HC Deb 20 April 1893 vol 11 cc763-4
MR. FORWOOD (Lancashire, Ormskirk)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has Don Jose Ramos Morand, an employé in a commercial house, and a Spanish subject, in Denia, been appointed Her Majesty's Vice Consul at that port; was any application received in 1891, some time before such appointment was made, from a leading merchant resident there for many years; and is it the practice to prefer for such positions the citizens of Foreign Countries to subjects of Her Majesty?

*THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, Berwick

Mr. Morand, a British subject, held this Vice Consulship from 1857 till his death in the present year. His nephew has now been appointed to succeed him. Other applications were received, but the present Mr. Morand was exceptionally well recommended by British Authorities. I may add that the only profit derived from the post is a fee allowance of £50 a year, and that the general practice is not that stated in the last paragraph.

MR. FORWOOD

May I ask if the gentleman just appointed is a Spanish subject?

SIR E. GREY

I understand that he is not a British subject.