Lord Belmore, the ex-Governor of New South Wales, made an
interesting speech on Monday in the House of Lords, with respect to the kidnapping of Pacific Islanders for the labour market of Queensland and of certain French colonies. He admitted that the Queensland Act for repress- ing this abominable traffic had produced good consequences, and that for the most part the labourers in Queensland were well- treated in that colony, and allowed to return home with their earnings at the end of their contract ; but he confirmed the state- ment as to the horrid traffic which still goes on in obtaining native labourers for other colonies. Especially he credited the statement that in some cases the kidnappers get leave of the chiefs to kidnap by first lending them vessels for what is called the skull traffic. The Northern Pacific Islanders have a great crave for the skulls of the Southern Islanders, but have no vessels in which to descend 'upon these poor wretches. The kidnappers accordingly hire out their vessels to the chiefs, on condition that after they have made a raid and brought back with them Southern Islanders' skulls, they shall help the master of the vessel to kidnap for the colonial labour market out of their own tribe,—that is, these civilised devils bribe ignorant savages to sanction slavery, by giving them the opportunity of murder. We are happy to hear from Lord Kimberley's answer that the British Government is employing three or four war steamers and three or four sailing-vessels to put .down this diabolic traffic among the Pacific Islanders ; but it can never be effectively done till we annex the Feejee Islands.
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