7 JUNE 1913, Page 3

In a word, Mr. Leland has given a complete certifi-

cate of character to the Portuguese Government, and adopted with less reservation even than the notorious Foreign Office White Paper the view that, even if it ever existed, there is now no such thing as Portuguese slavery, that what we took for slavery was nothing but a domestic institution, and, generally, that the Portuguese are the poor black man's best friends. The White Paper, it will be remembered, insinuated that the "institution," as worked by Portugal, preserves the native from the sins of sloth and of overworking his womenfolk. It is a charming picture as painted by the Foreign Office and Mr. _Leland, but we fear the Anti-Slavery Society may have something to say on the subject which will make the colours run.