, 1873-05-07

furnishing la0Our OF any KIND, ana tnelF
lands were left perfectly uncultivated In
conclusion, he thanked Mr.. Walker for
his paper, and remarked that there was no
part of our dominions that deserved more
of this country than the West Indies.
(hear, hear)-The European Mal
The AFRICAN SLAVE TR4DE.-If Sir
Bartle Frere has not struck a fatal blow at
this trade, he has at least shown that the
African !abourer is fit for freedom. In a
memorandum addressed to Lord Granville
he gives an account of q visit he has lately
paid to the one free labour estate in Fan
zlbar. The property is situated at the
north end Of the island, is owned by a
British Indian, and leased to Captain Fra
ger, who has, in a residence of about ten
years, changed a Zanzibar rice swamp into
a well-culrivated tropical estate. The
work on this property-held Iabour, road
making, building, the carpenters, smiths
and cooper's work, even the driving the
steam-engines, and repairs of machinery
is all done by free negroes working for re-
guIar wages. These men have all been
slaves, and had at first all the vices of
slavery. Even their foremen are all, with
one exception, men who have been slaves
on some portion of the East Coast. The
excuses urged for Zanzibar slavery are,
that the negroes would die out if their
numbers were not continually repIenished
by fresh importations, and that they are
content with the barest necessaries of life,
and unless compelled, will not work for
more. The experience of free labour on
Captain Frazer's estate proves that both
these statements, though quite true of
slaves, are not true of freemen. The
sense of property, the feeling that what
they have is their own, Sir Bartle Frere
says, has acted most etfectually in raising
these labourors from the more degrading
vices of slavery. They show great atfec-
ton Tor their children, and are as anxious
to acquire the ornaments and superliuities
oflite in the shape Of dress and household
pIenishing as more civiIiscd races. Sir
BArtIc Frero expresses his conviction that,
were slavery abolished tomorrow, no gem
eral or commercial interest of Zanzibar
would permanently suffer. Miss Carpen-
ter has lately suggested that a fund should
be raised to help Sir BartIe Frere's mission
by compromising the Zanzibar slaye-own-
ers for the loss the abolition OF slavery
might impose. Such compensation is,
however, altogether needless. "The re-
ports circulated in England with reference
to the attitude assumed by the French
Consul at Zanzibar towards the mission of
Sir Bartle Frere have caused much anxiety
to the French Government. 1t appears
certain that the formal instructions given
to the French Consul, and which were
communicated to the English Ambassa-
dor at Paris, are in perfect conformity
with those Of Sir Bartle Frere, aud that
these instructions direct the French Consul
to cooperate with the English mission.
The new commander of the French vessels
cruising on the coast of Zanzibar has been
directed to refuse the privilege of using
the French flag to vessels trading between
Zanzibar, Madagascar, and Reunion,
should this refusal prove necessary for the
suppression of the traffic in slaves. More
over, new and emphatic instructions have
just been despatched to the French Consul
at Zanzibar, reminding him of the desire