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| King Leopold II of Belgium |
Published
in the Boston Daily Globe on January
12, 1907, the following letter expressed Charlie Gibson, Jr.’s support of a
Senate resolution introduced by Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge the
previous year:
Hon. H. C. Lodge,
Senior Senator from Massachusetts, US Senate:
Dear Sir—I have learned with much
gratification of the resolution which you have introduced in the senate, to
empower this government to take such steps as may be possible to urge the
government of the Congo to carry out, with some degree of effectiveness,
reforms in the administration of that state.
I have been cognizant, in company
with many thousands of others in this state, for some years of the oppression
and cruelties inflicted upon natives of the Congo by officials and others
there.
I believe there is a strong feeling
upon the part of bankers and business interests, entirely apart from the
religious movement, that in the cause of humanity such brutalities and
oppression should, if possible, be stopped at the earliest moment.
May I, therefore, in company with
them, respectfully urge you to use every power at your command to induce the US
senate to take such action as is desirable and at the present time. Believe me
to be, with high regard, yours very truly,
Charles Gibson.
Boston, Jan. 5, 1907.
In
writing the above letter in support of the senator’s resolution (full text
provided below), Charlie added his voice to the growing international movement
against the cruel and oppressive policies that Belgian King Leopold II
inflicted upon the Congolese.
