l of the Congo Free State, in the
_Century Magazine_, vol. liii.; also his work, _Six Years in the
Congo_ (1892).]

However, now that a British Cabinet has allowed a great colony to make
use of indentured yellow labour in its mines, Great Britain cannot,
without glaring inconsistency, lodge any protest against the
infringement, in Congoland, of the Act of the Berlin Conference in the
matter of the treatment of hired labourers. If the lot of the Congolese
apprentices is to be bettered, the initiative must be taken at some
capital other than London.

Another subject which nearly concerns the welfare of the Congo State is
the recruiting and use of native troops. These are often raised from the
most barbarous tribes of the far interior; their pay is very small; and
too often the main inducement to serve under the blue banner with the
golden star, is the facility for feasting and plunder at the expense of
other natives who have not satisfied the authorities. As one of them
naively said to Mr. Casement, _he preferred to be with the hunters
rather than with the hunted._

It seems that grave abuses first crept in during the course of the
campaign for the extirpation of slavery and slave-raiding in the Stanley
Falls region. The Arab slave-raiders were rich, not only in slaves, but
in ivory--prizes which tempted the cupidity of the native troops, and
even, it is said, of their European officers. In any case, it is certain
that the liberating forces, hastily raised and imperfectly controlled,
perpetrated shocking outrages on the tribes for whose sake they were
waging war. The late Mr. Glave, in the article in the _Century Magazine_
above referred to, found reason for doubting whether the crusade did not
work almost as much harm as the evils it was sent to cure. His words
were these: "The black soldiers are bent on fighting and raiding; they
want no peaceful settlement. They have good rifles and ammunition,
realise their superiority over the natives with their bows and arrows,
and they want to shoot and kill and rob. Black delights to kill black,
whether the victim be man, woman, or child, and no matter how
defenceless." This deep-seated habit of mind is hard to eradicate; and
among certain of the less reputable of the Belgian officers it has
occasionally been used, in order to terrorise into obedience tribes that
kicked against the decrees of the Congo State.

Undoubtedly there is great difficulty in avoiding friction with nat