[Inclosure 2 in No. 53.-Translation.] Mr. Corvo to Mr. Moran. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, January 1, 1876. The message of the President of the United States of America, recently addressed to Congress, where it speaks of foreign affairs, makes reference in such a very honorable manner to Portugal, to the promulgation of the law of April 29, 1875, by which speedy emancipation is given to the slaves in all the colonies of the Portuguese monarchy, and by which the state of slavery there has been abolished in perpetuity, that I cannot resist asking your excellency kindly to express to your Government the deep sense of admiration of His Majesty's government for such a sentiment. This government, esteeming very highly the words of President Grant and his high testimony to the approval deserved by its constant efforts to perfect this humane intention, offers most earnest prayers, in union with those of the high Magistrate who presides over the destinies of the great American nation, that the time may be near when the notion may be wholly repudiated that man can subject his fellow-mau to bondage. Renewing the assurance of my highest consideration, &c. JOÃO DE ANDRADE CORVO. fc., &c, &c. [Inclosure 3 in No. 53.] Mr. Moran to Mr. Corvo. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's note of the 1st instant, expressing in warm language the satisfaction with which His Most Faithful Majesty's government has received the remarks made by the President of the United States of America in his last annual message, congratulating Portugal and the civilized world on the promulgation of the law of April 29, 1875, by which speedy emancipation is given to the slaves in all the colonies of the Portuguese monarchy, and by which the state of slavery there has been abolished in perpetuity; and I shall not fail to comply with your excellency's wish, and promptly convey to my Government the deep sense of admiration entertained by His Majesty's government for the sentiments which the President has been pleased to express upon this humane and just proceeding. I observe with pleasure that His Majesty's government joins with President Grant in earnest prayers that the time may be near when the notion may be wholly repudiated that man can subject his fellow-man to bondage; and I am sure that my Government will receive this expression of the sentiments of Portugal in regard to slavery with feelings of the liveliest satisfaction. I avail myself of the occasion to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration, and am, sir, &c., His Excellency JOÃO DE ANDRADE CORVO, BENJAMIN MORAN. sc., &c., &c. No. 30.] No. 233. Mr. Fish to Mr. Moran. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 15, 1876. SIR: Your dispatch No. 53, under date of January 5 ultimo, has been received. It informs the Department of the transmission by you to Mr. Corvo, the minister for foreign affairs at Lisbon, of a copy of the President's last annual message to Congress, and incloses a translation of a note received from Mr. Corvo, acknowledging its receipt, and also a copy of your note in reply thereto. The expression of the deep sense of appreciation of the Portuguese government, contained in Mr. Corvo's note, of the President's recognition in his message of the Portuguese act of emancipation of April 29, 1875, has been received with satisfaction by the President, and he di rects me to express the gratification that will attend the actual emancipation of slavery in the Portuguese colonies as provided by the act in question. Your note to Mr. Corvo upon the subject meets with the approval of the Department. I am, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 69.] No. 234. Mr. Moran to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Lisbon, March 27, 1876. (Received April 18.) SIR: On the 9th instant, I addressed a note to Mr. Corvo, in compliance with the instructions in your No. 30, of the 15th of February, conveying to His Most Faithful Majesty's government the congratula tions of the President on the passage by the Cortes of the act of emancipation of the 29th of April, 1875; at the same time intimating the pleasure he would feel on hearing of the actual abolition of slavery in the Portuguese colonies, as provided by the act in question; and I added the expression of my belief that the realization of that pleasure would be hastened by the project of law of the 4th of January, 1876, by which the immediate liberation of all persons then in a servile state in the province of St. Thomas and Principe was provided. Mr. Corvo replied on the 13th instant, thanking me for my note and for the reference I made to his exertions in securing the enactment of the proposed law. I inclose copies of this correspondence. The project of the 4th of January, to which I have referred, was passed by a large vote of the Cortes, although considerable opposition existed to it on the part of some of the landed proprietors of St. Thomas, became a law of the realm by royal proclamation on the 3d of February, and is now in full force. It consists of three brief articles, as follows: ARTICLE 1. "The servile state described in the decree of the 25th of February, 1869, is considered extinct in St. Thomé from the date of publication of the present law in the said province, and those to whom it referred are considered free." ART. 2. "All the dispositions contained in the charter of law of the 29th of April, 1975. and the regulations appended thereto approved by decree of the 20th of December of the same year, shall immediately be put into force in the said province.” ART. 3. “All legislation to the contrary is hereby revoked." It will be seen that this act gives immediate liberty to all the persous in St. Thomas and Principe kuown as "freedmen" and "apprentices," instead of holding them to their contracts for one year after the publi cation of the law of April, 1875. That law was not promulgated in St. Thomas until the 3d of July last, and consequently would only have come into force on the 3d of July of this year, had not the project of the 4th of January given it instantaneous effect. Some interested persons have tried to throw doubt upon the sincerity of the intentious of this government to carry out these measures of emancipation, but I regard such doubts as grossly unjust. The government is in earnest, and the result of their action will demonstrate this to the world. I have, &c., BENJAMIN MORAN. [Inclosure 1 in No. 69.] Mr. Moran to Mr. Corvo. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acquaint your excellency that I did not fail to transmit promptly to my Government a copy of the letter which you addressed to me on the 1st of January last, together with a translation thereof, expressing the deep sense of His Most Faithful Majesty's government of the recognition by the President of the United States, in his late annual message to Congress, of the Portuguese act of emancipation of the 29th of April, 1875; and I now have the pleasure to inform you that your note was received with satisfaction by the President, and that he has been pleased to direct Mr. Fish to express to His Most Faithful Majesty's government, through me-a duty which I now cheerfully perform-the gratification that will attend the actual abolition of slavery in the Portuguese colonies as provided by the act in question, a gratification the realization of which, I venture to add, will be hastened by the decree of the Cortes of the 4th of January of the present year, which extends the provisions of the act of April, 1875, to the island of St. Thomas, and which decree was, I believe, passed through your excellency's energy and able advocacy of the cause of freedom. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration, and I am, with great respect, your excellency's most obedient servant, BENJAMIN MORAN. [Inclosure 2 in No. 69.-Translation.] Mr. Corvo to Mr. Moran. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS-POLITICAL DEPARTMENT. I have had the honor to receive the note which your excellency addressed to me, dated the 9th instant, informing me that you forwarded to your Government a copy and translation of my note, dated the 1st of last January, with reference to the act of April 29, 1875, which abolished slavery in all the ultramarine provinces of Portugal; in which letter your excellency, acquainting me with the congratulations of the President of the United States of America on the happy results which must ensue from such important provisions for the prosperity of the same possessions, congratulates me on promulgation of the new law which at once abolishes slavery in the province of St. Thomé and Principe. Thanking your excellency for the expressions employed by you in my favor in the note to which I allude, and for which I am so deeply indebted, I beg to inform your excellency that I shall not fail to acquaint the minister of marine with its contents. I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. Office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, March 13, 1876. BENJAMIN MORAN, Esq., fe., &c., &c. JOAO DE ANDRADE CORVO. No. 235. No. 95.] Mr. Moran to Mr. Fish. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Lisbon, October 28, 1876. (Received November 16.) SIR: In December, 1874, the civil governor and other local authorities of Ponta Delgada, in the island of St. Michaels, in the Azores, demanded of and received from Mr. Ivens, the United States consular agent at that place, 16,200 reis in insular money for passports for nine destitute American seamen, which sum was disallowed in his accounts by the Treasury of the United States, on the just ground that charges for such passports could not be exacted from American citizens by foreign governments. I thought the case one deserving my attention, and having made sure of the facts in this instance of unjust exaction, and learned from Mr. Diman that no such charges have ever been made at this port, for the reason that the laws of Portugal provide such safeconducts-passports or permits of embarkation can be furnished to des titute persons free of charge-I brought the case to Mr. Corvo's attention. He has replied that orders for restitution of the money have been given, and I have expressed to him my satisfaction at this action. As my note of the 15th June, to Mr. Corvo, contains the substance of Mr. Dabney's reports to me of the case, I forward copies of that note and, subsequent correspondence herewith, for the information of the Department. I am, &c., &c., [Inclosure 1 in No. 95.] Mr. Moran to Mr. Corvo. BENJAMIN MORAN. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to bring to your excellency's notice the fact that in December, 1874, the civil governor of St. Michaels, in the Azores, demanded of and received from Mr. Ivens, the United States consular agent at that place, the sum of $13.50 United States gold currency, equal to 16,200 reis in insular money, for passports for nine destitute American seamen who were sent at that time from that port to Boston in the Portuguese bark "Amisade," Captain Francisco José de Mello. This item of expense was duly reported to the Government at Washington, in Mr. Ivens's accounts, for aid to distressed American seamen in his district, but the Govern ment disallowed the sun on the ground that no foreign government can rightfully require and charge for passports for distressed American seamen returning to the United States. I am informed that at the port of Fayal, in the Azores, and also at Lisbon, whence thousands of "consul's men" have been sent to their homes, no such charge has ever been made, for the reason that the law provides that safe-conducts of embarkation can be furnished to destitute persons free of charge. And this provision is both humane and just. It is to be found in article 3, section 2, of the general regulations of police, and is as follows: "For the 'visé' of a passport, as well as for the grant of the safe-conduct, travelers shall pay the sum mentioned in the table accompanying these regulations; excepting, however, destitute persons and mendicants. As the practice of exacting such fees does not prevail in Lisbon or other ports of His Most Faithful Majesty's dominions, both continental and ultramarine, I therefore have respectfully to request that His Majesty's government may be pleased to institute inquiries into this case, and if it be found as represented, that his excellency the civil governor of St. Michaels may be instructed to make restitution to Mr. Ivens of the 16,200 reis paid as above described, and be also requested not to insist upon the collection of such fees on account of distressed American seamen. The practice of His Majesty's government in other ports in similar cases leads me to the conclusion that the civil governor of St. Michaels acted from a misapprehension in this instance; as I cannot for a moment believe that His Most Faithful Majesty's government would authorize the demand of fees of the kind from distressed foreign seamen, who by wreck or otherwise may have been cast upon its shores destitute. I regret the necessity which compels me to bring this case before your excellency, but as it unfortunately happens that not a few destitute American seamen are thrown upon Portuguese shores, a repetition of such demands must necessarily lead to a heavy tax upon consuls, and put both consuls and seamen to great inconvenience. It has been shown above that the laws of Portugal discountenance the collection of fees in such cases, and in view of the known humanity and justice of His Majesty's government, I am confident that if the facts of this case shall be found to be as I have stated them, a result about which I entertain no doubt, my requests in the premises, that the fees exacted of Mr. Ivens may be returned, and the charge for such permits to be discontinued in St. Michaels, will meet with prompt and ready compliance. I avail myself of this occasion to renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. BENJAMIN MORAN. [Inclosure 2 in No. 95.-Translation.] Mr. Corvo to Mr. Diman. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS-POLITICAL BUREAU. In answer to the note which Mr. Benjamin Moran addressed me on the 15th June last, deşiring the re-imbursement of a sum of money which had been unduly paid to the civil governor at Ponta Delgada as fees and stamps for nine passports conferred on indigents, I beg to inform your excellency that the minister of the kingdom has communicated with me to that effect on the 21st instant. His excellency informs me that the civil governor of that district, who was questioned on the subject, regrets in his answer this error, due no doubt to the fact that the consular agent had not declared, when demanding the passports, the state of poverty of the American citizens to whom they were destined, which was since asserted. The minister of the kingdom states, moreover, that the above-mentioned civil governor is prepared to reimburse the amount of the said fees, (7,200 reis insular money,) and that on the same day he notified the minister of finance that the delegate of the treasury should be instructed to make restitution of the stamp money, amounting to 9,045 reis. God keep your excellency. Foreign Office, 29 July, 1876. H. W. DIMAN, Esq., JOÃO DE ANDRADE CORVO. &c., &c., &c. [Inclosure 3 in No. 95.] Mr. Moran to Mr. Corvo. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to my note of the 15th of June last, relative to the collection of fees from the United States consular agent by the civil governor of Ponta Delegada for passports for nine destitute American seamen, and to your excellency's reply to Mr. Diman of the 29th of July, informing this legation that the fees had been exacted through a misunderstanding of the facts of the case, and that instructions had been given to re-imburse the amount of the said fees, I have to express my satisfaction with this action of His Most Faithful Majesty's government, and shall have pleasure in forwarding copies of the correspondence in the case to Washington for the information of my Government. Renewing the assurances of my highest consideration, I have the honor to be your excellency's most obedient servant, His Excellency JOÃO DE ANDRADE CORVO, BENJAMIN MORAN. &c., &c., fc. |