HL Deb 13 June 1862 vol 167 cc533-6
THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, he wished to put a Question to the noble Earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, in reference to a proclamation stated to have been issued by the commander of the Federal forces, General Butler, at New Orleans. That there might be no misconception of the terms of this proclamation, he would read what had been published as the copy of it— Head-quarters, Department of the Gulf, May 15. As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women calling themselves 'ladies of New Orleans,' in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter, when any female shall, by word, gesture, or movement, insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States, she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation. By Command of Major Gen. BUTLER. He would not insult the House by making any comment on such a proclamation as this; but it was perfectly obvious one of two things must be meant. It was either a mere menace, or it was intended to be a reality. If it was merely a menace, then it was a gross, unmanly, and brutal insult to every woman in New Orleans, since it was a notorious fact that all their sympathies were unanimously on the side of the Confederate cause. On the other hand, if the proclamation were intended to have a practical effect, he begged their Lordships to observe, that by the terms in which it was couched it gave larger and more unlimited power to the Federal troops than had ever been given to any soldiery. They had heard of towns that had been taken by storm being subjected to the violence of the troops; but the proclamation was absolutely without precedent or parallel, in a commercial city that had capitulated, and of which the hostile army held quiet occupation. He would do the people of the Northern States the justice to say he did not believe they were in any sense identified with the conduct of General Butler, and that they would repudiate this extraordinary document. But if this was the way in which the war was to be carried on in future, it would become a war of extermination. The Question he wished to ask was, whether Her Majesty's Government had received any information as to whether this proclamation was authentic or not? He wished also to state, that there had been for some days past reports of a proposal made by the Government of France to Her Majesty's Government, for concerting jointly the terms of a mediation between the belligerents in this civil war. It was quite obvious that the whole value of such a mediation must depend on the terms in which it was couched, on its general character, and the spirit in which it was received. But, assuming that the mediation would be such as they could join in, consistently with their own self-respect and the material interests of this country, he hoped the Government would give the propositions their earnest consideration. He should be glad lo hear from the noble Earl how far it was true that negotiations were at this moment in progress between the two Governments with reference to mediation.

EARL RUSSELL

My Lords, in answer to the first Question put to me by the noble Earl, I beg to inform him that the only information which we have received on the subject is a despatch from Lord Lyons, in which he encloses a newspaper containing this proclamation, and, after alluding to its purport, says that the intelligence from New Orleans appears to confirm its authenticity. I believe that the proclamation is authentic; but we have no information as to any opinion— any approval or disapproval — expressed by the American Government. Lord Lyons does not appear to have raised any question with the American Government on the subject, though there is no public act of the American Government disapproving the proclamation; and I do not find that the United States Minister in this country has received any despatch alluding to it. For my own part, I sincerely trust, for the sake of the American Government itself, that they will lose no time in disavowing the proclamation—if, indeed, they have not already refused to sanction it. It is important as regards the character of the American Government that this should be done at once; but I think likewise it is of importance to the whole world that the usages of war should not be aggravated by proclamations of this character. War is of itself quite horrible enough, and to add to its horrors by such proclamations is a grave offence not only against the particular population who are subjected to hostilities, but against mankind in general, whose interest it is that those usages should be made less rigorous and less cruel. As to the proclamation itself, I have been told that it is susceptible of this explanation:—The purport of the words is to the effect, that if any woman shall show contempt for any officer or soldier of the Federal army, she shall be regarded as liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her vocation. Now, there are in New Orleans local regulations by which women of the town who are guilty of any disorder in the streets are liable to be sent to prison, and I am told that the meaning of the order is, that any women treating the Federal officers and soldiers with contumely in the public streets shall be held to be women guilty of disturbance in the town, and be sent to prison as such; but I quite feel with the noble Earl that even if the proclamation is not meant to be put in force, it is likely to give the soldiery a licence for great brutality. For my own part, therefore, I must say that I see no defence for the proclamation, and I can only hope sincerely that the United States Government will disavow it altogether, and will declare that it meets with their decided disapproval.

I cannot answer for this interpretation being correct. The noble Earl has asked me as to the truth of a rumour which has obtained currency, that the two Governments of France and England intend to offer their mediation between the Northern and Southern States. The spreading of this rumour may prove exceedingly mischievous, and therefore I am glad to have an opportunity of stating the true state of the case. Her Majesty's Government have made no proposals of the kind to the Government of France, and the Govern- ment of France have made no such overtures to ours. Moreover, the French Ambassador here has stated that he has no instruction on the subject; and I need not say, therefore, that there have been no communications between the two Governments of the tenour which has been spoken of. Without giving any opinion as to the propriety, at some time or other, of offering our good offices or mediation, I must say that I think the present time would be most inopportune for such attempt at mediation. No good could come of it, and in the present state of the war, and in the present embittered state of feeling on both sides, such an offer would rather tend to prevent any good result from being attained, if it should be deemed desirable to attempt such mediation hereafter. Certainly, there is no intention on the part of Her Majesty's Government to mediate at the present moment.