Talk:Casement Report

Wrong HG Guinness

The link to Henry Grattan Guinness is wrong; his son, also called Henry Grattan Guinness, also a missionary, who died in 1915, was the man involved.86.46.196.53 (talk) 21:37, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Casement met Leopold "the King-Sovereign of the Congo State" on 11 October 1900. He noted then that "His Majesty referred to the reported outrages on the Congo which had provoked in England, as also in Belgium, hostile comment upon the Congo Administration - comments that were sometimes, he feared, well founded, since it was impossible to have always the best men in Africa; and indeed the African climate seemed to frequently cause deterioration in the character of the men previously deemed of the highest standing; he instanced the case of the Prince d'Arenberg in German East Africa as supporting this view." (TNA FO 2/336)

News Reports

The Arizona Republican, December 06, 1903 mentions Roger Casement's report under preparation. The San Francisco Call, December 6, 1903 has the same story. The (Washington D.C.) Evening Star, April 5, 1904 tells as follows: Mr. W. M. Morrison, a southern Presbyterian missionary to the Congo Free State, in speaking to the Presbyterian Minsters' Association here, gave an impressive recital of the alleged barbarities practiced upon natives of the Congo Free State by those holding power, and of the obstacles thrown in the way of their correction by the authorities. "I lived with the people for seven years. I know what I am talking about," said Mr. Morrison. "Leopold has there a native cannibal army of 20,000 men, officered by white Belgians and armed with repeating rifles. These men, representing the worse and most savage type of the natives were first caught, then carried far away from their homes and forced into this military service. There, in turn, this cannibal soldiery is used to compel the natives to bring in enormous tribute of ivory and India rubber It is worth nothing that the King of Belgium is today reputed to be the largest dealer in ivory and rubber in the world. Unspeakable Cruelties. "As a result of this forced labor and military service, great and unspeakable cruelties are practiced on the native people. I have seen a number of times at least 50,000 fleeing into forests to escape from the cannibal soldiers of Kind Leopold: I have seen these soldiers scouring through the forests and, after catching a number of men whom the government wanted as laborers, going away with captives tied together by ropes around their necks. "Raids upon villages are being constantly made, some of the people are killed and eaten, others are carried away into captivity and sold, others are forced into military service. I can buy all the slaves you want at Luebo, at $10 and $15 apiece. "When these raids are made the most awful cruelties are practiced." Atrocious Treatment of Natives. "Innocent women and children are killed or captured, hands are cut off to be taken back to the white Belgian officers to show that the work has been well done and great section are being depopulated. One of these raids was made near one of our mission stations - one of our missionaries went to the scene and counted eighty-one hands cut off and drying over a fire to be taken back to the Belgian officers; Forty-five dead bodies were counted lying near by. (It goes on)

From The Washington times. June 05, 1904, Magazine Features a longer story with photos.

The (Richmond Va.) times dispatch. March 06, 1904, MAGAZINE SECTION mentions the publication of the Casement Report as a white paper, on the previous Saturday, and also includes excerpts from a report by Lord Cromer similarly describing atrocities. [I note that the taking of hands was usually from corpses in the descriptions though several mentioned living children missing a hand or both hands.]

Hypercallipygian (talk) 22:16, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

References