Lord Broughampresented a petition from M. Bertin, formerly a printer and publisher in the Mauritius, praying for compensation for certain losses which he had sustained in consequence of the conduct of the government. At the time when M. Bertin was in the Mauritius, party spirit ran extremely high there, and had, in fact, broken out into acts of violence; and it was admitted, as set forth in the petition, that during that period, M. Bertin had acted as a loyal subject, that his conduct was exceedingly good, and that he gave the most zealous support to the government. At one of those periods of disturbance, when party spirit ran unusually high, the printing-office where the petitioner's business was conducted was assailed by the populace, owing to the part which he had taken in favour of the government. His life was exposed to great jeopardy, and he was obliged to put himself under the protection of the military. His partner, however, compromised with the anti-government party, and thus escaped unmolested; but he preferred running any personal risk rather than compromise his opinions. He was afterwards tried before the Supreme Court of the island for a libel published in his paper, and sentenced to pay a fine of 50l., and the governor withdrew his licence of residence, in consequence of which he lost the sum of 7,300l., which it had cost him to establish his printing-office and newspaper. He stated that the article which he had published in his paper was for the purpose of vindicating his character against charges of a false and calumnious nature. He was, however, afterwards suffered to return to the island. In consequence of his great losses he applied to the Colonial Secretary for compensation; but the sum awarded was so small, that he felt it necessary to pray their Lordships to grant him relief.
§ The Earl of Clarendonsaid, the facts, as set forth by the petitioner, were somewhat exaggerated. In 1831 the petitioner came to the island. In 1832 he set up a printing establishment, and commenced a newspaper, although he was told that he could not be recognized by the government as the registered proprietor. In the month of August, 1833, in consequence of the violent course which had been taken by certain individuals, the governor thought it necessary by proclamation to apprise aliens that they were prohibited 1380 from interfering, by writing or otherwise, with the political discussions that were then going on in the island. In 1834, M. Bertin and his partner, M. Petitguen, were tried before the Supreme Court of the island, and sentenced to pay a fine of 50l. for a libel on the Procureur-general. The governor, Sir W. Nicolay, admitted that the protection of the government had been extended to the petitioner so long as he conducted himself with propriety. The character of the paper, with which it afterwards appeared that the petitioner was intimately connected, had, however, entirely changed, and it had become extremely violent in its attacks on respectable officers. The petitioner was long suspected of a close connexion with the paper in which the libel appeared, but the fact was not clearly proved until the trial took place. Under these circumstances the governor had, in consequence of the state of the island, withdrawn M. Berlin's licence of residence. The petitioner then represented his case to Lord Glenelg, who gave him permission to return, stating at the same time, that he considered the sentence of the Supreme Court a perfectly proper one; and, further, that the Supreme Council formed the best tribunal for awarding compensation for the amount of losses sustained by him in consequence of his removal from the island, without reference to his situation as editor of a newspaper, he being a foreigner, and only a resident by sufferance. M. Bertin made a claim for 7,000l. as compensation, besides which he sent in a claim for damages and interest, amounting to 4,000l. more. The Legislative Council, to which body his claim had been referred by Lord Glenelg, awarded him, as expenses which he had unavoidably incurred, 160l. for his passage to London, and 1l. a day during his stay there, and this award was assented to by Lord Glenelg. M. Bertin then returned to London, and, as his noble and learned Friend had truly stated, had repeatedly complained of the injustice of this award to the Colonial-office; but his noble Friend at the head of that department, considering that under all the circumstances of the case, M. Bertin had not been treated in the harsh and cruel manner which had been represented, declined to interfere.
Lord Broughamcontended, that it could have been no secret to Sir W. Nicolay that M. Bertin was engaged in the con- 1381 duct of the Balance newspaper, because in August, 1833, the government had lent him some soldiers to assist in working the presses, and therefore he certainly did not wait till the trial to find out for the first time that an alien was conducting the paper.
§ Petition laid on the table.