HC Deb 22 February 1859 vol 152 cc694-5
MR. WISE

said, he had to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the proposed Consular Establishment in Japan, and what will be the salaries of the Consul General or Consul, of the Vice Consuls, and of the other officials connected with the Consulates at Jeddo, Simoda, &c.; and whether it is true that Mr. Hare, lately in the Royal Horse Guards, has been appointed Vice Consul at Simoda.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL

said, he also wished to ask the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs a question, of which he had given notice. In looking over the papers respecting the Charles et Georges affair, he was unable to find the despatch which had been lately published in the public newspapers, from the Earl of Clarendon, urging the Portuguese Government to put an end to everything like the slave trade in their dominions. If there were such a despatch in existence, he wished to ask whether there was any objection to lay a copy of it upon the table of the House?

MR. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD

said, that in reply to the noble Lord he had to state that there was such a despatch as he alluded to, but that it was not given in the Charles et Georges papers laid before the House, because it had already appeared in the Slave-Trade papers which had been presented to Parliament. If it were considered more convenient by the House to have that document placed on the table in a separate form, he should have no objection to produce it. In reference to the question of the hon. Member for Stafford, the proposed Consular Establishment in Japan would be constituted as follows—namely, in Jeddo, there would be a Consul General, with a salary of £1,800 a year; a Vice Consul, £750; an Interpreter, £500; an Assistant Interpreter, £405; two Student Interpreters, £200 each. In Nagasaki, a Consul with £800 a year; an Interpreter, £500; an Assistant Interpreter, £324. In Hakodadi, the Consular arrangements and salaries were the same as Nagasaki. In reference to the latter part of the question of the hon. Member, as to "whether it is true that Mr. Hare, lately in the Royal Horse Guards, has been appointed Vice Consul at Simoda," he (Mr. FitzGerald) begged to say that Mr. Hare had not been appointed to the post of Vice Consul at Simoda, nor to any other post in Japan or China; nor had it ever been in the contemplation of the Government to appoint that gentleman to any such office.