Leopold II. To Henry L Kowalsky.

by Leopold II of Belgium

Dear Colonel Kowalsky :

I beg to confirm to you that I have instructed you to defend in the United States the case of the Congo Free State which is now being attacked by a group of English merchants and missionaries, at present represented in Washington by Mr. Morel.

You have, in the course of your stay here, been enabled to convince yourself of the unfairness and falseness of these attacks, and the Free State Government rely on your endeavors to enlighten statesmen and political men in the United States as to the true motives of this disparaging campaign, to show them the inanity of the charges and to lay the truth before them, namely that for the last twenty-five years the Congo State has been working with a success that accounts for all this hatred and jealousy, toward introducing into territories, formerly abandoned to barbarism, civilization and progress and toward improving the material and moral conditions of existence of the natives.

Under the stress of the indignation aroused in Belgium by the English calumnies, an extensive association has been formed in this country under the title of Federation pour la defense des interets beiges a Testranger (Federation for defending Belgian interests abroad) which consists of prominent men in the army, and in commercial and industrial circles.

This association desired to submit to the enlightened mind of the President of the United States their protests against the audacious and untruthful statements contained in the Memorial which Mr. Morel has delivered to Mr. Roosevelt.

At the request of said organization representing as it does the elite of the Belgian Nation, I beg you to hand the President the accompanying letter which faithfully sets out the higher principles of the Congo State's internal policy. You will, in delivering this communication to President Roosevelt, reiterate to him, on my behalf, the feelings of high esteem I have for him and the unshaken confidence I place in his spirit of justice and impartiality.

I have to express the desire that Mr. Roosevelt will kindly take cognizance of this address in your presence, so that you may be afforded an opportunity to give him any further information he might wish to obtain from you.

The foundation and fairness of the case which you have been good enough to undertake to defend will supply you with such numerous and conclusive arguments as to confound the enemies of the Congo Free State.

A mere examination of the Memorial issued by the Congo Reform Association will show the bad faith of these people when they affirm that the Commission of Enquiry recently appointed by the Government of the Congo does not enjoy complete liberty of investigation nor afford every guarantee of impartiality. This affirmation is at once denied by a perusal of the instructions of the Commission, which as will be seen by the accompanying text, have given them full liberty and full autonomy.

This fact taken alone amongst many others is sufficient to caution honest people against the biased assertions of our op- ponents ; these are set at naught by the economic progress realized by the Congo State as is demonstrated by numbers of facts and illustrated by the album of photographic reproductions taken in the Congo, a copy of which will interest President Roosevelt. Believe me, dear Colonel Kowalsky,

Yours truly,

(Signed)

LEOPOLD.

Brussels, October 4, 1904.