§ MR. FELL (Great Yarmouth)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been called to the condition of affairs existing in the Lado enclave, forming part of our Central African Possessions; if the troops of the Congo Free State have been withdrawn from the territory, and during the absence of authority the elephants are being destroyed wholesale by white adventurers.
§ MR. MCKINNON WOODWe have seen allusions in the Press to the situation to which the hon. Member refers. The 1075 Lado enclave is a part of the Soudan, and not of the British Central African Possessions; it is in the occupation of His Majesty King Leopold II. under the Agreement between Great Britain and the Independent State of the Congo of 9th May, 1906. We are unable to make any statement as to the movements of Congolese troops in the enclave, hut inquiries will be made as to the truth of the reports respecting the destruction of elephants there.
§ MR. FELLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if the lease of the Lado enclave to His Majesty the King of the Belgians is still in force; if the withdrawal of the troops of the Congo Free State from the enclave and the leaving of the enclave without responsible government is in accordance with the terms of the lease; and whether, seeing that the destruction of the herds of elephants there by the lessee or his agents will cause injury to the enclave, he will say what steps he proposes to take under the circumstances.
§ MR. MCKINNON WOODUntil the discussions between His Majesty's Government and the Belgian Government as to the conditions on which Great Britain will recognise the transfer of the Congo State to Belgium are concluded, the Agreements of May 9th, 1906, under which the Lado enclave is leased to His Majesty King Leopold II. remains effective. There is nothing in the terms of that Agreement affecting the movements of troops or other administrative questions in the Lado enclave. It may be stated that the Government of the Congo State ratified the International African Game Convention of May, 1900, though they did not undertake to be bound by its terms till the ratifications of all the other signatory Powers had been received. We are, however, confident that the Congo Government, acting in the spirit of the Convention, will arrest any wanton or wholesale destruction of elephants in the Lado enclave, should the reports as to such slaughter prove to be accurate, and we are instructing His Majesty's Minister at Brussels to make representations accordingly.
§ MR. FELLIs it a fact that, pending the discussion now going on, this is a kind of No Man's Land, and that 1076 adventurers are now shooting elephants by the thousand?
§ MR. MCKINNON WOODI do not know that you can call it a No Man's Land. It is leased to the King of the Belgians, and I hope that the position to which the hon. Member refers is only a temporary one.