The above articles concern three powers especially, Great Britain, Germany, and the Congo State, so far as regards the efficient counteraction of the slave trade. In examining them one by one, we find that Great Britain, which in the past was foremost in the cause of the slave, has done and is doing least to carry out the measures suggested by the great Antislavery Conference. We must also admit that as regards furthering the good cause, France is a long way ahead of England.
The Congo State devotes her annual subsidies of £120,000 and the export tax of £30,000 wholly to the task of securing her territory against the malign influences of the slave trade, and elevating it to the rank of self-protecting states.
The German government undertakes the sure guardianship of its vast African territory as an imperial possession, so as to render it inaccessible to the slave-hunter, and free from the terrors, the disturbances, the internecinal wars, and the distractions arising from the presence or visits of slavers. It has spent already large sums of money, and finds no difficulty in obtaining from Parliament the sums requisite for the defence and the thorough control and management of the territory as a colonial possession. So far the expenses, I think, have averaged over £100,000 annually.
The French government devotes £60,000 annually for the protection and administration of its Gaboon and Congo territory. These two objects include in brief all that the Antislavery Conference deemed necessary, for with due protection and efficient administration there can be no room for slave hunting or trading.
Now the question comes, what has England done in the extensive and valuable territory in East Africa which fell to her share as per Anglo-German agreement signed July 1, 1890? The answer must be that she has done less than the least of all those concerned in the extirpation of the slave trade.
The Germans have crushed the slave-traders, have built fortified stations in the interior, have supplied their portion of the east coast with a powerful flotilla of steamers, are engaged in transporting cruisers to the three great lakes on their borders, have surveyed and are extending surveys for several railways in the interior, have not lost time in discovering ways of evading the territorial wants, but have set about to supply these wants as indicated by the International Conference of Brussels; and were we able to obtain an instantaneous photograph of the present movements of the Germans throughout their territory, we should know how to fully appreciate the hearty spirit with which they are performing their duties.
And were we able to glance in the same way as to what is occurring on British soil, we should be struck by the earnestness of the Germans as compared with the British.
AN ARAB
Both governments started with delegating their authority to chartered companies. On the part of the Germans, however, the imprudence of their agents imperilled their possessions, and the imperial government set itself the task of reducing malcontentism to order, and settling the difficulties in its own masterful manner, and is engaged in providing against their recurrence before surrendering the territory again to the influences of the company.