§ Mr. MANDERasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it is the policy of the Government to urge, in connection with the inquiry into slavery authorised by the last Assembly of the League of Nations, that the act of conveying slaves on the high seas should in future be deemed to be an act of piracy?
Mr. A. HENDERSONIn 1926, when the Slavery Convention was under discussion at Geneva, the British Delegation suggested a proposal to insert a provision to the effect indicated in the hon. Member's question. It proved, however, impossible at that lime to secure the insertion of such a provision. The Assembly, last year, ordered an inquiry into the present position of slavery, and when the matter comes to be discussed at the next Assembly, His Majesty's Government will consider whether there is likely to be any possibility of overcoming the difficulties which prevented the inclusion of such a provision in the Slavery Convention.