§ MR. H. SEYMOURsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether Her Majesty's Government are aware that a system exists of conveying so-called Free Negroes from the port of St. Paul's de Loando, on the west coast of Africa, to the island of St. Thomas, under the passport of the Portuguese Governor General; whether this is not a breach of the Treaty of July, 1842; and, if so, what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken in this matter?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONI am sorry to say, Sir, that Her Majesty's Government have received information to the effect that practices, such as my hon. Friend adverts to, have been carried on between the Portuguese Settlements on the western coast of Africa and the island of St. Thomas—that is to say, under the pretence of transporting free labourers, a real slave trade has been carried on. Her Majesty's Government have remonstrated against it, and they are still in negotiation—communication I should rather say—with the Portuguese Government on the subject. While communications are pending, it would not be advisable to lay the Correspondence before Parliament; but when they are finished, that Correspondence will be submitted to Parliament with 908 the Slave Trade Papers of next year. I am sorry to add to that statement that the love and habit of slavery is so ingrained in the Spanish and Portuguese nations, that in spite of all the efforts of their respective Governments both the Portuguese and Colonial authorities of the east and western coast of Africa, and the Spanish authorities in Cuba, do persevere in violating the orders of their Governments and the treaties by which they are bound. But I hope that in the course of time the representations of Her Majesty's. Government may have the effect of stimulating the Governments of Madrid and Lisbon to adopt more stringent, measures to enforce their orders, and to take care that their treaty obligations are not violated.