ON SLAVE TBADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
19
officer so cautious as Brigadier Coghlan were
Blade known to the British nation, not a voice
^ould be raised against so small an acknowledgment
to Zanzibar as 8,500 I per annum for the
attainment of so noble an object as the extinction
of the East Indian African Slave Trade.”
^46. Mr. Crum-Ewing.That does not confemplate
the payment of the full amount of
20,000/.?—No ; but that was 10 years ago, and
pi’obably the slave revenues have greatly inoreased
since then.
247. Chairman,^ We had it in evidence on
Monday that all that the Sultan of Zanzibar had
^ right to, under his treaty, was the introduction
pf slaves for the service required in Zanzibar
Itself ; and it was stated that for that purpose
ri700 slaves per annum was the outside quantity
j'oquired ; if that is the case be must derive a
large revenue from an illegal slave trade, involving,
as has been stated, the sacrifice of half
^ Bullion lives in five years?—Yes; I would
only recommend that he should be compensated
for the surrender of the legal traffic,
248. Mr. Kin7iaird.~\ Supposing that policy to
be adopted, and the slave trade to be put down,’
you would save the amount that would be incurred
in compensation by the withdrawal of the
squadron ?—Y es.
249. Putting it as an economical arrangement,
It is by far the cheapest thing to pay him this
Compensation ?—Yes, I have always thought so.
250. Mr. Crum-Eicmg.~\ Do you think the
Multan of Zanzil ar could put down the slave
trade if he were willing to do so without the
assistance of the squadron ?—No, he could not.
251. Mr, Fowler.~\ Do you think that in
three or four years he would be able to do
Without the squadron?—Yes, if the suppression
the slave trade were done gradually and not
hastily, and if steps were taken at the same time
to import free labourers into Zanzibar, the thing
Blight be done in time without damage to commerce,
or the internal industry of the country.
252. Sir .7. The expenditure of 1,500/.
Wdiich you have just alluded to is entirely independent
of the expenditure on the squadron ?—
entirely ; the recommendation of the Slave
■frade Committee that sat at the Foreign Office,
that as a beginning the establishment at
^^Bzibar should be increased, because we wanted
fo put some vice consuls or agents upon the main
f^nd, so as to superintend the emigration, and
on, and that the cost of this increased establishment
should be fairly divided between the Indian
Government and the Imperial Exchequer ; it
Was supposed that what is now 2,000/. a year.
Would be increased to about 3,000/. a year, and
the proposal was, that the two Governments
should divide the latter amount fairly between
them.
253. The difficulty which the squadron has to
^Bcounter, as I understand it is this, that the
t^^^^for of domestic slaves along the coast within
c legal limits, covers the illegal transport of
® ^ves to foreign countries ?— That is the difficulty.
^
254. That being so, your proposition is, that a
Cum by way of bonus should be paid to the Sulan
of Zanzibar, as a compensation for the abolimn
of the present legal traffic in domestic
f ^wes, so that the legal traffic in slaves should
y Bceforth be no cover for the illegal traffic ?—
ÇS ; I should recommend that a sum should be
paid to him equivalent to what he
0.116.
gams in
revenue on the slave traffic not ¡nohibited by
treaty.
255. Have you considered what that sum
would be ?—No ; I am very imperfectly acquainted
with the details of the slave trade itself,
but I believe it is generally considered that the
amount of the subsidy of 8,000 /. which he pays to
the Imaum of Muscat, would about cover what
he would lose ; so that if he were freed from
the payment of this 8,000 /. to the Imaum of
Muscat, he would be in a position to abandon the
revenue to which I have referred, so I consider
in round numbers about 8,000 /. would be
the right amount ; that is about the sum recommended
to be paid him by Sir George Clerk
in 1860.
256. You think there is no reason to suppose
that it would be require 1 to be larger now ?—
No, I think not, because some agents of the
Sultan of Zanzibar were in this country two or
three years ago, and they hinted that if the
Sultan was relieved from the payment of the
subsidy, he would be able to carry out the wishes
of the British Government.
257. Is any part of the expenditure which is
required for the maintenance of the squadron
employed in the suppression of the slave trade
borne by the Indian revenue ?—I know we pay
a fixed sum towards the support of Her Majesty’s
ships in the Eastern seas, viz., 70,000/. per
annum.
258. That is not specially applicable to the
slave squadron ?—No, it is for the entire maritime
defence of India.
259. Would the Indian Government be prepared
to make a larger contribution than that
70,000 /., with the view of increasing the
squadron on the coast of Zanzibar, and thereby
hastening the suppression of the slave trade ?
—I cannot answer that question. I do not think
we would like to pay any more th m the 70,000/.
we now pay, considering that in addition to that
we have to pay for our own tran ports.
260. Mr. Kevnmray.'] Have any instructions
been issued to the Government of India, with
regard to the continuance or discontinuance of
the subsidy ?—The last instructions which went
out to the Government of India, with regard
to the subsidy, have not yet been acknowledged
by the Government of India, but the matter
stands at present in this position. It is fair to
state that there is a great difference of opinion
between the different authorities with respect
to the maintenance of the subsidy. The Government
of India are strongly of opinion that
we should maintain the subsidy, and that it
would be a great breach of faith to release the
Sultan of Zanzibar from the payment of it, while
the views generally of Her Majesty’s Government
are, I think, that the Sultan of Zanzibar
should be released from the payment of the
subsidy. Under these circumstances tbe India
Office has suggested that an officer of high rank
and experience should be sent out to inquire into
the state of affairs, and to bring about some
amicable arrangement between the Sultan of
Zanzibar and the Sultan of Muscat, which should
be a permanent arrangement.
261. Did I rightly understand you to say, that
the Treasury having refused to bear any part of
the expenses of the Zanzibar agency, the Indian
Government were about to send instructions to
the agent to discontinue his endeavours to suppress
the slave trade ?—We have written to the
c 2 Foreign
Sir
J. W. Kaye.
13 July
1871.
