[Inclosure.]
Mr. Hay to the
Earl of Derby.
British
Consulate-General,
Tripoli, April 27,
1874.
My Lord: In acknowledging the receipt of your
lordship’s dispatch S. T. No. 1, of the 26th ultimo, transmitting copy
of a note and its inclosure, from Mr. Moran, chargé d’affaires of the
United States, relative to an alleged slave-trade carried on from Malta
between Tripoli and Turkey, I have the honor to state that nothing has
come to my knowledge which will justify the imputation on the police
authorities at Malta of having sanctioned or connived at any traffic in
slaves being carried on from that island. It is nevertheless a fact that
Turkish functionaries and military officers of every grade, leaving this
port for Constantinople, whether via Malta or direct, are generally
accompanied by domestic slaves, these latter being provided with
passports by the mayor of this town, who is supposed not to furnish
these documents until satisfied that the bearers proceed on the voyage
as domestic servants and of their own free will. Under this system
abuses have no doubt taken place, and those papers have often, I am
informed, been furnished to the masters of slaves without any inquiries
being made of the slaves themselves, a small bribe given by their
masters smoothing all difficulties in the matter. Moreover, the slaves
themselves are often willing and anxious to proceed to Constantinople,
and assert that they are not slaves where they find that an admission of
their real character would prove an obstacle to their departure, while
at Malta they are still more unlikely to admit their state and demand
their freedom than they would be here, in consequence of the belief
generally prevailing among them (which is diligently kept alive by their
masters) that the object of Malta authorities in endeavoring to get them
free is to convert them to Christianity, and they are otherwise Induced
by threats and promises to assert their willingness to proceed on the
voyage even when reluctant to do so.
With regard to the slave-trade in general, I am happy to be able to
report a considerable decrease in the importation of slaves from the
interior of Africa and their clandestine shipment from the coast, and a
corresponding increase in the trade with the interior in ivory and
ostrich-feathers, which would appear to be supplanting the traffic in
human beings.
The facility with which slaves are able to obtain their freedom under the
administration of Samih Pasha, the present governor-general, together
with other measures taken by his excellency for discouraging the
slave-trade, has no doubt contributed in great measure to this result.
Samih Pasha has, since his arrival in this country, shown great
readiness and promptitude in emancipating slaves for whom I have
interceded, and in several instances in which the slaves had, by my
advice, made application directly to his excellency, they were also
granted their freedom. Samih Pasha’s conduct in this respect contrasts
favorably with that of his predecessors.
His excellency now assures me that he will take fresh measures for
preventing the embarkation of any black people, unless of their own free
will and as domestic servants. Samih Pasha’s action in the matter of
slaves has a tendency to make him unpopular among Turkish officials, and
the general impression is that it will not be viewed with much favor at
Constantinople. It would, under these circumstances, have an excellent
effect if the Sublime Porte were to express their approval of his honest
endeavors to carry out the many vizierial orders on the subject, which
had been hitherto virtually disregarded.
I am, &c.,
The receipt of the above communication was acknowledged June 23,
1874.
