HC Deb 11 January 1894 vol 20 c1317
MR. T. BAYLEY (Derbyshire, Chesterfield)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, if the Treaty of 1873 with the Sultan of Zanzibar and the Edict of 1st August, 1890, were enforced, it would practically abolish the legal status of slavery now existing in our Protectorates of Zanzibar and Witu; and what steps do the Government propose to take for the suppression of the legal status of slavery in the Island of Zanzibar?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, Berwick

The Treaty of 1873 is in force. The Decree of the 1st of August was subsequently modified, but neither the Treaty nor the Decree affect the legal status of slavery under Mahommedan law. Her Majesty's Government do not propose; to take any further steps at present, for reasons which I have already stated in the House.