Lord Percy then went on to point out that there
were several unsatisfactory features, the chief being the secrecy with which the inquiry was at first conducted. Unfortunately, when ultimately the Commission yielded to our plea that the sittings should be public, and that we should be represented, they .did not communicate the fact to us. The moment, how- ever, that we heard of the decision, we sent Mr. Mackie, of Loanda, to represent us at the proceedings. Mr. Mackie was not allowed to see the depositions taken before he arrived ; but he sent home extracts from some of the evidence given at the later sittings. He also told the Foreign Office "that the impression made upon his mind by the attitude of the Com- mission was that the evidence which had been taken corrobo- rated to a large extent the truth of many of the allegations made, and, indeed, he expressed his own opinion that the principal reason why the Commission spent but a short time was because the evidence they had already received was sufficient to prove that hundreds of natives had fallen victims to the system then in force. There were also other facts which led to the conclusion that this was the impression made on the Commissioners' minds." Though Lord Percy ended his speech with some general expressions somewhat more favourable to the Congo State than the bulk of his remarks, the impression to be derived from it as a whole is that the British Government are beginning to take a very serious view Of the condition of things in the Congo, and that their patience is becoming exhausted.
Previous page
