from the natives, and declared to belong to King Leopold. And, in order to collect rubber, ivory, und other products, the most terrible system of punishments, fines, and taxes was instituted, accompanied by nameless tortures of the miserable natives. And for this, as Sir Arthur impresses upon us, the British Government, as one of the signatories of the Berlin Conference, cannot avoid responsibilit}*. Then, in 1889-1890, there took place the Brussels Conference, and the Powers were still ready to accept, apparently, King Leopold's professions of his humanitarian aims. For they agreed to relieve the new State from those free-port promises which it had made in 1885, and to permit it in future to levy i<J per cent, on imports. Holland, it is true, which alone had the sagacity to appreciate the true situation, protested for two years the other Powers were more complaisant.

PROTESTING voices. ' A series of terrible incidents has marked the subsequent- history, illustrated from time to time by conspicuous infamies so dreadful that they have for a time arrested the attention of the world. We have not space to describe- these in detail. But there is, to begin with, the murder of Mr. Stokes by Captain Lothaire, Mr. Stokes being an Englishman working for an American company, a successful trader, and, therefore, a rival for the Belgians to get rid of. Subsequently Captain Lothaire seems to have been implicated in the terrible Mongalla massacres. Some light was thrown upon the darkness by the absolutely appalling , report of Consul Roger Casement, in 1904, supplemented by various reports from the Rev. Joseph Clark, an American, missionary, and a Swedish clergyman, Mr. Sjoblom. As a matter of fact, however, various voices have been heard from time to time testifying to the wholesale massacres, widespread cruelty, and gradual depopulation of the whole country. Everything has been sacrificed for greed ; everything, also, has been done to keep all traders, except Belgian ones, ' out of the district. When the Congo State was annexed to Belgium on August 10, 1908, everyone hoped that some, reform would be instituted ; but, alas, the hope has been frustrated. The latest " mockery" is the report of a Belgian Colonial' Minister, M. Renkin, who does his best to whitewash the official Administration of which he is the spokesman. THE REMEDY. In circumstances like these Sir Arthur Con an Doyle joins with earnest reformers in urging our Government to do something. Testimonies as to misrule are not confined, of course, to our own countrymen. They emanate from French, German, American, and Swedish sources. Sir Edward Grey himself has spoken with considerable emphasis on the necessity of • some forward steps being taken to put an end to so grave a European scaadal. Sir Arthur does-not hesitate to suggest, in the final chapter of his interesting pamphlet, that, whether England o,cts in conjunction with other nations or acts alone, she should peremptorily declare that the present Congo Administration must cease. A blockade of the Congo is one plan ; another is the proclamation of the guilty land as an outlaw State. There is yet another solution, the author adds: " Let a large caravan start into the Congo land from Northern Rhodesia. We claim that we have a right to free trade by the Berlin Treaty; we will enforce our claim. To do so would cut at the very roots of the Congo system." Clearly, it will not be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fault if the public at large remain in ignorance of the infamous maladministration of the Congo.