§ MR. CAVEsaid, he wished to call attention to a subject which was of considerable importance to a branch of colonial trade—that, namely, between New York and Jamaica. A New York firm, Messrs. Cordova and Co., had been in the habit for a considerable time of shipping provisions to Messrs. Levy and Co., a mercantile house in Jamaica, to the extent of £100,000 a year. These provisions were disposed of by Messrs. Levy in the ordinary course of business in Jamaica. These gentlemen had informed him (Mr. Cave) that they had no trade whatever with the Southern States, and it was, of course, extremely unlikely that they would ship contraband of war from the port of New York. The trade, in fact, was of a most legitimate and ordinary character. However, a short time ago, Mr. Levy, the head of the Jamaica firm and a member of the House of Assembly in that island, now in England, received a letter from his New York correspondent, dated May 28, informing him that the ship Leonard Berry, consigned to his firm, together with the Perilia, another ship loaded for the same destination, and all other vessels clearing for Jamaica, had been stopped by the Collector of Customs, under a regulation requiring captains and shippers to furnish bonds to the United States, not that the vessels would sail for the port named in their papers, which would be right enough, but that the cargoes were intended for the consumption of Jamaica, and would never be used for the benefit of the Confederate States; that three bonds were required, with sureties qualifying in real estate to the amount of twice the value of the cargo, or in the case of the Leonard Berry to 100,000 386 dols., or in round figures to £20,000, and that there was no provision for cancelling these bonds, even upon the certificate of the United States Consul in Jamaica that the cargo had been landed, but the bonds were to insure for all time, subject to the production of some evidence which might lead to their forfeiture. The writer probably did not exaggerate when he called this an embargo on Jamaica ships; and it must be a prohibition to the trade, as no trade could exist under such restrictions. It seemed, however, that a novel trade in bonds had sprung up under this regulation, and that people were willing to run the risk of being sureties at a price of 2½ per cent on the value of the cargo. The same regulations applied to Nassau, Bermuda, and Matamoras with more reason, perhaps, because those places had notoriously imported far more than their population warranted, but still contrary to international law, or, at any rate, to the comity of nations. Jamaica, however, had a population of 400,000 to be supplied, and had always carried on a considerable trade with New York; and if it was argued that blockade runners had sailed from Kingston, the same might be said of Liverpool, and fifty other ports. Similar restrictions had been placed on the trade to Halifax and St. John, New Brunswick, but they had been removed, as contrary to the Reciprocity Treaty. They had also been applied to Havannah, but had likewise been withdrawn on the Captain General of Cuba threatening that he would refuse clearances to American vessels in every port of Cuba. In this case the British Consul tried in vain to obtain a relaxation of the rule, and an appeal had been made to Lord Lyons. Since the letter of May 28 was written, intelligence had arrived that in this special case the security of the shippers had been received, and so the 2½ per cent payment had been saved, but the regulations remained unchanged. He (Mr. Cave) had no sympathy with those who, in defiance of the Queen's proclamation, supplied munitions of war to either belligerent. Those who carried contraband of war must also run their chance, but it seemed unjust that fair traders should be subject to these arbitrary restrictions, and certainly unworthy and impolitic in the British Government to submit to them. The letter to which he had referred stated that our quiet submission to such arbitrary conduct had excited anything but respect 387 on the other side of the Atlantic. He therefore wished to know whether any information on this subject had been received from Lord Lyons, and whether instructions had been sent, or, if not, whether they would be sent to him to protest against a system so injurious to an important branch of our colonial commerce?
§ MR. LAYARDsaid, the subject which the hon. Gentleman had brought before the House had given considerable trouble to Her Majesty's Government and to Lord Lyons. He was not aware that the particular case described by the hon. Gentleman had been reported to the Government; but Lord Lyons had informed them that those restrictions had been imposed upon vessels going to Jamaica and the West Indies. The opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown had been taken on the subject, and it was to the effect that the restrictions were illegal and vexatious. As for requiring that goods which had been landed at a neutral port should never find their way to the Confederate States, there was no doubt that those terms were altogether beyond the competence of the United States Government to impose, and in consequence of the representations of Her Majesty's Government those restrictions had in many cases been removed. One or two of those cases were under the consideration of the Law Officers of the Crown, and instructions would be sent to Lord Lyons to make strong representations to the United States Government on the subject.