Lords Sitting of 24 March 1876

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS—First Reading— Royal Titles* (41); Consolidated Fund (£10,029,550 5s. 1d.)
Second Reading—County Palatine of Lancaster (Clerk of the Peace) (34); Manchester Post Office* (33).
Third Reading—Council of India (Professional Appointments)*(28), and passed.

THE GOLD COAST—THE OUTRAGE AT WHYDAH.

  QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS.
  LORD COTTESLOEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he is able to give the House any information respecting an outrage said to have been committed at Whydah upon the European agent of an English house; and as to the expedition which Commodore Sir Wm. Hewett is stated to have undertaken in H.M.S. "Active," with four gunboats, and accompanied by the Lieutenant Governor of the Gold Coast, for the purpose of punishing the authorities at Whydah; and as to other offences said to have been committed by the Dahomians against Englishmen? The matter was of some importance, if only because an expedition had been undertaken composed of four vessels of war, and accompanied by the Lieutenant Governor. He was afraid that this might unhappily turn out a prelude to another of those little wars that this country had been engaged in from time to time, and therefore it was desirable to ascertain what steps were likely to be taken in reference thereto. Differences of this kind, which began in a small way—about the size of a man's hand—involved much anxiety, trouble, and expenditure of money. The telegram which reported the outrage on two English subjects also stated that two Frenchmen were bound hand and foot, flogged, and were put into empty casks and kept there for a considerable time. The King of Dahomey was a warlike and powerful Prince, and, next to the King of Ashantee, was the most powerful Ruler on the West Coast of Africa, and his dealings with his neighbours and Europeans were of the most unscrupulous character. He had a standing army of 10,000 men, and, like all warriors, he delighted in war, and in cutting off the
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  heads of his subjects. He had also a body-guard, who were no mean or contemptible opponents, composed of females. They were said to be well-drilled, efficient, and as brave as men, or even more so; for they were said to keep the men up to their work, they fully understood the use of the musket, and their activity was surprising. They fought bravely in the last war against Abbeokuta, and those Amazons who were engaged in that expedition were nearly all cut off. The King of Dahomey therefore was by no means to be considered as a contemptible enemy. No doubt a large portion of the revenue of the King was derived from the traffic in slavery; and in a despatch sent home to this country by Commander Wilmot, it appeared that the King of Dahomey had said that if he attempted to put down the slave trade and an end to human sacrifices he would lose his own head. His Lordship, in conclusion, said that he had no doubt that Her Majesty's Government were alive to the occurrences which were taking place on the Gold Coast, and that they would be prepared to interfere if necessary; but this was a point on which he thought they ought to have information.
  THE EARL OF CARNARVONsaid, he had very little official information on the subject of his noble Friend's Question. He had seen in the newspapers the telegram to which his noble Friend had referred, but neither that telegram nor the substance of it had ever reached the Colonial Office. Some time ago circumstances occurred which, perhaps, were the foundation of the telegram—unless, indeed, since that to which he alluded, there had occurred one of those outrages which were not infrequent on that coast. If so, it must have been a matter of trifling importance, and certainly need not assume the dimensions which his noble Friend apprehended. He had received no information that there had been any such outrage as that mentioned in his noble Friend's Question, or that any expedition had been sent to punish the King of Dahomey. What he had received information of was this—The town of Abbeokuta was not far distant from Whydah, which was about 50 or 60 miles from the capital of Dahomey. In Abbeokuta there were a large number of Christian missionaries, and from time to time he received communications from them.

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  It appeared that it was the custom of the Dahomians to make an annual raid on Abbeokuta. Those raids were connected with the abominable practice of human sacrifice, and sometimes they were very serious, and ended in hostilities. He had received from the societies that had sent out the missionaries urgent requests that he should ask the British authorities on the Gold Coast to represent to the King of Dahomey the objectionable character of those incursions. In accordance with those requests he had directed the Governor to take a suitable opportunity of making such a representation: and a short time ago he received a despatch from the Governor stating that he had taken advantage of the presence of Commodore Hewett with his ships on the coast, to send a letter by Captain Lee, the official Administrator, asking the King to put an end to those incursions, and to cause his subjects to abstain from the abominable practice of human sacrifice. Beyond that he knew nothing. He hoped what had been done would have the desired effect; but, whether it should be successful or unsuccessful, he had no reason to apprehend that any little war would arise between this country and Dahomey.

THE SUGAR CONVENTION, 1875— REFUSAL OF THE DUTCH CHAMBERS.

  QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS.
  LORD HAMPTONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that the Dutch Chamber has refused to ratify the Convention for the abolition of bounties on the export of refined sugar which was agreed upon by delegates from Great Britain, France, Holland, and Belgium at a conference in Brussels in July, 1875; and, if so, what steps Her Majesty's Government propose to take to secure for the produce of the British sugar colonies that equality of competition which the said Convention was designed to establish? The noble Lord said, he thought the time might perhaps not be very far off when their Lordships' attention might be invited to the unfair competition to which the sugar trade of this country and of our West Indian Islands was exposed with the slave-grown sugar of Cuba and Brazil. Now, however, he had simply to call their attention to the competition to which the sugar trade of
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  this country was exposed from the bounties on sugar exported from France, Holland, and Belgium. He had complained, on a previous occasion, of the non-performance of the various Treaties and Conventions that had been framed; and on that occasion the statement made by the Foreign Secretary was most satisfactory, and showed upon his part a true appreciation of the great disadvantages and difficulties to which our sugar trade was exposed. At that very time there was a further Convention between the same four Powers, by which it was agreed that this question should be put upon a more satisfactory footing; and the terms of this Convention were accepted as satisfactory by those engaged in the sugar trade in this country. But although the sugar trade of this country was satisfied with the terms of that Convention, he was obliged to add that they had great distrust as to whether the terms of it would be firmly and faithfully carried out. He had a copy of a letter in his hand from a noble Friend of his who recommended that Great Britain should not sign the Convention unless they were assured that the terms of it would be faithfully carried out. After full consideration the Government determined to authorize the signature of the Convention. But the apprehensions expressed had been fully justified, for the Convention had not been carried out, and those engaged in the sugar trade in this country found themselves in consequence under severe disadvantages. Instead of the operation of the Convention commencing on the 1st July, it was postponed until the 1st of the present month; and since then the 1st May, it was said, had been fixed upon as the term at which under this Convention refining in bond was to commence. He wished to know whether this report was correct; and further, what would be the effect of the refusal on the part of the Dutch Chamber to ratify the Convention upon the interests of those who were engaged in the sugar trade in this Kingdom? He was afraid that the effect would be that all these negotiations that had been going on for years would be entirely useless; and that the sugar trade in this country would be exposed to a most disastrous, if not ruinous competition.
  THE EARL OF DERBYsaid, he was afraid that the information he had to

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  give his noble Friend on this subject would be found scanty, and he was afraid also that his noble Friend would not consider it as altogether satisfactory. It was quite true that the Dutch Parliament had refused to give the sanction which would be necessary to make the Convention effective. On hearing the result of the debate in which that sanction was refused, he thought it right to inquire of the Dutch Government what they proposed to do. The answer he received from the Dutch Government was, that the question of abolishing the duty on sugar was before the Dutch Parliament—that Notice of a Motion on the subject had been put on the Paper—and that until the Dutch Government knew what the feeling of the Dutch Legislature was upon that question, they would not feel justified in coming to any decision themselves. Her Majesty's Government were in communication with the French and Belgian Governments also on the subject of the Convention. He was aware that the persons whom his noble Friend represented were deeply affected by the question now at issue; and they might be assured that it would not be neglected by Her Majesty's Government—that the matter would not be lost sight of. While he said that, he was bound to say that the powers of Her Majesty's Government in a matter of this kind were very limited. The English duties on sugar had been abolished, and he did not suppose any Ministry or any party in the country would propose their re-imposition. Neither would a proposition for duties of a differential character, to apply to sugar coming from one country rather than to that coming from another, find acceptance in England. It was not a proposal which any Parliament would be likely to sanction. If, therefore, foreign Governments should continue by a system of bounties to produce an artificial cheapness to the British consumer, and so to undersell the English refiner, that was a matter with which Her Majesty's Government would feel it extremely difficult to deal. They could only give what appeared to them to be good advice, in pointing out what were the disadvantages and evils arising from such a system; but, after all, it was in the good sense and sound judgment of foreign Governments that Her Majesty's Go-
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  vernment must place their reliance rather than in anything they could do themselves.

COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER (CLERK OF THE PEACE) BILL—(No. 34.)
(The Lord Winmarleigh.)
COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER (CLERK OF THE PEACE) BILL—(No. 34.)

  SECOND READING.
  Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
  LORD WINMARLEIGH,in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, the Bill was merely an amendment of a previous Act—the 34th, and 35th of the Queen—and its object was to put the Clerk of the Peace of the County Palatine on the same footing as the clerks of the peace of other counties. By a provision of the Bill the chief clerk would have deputy clerks to assist him in the discharge of the duties of his office, but he would be alone responsible for their proper discharge, and. would have to pay their salaries.
  Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Lord Winmarleigh.)
  THE EARL OF HARROWBYsaid, he had been requested to present two Petitions against the Bill; but in presenting them he deemed it right to observe that, having listened to the statements of the noble Lord in moving the second reading of the Bill, he felt he could not offer any opposition to it.
  Motion agreed to:—Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.
  House adjourned at Six o'clock, till To-morrow, half past Eleven o'clock.