§ MR. CRAWFORDsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether steps are being taken to induce the Portuguese Government to satisfy the claims of British Traders for injuries done to them on the African Coast.
MR. SEYMOUR FITZGERALDsaid, he could assure the hon. Gentleman that Do effort had been spared by Her Majesty's Government to induce the Portuguese Government to satisfy the claims of those traders to whom the question of the hon. Gentleman had more immediate reference; but he regretted to say that repeated representations and remonstrances had had no satisfactory result. Besides the case 1274 referred to by the hon. Member, there was another, that of the Messrs. Horsfall, which arose in 1842—sixteen years ago. Her Majesty's Government had protested to the Government of Portugal against the treatment which British traders in that case received; but after sixteen years' remonstrance the only result up to the present had been the promise of a reply.