Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎126r] (252/540)

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XII.— Slavery.
224. There is very little to record under this head, except what has already
been said in paragraph 58 about the proposed arrangement under which His
Majesty’s Government may renounce their right of manumission in consideration
of the promulgation of Saudi regulations on slavery. The continued exercise of
the right of manumission gave rise to no difficulties comparable with those
described in paragraph 188 of the report for 1934. There was a diminution in
the number of slaves who took refuge at the Legation during the year. This
was especially marked during the last seven months. It is difficult to assign a
reason for this phenomenon. In so far as it is not purely accidental, it may have
been due to the reluctance of slaves to be repatriated to Africa in recent conditions,
to greater precautions by owners and the Saudi authorities to prevent slaves
from making their way to the Legation and a little perhaps to somewhat
improved economic conditions, which must tend to diminish discontent in
particular households. The figures for the year are as follows :—
On hand at the beginning of January : 1 female.
Took refuge during the year : 12 males, 6 females, 1 infant.
Manumitted and repatriated : 9 males, 1 female.
Locally manumitted : 1 male, 6 females, 1 infant.
Left the Legation voluntarily after taking refuge : 2 males.
On hand at the end of December : Nil.
225. It was decided during the year not to follow up by any British action,
at any rate for the present, a suggestion put forward in 1934 that the Saudi
Government might be encouraged to accede to article 2 {a) of the International
Slavery Convention 1926. It seemed probable that more would be achieved by
continuing to treat the question of slavery in Saudi Arabia as an Anglo-Saudi
question on the lines described above. Arrangements were made in June to
furnish the Foreign Office with short periodical statements, suitable for
transmission to the League of Nations, regarding the operation of the British
manumission system in Jedda.
XIII.— Naval Matters.
226. As on previous occasions, the little that can be said about what it
is too grandiose to describe as Saudi naval organisation has been said earlier in
section IV.
227. British sloops visited Jedda as follows during the year : H.M.S.
Hastings, the 9th to 13th February; H.M.S. Penzance, the 12th to 17th March,
the now traditional visit at pilgrimage time; H.M.S. Penzance, for the morning
only on the 29th August, to remove a member of the Legation staff to hospital
in Port Sudan; H.M.S. Weston, the 4th to 6th December. The international
crisis of the autumn produced certain changes in British naval arrangements in
the Red Sea, both as regards the sloops employed and as regards the superior
command, but these need not be described in detail.
228. The French warship Bougainville visited Jedda from the 6th to 9th
April, with the rear-admiral commanding the Naval Division in the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
on board, and again from the 4th to 7th December. The Italian destroyer Pantera
arrived from Massawa on the 12th May to escort the heir apparent out of the
harbour, and was visited by the prince on his way to the Italian steamship
Victoria in which he embarked for Italy. The same vessel again visited Jedda
from the 29th June to the 1st July, on which occasion there was a muddle
over her arrival, as it had not been announced to the Saudi Government. This
small incident was liquidated amicably, but some hours passed before the ship
could enter the inner harbour and exchange salutes with the shore. It was
suggested as a possible explanation of this curious affair that the Pantera was
interested in a Swedish ship then in Jedda waters, which was said to be carrying
munitions. Anyhow, the Italians blundered and the Saudis took it sensibly.