it a conspiracy? They are grave accusations, accusations which, if there had been any semblance of truth in them, or if there had been any honest reason for their being made, would have been made long before in different circumstances and in a different way. At the time when they are eventually made, they are made in a way which will not do public service, but will put money in Captain Burrows’ pocket and into the pockets of the publishers who are joining with him in publishing. It is perfectly impossible to misunderstand the correspondence with Commandant Liebrechts. If this had been an honest thing, honestly done by Captain Burrows in the performance of any public duty, do you think there would have been a going first to a publisher and then a letter from that publisher inviting the Belgian Government to consider what it would be worth their while to pay for the suppression of this book? There is no question as to the meaning of that letter. What do you think was the object of putting a crowd of names into the revise, some of which afterwards disappeared? Why, it was because the object was the illegitimate object of endeavouring to bring pressure upon the Belgian Government and to induce them to pay money to buy up this book. It was not for any public object at all, but because the mention of these names, showing that there was a list of persons formerly or at present in the Congo Company’s service against whom accusations might be brought, might make it worth the while of the Belgian Government to prevent a great scandal by procuring the suppression of this book. But the Congo Free State or the Belgian Government was not going to buy up the book in order to suppress it or in order to prevent its publication. As one of the witnesses, Commandant Liebrechts, said, “For the first time we found that we should be in a position to deal with specific statements.” It is all very well for people to be spreading over the world—I do not care whether they are in reports or interviews or anything else—general statements with regard to things that are done in the Congo Free State. Commandant Liebrechts says there had been complaints: “I had heard on more than one occasion of complaints being made as to conduct in the Congo. Whenever it was known, and found out, it was dealt with and it was punished. These allegations about maladministration of the Congo Free State had been spread about from time to time by interviews, suggestions, newspaper reports, and the like, but here we saw that there was an opportunity for the men who were personally attacked to come and vindicate themselves from the charges which were made against them.” Therefore, there was no attempt to buy this book, and the conspirators were disappointed who had been preparing this revise, and cramming it with an enormous amount of material which it was