§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, he Lad an appeal to make to the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Malmesbury) in reference to a notice which he gave on Friday, that he would call the attention of the House to the case in dispute with the Government of Brazil with regard to the officers of Her Majesty's ship Forte. He (the Duke of Somerset) had received a communication from the noble Earl at the head of the Foreign Office, stating that the question had been referred to the King of the Belgians, who had accepted the arbitration, and that under those circumstances it might be inconvenient to enter into a discussion upon the subject at the present time.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYsaid, he had no apprehension, considering the great ability and clearness of judgment of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, that His Majesty's decision would be influenced by anything that might be said in either House of Parliament; but as he understood from the noble Duke that the Minister for Foreign Affairs was anxious, in the interests of the public service, that he should postpone his observations on the subject, he had no hesitation in saying at once that he would do so. At the same time, however, he could not help expressing his surprise at the appeal, inasmuch as the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs in another place had permitted himself, only three days before, to speak for a considerable time on the question, and to enter further into detail of the accusations against the Brazilian Government than appeared in the papers on their Lordships' table; having then added a now charge against the Brazilian Government, of having "manacled" the officers, a charge not anywhere mentioned in the papers before the House. But he could assure their Lordships, feeling what the noble Earl (Earl Russell) had said about the question being sub judice, he had not intended to give any opinion whatever as to which of the two parties to the dispute was right and which was wrong. It was perfectly evident to all their Lordships who had read the papers on the table that the unfortunate collision between Her Majesty's officers and the Brazilian police could not have taken place, and would not have taken place, but from the circumstance of the officers being in plain clothes. Looking at the question in a general point of view, and without reference to this particular case, he would press upon the noble Duke (the Duke of Somerset) the necessity of a reasonable observation of what he believed to be a most important regulation, and that was, that the officers should not be allowed to go on shore out of uniform. He did not desire that the rule should be pressed to an unwarrantable extent, so as to prevent officers who might be taking long journeys using the most convenient kind of clothing for the purpose; but he was sure that the noble Duke himself, with his knowledge of human nature and of the habits and feelings of young officers, who, having been confined a long time, were delighted to obtain a little liberty, must admit that these officers would be likely to have more respect 1213 for themselves—and, certainly, foreigners would have more respect for them—if they wore on shore the ordinary uniform of the service. On such an occasion as Saturday last, or great reviews, notice was very properly given that officers in Her Majesty's service would not he permitted to pass the lines, and that the police would not treat them as officers, unless they appeared in their uniform. The case against the Brazilian Government was that in the execution of their laws they offended the British navy. He did not say that we had not a right to be offended. All British citizens had a right to the protection of the Foreign Office wherever they might be; but in this case it could not be held that the British navy had suffered an insult, seeing that the officers were not wearing the uniform of the navy at the time of the occurrence complained of; and out of uniform they would have no legal authority even over their own men ashore. For these reasons he wished very much that the noble Duke would exercise his judgment and authority to prevent as much as possible what he was told was growing into a common custom in the navy—namely, permitting officers to go ashore in plain clothes.
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, he believed the rule was that our officers should always appear in uniform in those countries with which we had little intercourse, or in which any local disturbances or other cause rendered the wearing of uniform necessary; but where, as had been the case in Brazil, the two nations were on the most friendly terms, officers when going into the country were permitted to go on shore without being in uniform. It was a matter in which the commanding officer of the station should be allowed to exercise his discretion, according to the circumstances.
§ THE EARL OF HARDWICKEsaid, he regretted to hear the latter speech of the noble Duke. 'No doubt, discipline, like everything else, was a fashion, and it must vary with the opinions of the day. The intention of uniform was not so much to dress a man up to look fine, as for the purpose of insuring a system of discipline over the men who wore it. If this were the case, he would put it to the noble Duke whether the wearing of uniform was not an important part of the discipline of the naval service which it was especially necessary to enforce in foreign countries. He regarded this as of very great import- 1214 ance. Before uniform was introduced and enforced it was no uncommon thing for men to throw away their muskets and run away; and there was no knowing which side a man was. With regard to the police, of what use were they, except as secret spies, unless they were in uniform? How otherwise could they gain the respect of the multitude? When he was in the navy, for an officer to leave his ship without wearing his uniform was unknown; to go over the side in a plain suit was a thing unknown. No doubt, when an officer went ashore and engaged a lodging he put on his plain coat; but when he did so, he took the consequences. The printed orders of the service directed an officer to wear his uniform constantly, and never take it off except to go to bed. If the officer in command or the governor of a port thought proper to wink at a violation of the order, that was one thing; it was altogether another for the head of the navy to lay it down that it was usual for officers to go on shore without uniform.
§ THE DUKE OF SOMERSETsaid, he had only repeated what he had ascertained from officers in the service to be the practice; but he could not say whether the statement referred to officers leaving the ship in uniform. He knew that a custom had for a long time prevailed for officers to leave their ships in uniform and change their dress when they got on shore, and he saw no reason to make the practice in this respect more strict than it had been for years past. He had found that on nil occasions where the navy had been employed there had been no difficulty in preserving discipline, and the conduct of naval officers had been universally praiseworthy wherever they had gone on shore.