Morrison did not utter one word of complaint against the local administration of the Congo. On May 7th, a member of the House of Commons again inquired whether a petition had been presented from British Chambers of Commerce or traders complaining that _trading rights_ on the Congo under the Berlin Act were not respected, and what, if anything, the British Government intended doing in regard to the matter. Finally on May 20, 1903, the House of Commons, pressed by organised British _commercial_ interests, passed the following resolution: RESOLVED, That the Government of the Congo Free State having, at its inception, guaranteed to the Powers that its Native subjects should be governed with humanity, and that no trading monopoly or privilege should be permitted within its dominions, this House requests His Majesty’s Government to confer with the other Powers, signatories of the Berlin General Act by virtue of which the Congo Free State exists, in order that measures may be adopted to abate the evils prevalent in that State. On August 8, 1903, Lord Lansdowne addressed a dispatch[50] to the Powers signatory to the Berlin Act, setting forth the grievances which had been brought to the attention of his Government, and suggesting that: In these circumstances, His Majesty’s Government consider that the time has come when the Powers parties to the Berlin Act should consider whether the system of trade now prevailing in the Independent State is in harmony with the provisions of the Act; and, in particular, whether the system of making grants of vast areas of territory is permissible under the Act if the effect of such grants is in practice to create a monopoly of trade by excluding all persons other than the concession-holder from trading with the natives in that area. Such a result is inevitable if the grants are made in favour of persons or Companies who cannot themselves use the land or collect its produce, but must depend for obtaining it upon the natives, who are allowed to deal only with the grantees. His Majesty’s Government will be glad to receive any suggestions which the Governments of the Signatory Powers may be disposed to make in reference to this important question, which might perhaps constitute, wholly or in part, the subject of a reference to the Tribunal at The Hague. Three of the Powers, the United States, Italy, and Turkey, formally acknowledged receipt of the British dispatch; all maintained silence in respect of it.