RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 20 March 1876)

LORD DE MAULEY

rose to move— That this House regrets that the policy of the Government was not directed to the suppression of the Slave Trade, in its recent transactions with the Khedive of Egypt. The noble Lord said, he thought the Circulars of the Government which had been, and probably would be, handled over and over again, did credit to the zeal of the Government in the cause of suffering humanity. He only wished they had gone further, and compelled those whom we had the power to coerce to co-operate with us in the extinction of the slave trade—that it would have left no slave to seek shelter under the protection and authority of England. He was aware of the difficulties. There was the religious profession of the Mussulman, which recognized property in man; there was the value of a trade so lucrative that if one victim out of four survived it was remunerative; there was the duplicity of Rulers, ready in profession, but backward in action, to contend against—but with all the difficulties of position, the nature of the trade, and the supineness of Rulers, England had only to insist, and the slave trade ceased. We gloried in the exertions of a Clarkson and a Wilberforce—the still more practical efforts of a Palmerston; but while we were successful in checking the exportation of slaves to the West, that success drove the full force of the traffic on the Continent of Africa. The North and the South and the West were comparatively free from it; for although slavery was a national institution, the worst features of the trade were absent from those quarters—it was the centre which was the plague spot of the world to supply the Mussulman nations of the East. The two chief upholders of slavery were the Mahomedan nations of Turkey and of Egypt—one a country existing merely for the convenience of Europe, the other a country rising into importance under the combined influence of England and France, the two most civilized nations of the globe. The Khedive, in answer to a deputation, said that were the demand to cease the slave trade would die off in 15 years. He calculated the life of a slave at 15 years' purchase—a most horrible fact of statistics, when 258 human life under Christian rule could be counted at 30 years. The second generation of slaves in Turkey were rarely seen; the third never—the gaps in the population had to be supplemented from the populous regions of Africa. He turned from that branch of the subject to its practical side, and he thought that if the matter were viewed in detail the difficulties which appeared to surround it would vanish. There were three preserves for the slave marts of Africa—the borders of the Nile, the interior of the country, and the shores of the Indian Ocean. There were three routes by which the slaves were conveyed—the banks of the Nile, the river itself, and the Red Sea. Slaves from Abyssinia were driven towards he Red Sea, on their way to the markets of Arabia; those from the Nile followed the same course, after leaving supplies for Egypt; those from the interior it was more difficult to trace from the boundless expanse of the deserts, but their destination was the same—towards the Nile, to supply the Mussulman nations of the world. They had, then, two routes out of three which would be closed by the vigilance of a friendly Power. But there was no such interference. The slave trade, as far as the banks of the Nile and the river itself, were mere matters of police, and the Red Sea could be effectually guarded by cruisers. Those from the interior, he admitted, it was more difficult to deal with from the trackless wastes through which they travelled; but the destination of the victims was the same. The goal they reached was Egypt, which ought to be a Liberia; practically it was a slave-hold. No reliance could be placed on the professions of Mahomedan Governments; slavery was sanctioned by their religion, custom, and tradition; neither Rulers nor servants could be trusted. The most powerful offender was the Khedive; both from position, character, and resources. When Egyptian journals announced the decline of the trade, it was active; when vigilance was relaxed, the caravans were moving; and the Khedive was quiescent. Were he honest in his professions he would make property in man felony, their transit by water piracy. Khartoom was little better than a barracoon, where agents appointed by English Consuls placed the flag of England upon the roofs of their houses, within a shop for the 259 barter of slaves—the emblem of liberty flying over the shackles of slavery! The land routes all converged to the same point, Egypt, the Nile bearing its living cargo to the same point, the authorities cognizant of the fact—cognizant also of the lukewarmness or duplicity of the Khedive. He was aware of the inconvenience of bringing this subject under their Lordships' notice in the absence of any statistics. There were none. They only knew that slave marts existed for the purpose of the slave trade, and that no steps were taken to check it. It was supposed that 100,000 were annually driven to slavery, a remnant only representing the bloodshed and barbarity of their capture. As long as the Potentates of those countries allowed the supply to continue the demand would exist, until they learnt, or were compelled to learn, that the labour of the man was of more value than the man himself—that he was of more value on the land than off it. As the Khedive of Egypt had just been raised by our wealth and was supported by our counsels, he ought to be compelled to learn that that the worst commerce which could afflict a country was the traffic in human beings. It was supposed that the Khedive of Egpyt ruled over a population of 10,000,000. How many more were to be driven into the vortex of slavery by his armed forays against unarmed nations it was impossible to calculate. The idea of commerce in such a case was a delusion. Free labour would not exist with slave labour. It was as impossible of fusion as oil with water. They had seen that in the Southern States of America extension of territory meant an extension of the slave trade. But if there was no limit to territorial aggrandizement, there was a limit to the forbearance of society. Would England allow the chains of bondage to be cast over these vast and unprotected nations, when the mere expression of her opinion could regenerate Africa and save countless millions from the horrors of slavery?

§ THE EARL OF DERBY

said, it was impossible for the Government to accede to the Motion of the noble Lord, but he 260 thought he could give a satisfactory answer to the statement contained in the noble Lord's Resolution. His answer was, that during the last four months Her Majesty's Government had been engaged in negotiating with the Khedive for the suppression of the slave trade, and he hoped those negotiations would result in the effectual suppression of that trade. He was not able to go into particulars; all who were experienced in negotiations knew that, however well parties might be agreed as to principles, there were always a good many details to decide upon, which were surrounded with difficulties, and the settlement of which took time. The negotiations in this case had been going on since November last, and the Government had found the Khedive very willing to meet them in a spirit of friendship and co-operation. It would be premature to speak of the results of a negotiation which was not closed, but he hoped it would be such as to be satisfactory to Her Majesty's Government and their Lordships' House. That being so, he did not think their Lordships would ask him to enter in a general discussion of the slave trade. It was admitted that as far as the East African slave trade was carried on by sea, if not entirely put down, it had been to a great degree suppressed. With regard to the inland slave trade, we had not been able to exercise any active influence such as we had on the seas; but there could be no doubt that if that trade were suppresed throughout the Egyptian dominions, such a suppression would go to a great way towards the total extinction of the traffic. He would only remark on that point that whatever might be the power of the Khedive to deal effectually with the slave trade in his territories, he thought there was no reason to doubt his good will. Everybody could understand that it was not easy for him to make his authority respected in some of the remoter parts of those lands, and consequently in the more distant parts of the Egyptian territories many things might be done which were not in accordance with English views, or with the policy of the Egyptian Government. The Khedive had manifested a good will to suppress the trade by the introduction of legitimate commerce. He believed, indeed, that no Viceroy of 261 Egypt had ever given more consistent and persevering help towards the accomplishment of that object. He supposed the noble Lord would not feel it necessary to press his Resolution.