Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 832922498

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-79587

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Place of publication:: [London]

Publisher:: [The House of Commons]

Year of publication:: 1871

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (XXIV, 242 S.)

Collection:: Economics Books

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33 ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OE AFRICAX that when Colonel Hanierton first went to ^^anzibar, lie was very mncli surprised to find that slave trade had already acquired such dim en- ^^orig as he observed ; but at that time the slave ^ Atle was very much less, and on a very much ^ aller scale than it is now. The Arabs in the ^^ighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, and on the are naturally a very active maritime peo- th^' I'l’obably a century and a half, before Ver of this century, they had been bu/ fpirates, not only on their own coast, down the coast of Africa, and along the ast of India, as far as Singapore, certainly, ■svl fbat one of the hereditary modes in ^ they employed the maritime energy of the eb/T that time piracy. That was olfi. almost supressed by our naval tr then the pirates turned to the slave of^tf ’ d'bere can be no doubt that a great many people, and the vessels, and the firm's atif? engaged in slaving, are the sons Sel - ^^"dsons of those who used to devote them- ti-a'l^^ to piracy. I have no doubt, if the slave Peo^^i stopped, you tvould find these same Avl devote themselves with equal energv to lat^’We should call legitimate commerce. dT. Do you recollect ])retty nearly the date pt>löuel Ilamerton went to Zanzibar?—I it was about 1837 or 1838. Clui 'i í you heard a portion of Mr. big . di’s evidence, and probably you have read »Uv^T^^^ncc given on the former day : have you ®'^^‘^i’bs_to make on that evidence?—I have that ^'dth regard to the facts of the case a^n Churchill's evidence is very full, and ^ entirely disagree with the sG *^^08 he proposes for putting a stop to the Cyp ^ ti'^de. It appears to me that the cardinal tion pdch you have to deal with, is the oscilla- abo e opinions in the matter. Up to tbo time when Lord Palmerston died, Parti^^^”-^ years, the general opinion of all deter • had been in favour of a 'viler ^ .stop to the slave trade could possibly do so without in- 'vlw^^^ ^''pbts of other nations, and the bee^^ " eight of the Government influence had on the side of suppressing the slave that ot late years it has been manifest of Q 'Ore has been very considerable wavering of ‘ own opinions upon the subject. Many who were most active in promoting in bor the suppression of the slave trade have thought, perhaps, that the oflbet done ; and because the work was p carried out on the M est Coast of anq ^ "'ey have ratlier relaxed their efforts, of ^ ^9 ®ces in public writings a good deal fai^n. 'od of excuse for slavery, which ccr- " Oarg ^'ould not have been put forward some binq and would not have met with any ^Oenig f Public favour and acceptance. That "e b^ ^ '"c to be the cardinal evil with which contend, and our Government, re- yoarg public opinion, ajipears to me of late ^'fitter been very half-hearted in the ^0 be P -*- be first thing to be done seems to me ''■bat L ^ up cur own minds with regard to ^^''Uegf (^cue, and whether we really are in 449 ^ 'VC were 25 or 30 years ago. allowing upon that would naturally ^'ciilq question, what measure you yourself Ule sla,_^?™cnd for adoption in order to stop b-Ue ^viide on the East Coast of Africa?— I should begin by saying that I do not agree with the opinion that Mr. Churchill has expressed, when he says that the Arabs do not understand forbearance. Ibelievethat, likcallotherstrono'- handed nations, at least those with whom I have had to deal, they understand real forbearance w len they know it is forbearance, and not weakness ; they understand it better than^ we do ourselves, perhaps, and they certainly do understand justice and tlieir own in terests. _ Our first business is to interest them on our side, and to carry their opinion with us, and to let them know what wo wish, and what we want, and what we think would be for their interest. As far as I have over seen those peo ple, and people of the same kind, they would be very apt to respond to that by taking'oiir advice and being a good deal guided bv mir wishes in the matter. That has certainly'been the case Avith regard to the suppression of piracy, and in man A other things in Avhich their own interests Avere A ery mucli concerned. When they once understood Avhat Ave Avanted and Avhat Ave Avished, and Avhy we wanted it, and why ive wished it, ^ey have been very ready to come into our views. Ihey are not acted upon by fears in the Avay that weaker nations are, but when they have once made up their minds they are all on that account the more to be trusted. There Avere some other points connected with Mr. Churchill’s plans with winch 1 could not agree. I do not think that we have the slightest right to interfere Avith the in ternal taxation of Zanzibar ; Ave must leave them to tax CA ei’A body avIio lives under their rule very much in the way they think best. For the good ..OAvn exchequer they Avould ahvays be Avilling in the long run, quite as willing as we are, to give due weight to our arguments in the inattei ; and I think throughout all our dealings with them we ought to recollect how long it took m our own country to put an end to'slavery. There are people noAv alive avIio can recollect domestic slavery in English homes ; it has been seen in a very recent generation in England itself, 1 been by. persistent argument and effitrts that aa’c hai e arriv ed at our jiresent state of public and private morality on the subject. We ought to consider that the Arabs cannot be expected to be very much more rapid in the moA cment of public opinion among them than wc are among ourselves. I would say that the best measures for putting a stop to slkveiy, as tar as I can judge, on that coast, are those shadoAved out in the opinion gii en by Sir George Clerk’s government, quoted at Question 245, of Sir John Kaye’s CA'idenoe. That Avas given in Lord_ Canning’s time, and I think had Lord Canning’s complete assent. I need not mention that Lord Canning’s feelings were very much interested in the work of putting a stop to'slavery, and that his Avhole opinion was in favour of doing all that could be done to put an early stop to this branch of the slave trade. f'^^’1that, as a matter of explanation, I should say the CA idence given by Mr. Churchill Avith regard to Avhat you call interfering Avith the internal arrangements of Zanzibar arose from the fact that a portion of the treaty already made had not been carried out by the Sultan ; is not that so ?—I would rigidly enforce the treaty as far as it is fairly enforceable, but I Avould not attempt to carry treaties out by cutting off any source of revenue that is in itself a reasonable source of revenue, and to levy which does not interfere Sir B. Frei't G.C.S.I., g.c.b, 17 July 1871.

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