We note with interest the publication on Monday last of
a copy of a memorial presented to the Prime Minister by the Anti-Slavery Society with reference to labour conditions in foreign territories where British subjects and British capital are at work. Among the signatories are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the President of the National Free Church Council (the Rev. A. Connell), Lord Cromer, Lord Curzon, Lord Selborne, Lord Milner, Mr. Bryce, and a large number of other influential men. The memorial makes three recom- mendations. The first concerns the desirability of consolidating and extending the Slave Trade Acts in such a way as to make it more difficult for slave-owning and slave-trading to be carried out by British companies in foreign territories—i.e., for stopping slavery under an alias. The second recommenda- tion is for the revision of the British Anti-Slavery Treaties with Foreign Powers so as to ensure their application to modern forms of slavery—once again slavery under an alias. The third recommendation is for the appointment of a few specially instructed Consuls to see that our anti-slavery legislation and policy are really carried out. It is hardly necessary for us to say how whole-heartedly we support all three recommendations It is a horrible thought that the splendid record of this country in regard to slavery should be largely defeated by the slave-traders, slave-owners, and slave-raiders changing the name of their evil deeds.
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