§ MR. A. PEASEasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether his attention has been called to a letter which Baron de Micklouho Maclay has written to the Commodore of the Australian Naval Station, in which he states that "kidnapping, slave trade, and slavery," are still largely practised in the Western Pacific, and suggests that, having regard to "the criminal actions of skippers not sailing under the British flag," it is desirable to bring about an international understanding on the subject; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will consider the expediency of inviting the Governments of France, Germany, and the United States to concert measures for the suppression of outrages by labour recruiting vessels of various nationalities?
MR. GRANT DUFFSir, we know nothing of such a letter, which would, I presume, have found its way to the Admiralty, and not to us; but the question of an international understanding has been for some time under the consideration of Her Majesty's Goverment.