No. 234.
Mr. Moran
to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Lisbon, March 27, 1876.
(Received April 18.)
No. 69.]
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
congratulations 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, 1875, 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 persons in St. Thomas and Principe known as “freedmen” and
“apprentices,” instead of holding them to their contracts for one year after
the publication 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
intentions of this government to carry out these measures of
[Page 435]
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.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 69.]
Mr. Moran to Mr.
Corvo.
Legation of the United States,
Lisbon, March 9,
1876.
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,
His Excellency João de Andrade Corvo, &c., &c.
[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.
JOAO DE ANDRADE CORVO.
Benjamin Moran, Esq., &e., &c., &c.
