§ SIR BRAMPTON GURDONTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a Report received from Consul Nightingale as to his recent visit to the Islands of San Thomé and Principé to inquire into the condition of contract labourers recruited for service therein, with other correspondence bearing on the recruitment of natives in Angola for that and other service in Portuguese territory; and whether he will inform the House as to action taken or contemplated by His Majesty's Government with a view to fulfilment of international obligations entered upon by the Portuguese Government as regards the suppression of slavery and slave trading.
(Answered by Secretary Sir Edward Grey.) A Report from Consul Nightingale has been received, but it was not written in a form for publication, and it deals only with part of the question. I may say generally that the conclusion is that the labourers in San Thomé Principé are well treated, but it is doubtful whether the provisions for repatriation under the new regulations have hitherto been made effective. This and other information, which has been received or is expected soon, will be brought to the notice of the Portuguese Government, in the hope that they will take steps to remedy the evils that exist. When this has been done and a reply has been received I will see whether Papers can be laid.