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tary Sir E. Grey to state, for the information of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, that he has urged the Portuguese Government to institute a strict inquiry into the causes of the arrest, and that the British Vice-Consul at Boma has been instructed to proceed to San Salvador, as soon as he can do so with safety, and to report fully on all the circumstances of the

case.

I am to add that it is not intended to publish in the forthcoming BlueBook any paper received after December 31st last, as the inclusion of such papers would only delay publication.

I am, etc.

THE SECRETARY,

W. LANGLEY.

ANTI-SLAVERY AND ABORIGINES PROTECTION SOCIETY.

PAMPHLET BY M. CLAPARÊDE.

M. Réne Claparède, our earnest and energetic corresponding member in Switzerland, who is President of the Swiss League, has published a pamphlet entitled L'Esclavage Portugais et le Journal de Genève, which is a terse and effective contribution to the controversy on the subject. The brochure contains certain articles and letters which were published last year in the Journal de Genève, the editor of which maintained that the accusations brought against the Portuguese Republic of encouraging a slave system in West Africa were unfounded, and that the arguments of the British Anti-Slavery Society had been completely met by the Portuguese Government, which had done everything possible for the welfare of the natives. M. Claparède, who replied to the articles, pointed out in how one-sided a way the case was presented in the newspaper, and how fully the slavery charges were borne out by the speakers in the House of Lords debate last summer. In the pamphlet the text is given of two letters addressed by the Secretaries of the Anti-Slavery Society to the Journal de Genève, but not inserted in that paper, on the ground that they could not devote further space to "a remote colonial problem" which was of interest to a limited circle of readers only. The impression left by the editorial handling of the subject was that the Portuguese Government had much the best of the argument, and that the British Government had reached conclusions adverse to the anti-slavery case. M. Claparède, by his vigorous protest against the misleading quotations, the ignorance of facts and the prejudice which marked the treatment of the question in the Geneva journal, has once again rendered conspicuous and timely service to the cause. The pamphlet (copies of which can be had from the Society's office) has received a good deal of notice in the Swiss Press.

Slave-Trading in Barotsiland.

A REPORT has now been received by the Secretary of State from the Acting Administrator of Northern Rhodesia as to the convictions of natives engaged in slave trading in Barotsiland last year. News that the Barotse natives near the Portuguese border had been buying slaves reached the Resident Magistrate at Mongu, from the Native Commissioner, in January, 1913. Inquiries were made, and Chief Lewanika reported that two of his people. had been buying slaves in exchange for cattle. The Magistrate emphasized the serious nature of the offence, which he said must be fully investigated, and addressed the Assembly at Lealui, warning them that the custom must be stopped, and the slave dealers brought to trial. Lewanika wrote in strong terms to the Assembly at Nalolo, and thirty men were in consequence sent or trial, twenty-two of whom were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment varying from two to twelve months, and one man was fined.

All these slaves, most of whom were women and children, had come, with one exception, from Portuguese West Africa; they were released and sent back under escort to their homes. Slave-trading is said not to be a custom of the Barotse; the facts suggested that the cases were merely a sudden recrudescence of the trade, and not an established practice, partly due to the lack of administration in Portuguese West Africa. Such cases did not occur in other districts where administrative control was complete. The Magistrate gave it as his opinion that any repetition of such slavedealing was very unlikely, on the ground that the native Assembly consisted of "shrewd men, mindful of their own interests, who would not welcome any diminution of their authority," such as they had been warned would follow if they did not use it in stopping the slave traffic, and would therefore keep a careful watch against such occurrences in the future.

The important point to note is that the slaves came from Portuguese territory and that the dealings appear to be due to want of proper control in Angola. It is hoped that H.M. Government will draw the attention of the Portuguese Government to the traffic and its evil results in British. territory.

Rubber Slavery in South America.

In our last issue reference was made to reports received of the extremely unsatisfactory conditions of labour in the Beni district of Bolivia, where the peonage system involves abuses closely akin to slavery.

Confirmatory evidence has reached the British and Foreign Bible Society in letters from their agents in the same district. One of them, Mr.

Sydney Smith, who is the only Protestant missionary engaged in mission work in the region, wrote in November last :

"The last journey which occupied more than three months, and from which I have just returned, was on the River Madeira. This river, with the Mamore, which is a continuance of the same, is the largest of Amazonian tributaries. We ascended in the steamer to the highest point available, the falls of Santo Antonio, and then travelled over the newly built MadeiraMamore Railway; afterwards passing over into Bolivia, and ascending the River Beni as far as Riberalta.

"All this is a rubber zone. The prices of absolute necessities are exorbitant in the extreme. Often we were obliged to pay 6s. and 7s. for a single meal. . . . The poverty of the rubber gatherers can be easily imagined, and often, though they manifested a desire to possess the Scriptures, they had no money to buy the same with. . . .

"Many of these rubber gatherers are in virtual slavery; especially is this so in Bolivia where nearly all who are employed in this work are Indians The Indians on the River Beni are paid at the rate of £4 a month. This sounds a fairly good wage for a labourer until one understands the exorbitant prices of everything in these regions. They are supplied with a liberal supply of liquor at the beginning which starts them off with a debt; after that according to Bolivian law they are no longer free till their debt is paid. Instead of paying the debt it only increases. They are bought and sold like slaves, their value being regulated by the amount of their debt. Neither is this all; for offences such as stealing and coming to work late they are cruelly beaten, sometimes receiving as many as 300 lashes with a raw hide lash."

Another letter received from an agent of the same Society on the Beni River writes of the conditions under which rubber is worked as being among the causes of the ruin of the country. The present low price of rubber hardly pays for the expense of getting it. He proceeds to describe the method of collecting the rubber.

"The system under which these " seringueiros," as the rubber gatherers are called, work and live is deplorable indeed. Day by day, often before daylight, he makes his way into the forest to his estrada (a number of rubber trees in more or less regular order in the virgin forest) with his diminutive axe, can and rifle. Arriving at his destination, which is sometimes an hour's journey distant, he commences tapping the trees. This is done by a small upward oblique incision with his iron axe (steel spoils the tree), which has a blade of about 14 inches in width. At the bottom of this incision a small tin is stuck into the bark to receive the white milk-like fluid. The average tree takes three or four of these incisions. This process is gone through with all the trees of the "estrada," in which occupation the "seringueiro" may have to walk several miles. He then turns back from where he started and empties the contents of the tins into his can and returns home again as fast as he can to fumigate the liquid before it coagulates. This latter process is done by pouring the liquid over a small paddle or stick and holding it over a dense smoke made by the burning nuts of the Urucury palm. At the end of the week he delivers the fruit of his labours in the shape of so many kilos of

rubber over to the owner of the property. He is paid a nominal sum for this rubber, generally about two-thirds of the market price after a liberal allowance has been deducted to allow for shrinkage. This is placed to his account, and he is allowed to take what stores he needs in the way of" farinha," dried meat, sugar, matches, etc., on the strength of the same. That is, if the proprietor has any stores in stock, or he is sure he will not run short for his own needs. The labourer rarely or never sees any money, and only at the end of the year are accounts balanced. Fortunate indeed is the man who finds himself on these occasions with a balance in his favour; a most unusual occurrence. Nearly all goods are sold to these men at from 100 to 200 per cent. above Para prices, which in turn are from 200 to 250 per cent. above English prices. . . ."

THE CRIMINALS OF THE PUTUMAYO.

A LETTER was addressed to the Foreign Office at the end of December last asking whether the Peruvian Government had yet brought to justice any and, if so, how many-of the principal criminals of the Putumayo, and further inquiring whether the Government intended to publish any papers dealing with labour conditions in the Amazon Valley. The following reply was received:

SIR,

FOREIGN OFFICE,
January 20, 1914.

I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo regarding conditions of labour in the valley of the Amazon, and to inform you in reply that His Majesty's Government have been kept informed by their representatives of the steps taken by the Peruvian Government to bring to justice the principal criminals of the Putumayo. His Majesty's Consul at Iquitos has reported that Armando Normand arrived there in custody on October 3 last, and was lodged in the prison at Iquitos. . . . The answer to the second paragraph of your letter is in the negative. I am, etc.,

RALPH PAGET.

On this the following letter was sent on behalf of the Society :— TO THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE,

SIR,

FOREIGN OFFICE,

January 31, 1914.

We beg to acknowledge your communication of the 20th instant with its enclosure.

It is a matter of deep regret to our Committee that not a single Putumayo criminal has yet been brought to justice by the Peruvian Government, whilst out of some 250 warrants of arrest issued by Judge Paredes only sixteen individuals have been arrested, and of these only two or three appear to be in the long list of criminals in Sir Roger Casement's report, which was in the possession of the Peruvian Government nearly three years ago, Ac

cording to the telegram despatched by Judge Paredes on July 25, 1911, three persons in the list supplied to His Majesty's Government have been in the hands of the Peruvian authorities for over two years, whilst the man against whom innumerable crimes" are alleged has been under arrest, owing to the activity of the Bolivian Government, since October last. The Committee of the Society believe that this failure of the Peruvian Government to administer justice in a tragedy so appalling as the Putumayo horrors, cannot fail to bring grave reproach upon the name of Peru throughout the civilized world. We beg to express to His Majesty's Government the appreciation of this Society for the manner in which they have been pressing upon the Peruvian Government the importance of arresting and punishing the criminal agents of the Putumayo.

We are, etc.,

TRAVERS BUXTON, Secretary,

JOHN H. HARRIS, Organizing Secretary.

ACTION BY THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT.

THE Society has been informed by the Legation of Colombia that the Colombian Foreign Minister has sent a circular to the diplomatic representatives of the Republic abroad proposing that the question of the treatment of natives and the suppression of the slave trade should be included in the programme of the Pan-American Conference in September.

We are very glad to learn that the Colombian Government is following up its previous action on behalf of native peoples by making this appeal for foreign support.

THE PERUVIAN AMAZON COMPANY.

The Official Receiver's report in connection with the affairs of this Company was published last month, and provides valuable corroboration, from the purely business side, of the charges which were brought before the Select Committee and which formed the basis of its report.

The "system" of the Company, which was taken over from the vendor Company, was such that "in its application the natives were reduced to slavery."

Of the phrase "Gastos de Conquistacion" which was so often mentioned at the Parliamentary inquiry, the report says:—

"It has since transpired beyond dispute that the amount does in fact represent expenditure by the Company to reduce the natives by force to conditions of slavery."

To quote the epitome of the report from The Times :

"The Official Receiver points out that the principal objects of the Company were to purchase rubber estates and other property owned by

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