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Show Smart Yankees and Leopold How Henry L. Sanford and Another Man Persuaded His Majesty to Exploit the Riches of the Congo. "While chatting in the most Informal and friendly way with the prince of Wales. I think about ten years before he became King Edward VII., he asked me about several Americans whose achievements had interested him," said Senator Chauncey M. Depew to me recently. "We were at Hamburg. When there the prince became a man among men, visiting the springs under the thin disguise of an incognito, and he was always glad to meet and talk in an informal in-formal manner with Americans who had gained some reputation at home. In the course of our conversation the prince suddenly turned to me and said : "Mr. Depew, did you ever know Henry L. Sanford?" "The name seemed familiar to me, but for the moment I could not place the man. and the prince, seeing that I hesitated, added: 'He was for a good many years United States minister at Belgium.' " 'Oh, yes,' I replied. 'While I never K . met Mr. Sanford, I know him by reputation. repu-tation. He was minister to Belgium at the time of our Civil war, and lor many years after. He was a very active, ac-tive, enterprising man, and had some of the characteristic traits of the real Yankee. If I remember correctly, he came from Connecticut.' " 'Well, it was Henry L. Sanford, your minister to Belgium,' said the prince, 'who first persuaded King Leopold Leo-pold to attempt to exploit the riches of the Congo region in Africa. The king had learned to have great confidence in Mr. Sanford, and, I have been told, was an admirer of his earnest, progressive pro-gressive business methods. Perhaps you have been told that King Leopold is thought by business men to have very great business ability.' "It was, of course, greatly interrst-ed," interrst-ed," Mr. Depew continued, "in this revelation of the relation Henry L. Stanford had towards the attempt of King Leopold to promote or exploit the vast riches, and especially the rubber rub-ber industry of the Congo region. I suppose the prince observed my interest, inter-est, for he went on: " T have been told that Leopold became be-came so enthusiastic over the possibilities possi-bilities of obtaining great wealth from the exploration of the Congo region re-gion that he sank every penny of his personal fortune in the attempt. I have also been told that Mr. Sanford, who did not risk a great deal, afterwards after-wards lost his fortune in a great land i development speculation in Florida. Whether the latter be true or not, I do not know, but I have no reason to doubt the statement made to me that it was a typical American promoter, promo-ter, Mr. Sanford, who persuaded King Leopold first to venture into the Congo region. " 'But that is not all. Leopold, having hav-ing sunk practically all of his personal fortune in the Congo, was advised and even persuaded by another American promoter to attempt a second exploitation exploi-tation of the riches of the Congo; I do not recall the promoter's name but I do remember well an Incident connected connect-ed with this exploitation, which, as you know, has resulted in making the king a very rich man. " 'After this American promoter had explained his plan for the second attempt at-tempt in the Congo region, and after he had greatly excited Leopold by his statement of the enormous wealth that was in the Congo especially in rubber rub-ber Leopolf! said: " ' "It will be necessary for us to raise a large amount of money if we are to undertake this work. I haven't the money, and we haven't the money in Belgium, but I know where the money can be found. It is in France. The people of France have great accumulations ac-cumulations of savings, and the way to tempt them to invest their savings in any company is one which I know well. " ' "We must have certificates of stock, or bonds, elaborately engraved with fine, seductive pictures upon them; and these must be brilliantly colored. If we do this, then the French people, when they see the certificates, will be Btrongly attracted to them. Nothing tempts them like a beautifully beauti-fully engraved and highly colored certificate. cer-tificate. I will see that this is done." " 'And King Leopold saw that this was done,' added the prince, with a twinkle in his eyes, and by means of those highly ornamental and seductive seduc-tive certificates much the greater part of the money he needed for the exploitation exploi-tation of the Congo was speedily obtained ob-tained In France." (Copyright, 1910, by E. J. Edwards. AI! Rights Reserved.) |