43
1009
Slavery.
a
[ LORDS]
But I must, I think, make some reference to the most notorious countries in which slavery still exists-namely, China, Abyssinia, Arabia and Liberia. A week or two ago there was de- bate in another place, initiated by Sir John Simon, in reference to the position in China, and he gave particulars of the position there, under which these young children, girls, are put into a state of servitude for some years at the entire control of those who buy them from the parents. He gave many cases of cruelty, and one can imagine the deplorable posi- tion, at the very best, in which these children are placed.
we
As far as Great Britain is concerned, we are interested inasmuch as the British colony of Hong-kong runs with China, it has something like 1,000,000 Chinese inhabitants, and this child servi- tude and child sale continue in Hong- kong. I think we may now believe that -though I also think it ought to have been done before that as far as the British Government is concerned, have no longer on our conscience the responsibility of allowing child purchase to continue there. And what is a satis- factory feature of the whole position is that the present Chinese Government some little time ago issued a statement to the effect that in their opinion this sale of children ought to cease, and, as far as regards the existing children, they promulgated certain regulations which certainly would have made their condi- tion better, would have allowed inspec- tion, and so on. One may hope that this view taken by the Chinese Government, as shown by the promulgation of their regulations, indicates the genuineness of their desire; and, although everybody appreciates that they have very great difficulties in the way, we hope that they will be able, both in spirit and in letter to carry out their regulations. One of the great difficulties in dealing with these matters in China and elsewhere is that they are, to a very large extent, part of the custom of the country, which has grown up over many years, and it is very difficult to deal with it.
As regards Abyssinia, that is the only Christian country which still tolerates any form of slavery, and it is notorious that it exists there as well as the slave trade. The condition has been described
Earl Buxton.
as
Slavery.
am
1010
alarming,' and I
sure the Foreign Office would be able to confirm the view which is held that something like 2,000,000 slaves at present exist in that country. We are interested, as in the case of China, owing to the fact that we are next-door neighbours of Abyssinia, and a great deal of the slave trade and the raids take place in British territory, or go through British territory in order to carry the slaves into Abyssinia. is not only in the north, in the Suda but also in Kenya. Noble Lords who are interested in the question have no doubt seen from time to time White Papers and statements from the Foreign Office indicating to what extent this raiding takes place at the present moment. I do not want to dwell on those particulars, and we have good reason to believe that the Emperor, Ras Tafari, is genuinely desirous of carrying out the gradual abolition of the slave trade certainly, and also of slavery in his country. He has a difficult position to deal with and it would be inexpedient, I think, and per- haps unjust to dwell too much on the past and the present. We should give him our best wishes for the future and believe that he will endeavour to carry them out.
The Ras has a task of vast magnitude to undertake if he is in earnest and really desires and is able to abolish slavery in Abyssinia. It is, as I say, part of their custom. He cannot go very far ahead of public opinion and he has, unfortu- nately, opposing him a considerable number of his Chiefs and his Rases, who own slaves to a very large extent. What makes it more difficult for him is this. It is a curious thing that the price of slaves has gone up in Abyssinia in the I think the slave is last year or two. the only saleable commodity in the world that has not suffered from the depres- sion of prices. That makes it more difficult, of course, because the slaves are more valuable to those who own them. Then he has the difficulty of a wild and inaccessible country in which the King's writ does not run to a very large extent, and he has all the internal difficulties of enforcing regulations even if he makes them. He has one complaint in which, I think, there is a great deal of force that the slave trade at all events could not go on if the three countries who adjoin and completely sur- round him-Italy, France and England-
1011
[22 JULY 1931 ]
Slavery. were genuinely desirous of prohibiting the raids and caravans passing through their territory. I hope that the Foreign Office as part of what they are under- taking will see how far in future, although there has been some laxity in the past, they can really come to terms with Italy and France to co-operate in putting an end to the slave trade through Abyssinia and across to the sea. As I
the say, Emperor's position is a difficult one and e question is how far he will have the courage and the authority to deal with it satisfactorily.
I cannot help thinking that in consider- ing his difficulties and giving him our full sympathy we might look back to the position only about one hundred years ago in regard to our own case. We had a country of vast resources and efficient administration, yet it took many years of agitation, and those who were assisting towards it were subject to gross mis- representation and vile abuse before we ourselves came to the conclusion that slavery ought to be abolished. Moreover, in our case there were about 750,000 slaves to deal with altogether and the country was prepared to pay compensa- tion of £20,000,000; whereas the Emperor of Abyssinia has 2,000,000 slaves to deal with and his resources naturally are not great. Therefore, I feel sure that what we should desire is to give him our sym- pathy as far as possible and, still more, our moral support and to have behind our support the support of the League of Nations in assisting him in the efforts he has to make.
The next country to which I wish to refer and in which the position is a very difficult one is Arabia. There is incon- testable evidence from all hands that the worst slavery and the worst slave-trade are carried on in parts of Arabia and further east than that. The Temporary Commission reported very strongly as to the existence of the slave trade and We slavery in many parts of Arabia. have had recently the evidence of Mr. Eldon Rutter, Mr. Bertram Thomas and Mr. Joseph Kessel, who have all recently travelled through this country with a view to enquiring into the matter. All of them agree as to the very serious position which still exists there. It is perfectly true that at one time there were a great many public places at which slaves were sold like merchandise, and
Slavery.
1012
the evidence goes to show that to a cer- tain extent these places are not so public as they used to be. But Mr. Rutter says that there are
and centres in towns villages where slaves are sold privately. In other places dealers keep a definite stock of slaves and they have agents who dispose of any slaves that anyone desires to sell.
He goes on to say this and I think your Lordships will bear with me if I quote his words-in regard to the present position as to the supply of slaves, that there are three ways of keeping up the supply of human merchandise in Arabia. First, he says, there is breeding for the market. The Sudan and Abyssinia have furnished such a vast number of slaves during the passage of years that their children are to a great extent sufficient to meet the demand. The children of a slave woman, even if the father be free, remains a slave and becomes part of the estate and can be sold separately. Secondly, he says, there is the slave trade. This consists of bringing the human cargo to the Arabian coast by the desert and by clandestine routes and to the then despatching by caravans
This Mr. great towns of the Hejaz. Kessel describes as "risky."
Mr. Kessel gives a case which, if I may read it, will serve to show what the risks
are.
He says that he was speaking to the owner of a dhow and that the dhow owner told him this:
"One day a little while ago a warship chased me. This was overtaking my dhow. There was scarcely any wind and there was no narrow channel where I could find refuge. Then I threw a slave into the water and the warship stopped to pick him up. I in- creased the distance between us and three times I did the same thing. I got off by this trick. How is it "*.
said the dhow owner thoughtfully-
"that the strangers are so fond of slaves that they would lose such a fine dhow as mine to save a slave."
That shows, at all events, that the trade still exists.
Thirdly, Mr. Kessel says that there is what is called the pilgrim method, which is less dangerous but almost more in- famous. The slaves are embarked well within the regulations as pilgrims, but It also comes about they never return. that parents who have taken their whole family to the Sacred City are beggared by the exploitation of faith practised
94
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.