In the House of Commons on Thursday Sir Edward Grey,
in answer to a series of questions addressed to him by Mr. Leverbon Harris, admitted that there were Treaties in force between this country and Portugal by which Portugal bound herself to put an end to slavery in her colonies, and that in 1838 Lord Melbourne stated to Portugal that England would no 'longer refrain from taking effectual measures for prevent- ing slavery in Portuguese territory. The system in force upon the cocoa plantations of San Thome and Principe was, said Sir Edward Grey, "described as contract labour." The latest statistics showed that the mortality among the labourers in San Thome was 3.1 per cent. and in Principe about 11.7 per cent. "I have not advised any firms as to where they should buy cocoa." Finally, pressed by Mr. Harris to say whether he did not consider there was slavery in the islands, Sir Edward Grey replied that the places named were not British terri- tories, and that we were not responsible for the system described as contract labour. It had been frequently stated, however, that the system was not satisfactory. It was now under the consideration of the Portuguese Government. "We have from time to time been in communication with them with regard to introducing such reforms as would remove reproach from the system."
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