§ Mr. Humesaid, he had a petition to present from British merchants trading to Rio Janeiro. He had on the 13th of June last year, moved for papers relating to the commerce of this country with the Brazils. The noble marquis, now in his place, did not object to the motion, but took upon himself to doubt the accuracy of his statements. He was happy now to have it in his power to prove the accuracy of his statements. He came prepared to lay before the House one of the grievances under which British commerce suffered in that place, as in every part of the world, from the conduct of the consuls. An act of George the 1st, authorised the levying of duties for merchants in distress, but placed the sum levied in the hands of the merchants themselves. In 1808, sir James Gambier had been appointed consul at Rio Janeiro, and had imposed a duty of 10s. per cent on all goods imported and exported. All complained of this as unlawful, and many demurred. In consequence, it was found that he was not authorized to enforce it. But an act of parliament was passed in 1814, towards the end of the session, which authorized the impost. It was called "An act to amend the 8th of George the 1st;" but instead of amending that act, it gave powers which had never existed before. Since 1815, when it began to be enforced, 1468 53,000l. had been levied under this act. The House would be surprised to bear, that the amount of the consul-general's income was 9,000l. a year, exclusive of the large fees allowed to the vice-consul; and the whole arose out of oppressive imposts levied upon the British commercial interests in the colony. The gross abuses consequent upon such a system would not be astonishing, It generally happened that an enormous salary made a gentleman superior to the duties of his office; and therefore it was not wonderful that Mr. Chamberlayne, the present consul, neglected every thing which he was paid for attending to; and, in fact, rather prejudiced the British interest, than did any thing to advance or facilitate it. In the first place, Mr. Chamberlayne resided at a distance from the port—a measure, perhaps, very convenient to him, but highly inconvenient to the merchants and shipmasters who had business to arrange with him. Again, in opposition to the custom established at all ports, which required masters of vessels to show their registers, but not to put them out of their custody, Mr. Chamberlayne compelled the captains and traders to give up their registers and papers, nor were those papers returned but upon the payment of his own fees, and farther exorbitant charges on the part of the vice-consul. The petitioners declared in their statement of grievances, that the fees demanded of them, at Rio de Janeiro, were three times greater than those which they had to pay in Lisbon. They farther complained that the vice-consul charged 2½ per cent upon the proceeds of all sales made in the colony, for the benefit of underwriters in England, before he would certify that such sales had actually taken place. Independently of the consideration how far such patents as that of Mr. Chamberlayne could in law exist (patents like those granted by Charles the 1st, levying contributions on colonies for the benefit of individuals), it would appear that the present consul, instead of protecting, was every way injuring the interests of his country. He farmed certain fees and dues at a large rent to the vice-consul, and frequently left to that same officer the whole management of the colonial business, giving him the power to demand almost what fees he might think proper. The consequence was, that where ships of other nations were furnished with three or four certificates, British ships were obliged to 1469 take eight or nine, because, upon every certificate furnished, the vice-consul was entitled to a fee.
The Marquis of Londonderrydoubted the correctness of the statements contained in the petition; but on a future occasion he should be better prepared to discuss its merits.
§ Mr. T. Wilson,seeing the indisposition of the noble marquis, wished to avoid discussion at the present moment. It was evident, however, that if one half of the complaints contained in the petition were well-founded, the consul-general, instead of serving the British interest, was doing every thing to oppress it.
§ The petition was ordered to be printed.