Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil Volume II Part 24

CHAPTER XIV.

PROCLAMATION FOR PAYMENT OF OFFICERS AND MEN--LOG EXTRACTS IN PROOF THEREOF--THE SUM GIVEN UP TO THE SQUADRON DISBURSED--DENIAL THEREOF BY THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT--THOUGH MADE TO SERVE AS ADVANCE OF WAGES--THE AMOUNT RECEIVED AT MARANHAM FULLY ACCOUNTED FOR--BY THE RECEIPTS OF THE OFFICERS--OFFICERS' RECEIPTS--EXTRACTS FROM LOG IN FURTHER CORROBORATION--UP TO MY ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND--ALL OUR PRIZES MONOPOLIZED BY BRAZIL--THE CONDUCT OF THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT UNJUSTIFIABLE.

The whole dispute raised by the Brazilian Administration as a pretext for evading my claims, has been--as the reader is now aware--about the sum of 200,000 dollars, _given out of the proceeds of our own captures, which cost nothing to the Government; but were made to serve as a subst.i.tute for the usual advance of wages!_ Also about 40,000 dollars ordered by His Imperial Majesty as compensation for the _Imperatrice_ frigate, captured by Captain Grenfell at Para--but _never paid_, and therefore never accounted for. Finally, with regard to 106,000 dollars reimbursed by the authorities of Maranham, as a compromise for four times the amount generously surrendered by the squadron to the necessities of the province in 1823--on promise of repayment. As regards the whole of the sums, it is alleged that _I never furnished accounts of their expenditure, and therefore they are charged against me, as though not expended at all._

For the disburs.e.m.e.nt of the first item of 200,000 dollars, I have already stated sufficient to satisfy any reasonable person. The accounts set forth at page 169, shews that a balance remained in hand from the 200,000 dollars put on board at Rio de Janeiro, of 39,538 dollars. I shall now state what became of this sum. And first let me adduce the following proclamation:--

By His Excellency the Marquis of Maranha, First Admiral, &c. &c.

WHEREAS, many officers and seamen are here employed who were not present, last year, at the capitulation of the hostile authorities, and seizure of Portuguese funds and property at Maranha;

And whereas it is condusive to the interests of His Imperial Majesty, that all those officers and seamen who have now contributed to the restoration of tranquillity, good order, and obedience to His Imperial Majesty, shall receive encouragement and reward;

It is hereby directed that three months additional pay shall, without deduction, be distributed _as a gratuity_ to the said officers and men.

Given under my hand, this 8th day of February, 1825,

COCHRANE AND MARANHA.

I had, it is true, no authority for making this extra payment, but at the same time, I had the authority of His Imperial Majesty to devote the 200,000 dollars to the good of the service--thus clearly leaving its disburs.e.m.e.nt to my discretion; and this appeared to me to be properly exercised in rewarding those who had been performing double duty afloat and ash.o.r.e, in the arduous task of putting down, and keeping down revolt and anarchy. On this principle, I had previously doubled the pay of some of the officers, without whose incessant exertion, I could not have effected the tranquillization of the province. It is true that the principle adopted was opposed to that pursued by the Administration, viz. neither to acknowledge these extra services nor reward them; but such a course neither accorded with my judgment nor discretion. The sums paid as above were entered in the usual manner in a pay book, acknowledged by the signatures of the recipients--attested by the officers--and, as has been said, duly forwarded to the Imperial Government.

I shall now give some extracts from the log before quoted in reference to these and other transactions:--

_January 5th_, 1825. His Lords.h.i.+p left at Hesketh's his last two months' pay, received this month, and also two months' pay for Captain Crosbie. Paid other officers and men two months' pay.

_6th_. Employed in sorting the paper money in the small iron chest. _Found its contents to be only_ 16,000 dollars.

(This was all that now remained of the 200,000 dollars received at Rio de Janeiro.)

_8th_. Officers having been paid, the men received to-day two months' pay.

_9th_. Admiral took to Hesketh's three bags of dollars (Each containing 1000 dollars, the remainder of money which I had brought from Chili, and which therefore had nothing to do with the Brazilian Government).

_February 10th_. Paid third payment of prize-money to Clewley, Clare and January.

_11th_. Paid prize-money to March and Carter.

_26th_. Paid Lieutenant Shepherd 1,500 dollars.

_28th_. Paid Commissary, Escriva, and Pilot.

_March 1st_. Paid Portuguese Doctor.

_3rd_. Paid Corning's account for s.h.i.+p provisions.

The above payments, with others disbursed in pursuance of my proclamation, were all made out of the balance of the 200,000 dollars aforesaid, and 40,000 dollars which had been in my possession ever since the capture of Maranham; the latter being the amount which I had refused to give up to the prize tribunal at Rio de Janeiro, well knowing that it would be returned to their Portuguese friends and connections. When these payments were made, a few hundred dollars alone remained. As this 200,000 dollars was the indisputable property of the squadron before it was a.s.signed for distribution amongst those to whom it belonged--on this ground alone it scarcely became the Government to raise doubts about its proper application; for they well knew that if it were not distributed, the fact could not be concealed from the officers and men, who would not have submitted quietly to my retention of their money, as has been shamelessly imputed to me. Not only was the whole disbursed--but the accounts, as has been stated, were faithfully transmitted to the Brazilian authorities at Rio de Janeiro, as appears by Captain Shepherd's receipt, adduced in the present volume, and years ago photographed, and transmitted with a memorial to the Brazilian Government, which, nevertheless, on the 28th of April, _in the present year_, published in its official organ, the _Correio Mercantil_, a report on the prizes made during the war of independence--excluding me from a share, on _the ground of not having delivered my accounts_. The following is an extract:--

(After enumerating the prizes, and estimating their gross value at 521,315 dollars--_not one-fourth of the real amount_--the Commission goes on to say:--)

Referring to what has been stated, it appears that the First Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Squadron from its commencement to the conclusion of the war, _had a right to his share of all prizes_--and so the Commission has judged in regard to the total value, amounting to the said sum of 521,315 milreis up to the 12th of February, 1824. _From that sum, however, must be deducted 200,000 dollars given to the Admiral on account of prize-money for distribution, which it does not appear by any doc.u.ment that he made_. It also appears by the report of the Junta of Maranha, of the 17th of October, 1825, that the said Admiral received the further sum of 217,659 dollars at different times, there appearing 108,736 dollars under the t.i.tle of indemnification for prizes made by the squadron in the port of that city, to be divided as such. _This division does not seem to have been made_.

From this it appears that the said Admiral must be charged as having received the sum of 308,238 dollars on account of prizes to be divided amongst the squadron; with the addition of 40,000 dollars which he received also by decree of the 23rd of February, to be, in like manner, divided amongst those who co-operated in the annexation of the province of Maranha, and the capture of the frigate _Imperatrice--seeing that there is no evidence that such distribution took place_--thus increasing the sum due to 348,238 dollars, of which the said claimant is bound to give account to the Imperial Government.

In consequence of the determination of the Regulations let this decree be printed and published.

Rio, April 21, 1858.

(Signed) JOAQUIM JOSe IGNACIO, _Chefe de esquadra_, President.

ANTONIO JOSe DA SILVA, _Contador da Marinha_.

JOSe BAPTISTA LISBOA, _Auditor e Secretario_.

This doc.u.ment, so recently promulgated, after the decision of the _Seccoes_ in 1854, and the expression of opinion given by the most eminent men of Brazil (see page 282), that I ought to have the whole of my claims--is really wonderful. But the false a.s.sertions it contains must be met.

And first--the receipt of the 40,000 dollars for the _Imperatrice_, I altogether deny, and can be easily convicted of untruth if my receipt for that sum can be produced. It is worthy of note, that the date of the decree for the payment of this sum is carefully given in the preceding doc.u.ment, but the data of my acknowledgment of having received is annulled for the sufficient reason that no acknowledgment was ever given. The 200,000 dollars, I trust that I have sufficiently accounted for, as well as for the vouchers sent to Rio by Captain Shepherd, whose receipt I took for the chest containing them. But the 200,000 dollars with which the Government charges me--even supposing the accounts to be lost--destroyed--or purposely made away with--was not the property of the Brazilian Government, but of the squadron, who received it only as part payment of ten times the amount due to them! This sum though the property of the squadron, was made to serve _as an advance of wages_, no less than as prize-money; and does the Brazilian Government imagine that any squadron could be sent to sea without money? Or that any reader of common sense will acquiesce in the a.s.sertion that under such circ.u.mstances it was not properly disbursed, even though I had not shewn _its precise disburs.e.m.e.nt_? The Brazilian Government well knows that the men composing the squadron were of so mutinous a character, that the slightest deviation from their rights would have been met with instant insubordination. Did this ever occur, even in the slightest possible degree? It is no fault of mine, if the accounts were destroyed, as I have no doubt they were, from pure malice towards myself, in order to bring me into an amount of disrepute, which might justify the withholding of my claims according to the stipulations of the Imperial patents. By whom this infamy was perpetrated, it is impossible for me to say--but that it was perpetrated--there cannot be the smallest possible doubt.

It is altogether unnecessary to say another word about the 40,000 dollars for the _Imperatrice_, or the 200,000 dollars for distribution--as the evidence adduced is sufficient to satisfy any man not determined to be unconvinced.

I now come to the amount alleged to have been received from the Junta of Maranham, viz. 217,659 dollars, "at different times," which I have no doubt is perfectly correct, though that portion of it under the t.i.tle of "indemnification for prizes"--is incorrect, the amount being 106,000 dollars--_minus_ the discount, and not 108,736 dollars as represented.

The difference is not, however, worth notice. Deducting this sum from the total of 217,659 dollars, would leave 108,923 dollars to be accounted for otherwise than as "indemnifieation." This also is, no doubt, correct. The inhabitants of Maranham cheerfully agreed _to pay and subsist the squadron_, provided it remained amongst them to preserve the order which had been restored, and the offer was accepted by me. The 108,923 dollars thus went for the pay and subsistence of the squadron during many months of disturbance; and if it prove any thing, it is the economy with which the wants of the squadron were satisfied, despite the corruption of the authorities, in paying double for provisions, because the merchants could only get paid at all, except by bribes to their debtors. Does the Brazilian Government mean to tell the world that it sent a squadron to put down revolution in a territory as large as half Europe, _without receiving a penny in the shape of wages_, except their own 200,000 dollars of prize-money--that it never considered it necessary to send to the squadron a single dollar of pay whilst the work was in process--and that it now considers it just to charge the whole expenses to me as Commander-in-Chief, though the expedition did not cost the Government any thing? Yet this is precisely that which the Brazilian Administration has done--with what justice let the world decide. I aver that the accounts were faithfully transmitted.

The Imperial Government of the present day, says that the accounts are not in existence--_not that I did not transmit them_! Surely they ought to blame their predecessors, not me. Let this history decide which of the two is deserving of reprobation.

I now come to the 108,736 dollars--or rather 106,000 dollars received from the Junta of Maranham as "indemnification,"--respecting which the Commission unjustly a.s.serts that "_no division appears to have been made!_" The untruth of this imputation, the most atrocious of all, is very easily met _by the publication of every receipt connected with the matter_; and to this I now proceed, requesting the reader to bear in mind that in my letter to the Minister of Marine (see page 209), I announced my intention of retaining for my own justification all _original doc.u.ments_, sending to the Government, copies or duplicates.

The whole of the subjoined receipts are now in my possession, and I demand from the Brazilian Government their verification, by its Ministerial or Consular representatives in Great Britain.

RECEIPTS OF OFFICERS,

And others for their proportion of 106,000 dollars paid by the Junta of Fazenda of Maranham in commutation of 425,000 dollars--the value of prize property left for the use of the Province on its acquisition from Portugal in 1823; the duplicates having been sent by me to the Imperial Government, the originals now remaining in my possession.

5,000 000.

Received from the Right Hon. Lord Cochrane, Marquis of Maranha, and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Armada, the sum of five thousand milreis, being four thousand one hundred and thirty-seven, or one-third of the Admiral's share of prize-money; and eight hundred and sixty three to account of double pay for services on sh.o.r.e.

DAVID JOWETT,

Maranha, 19th March, 1825. Chief of Division.

Received of the Right Hon. Lord Cochrane, Marquis of Maranha, First Admiral of Brazil, and Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the Empire, the sum of five hundred milreis, as a recompence for extra services as Commandant-Interim of His Imperial Majesty's s.h.i.+p _Piranga_, during the absence of Chief of Division Jowett, on service on sh.o.r.e at Maranha during four months past.

March 32nd, 1825. JAMES WALLACE.

Witness, W. JACKSON.