The Crime of the Congo by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Having received his mandate from the civilized world King Leopold / proceeded to organize the Government of the new State, which was in theory / to be independent of Belgium, although ruled by the same individual. In / Europe, King Leopold was a constitutional monarch; in Africa, an absolute / autocrat. There were chosen three ministers for the new State -- for foreign / affairs, for finances and for internal affairs; but it cannot be too / clearly understood that they and their successors, up to 1908, were / nominated by the King, paid by the King, answerable only to the King, and, / in all ways, simply so many upper clerks in his employ. The workings of / one policy and of one brain, as capable as it is sinister, are to be / traced in every fresh development. If the ministers were ever meant to be / a screen, it is a screen which is absolutely transparent. The origin of / everything is the King -- always the King. M. van Ectvelde, one of the three / head agents, put the matter into a single sentence: "C'est a votre majeste / qu'appartient l'Etat. " They were simply stewards, who managed the estate / with a very alert and observant owner at their back.

One of the early acts was enough to make observers a little thoughtful. It / was the announcement of the right to issue laws by arbitrary decrees / without publishing them in Europe. There should be secret laws, which / could, at any instant, be altered. The _Bulletin Officiel_ announced that / "Tous les Actes du Gouvernement qu'il y a interet a rendre publics seront / inseres au _Bulletin Officiel_. " Already it is clear that something was in / the wind which might shock the rather leathery conscience of a European / Concert. Meanwhile, the organization of the State went forward. A / Governor-General was elected, who should live at Boma, which was made the / capital. Under him were fifteen District Commissaries, who should govern / so many districts into which the whole country was divided. The only / portion which was at that time at all developed was the semi-civilized / Lower Congo at the mouth of the river. There lay the white population. The / upper reaches of the stream and of its great tributaries were known only / to a few devoted missionaries and enterprising explorers. Grenfell and / Bentley, of the Missions, with Von Wissman, the German, and the / ever-energetic Stanley, were the pioneers who, during the few years which / followed, opened up the great hinterland which was to be the scene of such / atrocious events.