THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1909. THE UNHAPPY CONGO.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3109, 6 February 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1909. THE UNHAPPY CONGO.

A3 was generally expected by those who have followed the development of the situation on the Congo, Germany, which was one of the Powers that handed over tho Congo territories to King Leopold of Belgium.has now formally recognised the annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium, alleging that the administra-

lion of th 4 i^ l<ee yfc a t e is purely a matter of concern for the Goverrir carr i ec | out the annex xti'tin. 'This view is opposed to the rtsyty ;tafc-en by England, and the U Stages, both of which are p/tdigud '-hf their respective Governments to'refuse to recognise the an-'-nexa-tiofu unless Belgium gives guarantees that the same abominable hcruelties which ha<7« been proved -agamst the administrators when the Congo Free State was a possession of Ki®g Leopold will not be continued when the territory is a colony of Belgium. Seeing that the annexation was undertaken in consequence of representations made by the signatjry Powers at the Berlin Conference of 1885, with a view to ; stopping the ghastly miseries inflicted by King Leopold's agents upon the Congolese, it is obviously futile for the Powers to recognise the vslidity of the cession from King Leopold, to Belgium unless there is an assurance that the new regime will be more .n accordance with civilised public opinion than the old. Sir Edward Grey has already announced that Great Britain will not recognise the annexation unless Belgium gives proper guarantees fthat the objectionable features of l&ing Leopold's rule will be abolished. Mr Elihu Root, the United States IForeign Secretary, has taken up the -same attitude. But Germany brusque-; ly challenges this attitude by declaring that nobody has any right to interfere with Belgium, however brutally the Belgian administration may •■treat the natives. It is hard to see how the German viewpoint can be justified by reason, seeing that the Powers which handed the Congo to King Leopold in order that he might ameliorate the moral and material condition of the people, are obviously competent to take it back, either ifrom King Leopold or his heirs and -assigns—in this case the Belgian Government —if the purpose for which the cession was made is not fulfilled. ■And an international commission has already reported that it has not been fulfilled, while the terms of the enactments under which the territory has been handed to Belgium—subject to the approval of the Powers —render it improbable, if not impossible, that the wretched natives will be better off under the new regime than they were under the old. The tirtures. the mutilations, and the forced labour •inflicted upon the Congo natives bv their merciless Belgian oppressors, who have reaped enormous .profits ■from theiblood and tears of the miserable, rubber-gatherers, are matters .that no longer admit of argument, King Leopold and the Belgian politicians.wno played into his hands denied these things as long as they could. ;But the findings of the International Commission have made further denials futile. And nothing has been said or done hy the Belgian Government which would indicate that these proved cruelties will npt necessarily be continued now that the Congo Free State lis—provisionally—a Belgian colony. It is difficult to believe that Germany would deliberately ignore an ev.il which has been thrust under the notice of ..the Pow.ers so insistently if she did not regard the whole question as one •which was capable of being treated in such a way as to hamper the .policy of a irival nati n. By supporting ■Belgian and recognising the validity •of tha annexation, Germany undoubtedly pats a spoke in the whetl of Bri'i-3li policy, but it is pretty safe ita .predict that the public opinion of -Europe will not support her. The annexatinn of the Congo Free State by Belgium cannot hold good unless it is recognised by all the Powers that were party to the Berlin Conference of 1885, and to the Brussels Conference of 1390, by which the territory was' .handed over to King Leopold under ciis r inct conditions. Now that a deadlock has occurred, owing to a di-Terence of opinion between •.Germany and certain other P.wers that joined with Germany in giving the original mandate to the Kiri ; of the Belgians, it is apparent that the annexation of the Congo Free State by Belgium remains incomplete, although it has been decided upon by the Belgian Parliament. Hence the exploitation of the natives and the brutal cruelties .which form an integral part of the Belgian system of Congo administration may be expected to continue until Belgium gives the guarantee which is demanded by England and the United States as a condtion precedent to ratification. It may be that another conference of the Powers that were party to the original arrangement will be rendered necessary by the action of Germany in declaring that the administration of the Congo is a matter for Belgium alone.