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Anti-Slavery Reporter and Aborigines' Friend.

OCTOBER, 1918.

[The Editor, whilst grateful to all correspondents who may be kind enough to furnish him with information, desires to state that he is not responsible for the views stated by them, nor for quotations which may be inserted from other journals. The object of the journal is to spread information, and articles are necessarily quoted which may contain views or statements for which their authors can alone be held responsible.]

Quarterly Motes.

The Report of the Lords of the Judicial Committee of The Rhodesia the Privy Council was delivered on July 29, by Lord

Land Case.

Sumner in a long statement dealing with complicated issues of the highest moment. Judgment was given in favour of the Crown, and the outstanding point is that the Chartered Company has lost its claim to the ownership of the land; its land concessions are declared to be valueless.

As regards the natives' case, it is of course disappointing that they are declared to have no right of ownership in the land, but it must be remembered that the Report dealt solely with the legal title, and did not touch upon constitutional questions. The Society is left vis-à-vis the Government, to urge the importance of providing the natives with a secure title to the lands which they beneficially occupy, and bringing about an adequate settlement of the whole land question in relation both to the natives and the white colonists. The Lords' Report declared that the presentation of the natives' case "undoubtedly rendered the inquiry more complete."

The Society has already approached the Colonial Office with a view to making important representations arising out of the case to the Secretary of State, and Mr. Long has expressed his willingness to receive a deputation for that purpose during the autumn.

A pamphlet by Mr. Harris upon the Society's part in this great case and what has been gained by the natives, has been printed, and a copy will be forwarded to every member. Others interested can obtain copies on application to the office.

The Indians of British Columbia.

THE attention of the Society having been again called to the claims of these Indians to their land, a resolution has been forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies reaffirming the view expressed in a former resolution passed by the Committee in May 1911 that those claims are a matter of Imperial concern. The Committee expressed the hope that by means of this independent Petition now before the Privy Council, affecting the interests

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Anti-Slavery Reporter and Aborigines' Friend.

OCTOBER, 1918.

[The Editor, whilst grateful to all correspondents who may be kind enough to furnish him with information, desires to state that he is not responsible for the views stated by them, nor for quotations which may be inserted from other journals. The object of the journal is to spread information, and articles are necessarily quoted which may contain views or statements for which their authors can alone be held responsible.]

Land Case.

Quarterly Motes.

The Report of the Lords of the Judicial Committee of The Rhodesia the Privy Council was delivered on July 29, by Lord Sumner in a long statement dealing with complicated issues of the highest moment. Judgment was given in favour of the Crown, and the outstanding point is that the Chartered Company has lost its claim to the ownership of the land; its land concessions are declared to be valueless.

As regards the natives' case, it is of course disappointing that they are declared to have no right of ownership in the land, but it must be remembered that the Report dealt solely with the legal title, and did not touch upon constitutional questions. The Society is left vis-à-vis the Government, to urge the importance of providing the natives with a secure title to the lands which they beneficially occupy, and bringing about an adequate settlement of the whole land question in relation both to the natives and the white colonists. The Lords' Report declared that the presentation of the natives' case " undoubtedly rendered the inquiry more complete."

The Society has already approached the Colonial Office with a view to making important representations arising out of the case to the Secretary of State, and Mr. Long has expressed his willingness to receive a deputation for that purpose during the autumn.

A pamphlet by Mr. Harris upon the Society's part in this great case and what has been gained by the natives, has been printed, and a copy will be forwarded to every member. Others interested can obtain copies on application to the office.

The Indians of British Columbia.

THE attention of the Society having been again called to the claims of these Indians to their land, a resolution has been forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies reaffirming the view expressed in a former resolution passed by the Committee in May 1911 that those claims are a matter of Imperial concern. The Committee expressed the hope that by means of this independent Petition now before the Privy Council, affecting the interests

of many Indian tribes in British Columbia, a judgment of the Judicial Committee determining the land rights of the Indian tribes of the Colony may soon be secured which will lead to an equitable adjustment of all matters outstanding between the tribes and the Governments of the State and the Dominion. It was hoped that advantage would be taken of the presence of Canadian Ministers in London for conference between them and the Secretary of State which would conduce to an early reference of the Petition to the Privy Council.

Slaves in "German" East Africa.

It will be remembered that the Society approached the Colonial Office last year about the slaves in this former German territory, when the official reply was given that no action was practicable while the country was merely in British military occupation. The Committee decided to raise the question again, and the following letter has been addressed to the Secretary of State, supported, as will be seen, by a large number of public men, representatives of the Churches, the Press, etc.

DENISON HOUSE, S.W.,
August 19, 1918.

TO THE RT. HON. WALTER H. LONG, M.P., etc.,

SIR,

HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES.

We respectfully submit the following reasons which lead us to hope that His Majesty the King may now be advised to proclaim at an early date the abolition of the legal status of slavery in the territory which was known as German East Africa, and to declare that from a certain date no contracts based upon or implying the ownership of or dealings in human beings shall be recognized as valid.

There is, we believe, no dispute as to facts, namely, that upon the outbreak of war there were approximately in German East Africa 185,000 slaves, and that these were being so slowly emancipated that less than 3,000 were set free each year.

The principal reason given against a declaration of emancipation, when the territory was in German hands, was that the cost would be heavy, viz., £400,000. A subsidiary excuse advanced was that the majority of these people were in the condition of " domestic slaves." This system, however, we beg to remind His Majesty's Government, has been described by so eminent an authority as the late Lord Cromer as being "only one degree less hateful than the abominable traffic in slaves."

We submit that the traditions and honour of our country demand that wherever the British flag flies as a symbol of administrative authority, even though the occupation be only provisional, it should at the same time symbolize to the inhabitants the end of slave-owning and slave trading.

We are convinced that the value of such a measure would not be restricted to the relief which it would bring to thousands of people, but that by making clear that Great Britain is resolutely determined not to tolerate slavery under her rule, it would enhance still further her moral prestige among the peoples of Africa, and indeed among the native races of the world. On behalf of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, We have, etc.,

T. F. VICTOR BUXTON, President.

HENRY BEN TINCK, Chairman of Committee.
E. W. BROOKS, Treasurer.

TRAVERS BUXTON, Secretary.

JOHN H. HARRIS, Organizing Secretary.

We beg to support the appeal of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society for the liberation of the 185,000 slaves in territories lately known as German East Africa :

Handley Dunelm (Bishop of Durham).
Edw. Winton (Bishop of Winchester).
C. Oxon (Bishop of Oxford).

F. E. Sarum (Bishop of Salisbury).
W. Exon (Bishop of Exeter).

H. H. Hereford (Bishop of Hereford).

John Kensington (Bishop of Kensington).
Mayo.

Kinnaird.
Sheffield.

Gainford.

Geo. Hooper (President of National Free Church Council).
A. T. Guttery (President-Elect of Free Church Federation).
Alex. Ramsay (Moderator of Presbyterian Church of England).
J. E. Roberts, M.A., B.D. (President of the Baptist Union).
J. H. Shakespeare (Secretary of the Baptist Union).
Simpson Johnson (President, Wesleyan Methodist Conference).
Frederick Luke Wiseman (Wesleyan Methodist Conference).
J. H. Jowett, D.D.

J. Scott Lidgett, D.D.

F. B. Meyer, B.A., D.D. (Christ Church, S.E.).

W. B. Selbie, D.D. (Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford).

Frank Lenwood (on behalf of the Directors of the London Missionary Society).

(MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS). R. Armitage, H. G. Chancellor,

W. J. Collins, Stephen Collins, W. H. Dickinson, R. Walter Essex, Thos. R. Ferens, W. Joynson Hicks, J. S. Higham, John Jardine,

R

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