Show FREE STATE IS NOT OPPRESSED I I Belgium Answers the Charges of the British Consul Consul 4 SENTRY F FALSELY Y ACCUSED ALSEt E TO ER FASE FALSE SS tA I ASHINGTON A April rU vieW view ot of WASHINGTON V V the reent recent charges made against the administration of oZ the Cong Congo Free Stat State the Associated Press c ca cabled i bled to King Leopold copold asking king for his I sidn o of the case In a number of I official documents have hava been forwar forward forwarded ed b by mal mall ad and in addition the he Cong Congo State ha has cabled authority to Jae James Gustavus w the follow following to give the Brussels note ing rume resume ot of has been issued In reply to te the charges charge ma made e In the recent report of te the Brt Brit BritIsh ish consul J The Brussels note after taking up one or two minor details of ef the British consuls consuls report proceeds to consider main pint poInt of criticism which Is the treatment or of the native population by the Congo authorities The con consuls consuls report contains a number or of sto storis stories ris ries ot of cruel told him by the natives which for the most part a axe valueless a as e dence o on account of the fact tt that ite did not Investigate them 01 or obtain corroborative tet mony Although his charges are or of a amot afloat mot float serious nature In the majority or of cases he has failed to give the names or places This seems an un fait tah mode or of attack aS f it give gives the Congo Ste State 10 no opportunity t to disprove te the j jOne One Cae Case Taen Taen Up One case case however which the con Bul aul investIgated and which he gives as asa asa a most flagrant example wo was brought to the knowledge knowledg of te the Congo tes ties and was Investigated b by w them This i Is the case of the boy bor who claimed that hit left hIld hand ha had ben been cut cut of off b by a native s sentry tr In the La n Lungs Rubber company w The con l accompanied by two mis went to the village tage of Bs Bce und and proceeded to hold a an Impromptu court of inquiry The in injured injured boy accused the sentry KElen Icelen go bO to his 1115 taL tare The consul then 1 toned the chief and a numb number r of the hed head men They e replied by accusing the sentry Most st ot of them delare declared tat that they had been eyewitnesses ot of the ded deed The consul aske asked whether ther there were any more witnesses ad and nearly al all thos those present abut about fort forty pern persons shouted with Ole once voice that I It was who ho did i it The sentry denied te the charge Other cae came forward with various arious charges r robber robbery and wrongdoing against the sentry and finally the consul the evl denee announced t to the as assembly that deserved punish ad adI and anda a wIt with him the malme bo boy 11 U the cac case I before the atte state authorities sal g drai that that he denounced not an individual but a system Acknowledged He Be Lud LudI dIt I would be unwarrantable to dra draw such a sweeping from u a sin single single gle cae case even lf If the case e were wel velI founded but as a matter r or of tact ct the accusatIons of the sea sen tW try were shown t to be without an any whatever When the prop proper er state authorities ce came to investigate te the C case the bs boys down i He admitted that he had led lied ad and ex that that lie he had lot lost his hand in a abear I Ibel bel bear hunt aked asked wh why lie he ha had falsely acus accused the he said ld tat that be l had done it at the instigation of the natives of th the district who hope hoped thus to secure the intervention of the BrItish consul and 2 a release from the he nee necessity I of gathering rubber Most of the natives who ho had accused the sen sentry sentry try before the consul the woods Thos Those who were caught admitted tat the they h had given false telmo testimony Ote Other wItnesses s who were cled called at boys boys confession that that his hand hl had been lot lost In a bu hunt The C case or of is treated at great length in the Brussels Bruels note on aunt account of the tad fact that the British consul ul trusting In the statements madl made by bJ the he natives a and not waiting for the judicial inquiry has put forward this ease as mo moat damning pr o of against the Cogo Congo Mate I It Is 0 the one cite cs case which he had thought he had investigated 1 thoroughly Ti T x Is Necessary In to the British consuls criticism o on Ue the work required of the natives by Ute the way ot of t tax the Brussels not note pint points out that U IL l s a tx tax which com compels Js tl th taUe to con contribute tribute something s te the support of the state and which also r teaches him habits of industry Even Een this the British govern meAt meet sueh a tx tax In Jabor or orIn orIn In kind In It ita Afrie n po possessions ell ns I It should le le that in the dIstrict over which the tho c cOmpany as 5 the B I R n sway th thI the consul could not hot find any eases I cf f cruelty Imputable to the commercial 8 agents and yet the A B B 1 I R Is one of oC thO those e concession which I are accused or of dIsaster upon the native This company like the other rubber 1 companies employs JL r of I guards guard whose hose duty It Is to superintend I the or of rubber p 9 see ee that the thu natives perform the properly and andI I to take care that the vines 1 eK tre re not In InI Injured I TIe consul en without I to represent ent them fig as figR R of oC oppression His prejudice in Int inI t I the matter may maybe be in his attempt to give the impression lon that there are area a great number or of thOse e sentries be because cause lie he had seen a gun marked Depot 1 le ThI This Iss ast I lion tion for the Ule mark to in question Is not either b by the state or by the corn com comI panT but seems to be merely the mark I of the factory in wh the gun wen made The Brussels no note o refutes all the points of the British consuls report and is a most testimony to the work which KIng Leopold has In Africa II |