The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-24 00:00:00

dividnal communicatione. aver since 1815, until just
recently, the French passport system between England
and France had been conducted on the part of the
French Government with very great liberality. There
used to be different species of passports—some -issued
by the Foreign-office and by the foreign Ambassador»,
which were given to all persons of considerable import-
ance freely. There was also, as probably most hon.
members recol'ected, an office in Portland-street to which
on any Englishman going he was perfectly certain to re-
ceive, within 24 hours after writing down his name and
residence, a passport without fee, by which he could
travel to every part of France. Even this delay of 24
hours was excused in the case of a member of Parliament
or magistrate, or of illness or urgent business. There
were also delivered passports by the French Consul on
payment of a small fee. The same system continued under
Charles X. and Louis Philippe. He regretted to say it
was only in later days, when they might have hoped
that a long period of communication had produced the
best feeling between the two countries, that any hind-
rance or bar had been placed on the intercourse between
England and France, though it was no secret that in the
opinion of the Emperor of the French—for he had pub-
lished a work on the subject—this passport system was
not a useful system, and that as between England and
France at least it ought to be abolished. A French
commission had been issued to inquire whether it was
possible to abolish the passport system in France, but it
bad produced no effect. The passport system, indeed,
employed an enormous number of persons, who, of
course, were all interested in maintaining it. If things
had remained as they were there would not have been
much fault to find with the system, for besides other fa-
cilities of interconese there did evist the habit of free
communication, which though not positively established
by law was sanctioned by custom, between the ports of
England and France. The English people never thought
of obtaining passports when they went to visit the ports
of France, and, indeed, natives of this country who
resided on the French coast were generally unpro-
vided with passports. The communication between
the French and English coasts was so entirely free,
that since the establishment of excursion trains,
nearly 100,000 persons had gone over from this
country every year to enjoy themselves at Calais and
Boulogne for a few days, and their visits had been a
source of considerable profit to the inhabitants of those
towns. Great changes had, however, taken place in the
passport system. On the 18th of February, 1858, the
fallowing notice was issued from the Foreign-office :
" Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris having, in pur-
suance of instructions from the Earl of Clarendon, in-
quired of the French Government whether British' sub-
jects will be permitted to land in France without passports
when they have no intention of proceeding into the inte-
rior, and also whether her Majesty's Consuls will have
power to grant passports to such persons to proceed to
Paris or elsewhere, his Excellency has been informed by
the French Minister for Foreign Affairs that no person
whatever will be permitted to land in France without a
passport, nor will a consul's passport given to any one who
may have landed without one be recognized."
The effect of this proceeding was that the free commu-
nication without passports between the coasts of France
and England, of which multitudes of persons had availed
themselves, was at once stopped, and no British subject
was permitted to land at a French port without an Eng•
lish passport. Another effect of the regulation wan,
also, that British subjects resident at Boulogne and
other places on the French coast were deprived of the
facilities which bad been previously afforded them for
visiting the interior of the country. He was anxious to
ascertain what was the nature of the communications
which passed between the French and English Govern-
ments previously to the issue of the notification to which
he had just referred. He thought Parliament was fairly
entitled not only to demand that those communications
should be laid upon the table, but also to inquire whether
any remonstrance against the change had been made on
the part of the English Government. It was not for him
to say what motives had induced the Government of the
Emperor of the French to adopt such an important
change, but he could not believe that this destruc
tion of the communication between England and
France could in any degree tend either to the
security of the Emperor's parson or to the general ad-
vantage of France. He was rather disposed to attribute
the measure to the inconsiderate zeal of subordinates,
who with the very beat motives might commit most
foolish and injurious acts. The restrictions placed upon
the communication between France and other countries
since that melancholy event, the attempt on the life of
the Emperor, had sot, however, been confined merely to
passports. He had heard most ludicrous stories of the
manner in which the Custom-house regulations were
carried out. He had been told, for instance, that a lady
was detained at Boulogne for 24 hours, in order that the
tooth-powder in her dressing-case might be carefully
analysed with the view of ascertaining whether it cone
tained any fulminating matter. (Laughter.) The Em-
peror of the French had undoubtedly, like every other
potentate, a perfect right to make any regulations he
pleased respecting the admission of foreigners within his
territories, but he (Mr Milnes) thought the people of
this country ware also entitled to ask why fresh restric-
tions had been placed upon their intercourse with France.
If the French Government were as desirous as they pro-
fessed to be, and as be believed they really were, of
maintaining friendly and intimate relations with the
British Government,—if there was no desire on their
part unnecessarily to annoy un—if there was no good
reason for preventing Englishmen from visiting France
on pleasure or on business as they had been accustomed
to do,—he thought the people of this country were en-
titled to ask whether the restrictions recently adopted
by the French Government were friendly and neighbourly
acts, and were likely to increase the amity of the two na-
tions. The effect of these regulations would undoubtedly
be to subject the French themselves to considerable pecu-
niary loss. Although the restrictions had only been in
force a few weeks they had been attended with most dis-
astrous consequences with regard to the communication
between the two countries. The return of the number of
passengers between Dover and Calais during the last six
weeks, as compared with the corresponding six weeks
of last year, showed a diminution of no less than
1,1t17, and the rapid and admirably managed steamers
plying between those ports were not now carrying on
an average more than nine passengers a day. A large
number of persons who had left this country unprovided
with passports, have been sent back without money and
without their luggage, which had been carried on into
France. He regretted to say that many ladies and chil-
dren had been sent bcck in this helpless condition to
Dover and Folkestone. The evil was every day increas-
ing, and in his opinion the subject required immediate
action on the part of her Majesty's Government. He
had now to refer to the course which had been taken by
the English Government; with respect to this question.
He was aware that just decopum would be observed by
the present occupants of the treasury benches in criti-
cising the conduct of their predecessors, and that it was
quite unnecessary for him to appeal to their feelings of
delicacy with regard to the disclosure of the proceedings
of the late Government. He believed they would execute
that duty without favour to their predecessors, and as
conscientiously as if they had themselves been respon-
sible for the course that had been pursued. Some time
ago passports issued by the Foreign-office were extremely
expensive, and were generally procured by persons who
wished to produce an impression of their personal im-
portance. Such passports were issued to officials, but
they were paid for at a high rate by those who wished to
assume a similar character. He was not aware, from his
own experience, that these passports ware attended with
any peculiar advantage. He certainly remembered hear-
ing of a gentleman who travelled with a Foreign-office
passport, signed by the noble member for Tiverton (Lord
Palmerston), and who on presenting the document at the
gate of A small town in the south of Italy, was immedi-
diately seized and carried before the police, the captor
believing that he had caught the redoubtable Palmerston
himself. (A. laugh.) Those passports were very sparingly
issued, and were not much in demand, but the intercourse
with the continent was carried on chiefly by means of
the ordinary French passports. The noble lord (Pal-
merston), however, for some reason cheapened the price
of the Foreign-office passports, and rendered it possible
for almost any man to procure them at a very small cost
and trouble. He had no doubt tee noble lord had acted
with the best intentions, probably thinking it right that
every Englishman should possess a guarantee of his na-
tionality from his own Government. The effect of the
new regulations had been entirely to alter the system
with regard to the issue of passports by the Foreign-
office here. It was not necessary to read to the house re-
gulations which were in everybody's hands—(hear)—and
with which the hon. gentleman who cried "Hear" was
of entree perfectly conversant. (A. laugh.) At the first
glance they appeared to be more liberally conceived than
those formerly issued. Such passports used only to be
granted to persons known to the Foreign-office or re-
commended to it by barkers, while the present regula-
tion extended the power of recommending to every
mayor and every magistrate in this c ,untry. This libe-
rality, however, was in appearance only. Hon. members
who acted as magistrates had probably received a Coat-
rcunication desiring that their signatures and their seals
of
should be forwarded, with a view to the identification
any person recommended by them to the Foreign
•l
ce• Now, he did not coneid r this was a pre per u e
t) be made of the magistracy e' England. The unpaid
p
magistrates were already called
to discharge very
laborious functions, and' the Governmentuon
hadno right r
to impose on them any other duties than those which
the interest of the country fairly demanded. It was
most unjust to force the magistrates, as the present sY s-
rem virtually did, to furnish a guarantee for the respect-
ability of every person whom they recommended for a
passport. With such a demand he, ;or one, could not •
comply, and he believed a large body of the magistrates
were similarly di-posed. Suppose, for example, a person
unknown to him, but who had recently obtained an un-
enviable notoriety in this country, had come to him and
andsaked him for a recommendation. Suppose this person
described himself as an intimate friend of Coleridge
zl/4 the
literary men. He (Mr. Milties) should have
thiqt, such a person a passportl at once, and
line
have been
i t turned out to jr. Alison, it would
recommen ;.i o'allasked at the
fixed with such '"No gentleman would like to be
a position. ;As telitt'n'ibi"te, or to and himself
office, this perhaps w,"ecling one's seal to the Plenr'lerib
was sot every magistrate
,terrement • elle- it
Be lately read in the biography `,1,1`-11:11.:11ine.ilyhIng.
men, who conceived that his genius, wised him alit ra"
ove a'
the parade of rank, that on being appleTbeoej.or his teat
of arms, he bald he nevefrromcarried any
time immemorraitheehtihmi's
for, as far as he knew,d
hweitthhe their thumbs.e trios
ancestor; had sealetthekirnletters
(Mr. Milaes) did no
was
ancient and simple process was cus.tomary among any of
the magistracy, but to require their wayseals„einitnhitsnjscoup
try. a most novel regulation of poll
try. He wished to know what were the causes which
led to tha introduction of all this apparatus forthephuard-
pose of providing Englishmen with a mere card of iden-
tification on going to the Continent. Everybody knew