LETTERS TO THE E 1)1TO R.
THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE. [To THE EDITOR OE THE .4 SPECTATOR.] Sra,—In the interesting article on the abolition of the slave trade in your issue of March 30th you comment on the comparative neglect of the centenary of an event so important in our history as the passing of the Act of 1807, and suggest that this is due to the security of the cause and to the dis- appearance of slavery being taken for granted. There can be little doubt that the bulk of Englishmen to-day do take for granted that the slave trade and slavery are things of the past, and this firm belief, which unfortunately does not correspond with the fads, is apt to blind our eyes to ugly developments in the relations of the white and black races in Africa at the present time. The tendency to exploit and enslave the native on various colourable pretexts for the benefit of the white man is all too common in many parts of Africa, and, quite apart from humanitarian considerations, is leading to results which are likely soon to constitute a most serious danger to the white race. The terrible state of things brought .about by the system of administration in the Congo State is the worst instance of this modern slavery, and the old-fashioned traffic in slaves, who are bought in the interior of West Central Africa and brought down in shackles by well-worn slave routes to the Angola coast to supply the Portuguese demand for so-called " contracted labour" on the plantations of the San Thome and Principe Islands and the colony of Angola, is hardly less flagrant and shocking. But can our own nation claim to be entirely free from reproach in its dealings with the natives in our African Colonies and Protectorates? Sir Charles Dilke was only expressing a conviction shared by many who study African questions when he stated last month that there had been a retrogression in the policy of this country towards the native races, and that we have rather gone backward than forward during the last ten years. Even the abolition of the legal status of slavery in the coast strip of the British East Africa Protectorate—to take one concrete instance—which Mr. Balfour stated in Parliament in June, 1897, that the Government was "earnestly desirous" to effect "at the earliest possible opportunity," has been evaded and delayed for nearly ten years; and although the assurance has been repeated on behalf of the present Government by Mr. Churchill, this very simple and necessary reform has not even yet been carried out. I venture to suggest as another reason why the recent centenary has not been widely acclaimed that many of us who are deeply interested in the question of slavery feel that, while the Act of 1807 marked an important stage in the anti-slavery campaign, the present condition of things in Africa generally is not such as to justify joyful celebrations as though the victory were won. The evils are, of course, less open and glaring than they used to be, but the dangers are more subtle and more difficult to attack. And it is, I submit, in no was' superfluous, but of the utmost importance to-day, to keep alive the spirit of the great leaders of the last century, and to maintain firmly our traditional attitude of opposition to slavery in all its forms and disguises.—I am, Sir, 8m., TRAVERS BUXTON, Secretary.
British and Foreign dnti-Slavery Society, 51 Denison House, Vanshall Bridge Road, S.W.
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