The struggle in England against the misrule of the Congo State really dates from September, 1896, when the Aborigines Protection Society, tired of making representations to the authorities in Brussels, appealed to the British Government. Its appeal fell on deaf ears. In the spring of the following year, Sir Charles Dilke brought the question, together with other matters connected with Africa, before the House of Commons, and suggested that the British Government should approach the powers with a proposal for an international conference, "with a view to the adoption and enforcement of further measures for securing equitable treatment of the natives of Africa." He was generally supported by Mr. Sydney Buxton, Mr. McKenna, Mr. Thomas Bayley, Mr. John Burns, and Sir George Baden-Powell. The Congo State found an apologist in Captain Bethell, and the suggestion was declined by the government.
The debate was followed by a public meeting, held under the auspices of the Aborigines Protection Society, at which Mr. John Morley, Sir Charles Dilke, and Mr. Courtney spoke. From that time onwards, Mr. H. R. Fox-Bourne, the society's secretary, stimulated by the published diary of Glave, by the disclosures of the Swedish missionary, Sjoblom, and the Irish missionary, Murphy, and by reports from other sources, has waged a gallant fight against Congo State methods, culminating in the publication of his book, "Civilisation in Congoland," early in 1903.
