PORTUGUESE SLAVERY.
[To MI EDITOR OF THE "Bpacri.roa..'] SIR,—Although you are closing the correspondence as to the pamphlet "Alma Negra," I am sure that in justice to
Portugal you will not refuse to give publicity to another side of the question. Your readers may be aware that the Portuguese Government has been offering land in Angola to Jewish colonists, and that a Bill to this effect has passed the Lower House. The offer has recently been investigated by the Jewish Territorial Organization, which despatched a scientific commission of inquiry to Angola, headed by Professor Gregory, F.R.S., the well-known geographer, geolo- gist, and explorer. His report has just been printed and issued for private circulation among our Committee, but as its publication may be deferred for a considerable time I feel that it is only fair to Portugal to send you an extract from it in advance. I should premise that Portugal's actual offer was refused by our organization at an International Con- ference in Vienna, that I am ignorant whether, even if the Portuguese Government were willing to grant less impractic- able conditions, our Committee and our financiers will agree to support the project, and that in any case Professor Gregory's report is absolutely objective. Under the head "Portuguese Administration and Policy in Angola," Professor Gregory writes :—
"It must be recognized that the Portuguese Government is probably not the most satisfactory under which to live and with which to negotiate. The Portuguese Administration in Angola seems, however, to be doing its best to develop the country and treat the natives with justice. The Government has resolutely suppressed the liquor traffic with the natives, has completely stopped any participation by Europeans in slavery, though it is impossible at once to suppress domestic slavery among the natives, and has practically stopped enlistment in Benguella for San Thome and Principe. For these achievements the present Portuguese Administration deserves high credit. The Portuguese intentions may, however, be better than their achievements. Many of the Portuguese seem not very competent in affairs, and the admini- strative system is at present defective. The officials are badly paid, their pay is often in arrear, and they have hitherto been changed at very short intervals. Many of the Portuguese in the country were sent there as convicts, so that the natives have come in contact with the worst class of Portuguese. The natives have been treated in the past with gross tyranny and injustice. The present administration has, therefore, a legacy of mistrust which it vrill take years to live down. The country is still a penal colony, and no one can leave it without permission, or, in tho case of foreigners, a vise on their passports. The Republican Govern- ment, however, shows that it is anxious to do its best to redeem past errors."
(President, Jewish Territorial Organization).
King's Chambers, Portugal Street, London, W.C.
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