THE WORLD’S SLAVES

Taranaki Daily News, 21 December 1929, Page 11

THE WORLD’S SLAVES

ESTIMATED AT 5,000,000. • None can say with ar.y approach to accuracy how many slaves there are in tho world to-day—whether there be 3,000,600 or 6,000,000. All that we do know' is tliat the number of men, women, and children whom somebody owns and can at any time sell as property runs into several millions —in all probability tho actual figure is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5,000,000 persons, writes a correspondent in tire •‘Christian Science Monitor.” _ The dark spots in= the world are China, Arabia and Abyssinia. A missionary with twenty years’ experience of China and Tibet has placed the number of girl slaves in China at something over 2,000,000. These child slaves are purchased mainly for domestic purposes. . It is this system of China which has proved so embarrassing to the British Administration of Hong Kong and is, in fact, the basis of the much discussed Mui Tsai-' system, of “adopted daughters.” It is estimated .that there are about 10,000 of these little Mui Tsai slaves in the British colony of Hong Kong. , • Stories of cruelty, oppression, . and degradation are frequently published in the local papers of Hong Kong in !Cpnnection with this system, of slavery. Whenever cruelty has been reported, the British Government has always prosecuted, but prosecutions are, comparatively few because of tlie difficulty of obtaining corroborative evidence. Nobody can’form any but the rough-, est estimate of the number of slaves in Arabia. It is probably somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000. Tho details of this slavery in Arabia have been made known to tho world prim-, arily by missionaries. It would appear 'that tho chief demand in Arabia is for quite young children. rtie most difficult as well as tho most, serious areas are those of Abyssinia, or the Kingdom of Ethiopia, a country inseparably linked with the names of Aking Solomon and Queen of Sheba. Here again tlie estimated figure is very large. A former British official with exceptional knowledge estimated the ■ number of slaves in the Ethiopian King,d in at 2,C ; 00.G i OO. A few months ago tho British Gov-, eminent published a White Book jin which it gave a category of tho raids which had taken place within recent years. Tho total of these raids was 139; 65 of these were raids into the Sudan; 71 into Kenya Colony, and three into British Somaliland. Some of these raids were organised on a formidable scale, the raiders numbering several hundreds, and on ono occasion could almost have been called an invading army, all of them well equipped with modern rifles. Tho destructive nature of these raids may bo gathered from the fact that in a single raid into Kenya Colony 57 British subjects were killed. When Abyssina was .admitted to the League of Nations some five years ago it was upon the definite undertaking that tho raids should bo stopped forthwith and that Abyssinia should commence in earnest tho task of abolishing slavery throughout the Abyssinian kingdom. So far from having accomplished this, very little has been done, and some of the most serious raids have taken place during tho last few months.

Thus the task before the League of Nations is both far-reaching and complicated. Its first attack upon slavery was mode in 1922, when a motion was moved by Sir Arthur Steel-Mait-land; Tho league then embarked upon an inquary into the existence of slavery in “all its forms.” This inquiry was undertaken by a body of colonial experts of whom Lord Lugard was ono of the most prominent. Tho revelations mado by this Commission led to a league convention against slavery. This convention in turn had ar-reaching consequence in that it led the International Laboui* Office to undertake two conventions, ono on forced labour and another on contract labour. Tho forced labour convention is well advanced, and it is expected that it will bo ready for signature in June of next year. If so, steps will then be taken to prepare a final draft of the ancillary convention covering contract labour, . ■_ / -. '■'■ Tho resolution recently passed by Commission 6 of tlio league invites the Council of tho League to prepare by means of a skilled inquiry all the available material on “slavery in all -its forms.” Tho range of the inquiry will bo a wide one, for it will include every form of slavery. Thus 1,-t>s Geneva to.; sponded to the cry of tho