WHEREAS, This Convention has learned from the public press that two American citizens, missionaries of the Presbyterian church in the United States to the Congo, namely, the Rev. W. M. Morrison, and the Rev. W. H. Sheppard, are to be arraigned and tried before a court of the Congo Free State, on charges of criminal libel based on published criticisms of cruelties against the natives; and,
WHEREAS, It is the conviction of this Convention that the missionaries of our Christian denominations are entitled as American citizens to the protection of our Government;
THEREFORE, RESOLVED, That the Southern Baptist Convention, without passing any judgment on the merits of the particular case above referred to, respectfully requests the President of the United States and the Department of State at Washington to take all proper steps to see that American citizens residing in foreign lands as Christian missionaries are fully protected in all their rights and privileges as citizens of the Republic.