Mr. Parminter's account of the atrocities committed in the Congo
State for the sake of extorting india-rubber has evidently produced a sensation in Belgium. A decree signed by the King on September 18th establishes a Com- mission charged to protect the natives throughout the State. Its members are leading missionaries, Catholic and Protestant, and each is empowered to bring any acts of oppression direct before the Governor-General. IL Michel, moreover, is appointed Inspector-General for the same purpose, and the agents of the Government are prohibited from entering into hostilities against natives without superior authority. Upon no pretext must villages be burnt, and Europeans in command of any force employed in repression will be held personally responsible for acts of cruelty. "Disciplinary penalties" are not to be applied to natives, even in rebellion, nor may agents in future depart from legal forms. Those are excellent orders if they are only obeyed, but the fact that it has been necessary to issue them proves previous abuses. Let us trust that M. Michel, or the Bishop of Thymbrium, who is President of the Commission, will prov-z q, Las Cams.
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