The Washington herald., 1907-01-20
THE BLACK TRAFFIC
Slave Trade Still Flourishing on
the Mediterranean.

alone gives access to the city and 10
the country beyond. Before the foreigner
is allowed 10 pass through this gate. he.
himself. and his papers are subjected 10
a far from friendly and exceedingly
strict examination. which as often as
not ends In the visitor beins requested
to take himself back on board the ship
which brought him. The officials who
thus act the part Of Cerberil to TripOH
wear the uniform of the sublime porte.
and as there are no outsiders in the
shape OF diplomats or missionaries to
clamOT for the introduction Of reforms
, and innovations, TripoH remains the one
corner Of the dOminions of the Sultan
where his authority is still absolute and
exercised in a purely Oriental fashion.
Unhampered by the restrictions OF West
ern civilization.
Tripoli. which is usually, known as
'TripoI and Barbary'' in order to distin-
guish it from the Syrian town Of Tripoli.
was for many hundred years famous as
the principal lair Of the so-called Bar
barry pirates. or coTsairs, who constituted
the scourge Of the Mediterranean. Lying
midway between Tunis and Egypt, it was
a flourishing state in the day OF the
PhOenicians, Of the Romans, and Of the
Greeks, under the name Of Cyrenaica. IN
I'll conquered by the Arabs twelve cen
turies ago. In the sixteenth century the
city Of TTipoli was held for a few years.
first by Ferdinand the Catholic, OF Spain,
and then by the knights Of St John, who
were expelled, however. by the famous
Turkish corsair Dragut. His descendants
| retained possession of TTipOl. which. in
the first and second decades of the nine
teenth century, was the scene Of the most
heroic feats in the history of the Ameri-
can navy. under the command Of COmmo-
dOTe Stephen Decatur, and ruled there
until 1895. when the Turks took advant-
/ age Of a civil war to seize the country,
/ which has been administered as a prov
/ ince OF the Ottoman empire ever since.
Tripolis principal export is that Of
| black slaves, hailing from the great negro
empires of Wadai and Bornu, an export
which could be easily stopped by the
| presence of a few gunboats, maintaining
the same kind Of patrol Of the coast as
/ England keeps in force in the Red Sea.
OF course this could not be done without
creating difficulties with the sublime
porte. and possibly the diplomatic inter-
vention Of some other great European
power in the Sultan's behalf, to the in
jury of all sorts of political and indus
trial interests. many Of them Of great
magnitude. That is why there Is no in
reference on the part of Great Britain or
France in this nefaTiOus black traffic,
carried on almost within q stones throw
of Frances great naval station at BIZ
zerta, and Of EngIand's might fortress
at Malta.
Naturally, as long as the harem system
continues, slavery will remain in exist
/ ence. For without this form of servitude
! the seragliO is impossible As long as the
harem is retained as q feature of Oriental
! life, so long will slavery endure, and it
is hardly necessary to add that the slave
trade is indispensable to the retention Of
slavery. The work accomplished by
Great Britain in the Red Sea has shown
how much can be done by a small force
OF gunbOats toward the suppression Of
the trade elsewhere. Could its only re-
naming outlets on the Mediterranean
shores of Morocco, and in particular of
TripoH be arrested by similar means, not
only would the slave trade itself disap-
pear, but likewise a great step won to-
ward the disappearance of slavery and of
the seragliO-perhaps the most demoraliz-
1 ing and debasing feature Of Oriental life
Ali that is necessary is a common under
standing between the great powers and
concerted action at COnstantinople The
various governments might be unwilling
to take the initial step in a movement Of
this kind. That must be left to popular
sentiment which is likely to prove more
effective than anything else in influencing
the governments of the great powers to
compel the Sultan of Turkey to observe
his treaty obligations in connection with
the slave trade.
It must be thoroughly understood that
the Sultan's pledges in this matter are
restricted to the slave trade, and not to
the system of slavery. The latter IS TO
such an extent part and parcel of the
{ II