No. 4 Sir C. Phipps to the Marquess of Lansdowne — (Received May 16.)
My Lord,
Brussels, May 14, 1904.
M. de Cuvelier handed to me this evening a Memorandum, of which I have the honour to inclose copy, which has been drawn up at the Congo Ministry in rejoinder to the points raised in your Lordship’s despatch of the 19th ultimo, on the subject of the administration of the Congo.
I have, &c.
(Signed) CONSTANTINE PHIPPS.
Inclosure in No. 4.
Memorandum.
LA dépêche de Lord Lansdowne du 19 Avril, 1904, dont copie a été remise par Son Excellence Sir Constantine Phipps au Gouvernement du Congo le 27 Avril suivant, appelle quelque considérations.
Relativement à l’appréciation contre laquelle s’élève cette dépêche “that the interests of humanity have been used in this country as a pretext to conceal designs for the abolition of the Congo State,” l’on voudra bien se souvenir qu’un membre de la Chambre des Communes déclarait qu’il préfèrerait “voir la vallée du Congo passer à une Puissance étrangère,” et que des pamphlets indiquaient comme “absolute and immediate necessities,” “Disruption of the Congo Free State,” “Partition of the Congo Free State among the Powers,” et suggéraient même les bases d’un tel partage, tandis que des organes de la presse Anglaise envisageaient soit l’alternative “advocated by the more thorough-going critics of the present Administration, namely, the disruption of the Congo Free State,” soit l’alternative de “the partition of the Congo territory among the Great Powers whose possessions in Africa border those of the Congo State,” ou déclaraient “what Europe ought to do, under the leadership of Great Britain, is summarily to sweep the Congo Free State out of existence.” La Note de l’État du Congo du 17 Septembre a relevé ces suggestions, dont nous n’indiquons ici que la tendance et qui toutes avaient pour objet de spolier le Roi-Souverain, de le déposséder de l’État qui était sa création personnelle—suggestions qui se concilient bien mal avec le respect du droit et des Traités, et avec les motifs d’ordre purement humanitaire et philanthropique dont se disent exclusivement animés les adversaires de l’État dans la campagne passionnée qu’ils mènent contre lui.
En réponse aux objections que le Gouvernement de Sa Majesté élève contre la communication du texte intégral du Rapport de Mr. Casement, le Gouvernement de l’État du Congo fait remarquer qu’il a demandé la communication de ce Rapport complet en vue précisément de le transmettre aux autorités judiciaires et administratives compétentes, sans quoi cette communication serait sans objet. Le souci d’une enquête impartiale et les droits de la défense exigent impérieusement que les accusés connaissent, d’une manière précise et dans leurs détails, les faits mis à leur charge, et l’appréhension que les personnes accusées pourraient, de par la connaissance qu’elles auraient de ces détails, influencer ou supprimer des témoignages ne semble pas justifiée par ce seul fait que des indigènes, qui, dans l’affaire Epondo, avaient fourni au Consul des informations mensongères, ont évité par la suite de se représenter devant le Magistrat enquêteur; la fuite de ces témoins s’explique plus naturellement par le sentiment de la faute grave qu’ils avaient commise en trompant sciemment le Consul Anglais. Si le Gouvernement du Congo peut donner, et donne volontiers, l’assurance que tout acte ou toute tentative de subornation de témoins serait poursuivi, il n’est évidemment pas en son pouvoir de préjuger ou d’enrayer les mesures légales que croiraient devoir prendre, dans l’intérêt de leur honneur ou de leur considération, des personnes qui se trouveraient avoir été faussement accusées.
Le Gouvernement de l’État du Congo regrette que le Gouvernement de Sa Majesté Britannique n’estime pas devoir lui communiquer les autres Rapports Consulaires antérieurs auxquels faisait allusion la dépêche de Lord Lansdowne du 8 Août, 1903. Ainsi que le disaient les notes du 12 Mars dernier, ces rapports présentaient l’intérêt d’avoir été écrits à une date à laquelle de débat actuel n’était pas né.
Une copie de ce Mémorandum sera adressée aux Puissances auxquelles a été transmise la copie de la dépêche de Lord Lansdowne du 19 Avril dernier.
État Indépendant du Congo, Bruxelles,
le 14 Mai, 1904.
(Translation.)
LORD LANSDOWNE’S despatch of the 19th April, 1904, a copy of which was handed to the Congo Government on the 27th April by his Excellency Sir Constantine Phipps, calls for certain remarks.
With regard to the opinion to which this despatch takes exception, “that the interests of humanity have been used in this country as a pretext to conceal designs for the abolition of the Congo State,” it will be well to remember that a Member of the House of Commons declared that he would prefer “to see the Valley of the Congo pass into the hands of a foreign Power,” and that some pamphlets described the “Disruption of the Congo Free State,” the “Partition of the Congo Free State among the Powers,” as absolute and immediate necessities, and even went so far as to suggest the bases of such a partition, while the organs of the English press contemplated one of two alternatives, either that “advocated by the more thorough-going critics of the present Administration, namely, the disruption of the Congo Free State,” or “the partition of the Congo territory among the Great Powers whose possessions in Africa border those of the Congo Free State,” or declared that “what Europe ought to do, under the leadership of Great Britain, is summarily to sweep the Congo Free State out of existence.” The Congo State Note of the 17th September has called attention to these suggestions, of which we merely point out the tenour in this instance, and which all aimed at despoiling the Sovereign King, and at dispossessing him of the State which was his own creation—suggestions which are entirely incompatible with respect for rights and Treaties, and with the motives of a purely humanitarian and philanthropic nature by which the enemies of the State allege themselves to be exclusively animated in the passionate campaign which they are conducting against it.
In reply to the objections raised by His Majesty’s Government against the communication of the entire text of Mr. Casement’s Report, the Government of the Congo State points out that it has asked for the complete Report precisely with a view to transmitting it to the competent judicial and administrative authorities, without which this communication would be purportless. The anxiety to obtain an impartial inquiry and the rights of the defence render it an imperative necessity that the men accused should be informed, in a precise and fully-detailed manner, of the acts laid to their charge; the fear that the persons accused might be able, by means of the knowledge they would have of the details, to influence or suppress evidence, does not appear to be justified by the mere fact that the natives, who, in the Epondo case, had given mendacious information to the Consul, subsequently avoided presenting themselves before the Magistrate presiding over the inquiry; the flight of these witnesses is explained more naturally by the fact that they were conscious of the grave fault they had committed in wittingly deceiving the English Consul. If the Congo Government be permitted to give an assurance, which it does willingly, that any case of suborning witnesses, or any attempt to do so, would form the subject of a prosecution, it is evidently not within its power to prejudice or quash such legal measures as persons who might find themselves wrongfully accused might consider it necessary to take, either in the interests of their honour or their dignity.
The Government of the Congo State regrets that His Majesty’s Government does not deem it necessary to communicate to it the other previous Consular Reports to which Lord Lansdowne’s despatch of the 8th August, 1903, alluded. As was stated in the notes of the 12th March last, these reports possessed the interest of having been written at a date anterior to the inception of the present discussion.
A copy of this Memorandum will be addressed to the Powers to whom copies of Lord Lansdowne’s despatch of the 19th April last was transmitted.
Congo Free State, Brussels,
May 14, 1904.