A committee appointed by the League to investigate the subject met in July 1924 and again in the following year. It recommended inter alia a new convention—not confined to Africa—to which the adher ence of all States whether members of the League or not should be invited. This proposal was accepted, and the British Govern ment submitted a draft convention. All the members of the League and also Afghanistan, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Mexico, the Sudan, Turkey and the United States were invited to submit any suggestions, and "to assist one another forthwith in the abolition of the slave trade, slavery and conditions analogous thereto by all practicable means." The "analogous conditions" says the official report "are in tended to include all forms of debt slavery—the enslaving of persons disguised as the adoption of children, and the acquisition of girls by purchase disguised as payment of dowry, etc."—mat ters to which attention had been drawn in the committee's report. The convention which embodied the highest minimum standard to which it was anticipated that general acceptance could be secured, was ratified by 15 States, viz., Australia, Austria, the British Em pire, Bulgaria, Denmark, Haiti, Hungary, India, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Sudan and South Africa.
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands expected that they would be able to ratify at a later date. India made reser vations in regard to the unadministered districts on her frontiers, and the territories of Indian rulers under the suzerainty of the British Crown.
Labour.—"The convention (says the report) deals for the first time in international agreements with the question of forced labour." Art. v. is as follows: "The High Contracting Parties recognize that recourse to com pulsory or forced labour may have grave consequences and under take, each in respect of the territories placed under its sovereignty, jurisdiction, protection, suzerainty or tutelage, to take all neces sary measures to prevent compulsory or forced labour from developing into conditions analogous to slavery.
It is agreed that : (I) Subject to the transitional provisions laid down in para graph (2) below, compulsory or forced labour may only be exacted for public purposes.
(2) In territories in which compulsory or forced labour for other than public purposes still survives, the High Contracting Parties shall endeavour progressively and as soon as possible to put an end to the practice. So long as such forced or compulsory labour exists, this labour shall invariably be of an exceptional char acter, shall always receive adequate remuneration, and shall not involve the removal of the labourers from their usual place of residence.
(3) In all cases, the responsibility for any recourse to compul sory or forced labour shall rest with the competent central author ities of the territory concerned." The terms used are a compromise between opposing views, and it was agreed that the question should be referred to a "committee of experts" to be summoned by the International Labour Office.
The committee met in July 1927 and has not yet submitted its report. There is probably a consensus of opinion that in certain cases a State may find itself under the necessity of compelling labour for essential public works or services. There is also prob ably a predominant opinion that such labour should be fairly remunerated, though some hold the view that if compulsory labour is imposed under the guise of a tax—as a fiscal measure—it need not be restricted to urgent public services, and, of course, would not be remunerated—as the Central African mandates require.
The second principle to be determined is whether it is permissible in any circumstances to use compulsion for the supply of labour, even though paid, in enterprises conducted for private profit.
Abuses of the system known in South America as "peonage" fall under this category, by which labourers become involved in debt which they can never repay, and so become slaves for life. The Slavery Commission pointed out that this system merits particu lar condemnation when an alien employer deliberately adopts measures to secure by such means the life-long servitude of an ignorant and unsuspicious peasantry.
Following the adoption of the convention by the League of Nations several notable instances of the libera tion of slaves have occurred. H.H. the Maharaj of Nepal issued a very striking appeal to his people in Nov. 1924 for the liberation of the 51,419 slaves in his kingdom, which was completely suc cessful. Compensation on a fixed scale was paid to those who claimed it. The governor of Burma despatched a series of ex peditions into the unadministered and unexplored districts on the frontiers inhabited by the Naga tribes, and effected the release of all slaves. From Abyssinia it is reported that enlightened regulations have been framed in regard to slave raiding, slave trading and slavery and that many slaves have been set free. Since Abyssinia was admitted to membership of the League in Sept. 1923 on condition of reform in these matters, it becomes in cumbent on the League to verify these reports—the more so that it was in evidence before the Slavery Committee in 1926 that a considerable traffic in slaves existed chiefly from Abyssinia to the Hedjaz (Arabia) and at the present time (1928) the Sudan Gov ernment has found it necessary to establish a sanctuary near Kassala, and other "refugee colonies" for slaves who have escaped from Abyssinia.
From this brief outline it is evident that the standards and aspirations of the world after the World War show a fuller appre ciation of the true interests of the "backward races" than was possible a couple of decades ago, and an intention to abolish finally the status of slavery throughout the world. (Lu.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Ancient Slavery: A. Boeckl, Public Economy of Athens (Eng. trans. G. Cornewall Lewis, 1828; 2nd ed. 1842) ; W. Blair, Inquiry into the State of Slavery among the Romans, from the Earliest Period to the Establishment of the Lombards in Italy (1833)