§ MR. HEDDERWICKI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, under British Treaties with Morocco, British subjects have a right to travel, reside, and trade within Morocco; whether the Foreign Office informed the Sultan that the crew of the Tourmaline went to the Sus at their own peril; and, if so, why; and whether the Sultan's troops attacked and made prisoners some of the crew upon land purchased by Major Spilsbury, a British subject, from the tribes in accordance with all the requirements of the local laws?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYBritish subjects have a right to travel, reside, and trade in Morocco subject to certain conditions, which are stated in the Treaties. The Globe Venture Syndicate having endeavoured ineffectually to obtain the consent of the Moorish Government to open trade with the Sus tribes, and having, in defiance of the Sultan's prohibition, persisted in the attempt to do so, the Moorish Government addressed a formal protest to the British Minister at Tangier on the subject. The syndicate were thereupon warned not to persist in the enterprise, and as they declined to give it up the Moorish Government were informed that 422 Her Majesty's Government did not in any way countenance or support them. Information having subsequently been received that the Tourmaline had nevertheless been despatched by the syndicate with a cargo comprising a large quantity of rifles and ammunition, warning was given to the Moorish Government of the fact. The Tourmaline proceeded to the Sus coast, and the rifles and ammunition were being sold there in defiance of the Moorish laws, when the Sultan's troops interfered and made prisoners of some of the party. We have no information that the land on which this took place had been purchased by the syndicate or their agent.
§ MR. HEDDERWICKI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Mr. Beyerle is the only prisoner taken by the troops of the Sultan of Morocco from the Tourmaline who has been released and sent home without trial; whether Mr. Beyerle is a German, and has been so released at the instance of the German Government; and whether the remaining four prisoners are British subjects, and are, as to three of them, merely members of the crew of the Tourmaline, and as to the fourth, an Englishman travelling for pleasure?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYOne of the prisoners taken by the Moorish authorities was a German subject, and was handed over by Her Majesty's Minister at Tangier to the German Minister on his surrender by the Moorish authorities. This was the legal and necessary course, as he was not subject to British jurisdiction. The question of his subsequent treatment was one for the German Government. The remaining prisoners are British subjects. It is understood that three of them were members of the crew of the Tourmaline, and the fourth was one of the party on board of her.
§ MR. HEDDERWICKHas the attention of the right honourable Gentleman been called to a statement showing the nature of the treatment they had received—how they have been chained together by the neck, shackled, robbed, spat upon, and told to call upon the present Government for help?
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! Does the honourable Gentleman vouch for the accuracy of these statements?
§ MR. HEDDERWICKNo, Sir; I only wanted to know if the right honourable Gentleman's attention had been called to them.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYNo, Sir.