§ MR. BLAKEfelt obliged to the noble 840 Lord, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, for answering his question before he had put it, and regretted he should give him the trouble of hearing fuller particulars of the case, which he expected would induce him to alter his opinion and give a different answer. He brought forward the matter at the instance of the owner of the cargo, one of the most respectable and extensive merchants in London, who, failing in his efforts to induce the Foreign Office to interfere with the Spanish Government in his behalf, had requested him to bring the matter publicly before the noble Lord. The gentleman in question bought the cargo of the Mio Zeo, which consisted of maize. The vessel sailed from Constantinople on the 27th of September, and put into Malta on the 30th of October, when no complaint of the condition of the corn was made. On the 13th of November, she put into Port Mahon, when the captain made a deposition that the cargo was in such a heated condition that it would be dangerous to proceed further with it, and induced the authorities to decree him the amount of his freight. The owner immediately sent out an agent from England, who protested against the proceeding, and the matter was carried to the higher court at Palma, in the Island of Majorca. Three months had now gone over, and no decision come to, and the cargo was deteriorating every day. It had been examined by competent persons, who gave certificates that it was never in a heated state, and quite fit for shipment. In the face of this, the Spanish court sided with the captain, and decided he should be paid his freight, although he had not performed one-third of his voyage. There was strong reason to suppose they were acting corruptly, as in the event of a sale some of the island functionaries would receive a per centage on the proceeds; and he believed the court at Palma was acting in concert with them—holding over their decision for three months in the hope of tiring the owner out. They were old friends of the captain, as he had played the same trick there before, to their mutual benefit. The owner was of opinion that it was a violation of international law for the authorities to interfere in the matter at all—the owner being an Englishman, the captain an Italian, and the contract to be completed in the United Kingdom. But whether this were the case or not, Government should interfere to prevent a wrong to a British subject. The noble Lord said the 841 affair was a private one, and he could not interfere. He begged to differ with him. The matter involved a very important principle; and if the Foreign Office were really good for anything, the case was one which should call forth its activity. He begged to put the question of which he had given notice, Whether the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received any information respecting the case of a British subject, the owner of the cargo of the Mio Zeo, and the alleged injustice and injury to which he has been subjected, with the sanction of the Spanish authorities of Port Mahon, Island of Minorca.
§ LORD JOHN RUSSELLsaid, the matter had been before him already, and the law advisers of the Crown had told him he could interfere. He had no objection to do so if it could be shown to him that he ought to act; and if the owner would again state his case in writing he would take the opinion of the law advisers of the Foreign Office.