Crampton to the Marquis de Miraflores, December 16, 1863

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M. le Min’re: In conformity with the wish expressed” by your excellency’ in the conversation which I had the honor of holding with you on the 14th instant upon the subject of the slave trade in the island of Cuba, I proceed to particularize, in writing, those measures to which I allude as being, in the opinion of her Majesty’s government, calculated to put a final stop to that deplorable traffic, the adoption of which measures I am instructed to press upon her Catholic Majesty’s government.

As I had the honor of stating to your excellency, the government of the Queen, my mistress, have learned with extreme satisfaction, from the official reports of her Majesty’s consul at Havana, that a considerable diminution in the number of negroes illegally imported into Cuba within the year ending the 5th of September last has taken place as compared with former years, and also that a well-judged amelioration in the treatment of those legally held in slavery there has been encouraged by the authorities of her Catholic Majesty—a measure, as her Majesty’s consul remarks, which has happily combined a regard for humanity and a sensible increase in the productiveness of the plantations in which it has been adopted.

Her Majesty’s government have pleasure in recognizing the good will and activity displayed by the present captain general of Cuba, as well as the measure of his success, in checking the slave trade. It appears, however, that such are the temptations to unprincipled individuals to introduce slaves into Cuba, and such the facilities still afforded to them by the defects of certain parts of the Spanish laws regarding the subject, that without some modifications in these, his well-meant efforts must continue to fall short of their intended object.

The measures to which her Majesty’s government would call your excellency’s attention are:

1st. An enactment declaring slave trade to be piracy. This is a measure which has been adopted by many nations, including those* possessing large numbers of slaves. Its success has been signal in checking the slave trade in countries where it most prevailed. It has mainly contributed to free Brazil from the stigma attaching to this inhuman traffic, and that without any injury to her productiveness or material prosperity. Her Majesty’s government are not aware of any sound argument which can be alleged against this measure.

2d. A modification of the 9th and 13th articles of the Spanish penal code in force in the island of Cuba.

According to the former of these articles, the authorities cannot seize imported negroes when once they have been conveyed to a property or plantation, however notorious the fact of such violation of the law having been committed may be.

According to the latter, the legal punishment of slave traders and their accomplices can only be inflicted in virtue of a sentence by the Royal Audencia Pretorial. Now it is well known that the difficulty of producing evidence before this court is so great, that proof to convict those accused of such charges is seldom, if ever, obtained, however morally convinced the ruling authorities maybe of their guilt. It is true that the captain general has power to remove officers of whose “delinquency he feels certain, and it is true that the present Captain General Dulce, his predecessor, the Duke de la Torre, and others, have exercised this power in regard to certain flagrant cases; but how much more effective as regards public opinion, how much more satisfactory to her Catholic Majesty’s government would it be, that such punishment and degradation should result from a legal conviction, rather than from the exercise of a discretional power.

I believe that in stating that the experience of the Duke de la Torre, as well as that of General Dulce, have caused them to coincide in the opinion that the adoption of both the measures to which I have above adverted would be expedient and necessary for the final extirpation of the slave trade in Cuba. I am not overstepping the truth in bringing, however, these measures under your excellency’s attention. I feel confident that they will be submitted to the enlightened examination due to the intrinsic merits of the great end they are meant to forward, and also with the most friendly disposition on your excellency’s part to set at rest forever a serious and painful matter of discussion between the governments of Great Britain and Spain.

I avail, &c., &c.