Journalists Won't Give You Receipts (Chapter 16)

This chapter focuses mainly on the interactions between Leopold and his growing opposition.  Leopold's popularity was declining and attacks were now coming from "all quarters."  Leopold attempts to fight back with counterattacks and positive reports (about the Congo) on an international scale.  He uses bribery and financial incentives, primarily through his Press Bureau, to get glowing articles and even books published about the Congo throughout Europe and America.

Despite his efforts, criticism of Leopold's Congo continued.  Morel encouraged the United States, as the first nation to acknowledge the Congo, to take action.  Influential figures of the day, including Mark Twain and Booker T. Washington, also encouraged President Theodore Roosevelt to do something.  Like it already was in England, Congo reform would soon become a full scale crusade in the U.S, despite Leopold's continuing efforts to court influential Americans (like John D. Rockefeller, who he granted major Congo Concession rights to) by offering them a share of his Congo riches.

Leopold continued to campaign in America, playing the role of the victimized Catholic (with the help of the Vatican).  He hired lobbyists to speak to Congressmen, give glowing speeches and write positive articles.  However, one lobbyist, Colonel Henry I. Kowalsky, would prove detrimental.   When he was cut from Leopold's payroll, Kowalsky exposed the Belgian King's bribery and lobbying to a prominent American newspaper.  Leopold quickly lost control of the American ideology about the Congo as his opponents began to rise in numbers and power there.

King Leopold made one final attempt to clear his name and created a biased Commission of Inquiry.  Although multinational, the commission was far from impartial.  In fact, none of its three members could speak enough English to converse directly with critical British and American missionaries.  Nevertheless, stirring testimonies, especially one by a Chief who named the 110 members of his village who were killed by the quest for rubber.  The Commission produced a 150 page reported that repeated nearly every criticism hedged by Casement and Morel.  Leopold made one final attempt to cover up the negative report.  When he released the Commissions findings to the press, he included a cover letter containing a "complete and authentic resume of the report," conveniently in English.  British newspapers, thinking they had a jump on the competition, hastened to publish the summary.  Only in the next few days, when editors read the full French version, did they realize how inaccurate the resume was.  The so called summary held none of the document's original meaning.  With his popularity in sharp decline and his old tricks failing him, Leopold's Congo State was resting on increasingly shaky ground.

Quiz Questions:

1. How did Leopold use his immense influence to get positive accounts about Congo travels and business published?
2. How did Morel shape his arguments to appeal to different American constituencies?
3. What is the significance of the title?
4. In what ways did Leopold try to "court" influential Americans? How successful was he?
5. In what ways did Leopold's lobbying and press effort begin to derail?  In your eyes, what was his biggest mistake?