§ 24. Mr. PETHICK-LAWRENCEasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has any statement to make with regard to conditions of slavery in the Sierra Leone Protectorate?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREIn July last the local Appeal Court by a majority of the Judges gave a decision which made it evident that in certain circumstances the existence of slavery in the Sierra Leone Protectorate could still be recognised by the Courts. Immediate steps were taken to remedy this defect in the law, and 616 in September an Ordinance was passed abolishing as from the 1st of January next the legal status of slavery throughout the Protectorate. This means that after the end of this year the last traces of domestic slavery will disappear from that territory. Papers on the subject will be laid before the House in due course.
§ Mr. W. BAKERWhat steps have the Government taken to make it known to the slaves that they will be free from that date?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREAs the hon. Member is aware, this matter has achieved very wide publicity in Sierra Leone ever since this somewhat unexpected judgment was delivered. A special meeting of the Legislative Assembly was held in Freetown, to which the chiefs were summoned, and the matter has received a great deal of publicity in the Protectorate.
§ Colonel DAYCan the right hon. Gentleman say how many slaves this Order will affect?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREIt is impossible to say. It would be quite wrong to represent the conditions obtaining in the hinterland of the Sierra Leone Protectorate as slavery, as the word is commonly used. This is a particular case which arises over a question of domestic servitude. The question of what is called domestic servitude amongst primitive tribes in Africa is a difficult one to define. It is certainly the policy of the British Government to abolish anything which can in any way be described as slavery.
§ Mr. SPEAKERAny further supplementary questions must be put on the Paper.