NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE long-expected debate on the administration of the Congo Free State began in the Belgian Chamber on Wednesday. The Premier, Count de Smet de Naeyer, opened the discussion with a statement, which may be said to have represented the King's case. In dealing with the restrictions placed by the Royal will upon the Domaine de la Couronne, he defended its inalienability, and declared that in all countries provisions were made to safeguard Crown lands. On the question of annexation, he said that this had always been the policy of the Government, and that a law defining the new regime was being considered by a Committee, and might soon be presented to the Chamber. He concluded with a panegyric upon the progress made on the Congo, and the beneficent character of its Government. M. Hymans, in the absence of the Socialist leader, M. Vandervelde, through illness, brought forward the first interpellation, and offered some sharp criticisms upon the terms on which the King sought to transfer the Congo State to Belgium. "Belgium could not think of accepting a sovereignty which was incom- plete and mutilated." She preserved the right of annexation without conditions, and if she accepted the provisions with regard to the Domaine de la Couronne, she would be renouncing her right to the great part of her sovereignty. He was speaking, he said, not to the King, but to the Cabinet, behind which the King bad tried to shelter himself. "The abstention and silence of the Government can continue no longer." The debate was continued on Thursday, when the Minister of Justice, M. Van der .Heuvel, made a singularly ineffective reply to M. Hymans. We fear that the cryptic utterances of the Belgian Ministers promise little alleviation to the miseries of the Congo. If that should prove to be the case, it will become absolutely necessary for this country to act in accord- ance with the principles laid down by Sir Edward Grey.
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