An unpleasant excitement has been created by a telegram from
Zanzibar to the Times declaring that the German Com- missioner in East Africa had issued a proclamation authorising the sale of slaves in German territory. A German official was even present at a public sale of slaves in Bagamoyo, and the Arabs, delighted at their opportunity, had already com- menced kidnapping free men. Such a proclamation, if it has been issued, destroys the whole effect of the Sultan's pro- clamation prohibiting trade in slaves, and is almost a direct insult to this country, which has made the extinction of the traffic its first object. It would be nearly im- possible after it to carry out the clause of the Anglo- German agreement under which the British Government is required to urge the Sultan to change the German lease of countries on the mainland into a permanent cession. It is, however, doubtful if such a proclamation has been issued. The Imperial Gazette denies the fact, and states that "it is out of the question" that a slave-market should be officially sanctioned in Bagamoyo. It promises immediate inquiry. We fancy the Germans in Africa utterly disagree with us about slavery, which they regard as a civil conscription, but that the Emperor's Government adheres to, and will enforce, the European view.
