The Seaforth News, 1927-10-27, Page 3SLAVERY STILL RAISES
INTERNATl NAL ,ISSUES
Traffic in Human Beings Along African Coast Has Not Been
Completely Suppressed—System Holds at Least
5,000,000 Victims British Colonial
Reforms
Ily I'. W. Wilson.
Usually it is assumed that, in this
year of grace 1927 slavery arid the
slave trade are evils that have been '
brought to an end by the march of
civilization and tate conscience of
rnankind. Was not the nineteenth
century one long record of emanci-
pation applied to America, to Africa,
to Asia and oven to the peasants of
Russia herself?
It tomos as a shock, then, to be
told on the authority of the League of
Nati no that the system prevails stili
nineteen countries and that it of
is a population difficult to.estimate
b ut' snot lose than 5,000,000 in number.
The slaves still to be emancipated in
n the year .1927 are more numerous
than the negroes emancipated by -the
Proclamation of President Lincoln.
Even within the British Empire there
are survivals of slavery, 0130 of which:
—that in Sierra Leone—is provoking
serious controversy.
China and Abyssinia.
child of a slave, though born in that
status, isliberated automatically and
without any money passing to the
owner of the parent or parents.
• Fugitive Slaves,
.Thus encouraged, many of the
slavos began to escape. If they
reached thedirectlygoverned colony
of Sierra Leone, they could not bo re-
captured. .
ocaptured.. But within the protector-
atethechiefs did not hesitate to seize
them and return -them to their own-
ers. It meant that suddenly Great"
Britain, in this twentieth` century, has
been confronted by the very problem
of the fugitive slave which Harriet
BeecherStowe • dramatized in
"Uncle Tom's, Cabin,"
A recaptured slave appealed to the
courts and charged his master with
assault. It was, of course, a test
case, and in the lower court the slave
won. But on ,appeal .the Supreme
Court of Sierra Leone, by: the vote of
two judges to one, ` decided : against
the slave, the :decisionstating. that
"reasonable force" might be used to
retake. -him. At present this is the
law,
The dissenting Judge did not mince
hie words, He said:
"Slavery is repugnant to natural
justice, equity and good conscience.
and the Court should not support the
institution in any shape or Sorra,
whether the Legislature expressly
forbids it or not,"
Present Status Untenable.
Sir John Siphon, now regarded as
Great Britain's foremost lawyer, has
stated in trenchant terms that the
case cannot be left where it now
rests. There is no question here of
the contented slave, considerately
treated by a kind and indulgent mas-
ter, and with no desire to obtain a.
greater freedom. The slave is not
contented with his lot when he risks
life and limb in a dash for liberty.
Tho issue so reined affects not only
the British Empire but also Great
"Britain's position on the League of
Nations. That the decision of the•
two Judges will be challenged in Par-
liament goes without saying. Indeed,
it may be taken for granted that the
Government will itself anticipate
such criticism.
Throughout Northern Africa and
the Near East there. is a good deal
more of slavery than is usually real-
ized. In Egypt, whore a negro em-
ployed let us say at a hotel need only
go to the police station and claire his
freedom, the servitude has been
ameliorated until it ie scarcely die
tinguishable in many cases from per-
manent occupation. In the Soudan
slave raiding has boon stopped and
the system is to be regarded only as
a local survival, more obvious in some
districts than in others.
Tho chief slave -holding countries
are China and Abyssinia, in each of
which it is estimated that about 2,-
400,000 persons aro held in bondage.
-it is only fair to add that in China
the evil is the less serious of the two.
Her slaves are probably but one in
150 of the whole national population.
In Abyssinia the slave is numerically
one in fiveof. her inhabitants.
Slavery is so unpleasant a word
.drat one Government in China—the
Cantonesse—has _thought it well to
apply the term "adopted children" to
women captured.or sold into bondage.
It wo ignore the camouflage, however,
we can hardly doubt the statement
that China's chronic dissensions and
the resultant confusion of authority
have been favorable to the traffic not
only in opium but also in human be-
ings. The very fact that the muni-
cipal authorities of a city like Pat-
shan have issued an order prohibiting
the direct sale and purchase of slaves
is significant.
Abyssinian Ruler Opposed.
According to Dr, Thomas Jesse
Jones of the Phelps Stopes Fund, Ras
Taffuri, Regent of Abyssinia, is per-
senally opposed to the deep-seated
slavery that prevails throughout the
country, But the -Regent has to ad-
mit the evil, nor is the evil confined
to Abyssinia itself. The one African
State that has survived into modern
-tinges as an independent sovereignty
agi is to -day the stronghold not only or
the slave owner but also of the slave
raider and the slave trader.
The markets are still open and a
British colony like Kenya has to
spend $200,000 a year in protecting
the nations tram bandits whose base
Q of operations is the ancient Kingdom
of Ethiopia. In recent years many
thousands of Africans have been ab-
ducted by Africans under the cruel
conditions associated with tho old-
time slave gang.
The record of Groat Britain as an
agent in the suppression of the slave
4'. trade has been excellent, Within the
last few years the Maharajah of Le-
pel, her ally, has emancipated 53,000
of his subjects held in servitude, and
in
Burmah slaves to the number of
5,000 have been set free at a cost of
$15 apiece, In mandated territory
around Lake Tanganyka, no fewer
than 185,000 slavos, taken over from
German sovereignty, have been liber-
ated.
The Sierra Leone Problem.
But in Sierra Leone Great Britain
herself has been caught napping. filer
territories lit that region are held in
part as a protectorate ,over native
chieftains who are responsible for the
actual exorcise of authority. These
chieftains, ruling over villages, claim
a right over slaves which resembles
somewhat the ownership of serfs by
feudal landlords in Europe.
During thirty years of sovereignty
Great Britain has acquisced in this.
native law. Precisely how many
slaves are hold under it cannot be said.
Estimates differ, The highest is 215,000.
Another figure is 150,000, of whom
one-third, or 50,000, have freed them-
selves ey marrying their masters'.
daughters. But at the lowest esti-
mate there are 100,000 human beings
held as chattel slaves in a" compare-
s tively obscure province of 'SVest Afri-
oa.
To End In a Generation.
Last year was passed an ordinance
which, if it had been carried out
thirty years ago, would have brought
Othe abuse to an end by this time. By
this ordinance all persons born or
brought into the protectorate are de-
clared to belegally free, while all
slaves become free on the death of
their master. The ordinance thus con-
fines slavery to the present genera-
tion and prevents any recruitment of
the system from outside the protect-
orate. As the slaves and their mas-
ters die off, the numbers must dimity
_ ish and, with them, the importance
of the institution as an industrial and
domestic factor.
Indeed, there is a third clause in
the ordinance which is even more
drastic. The law is 'laid clown that
"no claim for or in respect of any
slave shall be entertained by any of
the courts in the protectorate." This
clause means that no compensation is
paid to chiefs and others 'who lose
possession of persons hitherto re-
garded as their staves, Ivor instance, a
Checked But Not Stopped.
From Turkey, Morocco, Tunis and
Algiers the sensations of slavery have
been perhaps eliminated but the thing
itself has still to bo completely eradi-
cated. The hideous massacres of the
Armenians loft many thousands of
survivors in a state of slavery, from
�ivhicll some have boon liberated by
the efforts of sympathizer's inWest-
on
estorn countries, but there are many
who have not been thus rescued.
I•Ience- the importance of the tact
that by the convention of St. Ger-
main, signed in 1919, It is declared
that "slavery in all forms"—a very
far-reaching and significant phrase—
shall bo suppressed by the signatory
powers, This may be regarded as the
ldagna Carta of the werkl, now rapid-
ly developing into a new era for man-
kind,
A mere declaration of principle is
not, however, enough. It was the
Trish orator, John Philpot Curran,
who said that "eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty"—a sentiment which
he repeated more than once. This Is
the principle that has been applied by
the League of Nations to the abolition
of slavery. Not only has there been
signed at Geneva an anti -slavery con-
vention which has been ratified by
more countries than any other con-
vention adopted hitherto, but further,'
by a provision wisely inserted at the
suggestion of Dr. Nansen, all coun-
tries where slavery exists must report
annually to the League and state how
far suppression has proceeded.
Slave Trade Continues.
'With slavery as with armaments, a
distinction has to be drawn between
the possession by a country and the
traffic between countries. It is not
quite certain whether the League of
Nations has been as successful In
handling the slave tracker as the slave -
holder.
There are regions where the trafiio
in slaves still continues—for instance,
along the coasts of Arabia and East
Africa. In 1995 Sir Austen Chamber-
lain and Viscount Cecil denounced all
such traffic, whether, on land or sea,
as "a crime against the human race."
This contention,v which includes the
right of search as a corollary, was not
accepted as practical politics by cer-
tain other nations—Italy, for instance,
and France, and Portugal, ,
Other Forms of Slavery.
While the number of chattel slaves
is estimated to not less than 5,-
000,000, it is clear that real slavery, to
other forms, affects a far wider mu-
tation. There is peonage of various
kinds, There is apprenticeship of
A Battle Ship of the Air
MAMMOTH AIR CRUISER'S BOW
France has a new armored battle plane, which was shown for the first time to the American. Legion visit-
ors at Villacoublay airdrome, It is claimed to be the first of its kind, carrying guns and armor plates.
children. There is servitude for debt.
There is contract labor.
In fact, with the whole world sub-
jected to a rapid material develop-
ment, in which old customs are every-
where yielding to new conditions;
with knowledge everywhere exercis-
ing an authority over ignorance; with
strength everywhere controlling weak-
ness, there are all the elements avail-
able for the elaboration of a slavery
in the future not less oppressive than
the slaveries of the past.'
What does make a difference Is the
fact that for the first Limo there has
been setup a world-wide organization
that Is immediately sensitive to the
appearance anywhere of these abuses.
It has no power to abolish them, but
it has the power to expose them to
the light of d:hy. The most influential
of nations eau be brought to the bar
of international opinion and can be
asked to explain its treatment of its
humbler citizens. It may be hoped
that this initial rightof information,
if firmly maintained for a few years,
will become an effective guardianship,
strong enough to prevent the. grave
wrongs by man to man which too
often have stained the pages of social
history.—N. Y. Times.
If He Didn't Go Too Far.
Motorist (halting at curbstone)—
"W'on't you take a little ride with me,
girlie?"
Girlie—"Well—er—yes—if you don't
go too far."
If a man owes you thirty cents and
offers you six nickels in payment you
will bo within our`rights by refusing
to accept it and in demanding its
equivalent In silver because twenty -
live cents is the limit in nickels as
legal tender but It someone wants to'
give ;you $5 in nickels you can use your
own judgmert.
A Daily Reminder
America and France have their
eternal flames which by their clear
light keep alive the memory of the
sacrifice of the war dead. It is less
commonly known that in England a
daily ceremony similarly pays tribute
to sacrificed manhood.
Every morning at eleven oclock a
solemn ceremony is performed in Can-
terbury Cathedral. A selected recruit
from a depot of the Buffs, East Kent
Regiment, at Canterbury, goes to the
Warrior's Chapel • in the Cathedral,
where rests the "Book of Life." This
book contains the names of the men
of the regiment who lost their lives in
the war, and the young soldier rever-
ently turns over a fresh page each
day.
Referring to the "Book of Life" at
a special memorial service in the
Cathedral, the Dean of Canterbury
said recently "It is a very beautiful
and deeply cherished possession, and
wo in the Cathedral welcome with all
our hearts this daily turning over of a
fresh page in that 'Book et Life' by a
picked recruit from the Buffs' Depot."
—The Outlook.
t
Jealousy.
Jealousy Is a characteristic of little-
ness. Tho biggest and the best men
always think of the business as a
whole and welcome !helpful sugge-
stions from any quarter. Tlie jealous
executive M a large enterprise is to-
day a ntieflt. It is a mistake for any
brainy man to shrink from offering
worthwhile recommendations because
of fear that jealousy niay be incurred.
If you have an idea you are certain
is useful, don't be afraid to speak up.
Alwas, however, consider the feelings
of others and act with due regard to
their sensibilities. But act. Make
the well-being of your organization
the paramount consideration,
Japan and The U.S.A.
Providence Journal: The record of
the last few years, moreover, must
bring Increasing belief both to Ameri-
cans and to Japanese that the commer-
i tial and financial ties which bind the
i two nations together are becoming so
i strong that no disputes over the racial
or the naval question or any other
diplomatic controversy aro likely to
impair a friendship that deepens year
after year,
Playing The Game
I'm just a common workman
Drawing down a common wage,
But I'm happier than lots of men
Who occupy life's stage.
I give a day's fall measure
And when that day is done,
I''nm happier because I know
My pay was fairly won.
Somehow I haven't time to moan
11Sy lot with alt the mob,
I guess Pm too darned busy
Dolug thoroughly my job.
And something tells me In my heart
I've found the magic spell
Of happiness, succuss and peace
By doing -hie job well.
Debased Drama
Melbourne Australian; No one
would dream of claiming for the aver-
age New York plays of the moment
the redeeming virtues of thought or
art.. They frankly exploit, for box-
office purposes, primitive curiosity
and emotion. , There is no doubt that
the theatre reflects' and reacts upon
popular standards and tastes, and
that its conquest by such productions
will have a bad effect more particular-
ly upon the more susceptible mem-
bers of the public -those in whom
the sway of reason and principle is
not strong, the young, the uneducated,
and the thoughtless. Many question
whether such plays do not deserve to
be classed with indecent films or post-
cards. Their motive and their effect
are the same.
Ouch
Banana—"Mr. Orange is always
scotling at everybody."
Pear—"A regular mock -orange'."
"ADAMSON'S ADVENTURES"—By 0. Jacobson.
He's A Good Shot.
Burns Cult Growing
Movement, Says Sir Robert
Bruce, Moving Forward
With Other Agencies
That Are Toiling for
Social Amelidra-
tion of People
Edinburgh. — Great Interest was
aroused in Edinburgh when it became
known that Sir Joseph. Debbie, a well-
known Edinburgh citizen, had been
elected president of the ]Burns Fed -
oration at
ed-oration'at a meeting held recently at
Derby. Sir Joseph Dobbie is an Ayr-
shire man, and, which makes it seem
particularly fitting, was born at Alio-
way, the scene of Tam O'Shantor'e
midnight revels.
Sir Robert Bruce, in his retiring ad-
dress, said that Tani O'Shanter would
probably have found himself in un-
congenial company now at the annual
federation luncheons for these, for
two years now, lied been run on a tee-
total basis. Sir Robert attributed the
change of custom in some degree to
the fact that women were now mem-
bers of Burns clubs, and had even
formed clubs of their own, but he
claimed that the federation policy
had been the chief factor in lifting
the cult out of its old reputation-
that the annual celebrations were
more concerned' with drink than with
devotion to the "immortal memory."
"The cult, he said, "is - now mov-
ing forward shoulder toshoulder with
all these other agencies that are toil-
ing for the social amelioration of the
people. It 1s the ,realization of the
poet's ideal, that brotherhood of man,
that we are reaching after. We want
that among ourselves in industry; we
want that soolaily; we want that in
our international relations. And it is
'coming yet for a' that' Just think
how the poet would have been thrill-
ed by that part realization of " 3115
dreams in the League' of Nations."
As evidence of the spread of the
Burns cult, at Canberra, he, said, the
new capitol of Australia, it was pro-
posed to erect a memorial to the poet.
"We have had amazing evidence of
a Scottish literary revival, and never
since the days of Fergusson and
Burns has there been so widespread
an interest in the vernacular. Among
good friends of the movement there
has been some apprehension lest'
broadcasting should become a Barlow;
menace, flooding the country daily as
it does with spates of the spoken
word of standard English. Personal-
ly I have not looked upon broadcast-
ing in that light any more than I have
regarded the daily newspaper as a
menace. On the contrary I believe
that we might eventually get very
considerable practical assistance in
our campaign for the preservation of
a knowledge of the vernacular from
broadcas ting. "
85,000 U.S. Tourists
Entered at Windsor
Only Five; Per Cent. Asked
About Liquor Permits,
Says Report
Detroit, Mich.—During the summer
months, following repeal of the On-
tario Temperance Act, more than 05,-
000 automobile tourists from the Uni
Prince of Wales
Greets Yanks
-British Heir -Apparent Pay's
Tribute to Legionnaires and
Speaks of Aid Given by
Them, in Europe's
'Darkest Days" i s
Lpndon.—'i'ho -Prince of -vales ad-
dreeeed the American Legionnairesat
aplrleuSrevoincegiLeeangubye toted BthrietisBhriBmh-
Legion and at which he presided. The
full text of the speech was as followat
"Although it is my privilege as patron
of the British Legion and the British
Empire Service League to preside at
this, to us very memorable gathering
and to propose two big toasts; the
Icing and the President of the -United
States, which I am about to propose.
I shall leave the more important
spooches to Earl Iiaig and Lady Ed-
ward Spencer -Churchill. They both
do a great deal of hard work for the
British Legion. It may be that X am
more the follow -who: travels about and
gets the 'hand.' For this reason then
I. must not be mean and say too much
ahead of them, but I do want person-
allyto welcome you all, our comrades
in arms from the United States and
the members of the American Wo-
men's Auxiliary most heartily to our
country. That so many of you have
paid us the compliment of including
Great Britain in your visit to Europe'
and the battlefields is, I can assure
you, very much appreciated.
Memories Recalled.
"I, do not believe many of you have
been back in Europe since' you were
over with the. American Expedition-
ary Force. What wonderful 'memories
and also what sad memories those
battlefields must have stirred within
you when dome of you visited them
last month. They must have remind-
ed you very vividly of those days
when you came over as our comrades
in arms to help us in the darkest days
of the greatest crisis Europe has ever
known. Then during those days you
found us without either heart or
means to show you that true hos-
pitality which is our traditional' way
of greeting our friends from the other
side. Now eight years later you come
as our guests, and I can assure you,
you are as welcome in that way as
You were when you were soldiers, and
what 18 more, we are going to do our
best to rival the warmth of welcome
which we know your convention re-
ceived on the continent. We are vary
proud of our Legion over here, just
in the same way as you aro proud of
yours:
Legion Stands for Much.
"The British Legion stands for a
whole lot in this cduntry. It stands
for sacrifice and it stands for com-
radeship. Those aro two wonderful
things, and they became almost in-
stinctive during the war, especially at
the front. They just seemed to hap-
pen in our daily lives, but., believe me,
they should be part of our daily life
and thought, just as much now in
peace time and forever. Surely 13113
doesn't have tobe at war to be fight -
Ing an enemy and killing people to
realize how essential those two things
are, but in competition and the strug-
glee of ordinary routine life we are
all, from whatever country we may
come, apt sometimes to forget sacci-
itce and comradeship. We shouldn't
do so,
"So muck for what our two Legions
can do within our own countries. Now
I believe that the same thing applies
to our relations, as American and )3rI-
tisk, as one country to another. If
outward circumstances .seem to bave
changed on this your second visit, the
spirit in which we receive you most
certainly has not, ,
"Wo of the British Legion never
have, never will forget the links
which theeo hard days of the war
forged between our brethren from the
United States and ourselves. It is the
duty of the great English-speaking
nations of the world to see to it that
those links do not become a more
sentimental association, to see that
they remain and continue always as
strong and practical ties, to unite us
in the big task of maintaining the
peace of the world which is realizing
that continued peace is absolutely
necessary for its very existence. If
we use it in the right way, we should
in the years of peace be able to repair
a lot of the havoc which the war
brought to so 1100013' of us;"
The Hero of Hohenzollern!
Berlin. Morgenpost; (Tie patroniz-
ing tone of the letter in which the ex -
Kaiser congratulated President IXind-
euberg on the occasion of the unveil-
ing
nveilIng of the Tannenberg memorial, is
deeply resented). The 'heroin spirit
of Tannenberg to which the ex -Kaiser
appeals hes absolutely nothing in
common with the state of mind in
whiChWilitam the Second and his soli
made fpr Ydollant in those fateful
days, A Kaiser who, in August, 1914,
gave the injunction to fight to the last
breath of man and horse, and who In
the darkest hour left the
ted States visited interior Ontario via
the Detroit -Essex route alone, accord-
ing to statiscis compiled by the Essex
County Automobile Club.
The club, which has charge of is-
seance of automobile touring permits
to aliens passing into the interior of
the province through Windsor, esti-
mates "conservatively" that these
tourists spent more than $1,000,000,
The automobile tourists are estimated
to have numbered less than a tenth of
the total non -touring aliens who visit-
ed Windsor only,
The interesting observation that a
majority of tate tourists tabulated
were attracted to the province by its
scenic beauties• is made by the organ-
ization in its report made public re-
cently.
"Only five per cent. of the visitors
asked how liquor permits were obtain-
ed, and about one per cent• actually
bought beer or whisky in Windsor be-
fore starting out on their trips," the
report asserts.
The statistics showed. Ohio, Miehl-
gan, Illinois and Kentucky lead In the
number of autos 10bile tourists, in. the
order named, There were a number
of visitors registered from Alaska.
Peace of Balkans
Again Disturbed
Assassination at Prague of
Albanian, Minister Causes
Anxiety
London—The peace of the Balkans
has again been disturbed by an as
sassination. The Jngo-Slav-Bulgarian
ferment oyer the murder of General
Itovadhevitch Mit barely subsided
' x r'x pv S-'-011 'J 0X10. iia
.AIlaanlau S�3`inlatey1- accredited o bot
Jii4o•,slavla and lzecho-Slovakba, vi
assassinate,!
bespatchey reaching Loudon sn
fest that Tsena Bey'e assassination
might be due to the tension, between
Albania and Jugo-Siavia, which recent-
ly caused European anxiety. It i
also hinted that the incident might b
connected with the Macedonian mover.
went. «c¢ • - •-_ , .. '.
alto people and "- pais
,,p..; elm it Raiser was
nsauClloa by t110 spirit 'pf Taunon-
Yi I blank. Sued it nl n has not the moral
h 1 right to lout' pious phrases on the
German people.
g-1 Memorle 0 all right to live on
provided you mire something else. �
Beauty 1h'rgeolld ay the matter of
s lifting a face is p&mparatively sim-
e pelo. Probably the hardest part is
keeping the face lifted when the bill
comes iib,