21
ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
to say that the payment of 1,500 relates solely
o the agency. I do not see that we could put
^ stop to the slave trade there, without relieving
Sultan of Zanzibar from the payment of the
subsidy, or giving him some equivalent.
278. ^ Would the recommendations which your
ouimitteg made with respect to the squadron,
^utail increased cost upon this country ?—That
^ui not in a position to state.
279. Have you seen some observations made
y Sir Leopold Heath on the Report of the East
'^oast African Slave Trade Committee ?—Yes.
^80. Perhaps, you recollect these extracts, “ I
Very much regret that the evidence upon which
Heport is based, has not been published, be-^ause
any opinion I may give, will be merely
bat of an individual, and would, perhaps, have
materially modified had I seen the recorded
^Videuce of others. With this reservation I
ave to state, that I can in no way agree with
Opinion expressed in paragraph 36, that with
bree cruisers and one steam-launch, the slave
lade will be effectually checked during the
§i'eater part of the year ! I have frequently
Recorded my opinion, that all that England has
uoiie for the last 25 years, on the east coast, has
been of no practical use in the suppression of the
slave trade ; and now that there is an apparent
intention on the part of Government to inaugurate
a more vigorous policy, I must earnestly
ope that the squadron will be largely increased,
^o long as the existing domestic habits in slave reoeiymg
countries remaining unchanged, so long
. there be more or less of slave trade. Those
.its can only be changed by completely stop-P(ii»
the supply of slaves for a very long period,
piobably for a whole generation, and any system
'vhich stops short of that Avill fail of complete
rVccess. The trade will be scotched, but not
bled, and will revive whenever the pressure is
aken off. I recommend, therefore, that at least
Vessels, besides the flagship, should be appropi'iated
to this source.” Do you concur in that
opinion?—Rot being a naval officer, I am not
^^petent to give an opinion upon that.
He further says: ‘‘I wish to add, that
etwithstanding my general agreement with
lany of the proposals of the Committee, and my
. ^l^^Gf, that if carried out, they will make slave
lading more hazardous, and tend to reduce its
^niount. I am yet more and more convinced,
. lat the only certain way of stopping the traffic
by purchasing the sovereignty of Zanzibar,
^bd thus obtaining a central position from which
b Work upon the neighbouring coast, and ulti-Upon
the interior of the country.” From
bee passages, it appears that, at any rate. Sir
Gopold Heath is not of opinion that the mere
payment of 1,500 Z. a year would stop the slave
rade ? I do not think anybody would say that
e mere payment of 1,500 Z. a year would put a
13 July
1871.
stop to the trade, but we must have a beginning. Sir
and this is the agency by which it is to be IFi Kaye.
stopped. The expenses of the agency mi^ht
have to be siqiplemented afterwards by other
payments, but this is a beginning, and this is all
which the Treasury hitherto has been called
upon to pay. There may subsequently arise a
question, because it is still an open question,
about relieving the Sultan of Zanzibar from the
payment of the subsidy, as a matter of breach of
good faith, and if we cannot relieve him from the
payment of the subsidy, it would have to be considered
whether we can in any way produce a
sum of money sufficient to compensate him in
another way for the surrender of the revenue
which he derives from his slave trade. The
1,500 Z. is a beginning ; of course there would
be subsequent expenses, but as to what Sir
Leopold Heath says as to purchasing Zanzibar,
you might as well talk of purchasing Germany.
282. He speaks of the Island of Zanzibar ?—
That is the head-quarters of Zanzibar ; how could
we doit? In the first place, the Sultan would
not sell it. There has been subsequently another
recommendation, that we should annex it, as the
term goes. I believe the Rombay Government
supported that view of the matter, but immediately
it was known here the India Office
telegraphed to India that it would not be entertained
for a moment.
283. Possibly, even with a sincere desire on
the part of the Treasury to put down the slave
trade, the view might be held that it is not
worth while to incur the expense of 1,500 Z. unless
the country is further prepared to go to the
expense of maintaining 10 ships on the coast,
besides other expenses ?—What I say is, that
it might be economical in tlie end, even if that
increase of the squadron were required (to which
I cannot speak), because to maintain 10 ships for
three years is better than to maintain three ships
for 20 years ; it is only a matter of calculation ;
the probability is that it would be cheaper in the
end. The Committee assumed that there might
be a temporary increase of expenditure to be set
off against permanent diminution.
284. Chairman?^ Evidence was given the
other day, and you have confirmed it so far as
your knowledge goes, that a certain limited
number of slaves is sufficient for the labour required
i n Zanzibar proper ; it is only with reference
to that limited number of slaves that the treaty
with the Sultan of Zanzibar permits any slave
traffic ; that number being given us as 1,700 only
per year, there must be a large illegal traffic in
slaves?—1 do not know how the 1,700 is calculated;
whether that is the absolute number of
able-bodied labourers, or whether allowance is
made for those too old to work, or for children.
I am not responsible for these figures.
Mr. Henry Adrian Churchill, c.b., called in; and Examined.
j,-Cliairman.'\ You have resided some conorable
time at Zanzibar ?—Two years and nine
Months altogether.
286. In what capacity ?—As political agent
consul.
all the particulars
« ^h have been stated already, as to the amount
wh +L trade and so forth, I will ask you
ether you are acquainted with the statements
of Dr. Livingstone with regard to the slave
trade ?—Yes ; I have read his book, and I do not
think them exaggerated at all from what I have
heard from Dr. Kirk, who accompanied Dr.
Livingstone. In conversations with the former,
I have gleaned that the road between Nyassa
and the coast is strewn with the bones of slaves
that have been killed or abandoned on the road,
and the villages which, on their first visit were
C 3 flourishing
Mr.
Churchill,
