§ MR. J. A. PEASE (Essex, Saffron Walden)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the attention of His Majesty's Government has been drawn to the decision of the Provincial Court of Mombasa, in the slave case which was heard before Mohammedan assessors, in which judgment was delivered by the judge of that court on 25th April, 1898, to the effect that all slaves imported into the coast territories of the Sultan of Zanzibar since the decree of 18th April, 1876, are illegally held and should be confiscated; and whether, having regard to this judgment, the Government will accelerate the process of ending slavery in the British Protectorate of Zanzibar, situated on the mainland, by issuing a proclamation to make the decision known and effective throughout that portion of the Sultanate.
§ * THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount CRANBORNE,) RochesterHis Majesty's Government are aware of the decision referred to. The Proclamation issued by the Sultan of Zanzibar on the 18th of April, 1876, is no doubt perfectly familiar to the inhabitants of the mainland dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, but His Majesty's Commissioner in East Africa will be consulted in regard to the suggestion that further steps should be taken to give publicity to the decision referred to in the question.