§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHrose to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether, on the 4th day of November, at the Calais Railway Station, a gentleman named Coventry was threatened with arrest by a French policeman for not being provided with a passport; and that, on the English Consul coming to his assistance, he was told by the policeman that he could arrest the Consul himself on suspicion, for not having a passport, if he chose? While England had, in all past time, been noted for her love of personal liberty, it had been rather the fashion with our friends on the other side of the Channel to prefer equality, and to sacrifice personal liberty to it; and this was so, whether under the old Royal dynasty, after the restoration of the Bourbons, or under a Republic, or the former or present Empire, Some few years ago the present Emperor abolished the use of passports in the case of English travellers in France; but if this liberty were to be interfered with arbitrarily the privilege would cease to be an advantage, and would, in fact, be converted into a trap. The other day there appeared in The Times newspaper a statement, signed "H. W. C.," to the effect that the writer was standing at the Calais Station, about to leave by the night train, when he was called on by a porter to interpret for an Italian; immediately after doing which a French detective demanded his passport, and on his replying that a passport was not necessary in the case of an Englishman, the Frenchman said, "You are the very man I have been looking for; you are not an Englishman, but an Italian." The writer, therefore, called the porter who had asked his assistance as interpreter, and who confirmed his statement of what had happened; but the policeman, in a loud voice, and with sneers and taunts, said he was a thief and a spy; that the police knew him well, and that he was a prisoner. At this juncture the Vice Consul came forward, and assisted the gentleman in getting out of the clutches of the police, which he did with some difficulty. The writer further said that the policeman declared not only that he could arrest the gentleman, but that he could arrest the Consul himself, on suspicion, for being without a passport. He (Mr. Darby Griffith) had written to the Vice Consul, who confirmed the statements of Mr. Coventry, especially as to the boast of 151 the sergent de ville that he would arrest the Consul himself on suspicion, unless he were specially protected by a passport. The noble Lord the Foreign Secretary would, perhaps, concur in the view that it was undesirable an officer with so little discretion should be stationed at such an important place as Calais. He trusted that the noble Lord would not allow a case of this sort to pass without a thorough apology being rendered, and sergens de ville taught that they were not in this way to insult Englishmen. This case, however, was by no means the only recent one in which Englishmen had suffered annoyance, detention, and loss. His attention had been called to several occurrences of a more outrageous nature. A few weeks ago the secretary of an English Bishop went to Paris to make inquiries as to the conduct and operations of the small markets. He soon perceived that wherever he went he was followed about by a well-dressed man; and on the second morning, on getting out of an omnibus at the door of his hotel, he was seized, accused of stealing cigars, and taken to a police-station. The secretary wrote to the Embassy, but his letter was not delivered until the following morning, when two Attachés went to the station and liberated him. The next case he would mention was one of a still more despotic character. A clergyman connected with a parish in the North of England, while taking some refreshment on the premises of a marchand de vins, was seized, and, although he gave his name and address, was conveyed to a police-station. He wrote to the Embassy, but his letter was not delivered for three days. An Attaché then called upon the clergyman, but could do nothing for him, because the rev. gentleman was not known personally to any one at the Embassy—which was not at all surprising. Ten days were taken to correspond with the references which the rev. gentleman gave in his own parish. All that time he was kept in the lock-up and treated as a prisoner awaiting his trial, so that he was thirteen days a prisoner for no fault except that of being personally unknown to any one at the Embassy. There was also the case of another Englishman, who signed his name "H—d," who was detained twenty-four hours, and then liberated with an apology. He hoped to hear the course taken, by the noble Lord in all these cases.
LORD STANLEYIn consequence of the notice of the hon. Member, I called on the Vice Consul at Calais for a Report. It appears that Mr. Coventry was seen and heard speaking in Italian to an Italian fellow-passenger. This was an individual whom, for some reason or other, the French police considered they had cause to suspect. Mr. Coventry, who had been seen in company with him, was asked for his passport. He answered that he was an Englishman, and was entitled to travel without a passport. He was then asked whether he could produce any papers which could prove his nationality. I ought to mention that the privilege of dispensing with passports is confined to British subjects, and is often claimed by persons not entitled to it. It is not therefore unreasonable or improper that when any difficulty arises British subjects should be called upon to give some evidence of their nationality. Mr. Coventry appears to have given an answer—whether a sharp one or not I do not know—which provoked the police agent, and something in the nature of a dispute ensued. The Vice Consul interfered, and then the police-officer, having somewhat lost his temper, did use towards the Vice Consul an expression which was certainly not courteous or consistent with the respect due to his official position. It does not appear that Mr. Coventry was detained, and therefore the person most aggrieved in the matter is the Vice Consul. That gentleman, however, has written to me that the objectionable words were used by the police-officer in the heat of a dispute which had arisen with another person; that the police-officer is in general remarkably civil in his language and conduct; and that, though large numbers of English people have passed through Calais lately, he is not aware of any complaint having been made before against this person. Under these circumstances, an explanation and apologies having been offered to him, the Vice Consul does not desire to take any further notice of the matter. That is a very reasonable and proper conclusion, and I do not therefore mean to make any representation on the subject. With regard to the other cases mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, as he gave no notice respecting them, I must ask him to give me the names and particulars, so that I may make inquiry.
§ Motion agreed to,