" Europe " as a collective force does not seem
very powerful for good just now. It is defied with success by a contemptible little brigand in Morocco, who is said—we think, falsely—to be demanding four provinces as ransom for a popular American and an Englishman; by the Sultan in Macedonia and Armenia; and by Belgium on the Congo. Lord Percy has practically admitted in the House of Commons that the atrocities alleged to occur there do occur, and Lord Lansdowne has proposed an independent Commission of Inquiry ; but the King of the Belgians, who is proprietor of the Congo Free State, rejects the demand. He will grant an inquiry, but those who inquire must be his own subjects and officials. His people, moreover, support him, his Press alleging that the British Govern- ment have no humanitarian feeling, and are simply protecting the Liverpool merchants, who want to make a profit out of rubber. The British Government could, of course, blockade the mouth of the Congo; but they wish to be the mouthpiece
of Europe, and Europe cynically replies that whether the crimes alleged occur or not, its commercial interests in the Free -State are too small to justify interference ! If the people of the Congo had either the courage or the arms of the Hereros, they would soon compel Europe to listen; and even as it is, a general rising would overtax Belgian strength. The negroes in America were but a feeble folk, and never rose in insurrection, but their treatment cost America a thousand millions in treasure and a quarter of a million lives.
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