The Anti-slavery Reporter and Aborigines' Friend

[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 and statements for which their authors can alone be held responsible.]

Southern
Rhodesia.

Quarterly Notes.

OUR Committee has been in correspondence with the Government on two questions of importance in connection with Southern Rhodesia, that of Native Land and the recommendations of Sir Morris Carter's Commission, and on the drastic new Bill for the control of Natives and the conduct of Native affairs. Attention is directed to these documents printed in another column. The Society is addressing a memorandum on the legislation relating to Native Juveniles' Employment and Native Control to members of Parliament before the autumn session.

The Unrest
in
Western
Samoa.

THE Committee has had under its consideration the
reports on this matter from several sources, but the
appointment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry by the
New Zealand (Mandatory) Government precludes
further dealing with the allegations until its report is
issued.

During the sittings of the Permanent Mandates Commission in Geneva, efforts were made to raise a discussion upon the situation in Western Samoa, but this was forestalled by a statement made on behalf of the New Zealand Government that a Royal Commission had been appointed, and pending the report of the Commission the Mandates Commission was invited to suspend comment.

League

of Nations

Assembly.

OUR Parliamentary Secretary has again been at Geneva attending the meetings of the Eighth Assembly of the League. His account of certain features of interest to the Society is printed on another page.

The Annual Meeting.

THE Society's Annual Meeting was held in the Central Hall, Westminster, on the 7th of July, with the President, Mr. Charles Roberts, in the chair.

THE CHAIRMAN, in opening the meeting, said that the Society had no reason to be dissatisfied with the measure of progress obtained during the past year. He thought every member felt that the work was growing under their hands. This year the gathering would be somewhat in the nature of an open conference. Mrs. Ternent Cooke, of Adelaide, and Mr. Ernest Bryce, of Sydney, had kindly come to speak about the treatment of the aborigines in parts of Australia, and Mr. Cripps would speak on the subject of recent legislation in Southern Rhodesia, against which he felt we still ought to protest.

Mr. Roberts continued: Now, very rapidly reviewing the progress of the past year, we have to note the marked progress made in dealing with the Slavery Convention, which, I believe, has been signed by about thirty-five States, and is now, I suppose, well on its road to final ratification. We have been pressing on the preparations for a Convention dealing with Forced Labour. A deputation from this Society, in conjunction with the League of Nations Union, is starting to-morrow to present our declaration on Forced Labour to the experts at Geneva. We have had the great advantage of expert criticism by very experienced administrators in reference to this declaration. What we have made of that advice is a matter for our own responsibility; we have issued this declaration as the result of our own consideration; we do not claim that it represents anything more than that, but we have the satisfaction of knowing that, with the help of the Colonial Office, our declaration has at least been framed in the light of long years of administrative experience, and whatever merit it may have, it has been largely due, I think, not merely to this experience, but to the experience of those administrators whom we have been able to consult.

Some quite definite steps at least have been taken to clear away slavery in the outlying parts of the world. I think the outside public have been shocked to realise that though slavery has been abolished by civilised governments there must be still, I do not commit myself to a figure, but it must run into some millions of slaves existing in the world, and I suppose if you are a slave in Abyssinia, it is inadequate consolation to know that though you may be in a state of servitude, slavery has been abolished in the United States of America, or in other parts of the globe. The problem of Abyssinia still remains before the League of Nations, but so far as India is concerned, there are quite definite steps of progress which can be recorded. The Government of India has secured in Kalat, a Native State which covers the greater part of Baluchistan, an edict abolishing the status of slavery in this region, and in Burma, in the outlying parts of Burma, in the Valleys and among the hills of the North-East frontier, where

Burma juts into China, expeditions have been organised during the past two years, which have secured the liberation of some six or eight thousands of slaves in those parts. These areas, though coloured red on the map and under the influence of the Government, were areas into which previously white men had not ventured, and it has evidently required something in the nature of an expedition, an armed force, the influence of experienced administrators and some considerable expenditure, to secure abolition in these wild regions. I think it is satisfactory to see that an expedition which followed up the previous year's expedition, found that the slaves which had been previously liberated in 1925 were apparently settling down to work as free men in the following year, so that the work, so far as that expedition is concerned, is not in vain, but it has cost not merely a sum of money to buy these slaves out, but also, unfortunately, three lives, including that of a very gallant officer, Captain West, who lost his life as a result of an attack from people who did not welcome the interference of civilisation. But it is a satisfaction to feel that on the fringes of Empire, in these wild regions, some steps have been definitely secured to remove slavery from the last hiding places in which it lurks. Other parts of the world are not quite so satisfactory. Abyssinia I have already referred to as a problem which has to be dealt with through the League of Nations. The Portuguese situation is still thoroughly unsatisfactory.

We can act as a Society through our own Government, as we have often done in the past, but we find that the collective action which can be taken at Geneva, either through the International Labour Office or through the Mandatory Commission, or through the Assembly, opens up the most promising channels of work, channels of work where you are free from the suspicion of some ulterior national aim, and where the public opinion of the world can be brought upon the backward States. That public opinion is powerful, we are going to learn this afternoon from Mrs. Cooke and Mr. Bryce, and the need which there is for proper treatment of the aborigines in Australia. So far as we know at the present time, and our information is somewhat limited, we do not suggest that the Governments in Australia, either the State Governments or the Federal Government, have been remiss. There have been happenings, such as killing of aborigines, against which protest has been made by missionaries and otherwise and, subject to what may be told us, steps have been taken to bring guilty parties to trial, and we notice that the Federal Minister in Australia, when approached by a most distinguished and influential deputation asking for a Royal Commission on the whole treatment of the aborigines in Australia, seemed very promptly to accept the suggestion, and has at all events promised that he will press it upon the Government. If any work requires to be done in Australia, I am quite certain that we can promise those who are working there our sympathy and all the help we can render.

We are a rather small body—a few hundreds scattered up and down the country; we have not got very large financial resources. I do not want to blow

the trumpet of the Society, but I often think that with our small numbers and our limited resources, we do very effective work. I think we do secure publicity where there is a prima facie case of grievance or abuse. I think our Executive pursues the middle course of avoiding too ineffective action on the one hand, and too impetuous a rashness of statement on the other. We often have to walk warily where we have not got full information, but I do not think we make mistakes very often, and I think that alike in securing and hoping to secure the final abolition of slavery and the larger and more comprehensive task of securing justice and proper conditions for the backward races, the influence of this Society is felt, and felt for good.

My main duty is to move the adoption of the Annual Report and the Election of the Committee and Officers en bloc.

The motion for adoption of the Report and the re-election of the Committee and Officers was carried unanimously.

Mr. TRAVERS BUXTON said that letters had been received expressing inability to attend the meeting from a number of people, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Professor Gilbert Murray, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, Sir Leslie Scott, Bishop Welldon, Dean of Durham, Lord Meston, Dr. Scott Lidgett, Lady Scott Moncrieff, Mrs. Runciman and Mr. J. H. Oldham.

Professor Gilbert Murray wrote:

As an Australian I am particularly glad that the attention of the Committee is now being directed to the treatment of the Australian aborigines. The tradition in certain parts of Australia in respect of natives has been extremely bad. My own experience of course is very slight, but my father and brother always maintained that as a race our aborigines have qualities that are capable of high development. Their powers of observation and woodcraft are extraordinary, and they certainly show remarkable fidelity and gratitude for kind treatment."

Mrs. W. TERNENT COOKE, of Adelaide, began by referring to the Australian aborigines as living representatives of the Stone Age, and also our distant forefathers, their blood-grouping being the same as that of the Caucasian races, quite distinct from that of the negro. Before the arrival of the white man in 1788 they were nomadic hunters, living in rough shelters made of boughs, but they had a wise social organisation well-fitted for the control of tribal communities. Their marriage laws were designed to maintain the physical and moral health of the race, but the treatment of women was bad; the tribal laws gave the men great power, the woman being merely a burden-bearer. The speaker referred to this interesting people as highly intelligent, the best trackers in the world, with wonderful knowledge of the habits of animals. They are described by those who have studied them before they became degraded by contact with the whites, as a good-natured and lovable people whose honour can be trusted.

What, then, said the speaker, has the advent of the white man done for these stone-age people?

It seems that when a primitive people come into contact with our civilisation they either progress or die out. One of the problems connected

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