§ MR. HAZELL (Leicester)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the present condition of affairs in Morocco, which it is alleged is such that the leading and intelligent classes of Morocco would welcome some form of European authority that would secure justice to the inhabitants; and whether the time has come when Her Majesty's Government, as representing the country possessing the largest trade interest in Morocco, would consider the advisability of calling a conference of the Powers with a view to the establishment of some concerted European influence over the Moorish Government, in order that the present form of government which prevails, under which open slave markets flourish, may be brought more in conformity with the civilisation of the times.
§ *MR. BRODRICKNo information has been received which would lead to the belief that European authority would be welcomed in Morocco. The answer to the second paragraph is in the negative. The orders to the Governors of coast towns to prevent the public sale of slaves were renewed in 1898 at the request of Her Majesty's Minister, who will make representations to the Moorish Government if it should at any time come to his knowledge that these orders are being neglected.