Debate on Conditions Aboard the Ship Washington.

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Document ID 9502250
Date 02-05-1851
Document Type Official Documents
Archive Queen's University, Belfast
Citation Debate on Conditions Aboard the Ship Washington.;Hansard Parliamentary Debates, 3rd Series, Vol CXVI, 2 May 1851.; CMSIED 9502250
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          EMIGRATION - THE LATE MR. RUSHTON.

MR. TORRENS McCULLAGH said, he rose for the purpose of calling
the attention of the House to the subject of a Return recently
presented to the House respecting the treatment of passengers on
board the emigrant ship Washington; and also to ask the right
hon. Secretary of State for the Home Department whether there
would be any objection to lay upon the table a copy of the letter
lately addressed by him to the Mayor of Liverpool, with reference
to the death of the late Edward Rushton, Esq., stipendiary
magistrate of that town? He thought that the House would agree
with him in an expression of opinion against the treatment
which had been experienced on board the ship WASHINGTON, which
had sailed from Liverpool with emigrants - a class of persons
to whom above all others he thought that House was particularly
bound to extend its protection. He thought that any person
who read the return which he held in his hand, the
effect of which he would not weaken by translating it in his
own feeble language, would agree with him that things were
now commonly and ordinarily practiced towards a class of
persons whose interests they were particularly bound to look
after, which were a disgrace to the country. It was most
lamentable to think that the most helpless class
of the community, those who, from the pressure of circumstances
at home, were driven to seek new abodes in a distant land,
were the victims of a system of plunder and exaction to which
no other class of the community would submit for a moment.
He was sure that the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South
Wiltshire (Mr. Sidney Herbert) who had so honourably
distinguished himself in promoting the emigration of one
suffering portion of the community, would agree with him in
the opinion that no time ought to be lost in applying a remedy
to so disgraceful a system of exaction; and he hoped Her
Majesty's Government would provide some check to put an end
to so deplorable a state of things. A great number of emigrants,
especially Irish emigrants, sought a home across the Atlantic;
and he wished to know from the right hon. Gentleman (Sir George
Gray) whether he could not devise some system of surveillance,
coupled, it might be, with the duties of the local magistracy
of Liverpool, for their protection. The opportunity which the
Government now had of appointing a resident stipendiary
magistrate for Liverpool might be taken advantage of for
suggesting and devising some efficient mode of accomplishing
that end. He wished to take that opportunity of tendering the
expression of his regret at the loss of the late Mr Rushton,
than whom a more impartial magistrate could not be found. He
was a devoted friend to justice and humanity, and a more useful
public officer or a better friend had not appeared in their
time. There was universal regret at his loss, and he hoped
the Government would be able to find a man who could worthily
follow in the steps of the late Mr. Rushton. He was acquainted
with that gentleman, and he knew that one of his greatest
regrets, as a magistrate, was, that he was unable to afford
that protection to the property and persons of the emigrants
who left Liverpool, which he saw to be so indispensable for
them, and so necessary for the honour and credit of the
country. He wished to ask whether the right hon. Gentleman
had any objection to lay the letter he (Mr. McCullagh) had
alluded to on the table of the House, for though it was brief
it expressed regret for the loss of Mr. Rushton, and he thought
it would be a credit to the House to preserve a record of the
services of that Gentleman.

SIR GEORGE GREY said, he could have no objection whatever to
lay on the table the letter which the hon. Gentleman wished
to be produced. He knew and participated in the sincere regret
felt at the loss of so excellent a man as Mr. Rushton, holding
a responsible office, with arduous duties, and discharging
them with great ability and discretion, to the entire
satisfaction of the community. With regard to the appointment
of a successor, it was for the Liverpool magistrates to give
their opinion on the duties of the office, as well as the
amount of salary which would be fixed. Hitherto he had received
no communication on the subject from the town council of
Liverpool, and therefore had taken no steps for filling up
the office. With respect to the treatment to which Mr Foster
and other emigrants had been subjected, which he had read
with great regret and some feelings of shame, it must be
remembered that these offences were committed on the high
seas, out of jurisdiction of the British law. No doubt the
emigration agent at Liverpool had a jurisdiction over both
British and foreign ships; but he was not in this case
alleged to have neglected to perform his duty, which was to
see that the ship was properly furnished with all the
necessaries requisite for the safety and comfort of all the
passengers.  Cognisance of the acts which were stated to
have taken place, could only be taken in the first instance
by the American law; no doubt on the return of the ship to
this country, if the facts were stated before a magistrate,
the parties might be subjected to our laws. But all the
emigrants had landed in America; there were none in this
country to give the evidence requisite to render the officers
of the ship liable to the law which they had broken; and it
would be contrary to the first principles of justice to allow
the Government to punish parties without having proper
evidence on which to proceed against them. Had Mr. Foster
returned to this country, they might have been made amenable
to the law; but in the absence of evidence it would be
impossible to render them amenable to any penalties which
the law might provide. If the hon. Member (Mr. McCullagh)
could suggest any alteration in the law which would give
greater protection to emigrants, there was every disposition
on the part of the Government to give it their best
consideration.