The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-07 00:00:00

they were dealing with a small Power, the noble lord inva-
riably used bullying language. And When dealing with a
first- rate Power—one that would not be bulli;c'.—he ex-
pressed himself in cringing language. The noble lord hero
referred to several cases wherein British sub:leers had been
injured by powerful States, some 'Of Which h,.) had himself
brought under the conqaeration of Government in that
house—one of them 'being the case of Capt. Macdonald 7 a
gentleman who was treated with injustice and indigth by
the Prussian Government, and said that in those cases the
noble earl had failed to insist upon proper and becoming
redress of the wrongs complained of ; and thus it was, he
submitted, that the noble earl always cringed to the ttt..Ag,
while, on the other hand, he bullied the wcat. (Hear, hear.)
He (Lord R. Cecil) liked the entession Civis Romanus
sum, a favourite expressienct the noble lord at the head of
the Government, but one which the Government only as-
serted the dignity of when they had to deal with a weak
Power. They were now dealing with a friendly Power, one
that had been always friendly and faithful in her dealings
with the British nation, and one which, if they persisted in
doing injustice to, would never forget it. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. BUXTON considered that no question of home
politics could vie in real moment with the maintenance by
England of a gentle and generous policy towards foreign
nations ; andalthough he had come to the conclusion to
support the Government, still he must enter his protest
against the tone which marked one portion of these pro-
ceedings. There were serious grounds for believing that
some of the crew had been murdered, but of positive proof
of the fact there was not a particle, and undoubtedly the
blame of the obscurity rested with Consul Vereker. Earl
Russell was certainly not justified by the circumstances
of the case in making such violent complaints—much less
in enforcing a claim for compensation by violence ;
and it was much to be regretted that Mr. Christie
had written such insulting despatches. Up to that
point, then, he thought that Brazil had not been
`treated with the forbearance and magnanimity which
ought to mark the foreign policy of England. However,
by his subsequent offer to arbitrate in the matter, Earl Rus-
sell had atoned for all his former severity, and had esta-
Wished a precedent that might be of the highest value to
mankind. (Hear.)

Mr. C. BENTINCIi held that it was most unreasonable
to call upon a foreign country to do more than its own forms
of law authorised. All that a country could be a6ked to do
was to act bona fide in the matter under dispute. Repri-
sals were only allowable on occasions beyond all question.
He:should not be at all suprised if this case turned out in
iti results exactly similar to the claims enforced against the
Neapolitan Government, and against the Greek Govern-
ment in the instance of Don Pacifico. There was little or
no evidence to show that the Brazilian Government had
been at fault. He would not go the length of charging Mr.
Consul Vereker with positive untruthfulness, but ho was
justified in saying that that gentleman could not be consi-
dered a very reliable witness. What the house had merely
to decide was this, had the Brazilian Government extended
the same justice to England as it would have cone to its
own subjects ? In conclusion the hon. member expressed a
hope that the Government would inform the house why
they should seek to enforce from Brazil claims which they
would not enforce from any ether power.

The SPEAKER then put the question, and, as no occu-
pant of the Treasury benches gave any indication of
speaking,

Mr. S. FITZGERALD said that surely the Government
were not about to allow a case lire this in which the honour
and the justice of England were involved, to pass in silence
and without the slightest notice. He had not intended to
address the, house treat after :he feeling of the Govern-
ment had been stated; but referring now to the speech
of the honourable and learned nember for Plymouth, he
must say that he had never aeard one more adroit and
astute, but at the same time more unfair. The circum-
stances of the case, as the noble and learned member dwelt
on them, were such as to render it necessary that they
should be adverted to and commeated upon. The position
of the Government was peculiar, because the ground on
which they based a claim for compensation from the Bra-
zilian Government was the neglect of the Brazilian
authorities, by reason of which looses had been sustained by
British subjects. Firstly, as to the alleged case of delay.
It must be remembered that the empire of Brazil had been
established for only 40 years, during which, owing to the
ability of those who had been placed at the head of affairs,
and the good faith they had shown in all their relations
with foreign powers, they had converted a small province
into a flourishing empire, with a credit and a reputation
which no one, 40 years ago, could have conceived it to have
been possible to have attained. It oust be recollected that
the Government of Brazil establishel order ; had instituted
judicial tribunal and regulated commercial relations in a
country with a long extended line of coast. In consider-
ing the particular case now under discussion, it was neces-
sary to look at what had been done in good faith by the
central and local authorities of a country like Brazil, and
not to institute comparisons with regard to what would have
been done in a country like ours which had been under
settled law for centuries. The noble.,lord the member for
Stamford in his speech seemed inclined to admit that some-
thing like neglect on the part of the local authorities might
fairly be brought as a complaint against the Brazilian Go-
vernment. Ile (Mr. Fitzgerald) was not prepared to admit
even so much. It must be borne in mind that the wreck of
the vessel in question occurred on the Bth or 9th of June,
on a part of the coast distant 78 miles from Rio Grande do
Sul, a distance which it took Mr. Consul Vereker, with all
his zeal and energy in the case, two days to ride over, and
that not without considerable exhaustion. The Brazilian
officials had to come the same distance to the spot, to make
inquiry, and to report to the local authorities at a place 78
miles distant. The wreck having taken place on the Bth or
9th, a report was sent to Rio Grande do Sul on the 12th,
On the 15th the consul set out on his return to Rio Grande,
wrote to the delegate of police on the 18th, the delegate of
police gave orders in compliance with the request of the
consul on the 19th, and on the 22d the matter was re-
ferred to the municipal judge. The paper relating to
the case reached England on the 2d of September, and
on the sth of that month what was the course
taken by her Majesty's Government? Why, on the exparte
statement of Mr. Consul Vereker, and the proceedings of
the Brazilian authorities before them, Mr. Layard, by direc-
tion of Earl Russell, writes that "it was evident there had
been gross negligence if not misconduct on the part of the
Brazilian local authorities, and that there was every reason
to suspect the plunder of the cargo and of the effects of the
passengers, and even the murder of some of the survivors
from the wreck, had been the result of that negligence ;"
and the British Minister was directed "to less no time in
calling the attention of the Brazilian Government to the
case, and request that a necessary inquiry might be insti-
tuted with a view to the punishment of the parties convicted
of negligence, or of being concerned in the plunder of the
vessel, and that those who might be convicted of outrages
on those who survived the wreck might be brought to jus-
tice." Taking the circumstances of the case step by step he
(Mr. Fitzgerald) would ask the house in the first instance
whether, in reference to the charge of negligence against
the local authorities in not instituting an investigation,
looking at the dates which he had stated, there -was any
ground for the allegation of her Majesty's Government that
gross negligence had been committed on the part of the local
authorities in Brazil, so far as judicial investigation was
concerned ; and that the Government had taken a course in
these transactions most arbitrary and oppressive. No coun-
try in the world had been treated with greater consideration
and in a more friendly spirit by the Government of Eng-
land than the empire of Brazil. From the earliest period at
which the empire of Brazil had been established, the Go-
vernment had shown a desire to conciliate English feeling
and promote commercial relations between the two coun-
tries, and to do everything which would tend to preserve
the most friendly relations between them, and therefore
Brazil ought at all times to be treated with every conside-
ration. But he regretted to say that the very reverse had
been the case, and this particular instance was only one of
a long course of afronts cast upon the Brazilian
Government by that of England, and principally and espe-
cially during the time in which the noble lord (Palmerston)
had been in office. The greatest outrages on international
law had been perpetrated by the Government of England
against that of Brazil, and in one particular instance the
British Government had acted towards that of Brazil in a
manner which they would not have dared to act in regard
to any other nation in the world. He alluded to the case
of the mixed commission, in which the British Government
had utterly disregarded and literally torn up a convention
which had been entered into between the two governments,
thus leaving the claims of numbers of English and Bra-
zilian merchants unredressed. He asked the house to con-
sider the present case as another exemplification of the
spirit in which her Majesty's Government acted towards
Brazil. When her Majesty's Government spoke of delay
in this case on the part of the Brazilian Government, he
would refer to the delay which had taken place before her
Majesty's Government presented their view of the case to
that of Brazil. It was not until the Bth February that Earl
Russell made any allusion to the subject of compensation.
There was a delay of eight months in making any claim on
the Brazilian Government at all; for up to that date the only
complaint made was that due diligence had not been used
by the Brazilian authorities in investigating the case in
question. But on the Bth February he wrote, urging that a
more searching inquiry should be made, with a view to
the detection of the guilty parties, and also with a view to
compensation to the owners of the vessel. This was the
first time that such a claim was made, and as soon as it was
made it was dealt with in a straightforward and prompt
manner by the authorities at Rio. The letter of the Bth
February was not presented to the Brazilian Government
until the 17th March, and on that (lay the British minister
wrote to the Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs e sking '
for Compensation. The Brazilian Government replied
that they did not admit any claim for compensation,
but were Only bound to use all available means for prose-
cuting those who had been proved to be criminals. It was
not till the month of May that the issue was ascertained
between the Brazilian and the English Governments. As
soon as it was ascertained it was at once met by the Bra-
zilian Government stating that they
re
the obligations which international lawwiemp oasnesdi anxiousupon
tothfuelmfil.
It was worth while considering what was the ground of
compensation put forward by the English Government. No
claim for compensation could be brought ;onward on the
ground that the local authorities had been remiss in setting
on foot judicial investigations, though that might be a ques-

tion between the two Governments. The only grohnd
on which a &Mend for compensation could be made
must be that the authorities of the Brazilian Government
'were not there to protect the property, though he did not
suppose his hon. and learned friend would say that they
were responsible as an assurance company would be for
the property. The only ground her Majesty's Government
had taken was this : that the Brazilian Government had
been remiss in prosecuting the offenders after the act had
been committed; but there *as nothing whatever in these
papers to show that there had been the slightest neglect on
the pert of the Brazilian Government, or if there was it was
only that there was some slight delay in one officer commu-
nicating to another. A great many of the facts stated by
the hon. and learned member (Mr. Collier) were mere
inferences, which he had drawn from reading the papers.
The honourable and learned member brought serious
charges against Senhor Suarez, and said the Bra-
zilian Government had refused to remove him from
his office or to prosecute him ; but the Marquis
d'Abrantes said they had not nut him upon his trial because,
after having instituted inquiries, they were satisfied they
could make out no case against him. Turning from the local
authorities to the authorities at Rio de Janeiro, it appeared
tohim that their conduct had been dignified and honourable.
The Brazilian Government disputed the principle. It did
not matter to them whether they were to pay 3,200 pence
or 3,200 pounds ; but the question was whether they were to
be responsible for the violence of the winds and waves and
for the unlawful acts of their subjects whom they had done
their best to prosecute. Had they done their best to prose-
cute them ? What was the result ? That one official had been
dismissed for negligence, and 11 persons had been prosecuted
and convicted. It was true that some of these parties had
escaped from the country, but in Brazil, as in some other
countries, persons might be tried in their absence, and sen-
tence pronounced against them, and the result was that
they did not dare to return to the country. He thought he
had now shown that neither on the part of the local autho-
rities nor on the part of the central Government had there
been that failure of jastiee on which alone, according to in-
ternational law, any claim for compensation could be
grounded. A good deal had been said with regard to the
relative positions of the British and Brazilian Governments
and he must say that, as an Englishman, it was a painful
thing, year after year, they should have cases brought be-
fore them in which the rights of British subjects were en-
forced with great rigour against weak governments, but
their rights were trampled on when the guilty government
was a strong power. What was going on with regard to
the Federal States of America ? Take the case of a British
vessel peacefully navigating the waters between Matamoras
and Havannah. She was pursued by an American cruiser,
and she took refuge in Spanish waters, where she was
driven on shore and burned. Had they heard of any re-
plisals in respect of that transaction? Take another case•—
the Adele. She was carrying the British mails going be-
tween one Brittsh port and another. She was seized by an
American cruiser and carried to Key West, where the seal
of the mail bags was broken. Had they heard of any re-
prisals on account of that transaction ? Take another case
—the case of the Pearl. She was going from a neutral
port to a British port. She was seized and carried to an
American port because ten bales of pilot cloth were found
in her. Had they heard of any reprisals on account of that
transaction? He should be told that they could not inter-
fere with the judicial authorities of the United States.
(Hear, hear.) Granted ; but when they paid deference to
the judicial authorities of one country, why did they not
pay the same deference to those of another? They could
not draw a distinction between the action of the courts of
the Federal States of America and those of Brazil. If the
judicial proceedings which were recognised of the courts of
law of the country were carried on, this country had no
right to complain, though they might not be so speedy as
in this country. We were, however, bound to respect the
jurisdiction of the courts of Brazil. A great deal had been
said about the utter want of power in the Brazilian Govern-
ment to punish the guilty parties. That was a most un-
satisfactory argument, because it must depend upon the cir-
cumstances of the case—the time when they occurred, and
many other things, which would make it impossible to lay
down any general rule on the point. Let the house take
the case of a French citizen who was murdered in Tipperary.
Why did justice fail there ? Because the Government could
not enforce the attendance of witnesses who had been pre-
sent at the moment when the crime was committed. It was
said that the Brazilian Government did not arrest the offen-
ders, but allowed them to escape. Suppose that instead of
an Irish landlord it had been a French or a German sub-
ject who was murdered by the man Hayes who had escaped.
The French Government would scarcely have believed that
a force of constabulary more like armed soldiers than police
:you'd have found any difficulty in arresting the offender.
But it was so. Well, then, when such a case happened
in this country or in Ireland, it was not fair, and
indeed it would not do, looking at what the Brazilian
Government had done and were doing to secure the due
administration of justice and the safety and rights of pro-
perty, to institute comparisons between that Government
and our own or other civilised countries of Europe which
had enjoyed the advantages of courts of law for a much
greater length of time. He would add that on the merits of
the case he could not disguise the feeling of regret, and
almost humiliation, with which he had read the papers on
the table, looking at the tone and temper in which the de-
spatches were written. Let the house take the last letter
in which the Brazilian Government had announced their
intention to submit to force, and to pay the money, though
under protest, but that it must not form a precedent for the
future, and the despatch of Earl Russell to the Brazilian
minister. What was the language which our foreign minis-
ter addressed to that gentleman ? Why he told him that
the Government of his country was guilty of equivocations,
subterfuges, and delay. Now, if language like that was to
be used by the foreign minister of this country, he might
express a hope that this country should be on friendly
terms, but he (Mr. Fitzgerald) would despair of their ever
being real friends. (Hear, hear.) But that was not the
only case of which he might complain.. For the noble earl
had written a despatch to the French Government, in which
the language amounted to this, that they had connived at
all the assassinations and all the horrors which had been
committed under the system of brigandage at some. (Hear,
hear.) Then in regard to the King of Denmark, the noble
earl wrote a despatch, in which he said that the conduct of
his Government had been inaccurate and delusive ; and in
regard to Russia, exactly the same thing was going on,
There were, in the despatches of the noble earl, expressions
which did not add to his usefulness in his high position, nor
to the dignity of the country which he represented. (Hear.)
Mr. LAYARD said, alter the very able speech of the hon.
and learned member for Plymouth (Mr. Collier), he should
be intruding upon the house if he went over the ground
which that hon. gentleman had so well trodden. He should
endeavour to confine himself to the diplomatic action of the
Government in the case of the Prince of Wales, and should
seek to show that that action had been neither hasty nor
unjust. Before proceeding to that part of the question he
must iceal the attention of the house to a few facts which
had either been forgotten or misstated by those who had
followed his hon. and iearned friend. It would be remem-
bered that the wreck of the Prince of -Wales took place, not,
as the hon. gentleman who last spoke had said, about the Bth
or 9th, but between the 7th and Bth, upon the occasion of a
gale which raged upon the coast. It was not, for some days
afterwards that any notice of the fact was brought to the
consul at Rio Grande do Sul, Mr. Vereker, and it came to
him then by mere chance. It was not, as had been stated,
reported to him, but it was first mentioned by Leubor
Soares, and it was afterwards mentioned in the house of
the delegate, and came to Mr. Vereker as a mere rumour.
Ono thing was undeniable, that it was the duty of the
authorities to give the earliest inform ttion of a wreck to
the consul of the country to which the owners of the ves-
sel belonged. No such thing was done in this case. It
might be asked, was there any proof that the vessel be-
longed to British owners? There was such proof, be-
cause a portion of the papers were actually found in the
possession of the delegate. No notice was given, as it
should have been;' but when information did reach Mr.
Vereker he applied to the municipal judge, and accom-
panied him to Albardao. That officer behaved well,
and went with the consul to the coast, the distance not
being so very great, the bodies being afterwards brought to
Rio Grande do Sul in two days. Mr. Vereker said the
municipal judge went to the house of Senhor Suarez, a man
of large fortune, upon whose land the wreck took place, and
upon whose land the bodies were found. It was believed in
the country, although he could not say with what amount
of accuracy, that Senhor Suarez owed his wealth in a great
measure to sharing in the plunder of wrecks on the coast.
(Oh, oh.) Hon. gentlemen might know Senhor Suarez bet-
ter than he did, but he could only say what was told him by
those best acquainted with that country. In the house of
Senhor Suai ez were found, not one Bible but two Bibles and
a Commentary—(laughter)—and besides there were certain
cases. Senhor Suarez, as the noble lord had suggested,
might have had a desire to collect English Bibles, but a de-
sire to collect cases of English goods was not so laudable.
Senhor Suarez had absented himself from the place. The
hon. gentleman opposite said 'ne went to RioGrande do Sul,
but the fact was he did not go to Rio until the report was
brought, but to a place called Pelatos. Upon the following
day Mr. Vereker went to the coast and endeavoured to find
some traces of the crew and to take a list of the cargo saved.
He found the cargo scattered over the shore, boxes recently
broken open, and the very significant fact which had been
stated by his hon. and learned friend, and which must be
regarded as conclusive by those who viewed the facts in a
calm and impartial spirit—two of the vessels' boats were
found with their oars. Again, some miles to the northward
another boat was found, which was a further strong proof
of the crew having landed. Although 10 bodies only were
mentioned, there were 14 or 15 persons on board to be ac-
counted for. Mr. Vereker heard that bodies had been washed
ashore, and he understood from something he overheard
that there were bodies in the neighbourhood, and he asked
to see them. Why was he not allowed to see the bodies ? It
was never denied the bodies were there, and they were after-
wards brought to Rio Grande; but why did not the munici-
pal judge do his duty and insist on seeing them then? The
hon. gentleman said that in this country the coroner had a
right to examine bodies of persons found dead, but in Brazil
there was no such officer. Mr. Vereker, who was acquainted
with the laws of the country, said that it was the duty of
the municipal judge to make the examination, and also,
when he heard of the wreck, to visit the spot, take a cata-
logue of the cargo cast on shore, to secure what papers he