Regarding the Registry, Lists and Registers commended to the Central and Jurisdictional Boards of Protection, and issue of Cedulas to the Freedmen.

Art. 27. Shall be only considered slaves, those who as such are inscribed in the general census made respectively in the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico by the Central Board of Protection. The said census shall be considered as conclusive as long as it is in accordance with the dispositions contained in the Law of 4th July 1870, and with the instructions issued by the Minister for the Colonies for its execution and fulfilment.

Art. 28. The Jurisdictional Boards will keep a special register of those born after 4th July 1870 the date on which the said aw was published. In this register, besides the particulars necessary for the general registry of slaves, and which be applicable to them, shall be entered the name, profession, and domicile of the patron who is to exercise the rights of tutor over them.

may

Art. 29. Those born of mothers who are under patronage according to law, shall be opportunely included in the register referred to in the preceding Article.

Art. 30. Claims regarding the application of the benefits of the law to individuals whose names may have been omitted in the census or registry can be brought forward at any time. Claims to be excluded will only be admitted if presented before the expiry of 30 days counted from the publication of the lists formed in the respective jurisdictions, it being understood that these claims will not affect the responsibilities which ought to be exacted in accordance with previous dispositions.

Slaves not comprised in the census made in the island of Porto Rico on the 31st December 1869 a prior date to that of the publication of the Law, although registered on the 31st December 1837, shall be considered as free, but the indemnity which is due to their owners will be paid to them when the Cortes concedes them that right.

Art. 31. The Superior Civil Governor will order the Jurisdictional Boards of Protection through one of their members, to issue with all speed, if they have not already done so, the respective cedulas to the freedmen over sixty years of age, as well as to the patrons of those who are under age. The member delegated will make a record of the delivery, which will be signed by him, by the patron, or his representative, and two witnesses.

Art. 32. The same formalities will be observed as regards the delivery of cedulas of those born after 4th July 1870.

Art. 33. The census treated of in Article 19 of the Law will not prejudice nor will it prevent in any way the responsibilities and rights consigned in the Decree, having same force as a law, of 29th September 1866, and in the Regulations of 18th June 1867.

Art. 34. The Boards of Protection, comparing the said Law of 1866 with the general census of slavery will strive to exclude from the latter all those who were not included as slaves in the former, with no other exception than those born afterwards up to the date on which by Law they ought to be free.

Art. 35. Said Boards will also make a register of all persons declared free by virtue of the Law of 4th July 1870.

Art. 36. The proof of the services referred to in Article 3 of said Law is recommended to the Boards of Protection, so that they may take steps with the authorities to liberate the slave. The Superior Civil Governor will give the final decision, according to his prudent judgment, appeal against such decision being reserved to parties who believe themselves wronged.

CHAPTER THIRD. Concerning the Patronage.

Art. 37. The freedmen who have been born after the 17th September 1868, and those who may be born in future shall remain under the patronage of their mothers owner. Those (as per the 14th Art. of the Law) who may have completed their sixtieth year, and do not prefer their liberty, shall likewise remain under patronage.

Art. 38. The rights conceded by our laws to tutors over minors shall be exercised by the patrons as regards the freedmen representing them in law.

Art. 39. The freedmen owe obedience and respect to their patrons as to their parents, and may not, without their consent, buy, sell, cede, or give away anything under penalty of defeasance.

Art. 40. The patronage is transferable by all the means recognised in law, and renunciable for just causes, according to Art. 11 of the Law. Neither the transfer nor the renunciation can be made if it would cause the separation of the "liberto" under 14 years of age from his mother.

Art. 41. The patrons are under the obligation of maintaining their clients, of clothing them, and taking care of them when ill, and of instructing them in the principles of religion and good morals, inculcating them with a liking for work, submission and respect for the laws, and with love for their neighbour, and with the desire of paying the expenses incurred in baptizing and burying them. These duties of the patron refer only to the freedmen comprised in the 1st and 2nd Articles of the Law.

Art. 42. They must also give their clients the necessary instruction for carrying on a trade or profession, dedicating them to that for which they show the most fitness or inclination as soon as they reach puberty. The zeal displayed by the patrons in this respect will be considered as a special and meritorious service.

Art. 43. The patron, as a just remuneration for the duties imposed upon him by the foregoing articles, and for the expenses incurred for account of the freedman, has the right of benefiting by his work without any wages until he reaches his 19th year.

Art. 44. From the age of 18 to 22 the patron will pay to the freedman the moitie of the wages of a free man according to his class and trade, bearing in mind when fixing the quota of wages, what is enjoined in the second section of Article 6. This wage will be divided into two parts, one of which will be given to the freed man, and the other half to the Board of Protection of the jurisdiction in order to form the freedman's fund.

Art. 45. The patron of every minor who may not have given him the instruction required for carrying on a trade or profession as far as the state of culture of the country and the conditions of locality may permit, and in keeping with the work of the "liberto" in rustic and town labours, will be obliged to pay said minor from the ages of 18 to 22 the entire wages corresponding to a freeman, whenever this omission is owing to the fault or negligence of the patron.

Art. 46. When the freedmen of 60 have chosen to remain in the house or on the property of their former masters the latter will acquire the character of patron.

Art. 47. In the event of the freedman or his former master refusing to fulfil the respective obligations imposed upon them by the 14th Article of the Law, the Board of Protection, after hearing both parties, will take proper steps to see these obligations carried out, and will endeavour to procure work for the freedman according to circumstances.

Art. 48. The Board of Protection will take special care not to contract the "libertos" for labours which are not similar to those they may have been used to, keeping on the plantations those who may be there, but without restricting their liberty.

Art. 49. It is the duty of patrons to punish the faults which the "libertos " may commit. The Superior Civil Government, after hearing the Central Board of Protection, will determine by a regulation the punishments which the patrons may inflict.

CHAPTER FOURTH.

Regarding the manner of effecting the shipment of the libertos" comprised in the 3rd and 5th Articles of the Law.

Art. 50. Upon the "freedmen," comprised in the 3rd and 5th Articles of the Law, receiving their cedulas, they shall be consulted by the Board from which they receive said cedulas, regarding their desire to return to Africa. At the same time their answer shall be recorded on the lists to which they belong, and on the cedulas which are given to them. The right of election which is conceded to these "freedmen" shall be only exercised once, and within the seventy days following the date on which the "Cedula of liberty" (free paper) is delivered to them.

Art. 51. Those who desire to return to Africa, shall remain thenceforth at the disposal of the Board of Protection of the jurisdiction until all those in the jurisdiction who decide likewise being collected together, the Superior Civil Governor, being made aware of their number and circumstances, may determine their being taken to the port of shipment decided on.

Art. 52. Being collected together at the port of shipment, the emigrants destined for a given place shall be taken on board the vessel which is to convey them, the captain receiving them from the local authority as delegate of the Superior Civil Governor, the record of the shipment which must contain the names of the emigrants being made out in triplicate. Each copy of this record will bear the signature of the local authority, of the commandant of marine, or of the harbour-master, and of the master of the vessel. The latter will keep a copy until his mission has been accomplished, and the other two copies will be transmitted to the Superior Civil Governor, one being for the Government Office, and the other for the Colonial Office. Certified copies shall also be sent to the Chief Justice and the Attorney-General of the island.

Art. 53. The emigrants may embark their private effects

and money, and also the tools which may belong to them, SPAIN (CUBA). to the order of the master of the vessel.

Art. 54. The emigrants shall be taken to the place in Africa, which may be determined by the superior authority according to the instructions given him by His Majesty's Government, the necessary measures being adopted for proving the delivery of the emigrants at the place of disembarkation.

Art. 55. As soon as the emigrants land at the place to which they are bound, they shall remain at complete liberty.

Art. 56. The Superior Civil Governors of the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico will submit to the Colonial Office the doubts which may occur regarding the application of the law and of these regulations whenever their resolution calls for a legislative or gubernative measure; transmitting in like manner for the approval of the Supreme Government any dispositions which they may think fit to issue for the exact execution of the one or the other. Given at San Sebastian the 5th day of August 1872. AMADEO. EDUARDO GASSET Y ARTIME.

The Minister of the Colonies.

CONSUL PAULI to the EARL OF DERBY.

MY LORD,

British Consulate, Porto Rico,
April 26th, 1876.

THE Official Gazette of the 18th instant publishes a notice to all the Alcaldes of the Island, that on the 20th instant all libertos now under contract are entitled to their civil rights, and are to be provided with a cedula, for which they will have to pay one peseta, about ten pence; the reason given for making any charge is, that by so doing they will be placed on a more perfect equality with their fellow-subjects who have never been subjected to slavery, and who have to pay for their cedulas.

A long circular is also published containing advice to those now entering on their civil rights, and directing the Alcaldes to impress upon them the necessity of complying with all the obligations of society, and appealing to the owners of estates on which the libertos had been contracted, to continue to find them work, and to allow them to use the houses which they now inhabit for the present; at the same time Alcaldes are reminded that by Law of the 22nd March 1873, Article 7, these men will not obtain their political rights until the 22nd March 1878.

The Law of Abolition has so far been strictly complied with in letter, and it remains to be seen if the spirit of the Act be also carried out. I have no reason to doubt this, but in the same Gazette an order is given to all Alcaldes, local authorities, guardia civiles, and police in general to apply with the greatest rigour the Vagrant Act of April 15th, 1874.

This Act, although to a certain extent necessary in consequence of the disposition to idleness of many of the inhabitants, contains some articles describing those who will be considered vagrants, which appear to me liable to abuse.

Clause 1 statesThat all those who have no income, lawful profession, or lucrative and known occupation are vagrants.

Clause 2

Those having lawful occupation who do not devote themselves habitually to work will be in the same category. Clause 3

Also those who gain wages by regular labour, but who frequent in working hours cafés, taverns, or other places of recreation.

The punishment is not very severe; for the first offence the person has to appear before the local authority, and is admonished; for the second offence, eight days' labour on public works; and for the third, fifteen days, and a fine of fifty pesetas; in default of payment one day's forced labour for every five pesetas of fine.

We are also promised a new project of law, which has been sent to Madrid for approval, viz., "For regulating the relations between Capital and Labour."

I will continue to keep your Lordship informed on these matters, and report on the condition of the freedmen throughout the island, as soon as I am able to visit th vice-consular districts.

SPAIN (PORTO RICO).

Consul-General F. R. DRUMMOND-HAY to the EARL OF DERBY.

MY LORD,

British Consulate General, Tripoli, Barbary, March 30th, 1876. IN compliance with your Lordship's instructions, conveyed in Mr. Lister's despatch, of the 29th ultimo, directing me to report on the status of slaves in this country, I have the honour to report that the number of domestic slaves has greatly decreased during the last twelve years. There are no statistics on the subject, but from all the information I have been able to gather, as well as from personal observation, I should say that the number in the whole province at the present time does not exceed 10,000. Formerly almost every Arab who possessed a tent of his own had one or more slaves, whereas now Turkish officials, Arab chiefs, and those in comparatively comfortable circumstances, are the only slave proprietors, the wealthiest Turk not having more than five or six, male and female, and the great majority of Arabs only one or two. There has, moreover, been a considerable improvement in the treatment of slaves by their masters. Cases of cruelty are much less frequent than formerly, whilst the slaves are better dressed and fed than was the case many years ago.

The decrease in the number of domestic slaves is attributable to the discouragement to slavery generally, by the pressure brought to bear on the Sublime Porte by Her Majesty's Government, and the consequent orders on the subject to the Valis of the province, as also to the comparative facility with which, of late years, slaves have been enabled to obtain their manumission from the local authorities, through the intercession of this Consulate ; whilst the anxiety of slave owners to prevent their slaves from applying to this Consulate for that purpose has induced them to treat them better, and thus make them more contented with their lot.

Although nominally the local authorities profess to be ready to manumit any slave applying directly to them, the instances in which they have done so are extremely rare. When a slave does make such an application, his master invariably at once charges him or her with theft, or upon some other pretext obtains his imprisonment, from which he is not released until, either by threats or

cajolery, he has been induced to return to his former master. This artifice is almost invariably resorted to even when the slaves seek the good offices of this Consulate.

The local authorities, and the Mussulman population generally, look upon slavery as a necessary and lawful institution, and therefore the whole tendency of the popular mind, and of the action of the authorities, is to discourage applications for freedom, and to defeat all efforts to abolish slavery.

It not unfrequently happens that even slaves who have obtained their manumission, are kidnapped and resold into slavery in the interior, or concealed near the coast, and exported clandestinely, and these abuses are often connived at by those in authority. The connivance, however, of officials in such cases has to be bought, and the expense, and trouble, and feeling of insecurity now attending the possession of slaves, all tend to discourage the inhabitants from purchasing them. Domestic slavery would before long become extinct were it not constantly fed by fresh importations from the interior, which, though on a much sinaller scale than formerly, still continue.

There are no efficacious measures in progress for the eventual emancipation of slaves. The imperial firmans, and vizerial orders, on the subject would, no doubt, have proved effectual in completely crushing both the trafic in slaves, and in course of time domestic slavery itself, had they been honestly carried into execution, but they have become virtually dead letters; and the only care of the authorities has been to keep up an appearance of wishing to abolish the trade, whilst, in reality, preventing any too rapid progress being made in that direction. No instance has ever come to my knowledge in which the local authorities have spontaneously made a seizure of newly imported slaves, or inflicted any punishment on slave dealers. On the whole, however, as I have stated, much good has been done, and considerable progress made towards the mitigation of the evils attending slavery in this country, and its gradual and ultimate extinction. I have, &c.

CONSUL-GENERAL WOOD to the EARL OF DERBY.

Tunis, 14th March 1876.

MY LORD, I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's despatch, of the 29th of February 1876, instructing me, in compliance with the request of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the question of fugitive slaves, to furnish your Lordship with a report on the status of slaves in the Regency of Tunis, and especially as to any measures in progress for their emancipation.

In reply, I beg respectfully to state that, pursuant to the declaration made by Ahmet Bey, in 1846, at the recommendation of Her Majesty's Government, slavery has been abolished by law in this Regency, in consequence of which the slave market has been suppressed; and although there may still exist one or two individuals who bring slaves clandestinely into the country by way of the Sahara, or across the borders between Tripoli and Tunis, yet, so far as I am aware, they are unknown to the local authorities.

By the XXXVII. Article of the General Convention between the Governments of Great Britain and Tunis, signed on the 19th of July 1875, the declaration of 1846 was renewed by His Highness the Bey, "who especially engages to cause the said declaration, abolishing for ever slavery in the Regency, to be obeyed and respected, and to use his utmost efforts to discover and punish all persons within his Regency who contravene or act contrary thereto."

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The declaration, therefore, of the late Ahmet Bey has now assumed the character of an International engagement on the part of His Highness Sidi Mohammed Essadok Bey, and constitutes the more recent and stringent measure for emancipation.

I may be permitted to observe that, in virtue of the declaration obtained by Great Britain, it has been the

invariable rule of Her Majesty's Consulate General to procure the manumission papers of all slaves, whether male or female, who take refuge in it. It has, moreover, obtained the emancipation of slaves who were secretly brought overland or by sea into the country, without ever experiencing any difficulty on the part of the Tunisian Government.

Under these circumstances, and in the presence of the facilities which slaves have to procure their freedom, the natives have acquired the conviction that the holding of slaves is an insecure property, particularly males, who, not being confined in houses, can personally apply to the Consulate for their emancipation. The natives are, therefore, little disposed to purchase a property of which they may be dispossessed at any moment.

Owing to the exclusiveness of the harem it is difficult to state the number of female slaves who are employed as domestics in private houses; but there is reason to believe that their number is limited, inasmuch as only rich individuals can afford to purchase them, now that the difficulty and risk of introducing them into the Regency has enhanced their price.

The nomad Arabs probably possess a few slaves as labourers, but, as a general rule, there are no slaves who are compelled to work in the fields. With regard to their status, the female slaves in private houses are treated as members of the family. They are clothed and married when of age; and it is customary, though it does not follow as a right, to give them their freedom upon their marriage; and as, according to Mahommedan religion, every person born a Musulman is free, the offsprings of such marriages cannot be sold into slavery. I have had only one case of this description brought to my knowledge, but although the father, mother, and child belonged to an Arab whose tribe was in the interior, the Tunisian Govern

ment had them brought to Tunis, at my request, and furnished them with their manumission papers.

Be it by report, tradition, or otherwise, slaves are perfectly well aware that by applying to, or taking refuge in, the British Consulate, they can obtain their manumission papers from the local authorities, for which only a fee of five shillings is charged by the notary who draws them up, and to which is affixed the Bey's seal.

It being a somewhat difficult task to dispose of the emancipated female slaves, the Consulate hands them

No. 1.-SIR HENRY ELLIOT to the EARL OF DERBY. MY LORD, Constantinople, 24th March 1876. IN forwarding to me a copy of your Circular of the 25th ultimo to Her Majesty's representatives abroad, upon the question of fugitive slaves, your Lordship directed me to furnish any information that might be useful to the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the subject.

Considering how frequently it occurs in this country that slaves take refuge at Her Majesty's Consulates, the instances in which controversy respecting them has arisen with the Turkish authorities have been extremely rare.

The difficulty is to act in accordance with what is due to the dictates of humanity without allowing the Consulates to be regarded as asylums for runaway slaves.

The Turkish law or practice respecting slaves is, however, so humane, that in cases of hardship it can almost always be invoked with success, and the Consuls by unofficial representations to the local authorities generally obtain their emancipation, if it can be shown that they have just cause for complaint. When difficulties do occur, the case is referred to me, and I act according to the particular circumstances.

A large proportion of the runaway slaves are the least deserving of their class, who, having committed some offence are endeavouring to escape punishment, and I should not consider myself justified in desiring a Consul to retain at the Consulate a slave who had left his master without some legitimate cause. If, on the other hand, a slave escapes from a dealer, who is himself violating the law of the empire which forbids the traffic, I do not hesitate to give him protection till his certificate of freedom is granted, for the engagement taken by the Porte to prohibit slave trading is, I conceive, a sufficient justification of this

No. 2. SIR HENRY ELLIOT to the EARL OF DERBY. MY LORD, Constantinople, March 24th, 1876. I HAVE had the honour to receive your Lordship's instructions to report upon the status of slaves in Turkey, and upon any measures which may be in progress for their emancipation.

Their status, although depending at least as much upon custom as upon absolute law, is perhaps as favourable as it is susceptible of being made, the slavery being purely domestic, and no prejudice being felt against them, either on account of their condition or their colour.

The white Circassian slaves are regarded as being in a different social position from the negroes, though I am not aware of any distinction in their legal rights.

They usually, while young, receive sufficient education to qualify them to become inmates of the larger harems, either as wives, concubines, or superior domestic servants, and many are adopted into families where there may be no children.

The Sultan's wives, as they are called, though not strictly entitled to that name, are invariably selected from this class, which also furnishes wives to many of the highest dignitaries of the Empire.

The position of the concubines is not one of degradation,

as with us, and is indeed incorrectly designated by that term, for their children are legitimate and born free, inheriting on equal terms with the children of acknowledged wives.

It is the almost invariable custom to give them their freedom before a child is born, but till this is done they are liable to be sold by their master.

This is, however, rarely resorted to in the better harems, and the women whom it is not wished to retain in them generally receive a dowry, and a marriage is found for them.

The negro slaves of both sexes are employed as the domestic servants in the Turkish houses, and, as a rule, are kindly treated, although, being subject to the caprice of their master or mistress, many cases of harshness or cruelty must occur, for which the law affords them insufficient redress.

The Mahometan religion inculcates humane treatment of slaves, and recommends that they should be manumitted at the end of seven years, and this rule is very cominonly followed, although it does not appear that it can be claimed as an absolute legal right.

No measures are in progress for their emancipation, but the feeling is gradually becoming general that the employment of free persons is more desirable, and the number of slaves is daily diminishing, although by no means so rapidly as it ought if the law for the suppression of the traffic were fairly enforced.

This it never will be as long as any demand for slaves remains; for there is nothing in the institution itself which is repugnant to the public feeling of the country.

I know many Turks who would be glad if there were no more slaves in the country, but none who consider that there is anything wrong in keeping men in slavery.

They know nothing of the horrors of the slave trade, and they compare the position of the negro, when domiciled in their own families, with what it would have been if he had remained in his own country.

There, they say, he would have continued a savage and a heathen, while here he has been raised to the condition of a civilised man, with a belief in a God, and a faith in a religion which they hold to be the true one.

As long as the slave trader is regarded as a man acting illegally, but not as guilty of an act reprehensible in its own nature, he will find the means of carrying on the traffic.

With the custom of emancipating slaves after a certain duration of service, and the recognition as free of all children born of parents of whom either is free, slavery would be nearly extinct in a comparatively short period of years, if the prohibition of the traffic were to be rigidly enforced; but of this I confess I see little prospect, and I do not even believe it to be within the power of the Government effectually to put a stop to it.

The passage of slaves intended for sale through Malta, where certainly no disposition exists to connive at the trade, shows the difficulty of defeating the contrivances of the dealers.

In Turkey those difficulties are much greater; for slaves are not only bought by professional dealers, but also in no inconsiderable numbers by private individuals, who pass them as members of their households, and afterwards dispose of them quietly.

MY LORD,

MR. WYLDE to the EARL OF DERBY.

British Consulate, Jeddah, 26th March 1876.

I HAVE the honour to report that during a visit that I made to the ports of Yembo and Souakim, I had some few opportunities of making inquiries regarding the slave trade.

I find that at the former place there are a good many imported in buglas from the usual depôt, the African coast; these slaves find their way up to Medina, where there is a good market for them, a small portion of the number however, is consumed by the Bedouins, who use them to work in their date gardens.

There is no secret made of the traffic, and the Governor of Yembo, however willing he might be to put a stop to the public mode of carrying it on, would be powerless to do so, as he has no force whatever at his disposal.

At El Wedje there is no demand for slaves.

At Souakim, where I stopped only four days, private business did not allow me to make as many inquiries as I should have wished, and to visit the place of the embarka tion of the slaves, which is some five miles south of the town.

However, from conversations I had with some native merchants, and the doctor, and postmaster Mr. Formighis, an Italian, gentleman in the Egyptian service, I was led to believe that the officials are perfectly aware of the enormous exportation that takes place, and derive a pecuniary benefit from the same. I think Mr. Formighis' letter, an extract from which I enclose, bears out my testimony as to the extent of the traffic.

On the morning of my departure from Souakim, a bugla crowded with slaves left the place of embarkation that I mentioned before, and two others were half loaded, waiting till the arrival of another batch, which was shortly expected.

It was estimated that these three vessels would take away at the least 500 slaves. The bugla that left a few hours before the departure of the " Medina," the steamer in which I was travelling arrived near Jeddah before we did, having made a very quick passage, namely, 170 miles under the 24 hours.

At Jeddah, although the slave market is still closed, the sale of human beings goes on in some private houses adjoining the old market. The town is absolutely full of fresh run slaves; these could not have entered within the walls without the knowledge of the officials.

I have also the honour to report to your Lordship that the Turkish steamers "Cherif Rasan" and "Malakoff," bound for Constantinople, left there with numbers of slaves, and that no steps were taken to conceal them on board the vessels. I have, &c.

The Earl of Derby, &c. &c. &c.

H. B. WYLDE, H. B. M's. V. Consul.

These slaves are brought in small numbers at a time in an underhand way, in order to avoid suspicion; sometimes the dealer represents them as his wives, relatives, or adopted children, but generally he passes them off as his servants; once landed they are hurried into the interior to be secretly sold. In the same way, slaves are also introduced into Thessaly and Macedonia by the steamers of other foreign companies. I cannot say, nor do I think, that their commanders intentionally connive at the subterfuges which are employed by the slave dealers in their nefarious traffic; but I think that the evil would diminish if the commanders and agents of the Austro-Hungarian 23 and "Lloyd's," French "Messagerie's Maritimes,' "Trinacreas" "Fraissinet père et fils," and Italian steamers were authorised to exercise more supervision in respect of young slaves which are carried in their vessels under the system I have pointed out.

They might be instructed to report to their respective Consuls any suspicious case which calls for an inquiry, and the Consul would then apply for such inquiry to the proper authority.

In conclusion I beg leave to add that the present instance of slave traffic was brought to my knowledge by a British subject, who was passenger on board the "Neptune," the steamer that conveyed the slaves in question to this place.

I have, &c.
J. E. BLUNT.