to be present this afternoon to give my testimony orally to the important work which is being done, from an Imperial point of view, by the AntiSlavery and Aborigines Protection Society. Fad I been able to attend it was not my intention to make a long speech: merely to express emphatically the view that this Society is deserving most of support by those who deem themselves Imperialists-by those who realize the extent, the resources, the potentialities for good or ill, the responsibilities of the British Empire. To all thinking men and women, investment in the Anti-Slavery Society-the Society which protects the interests of the aboriginal and backward peoples of the world-would be of the nature of an insurance. There are some 830 millions of the non-Caucasian race of the world, who are either uncultured or backward or retrograde in their mode of life, who stand at present entirely aloof from our civilization, who in the eyes of most white men are helots, without rights to be maintained or feelings to be considered. At the present time these 830 millions of black, brown and yellow men are unable to wage war on the white man on anything like equal terms. To his aggressive advance they can only oppose a passive resistance. Often they are quite without defence against his conscious or unconscious cruelty.

Out of this total of 830 millions of backward peoples, at least 365 millions (nearly half the number) dwell within the limits of the British Empire or its spheres of political influence. If we are going to--I will not say exterminate, for that is now impossible-make the lives of 365 millions of black, brown and yellow human beings miserable and serf-like, so that by degrees they dwindle and die out, are we so sure that we can plant in their place a European population which will prove as suitable to climate and surroundings? The white man henceforth must play a directing part in the development of the tropics, but it is very doubtful whether he can exist there in large. numbers, and whether in addition to being teacher, controller, peace-maker, missionary and capitalist he can also suffice for the agriculture and the mass of the work of development.

If, therefore, we are not going to exterminate by processes quick or slow, we must pursue an exactly opposite course. We must protect, educate, uplift and encourage the aboriginal populations. As practical persons, let us, however, recognize that we have no choice in the matter: the die has been cast in that direction ever since the last hundred years' work of Christian missionaries began to take effect. The seed they have sown has already produced a considerable crop of thoughtful, self-respecting Africans, Asiatics and even Amerindians. These at any rate in Africa, Asia and Oceaniaare not going to be bullied any longer by the white man without offering a sturdy resistance, passive or active. That is why I have alluded to an Imperialist interest in this Society being in the nature of an insurance. So long as the activities of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection

Society continue unabated, so long as its officers pry into all the affairs of the non-Caucasian races all over the world, we who live at home may rest assured that no great wrong is being done in secret, no awful outbreak of revenge is smouldering to burst out uncontrollably. Remember also that although the British Empire in all truth may be regarded as the most benign and just ruler the world has yet known, although the races of Africa, Asia, Tropical America and the Pacific archipelagoes now experience under our sway a degree of happiness, prosperity and security they have never known in the past, and although this is largely due to the influence of this Society and to the complete unanimity of outlook between it and the Colonial, Foreign and Indian Offices, its activities are not limited to the scope of the British Empire. They extend all over the world, wherever there is a nonCaucasian population in difficulties.

Our own Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society is fearless in criticizing the methods of government under the British flag. It works cordially with all Christian missionary societies, because its work is typically Christian in its nature. But it is a Society entirely independent of religious bias, as ready to champion the cause of oppressed Mohammedans, Buddhists, Hindus or fetish-worshippers, as that of Negro or Asiatic Christians. During its seventy or eighty years of existence, it has averted, amended or atoned. for much wrong-doing in our own Indian and Colonial policy; and the more its power of research and representation are increased in the future, the less likely we are to have mutinies, revolts, secessions or decrease of population to cope with in our tropical dependencies.

The letter closed with a reference to the similar societies which the example of the Society had bred up in Italy, France, Germany, Peru, and elsewhere.

Mr. SAMUEL J. G. HOARE, M.P., moved the following resolution :

"That this meeting protests against the arbitrary arrest of the Rev. J. S. Bowskill in Portuguese West Africa, and notes with satisfaction that the Portuguese Government, unable to sustain its charges, has abandoned any intention of prosecuting this gentleman. This meeting of is opinion that His * Majesty's Government should insist upon some local and public recognition being made of the fact that Mr. Bowskill had given no cause whatever for the high-handed proceedings of the Portuguese officials, and that the Portuguese Government should be informed that in the opinion of His Majesty's Government any British subject calling attention to abuses akin to slavery is performing a duty imposed by the General Act of Berlin, to which the Portuguese Nation was signatory."

The question of contract labour in West Africa has for several years past been brought under your close attention, and you must have noticed that the arrest of Mr. Bowskill was directly connected with the action that he took in protest against conditions which you and I agree amount to slavery. (Hear, hear.) You will remember that the members of this

society have made two charges against the Portuguese administration of their West African Colonies. We have said, in the first place, that the methods of recruitment for the labourers in San Thomé and Principe, and on the mainland, were the methods of the Slave Trade, and that the conditions under which the labourers worked when they reached the cocoa plantations were the conditions of slavery. And we went further, and said that if we were right in those two charges, it was the duty of the British Nation to refuse to continue its guarantee of the integrity of the Portuguese Colonies in which these conditions existed. Lord Cromer uttered this time last year these very weighty words:

"There are some things which no British Government, however powerful, can undertake to perform. First and foremost amongst these is the use of the warlike strength of the British Empire to maintain a slave state. We pressed for information with reference to the exact state of affairs in these colonies, and during the last eighteen months, the Foreign Office has published two most valuable White Papers, one of which was published about a year ago. That went far to substantiate the charges that we have made, and to show how very far it still is from the reforms being carried out for which we had long been pressing. But now only yesterday (and this is the chief object of the few remarks I am going to make) a further White Paper was published by the Foreign Office, and there those two charges that this Society made are substantiated over and over again. (Hear, hear.) It will well repay the study of any lady or gentleman in this room. I will only quote this single sentence, which is a sentence in a report of Mr. Smallbones, who a short time ago was appointed one of our Vice-Consuls :

"

'From what I have been able to gather of the serviçaes (that is the contract labourers) their original contracts were a sham and their renewed contracts a farce."

You will see from that short extract that the two charges we made— first of all, that the methods of recruitment were the methods of the slave trade, and secondly that the conditions of labour were the conditions of slavery are fully substantiated. And so, it seems to me that your action in the past two or three years, in stirring up an agitation against these conditions, is fully justified. (Hear, hear.) I am glad to think that from what one can gather from these two White Papers, the Foreign Office is in full sympathy with the views you have expressed during the last eighteen. months. (Hear, hear.) Sometimes in the House of Commons I have been. almost driven to the conclusion that the Foreign Office, or at any rate some of its officials were somewhat doubtful of the wisdom or the justice of our outcry; but whatever it may have been a year ago, I believe the fact that during the last few months the Foreign Office have appointed a Vice-Consul especially to inquire into the conditions of labour, and that they are bringing pressure upon the Portuguese Government to make the repatriation of the

contract labourers a real thing instead of being the sham that it has been in the past, shows that the Foreign Office are realizing the gravity of the situation. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is greatly to the credit of this Society, particularly, if I may say so, to the credit of Mr. Harris, the Organizing Secretary-(Applause)—who both by his pen and by his words, has taken a most active part in this agitation. And I should like further to say that I think, for the success which the Society has achieved in this agitation, it also owes a debt of gratitude to Mr. Strachey for the part which he took in the columns of the Spectator newspaper. (Hear, hear.)

But, whilst we have had our action justified, I would like to say in closing that we must not now rest content. This White Paper shows a very serious state of things to be still in existence in these colonies, and it is our duty, as members of this Society, and also as citizens of the British Empire, to see that the United Kingdom is in no way connected by treaty, or by any other connection of that kind, with a European state that allows this state of affairs to continue. I hope, therefore, that both this Society and the Foreign Office will continue to bring pressure to bear upon the Portuguese Government, and that when next you come to have your Annual Meeting, you may have in your hands another White Paper which will show that these grievous conditions have been remedied and that your action has been completely successful. (Hear, hear.)

You will have observed, ladies and gentlemen, that in the words I have addressed to you I have said very little about the arrest of Mr. Bowskill. Mr. Bowskill took, I understand, a most chivalrous part-(hear, hear)-in upholding the rights of the contract labourers, and it was on that account that he was arrested by the Portuguese authorities. I am glad to think that, if the information that we have received is correct, he has now been released, and the charges against him have been withdrawn. I am very glad of that, but I hope that the Foreign Office will not allow the matter to rest there but will insist upon the Portuguese Government giving an explanation of the arbitrary arrest, and making an apology for the action of the official who arrested him.

The Rev. JOHN H. HARRIS: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, in seconding this resolution I wish to point out that there are four distinct features which Mr. Buxton and I felt should be followed up during the last year with regard to Portuguese slavery. Our first difficulty was that of convincing the Foreign Office our own Foreign Office that the charges we had made of slave-owning and slave-trading in Portuguese West Africa were true. It will be within the recollection of most members of our Society that something over a year ago we received a communication from the Foreign Office in which it was declared that these natives were now no longer in a condition of slavery. Therefore we had first to convince our own authorities of the truth of our allegations. It was particularly gratifying

to us to obtain the statement of Lord Morley that he had come to the conclusion that there was no difference between contract labour and slavery in the Portuguese Colonies.

In this connection we endeavoured to obtain a full Consular inquiry, because those of us who knew the actual conditions, both on the mainland and on the islands, were perfectly satisfied of this-provided we could secure an impartial and thorough investigation by a British official, he would come to precisely the same conclusion as we had already reached. Mr. Hoare has referred to this report. Well, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Buxton and I regard it as one of the most momentous features in the campaign for the liberation of the labourers on the Portuguese plantations. In official language, our Consuls go further than even Mr. Nevinson, Mr. Cadbury, Mr. Burt, or I have ever gone. We have never said that all slaves were bought on the mainland. We have never said that every contract was a sham, and every re-contract a farce. We have said that the majority were slaves, and the majority of the contracts were shams. But here we now have the official confirmation, going even further than we did.

There is one other point upon which we have had some concern, and that is the question of repatriation. Even amongst our own friends we have sometimes been urged to modify our demands. We have said that all these people were passionately attached to their homes in Central Africa. (Applause.) We have been met with the statement that they were very much happier on the islands. (Laughter.) We have been told-and of course it is perfectly true that the food and the housing conditions of the people on the plantations were better than on the mainland; but we have always said that good food and good housing does not compensate for the loss of liberty. (Hear, hear.) This White Paper which has just been published tells from cover to cover of the passionate longing of these unfortunate people to be restored to their homes on the mainland. I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, just to take the one fact in this report-it is only 91d., and everybody should read it. Consul Smallbones tells us how some of these people were brought before the Curador-and asked whether they were prepared to renew their contracts. Man after man pleaded to be sent back to his home in Central Africa, and last of all in that long line of people appealing for their liberty, there was one old woman who had lost both her feet, and Mr. Consul Smallbones says: Even the woman who had both her legs amputated below the knee insisted on wobbling on her hideous stumps to her native country to Central Africa. Another man who had suffered an accident, and was unable to walk, found a companion who was prepared to carry him on his back hundreds of miles into the interior of the African Continent. Ladies and gentlemen, you will understand from this how correct has been our assertion all along that these people were passionately attached to their homes on the mainland, and that the one thing which they