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14 THE
Contributed
REPORT OF THE AMERICAN CONSULATE
GENERAL,
On the Trial of Messrs. Sheppard and
Morrison.
The Honorable Assistant Secretary of
State, Washington, D. C.
Sir: I have the honor to report that 1
left Boma, with Mr. Kirk, on September
4 atiH nrrivoH nt T.eftnnMvlllo throo Have
W? *" * ? W VW W
later, to attend the trial of the Revs.
W. M. Morrison and W. H. Sheppard, of
the American Presbyterian Congo Mission,
Luebo, which was set for September
24.
At the request of the attorneys for both
the prosecution and defense the Judge of
the Court of the First Instance at Leopoldville,
before whom the case was heard,
advanced the day of the trial to September
20, so that both the attorneys would
be able to return to Europe by the
steamer sailing September 28.
The case was called at 8:30 a. m., and
M. Vandermeeren, the attorney for the
Compagnie du Kassai, who has been in
Congo for several months past defending
agents of the Campagnie before the
courts. ODened the case and SDoke for
three consecutive hours. M. Emile Vandervelde,
the leader of the Socialist Party
In the Belgium Chamber of Deputies, who
came out here especially to defend the
missionaries, began his argument at three
o'clock the same day, and finished at
5:15 p. m. Most of the necessary arrangements
and preparations for the case
having been made a short time prior to
the trial.
No official stenographer being present
at court, it was very difficult to catch all
the points which were brought out by the
attorneys, but in the following I have endeavored
to give a fair summary of their
line of argument.
The attorney for the plaintiff, in his
opening address declared that the Com
pagnle du Kassai several months ago had
directed the Clerk of the Court of the
First Instance to serve on the missionaries
at Luebo two distinct summons. One
on Mr. Morrison for charges brought by
him against the Compagnie du Kassai, as
expressed in the correspondence with M.
Dreypondt, the former director in Africa
of the Compagnie du Kassai, and M. Chaltln,
the present representative here (see
enclosures in my despatch No. 10, dated
December 4, 1908), for 50,000 francs damage;
and the other against Mr. Sheppard
for the article published under his name
in the "Kassai Herald' of January 1, 1908,
claiming 30,000 francs for defamation and
injury to the company. The Orefller (clerk
of the court), however, for unknown reasons,
combined the two in one summons.
Charging Mr. Morrison, as reasonable edl
tor of the "Kassai Herald," and Mr. Sheppard
as the author of the article, fixing
amount of damages as asked by the company
at 80,000 francs, but no mention was
made of the charges made by Mr. Morrison
in his correspondence with the two
I PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU
directors of the company. Owing to this
error in the drafting of the summons, the
action against Mr. Morrison was withdrawn.
The counsel for the prosecution
stated that it was the mistake of the
clerk of the court, and the company would
reserve the right to sue the person responsible
for the error. He then agreed
with M. Vandervelde's conclusions, and
stated that since Mr. Sheppard was recognized
and acknowledged to be the author
of the article in question, the suit
against Mr. Morrisnn wnnlH ho
drawn, but he reserved the right to sue
him at a future time on the charges contained
in the above-mentioned correspondence.
M. Vandermeeren then took up the several
charges and spoke at great length
along the following lines: He declared
that the term "Chartered Company," as
used in the article meant the company
du Kassai, and that the article was defamatory
and damaging. That it was written
to create a wrong impression, and by unfairly
attacking the company it had
caused considerable damage, and therefore
the defendant must pay for the losses
they had sustained. That it was a part of
a political campaign against the Belgian
Kongo and the Roman Catholic missionaries
in the Kongo.
Referring to the charge that there were
armed sentries in the villages who forced
the men and women to make rubber, he
aeciarea mat tne company employed
none. It was against the orders of the
company, but it was possible there were
a few of their rubber buyers who possessed
guns, which were probably purchased
from the Portuguese without the
company's knowledge. He was compelled
to admit this as M. Vandervelde had previously
informed him that he had now
at Leopoldville twenty native Bakuba
and Baluba witnesses from eleven different
villages to prove the fact, and that
some of them were, until very recently,
armed sentries in the employ of the company.
M. Vandermeeren further declared that
natives were never forbidden to cultivate
their fields, hunt or fish. There were no
abuses in the Bakuba country, and the
conditions there had not changed since
the Compagnie du Kassai had commenced
operations. That up to 1905 the company
and the missionaries were on friendly
terms, which could be proven by letters,
that It was strange this transformation
had taken place' within the last three
or four years. That the company's buyers
are natives who live in the villages
and exchange merchandise for rubber,
paying 1 franc 40 centimes per Kilo. He
then read some of the company's instructions
to their agents. (Here M. Vandervelde
Interrupted him saying that the instructions
were of the same character as
those issued by the notorious Abir and
Anversoise comoanies but wer# navor
executed.)
British Consul Thesiger's report on his
trip through the Kassai was next criticised
at considerable length. The attorney declared
that he visited the Kassai at the invitation
of the American Missionaries
(which statement was afterwards proven
TH. November 24, 1909.
incorrect); that he could not speak the
language of the people, and that Mr.
Sheppard acted as his interpreter and
guide, and accompanied him on most of
his journey through that particular country.
That his sojourn in the district was
too brief to ascertain the true conditions.
That he only found abuses while Mr.
a - * * ?
oucppuru accompanied mm. 'ine company
admits there were some abuses, but
when they are brought to their attention
the perpetrators are always punished.
(The fact was later established that none
of the white agents of the company can
speak the Bakuba language, and that Mr.
Sheppard is the only foreigner in that
country who does.) M. Vandermeeren
ended his criticism of Consul Thesiger's
report by stating that it was a part of the
British campaign against the Kongo and
questioned all the facts contained therein.
He desired to know why the other
missionaries in the Kongo, especially the
Catholics, had not seen these abuses.
(M. Vandervelde again interrupted him
by stating that it was to the honor of the
Protestants who had cried out to the
world against these abuses, and to the
injury of the Catholics who had remained
silent.)
M. Vendervelde in opening his forcible
and eloquent address in behalf of the de
leusc, Biuieu mai ue nau Deen severely
criticised for undertaking the defense of
foreigners in the Kongo against a Belgian
company. He came here in > the interest
of the Belgians as well as the Protestant
missionaries, to fight for Belgium against
abuses that meant ruin to the Kongo. He
confirmed in conclusive arguments, supported
by many documents and witnesses,
the statements made by Mr. Sheppard
in that article, and the charges brought
by Mr. Morrison. He regretted the
clerk's mistake did not permit him to
take up Mr. Morrison's side of the case,
as it would have afforded an excellent
opportunity to bring to light the abusive
system of the Compagnie du Kassal. He
knew what Mr. Morrison and Mr. Sheppard's
opinion of Kongo justice was, and
stated that if he was not a lawyer he
would have. feared receiving fair treat
ment, in view of the fact that 50 per cent,
of the stock of the Campagnie was held
by the Belgian Government, its directorgeneral
in Belgium and its managing director
in Africa are appointed by the Belgian
government and also the Judge before
whom the case is tried*
Regarding the remuneration of the native
for rubber, M. Vandervelde produced
a copy of the Campagnie de Kassai's instructions
to its agents and read a few
. paragraphs which dealt with the question.
Agents were informed that in the
old established posts where competition
much as three francs per kilo, only one
franc twenty-five centimes was to be paid
in merchandise, but in other poets one
franc, and in villages far from the main
river one-half franc and even as low as
twenty-live centimes per kilo, and the
agents were reminded that the above
prices were the maximum allowed. That
the most advantageous prices would be
the agents who purchased the rubber at