MR. GORSTasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House Papers which will show the policy in reference to slavery pursued by the British Government in the protected Native States in the Malay Peninsula; and, what steps have been taken subsequent 489 to the Despatch of the late Secretary of State of March 5th 1879, to promote the Abolition of Slavery in Perak?
§ MR. COURTNEYPapers on this subject shall be prepared and laid upon the Table of the House. The existence of slavery in the Malay Peninsula attracted the attention of the late Secretary of State, who took steps to secure its gradual extinction; and in the despatch of the 5th of March, 1879, gave orders to prevent the application of the system of debt-slavery to any new cases. In a despatch written on the 4th instant the Earl of Kimberley directed the Governor of the Straits Settlements to report on the progress that had been made towards the extinction of debt-slavery since the despatch of his Predecessor.