The Congo Supplement to the West African Mail for May
contains in its correspondence columns an extraordinary letter to the editor, Mr. E. D. Morel, from the Belgian Consul-General in England, in which Mr. Casement's recent Report is referred to as " the Report—I should say the libel—of Mr. Casement." It seems to us far from seemly that a document prepared by a distinguished Civil servant at the direction of his official superiors should be described by a representative of a friendly Power in terms which imply that it is an infringe- ment of the criminal law; and we are glad to see that Mr. Emmott made it the subject of a question in the House of Commons, and received the answer that representations would be made in the proper quarter. We wish all success to the Congo Reform Association, which has been recently founded, for though many of the stories of Congo maladministration are no doubt exaggerated, enough have been substantiated to rouse very serious misgivings in the minds of Englishmen. We had our share in the creation of the Free State Govern- ment, and a certain responsibility must rest on us for its mis- deeds. We have no sympathy with wild and libellous charges, but as the greatest of African Powers it is our business to see whether there is not fire behind the smoke.
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