QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 17 July 1883)

§ THE EARL OF FIFE

, who rose to ask Her Majesty's Government, Whether they could give any information as to the state of the slave trade in Upper Egypt; and whether they had given any authority to our representative in that country to take further steps with a view to its suppression? said, that no sooner had Sir Samuel Baker and Colonel Gordon turned their backs upon the Soudan than the old practices were revived with, he might almost say, increased atrocity. He learnt that the practice was now to take the slaves from Darfour by a more roundabout way, entailing 47 days' journey over paths strewn with human bones. The mortality might be inferred from the value of a slave before and after the latter part of that fearful journey. At Obeid he was worth £3, at the Second Cataract £12, and yet these unhappy creatures were said to reach that point 40,000 in number. If that represented the number finally disposed of, what could be the number originally kidnapped? There was no doubt that many of the officials who had been appointed to suppress the Slave Traffic had themselves been deeply involved in it; at all events, we had it on the very high authority of Dr. Schweinfurth, that— No subordinate in Egypt had ever been seriously punished by his Chief for conduct concerning slavery. This was still further confirmed by-Colonel Stewart's Report that— None of the really big firms engaged in the trade had been molested," because "there were too many interested in the business, and the Notables were too powerful and influential. It had been admirably pointed out by those who guided public opinion that it was useless to interfere with the supply of slaves unless we went to the root of the evil by stopping the demand for them, and unless we insisted upon the abolition of the legal status of slavery in Egypt. However, there was already a Treaty concluded between this country and Egypt in August, 1877, abolishing the Slave Trade, and stipulating that in seven years from that time the sale of slaves in Egypt should be rendered illegal, and in 12 years in the Soudan. 1676 Therefore, in 12 months from the present date, according to our own Treaty rights, it would be our duty to see this degrading Institution effectually stamped out. In the Parliamentary Paper on the Soudan, he noticed that the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs requested that the suggestions of Colonel Stewart should be brought to the knowledge of the Egyptian Government. He rather doubted that having much effect, as the facts narrated were well within their knowledge already, and the Oriental mind was peculiarly obtuse to unpalatable facts and suggestions. It had been abundantly proved that no Native had the power, even if he had the will, to do any real good. The whole of his surroundings and traditions were on the other side. Power and authority must be placed in the hands of some resolute European, backed by that civilizing influence which it was surely now our bounden duty to exert.