Star. — London, England, 1807-12-30 00:00:00

V tr. WEST INDIES. FROM THE POSTIICRIPT TO THE ST. /AGO DE lA. II VEGA GAZETTE. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, OCTOBER se.. The Houfe, according to order, refolved itfelf into a Committee of the whole out', to inquire into and take into confideration the flan of the Mr. SPtaxßa left the Chair. MoRPHr took the Chair of the Committee. Ur. StIAKIII. returned the Chair. Mr. Moe PH Y 9 from the Committee, reported, that, purfuant to the order of the Houfe, the Committee had proceeded to take into confideration the remain. ing part of the Report on the effete of the Aft for abolifhing the Slave Traie, and had come to eight Refolutions on the fubjeft of the laid Report, which he read in his place, and delivered it at the table, where being again leverally read were agreed unto by the Houle, nem. eon, and are as follows : Refol7ed, That the Aft of the Imperial Parlia ment for abolithing the nave trade is pregnant with evils to this ifland, militating not only againtt its general welfare and intereß,butthreatenicg its total deßrueion as a Britifh Welt India 'Colony. That depriving this extenfive and yet unfettled Hind of the means of a fupply of labourers from Africa, to cultivate the mutt be eventually ruinous to the proprietors and others interelted in it : ntanrinduftrious and enterprifing tattlers, who have braved theidifficulties and hardships, always attendant on infant eltablifltments in the interior and moun tainous fiinations, will, with their families, be reduced to poverty and wretchednefs ; and, when thefe fet tlements are abandoned by their prefent inhabitants, they. will again become the haunts and faltneffes of difaffeeed and rebellious negroes. That properties in poileffion of mortgagees, re ceivers, guardians, and others, mull &wily fall a Verifice to this Parliamentary regulation ; becaufe, From their peculiar circurratances, they cannot be fupplied with labourers, the refult of which will be, to deprive a numerous defcription of perfons, from the culla date of infancy, to the moil advanced and helplefs ages, of the common means of educa tion and fupporr. The Committee forbear, at prefent, to animadvert further on the injuttice and impolicy of that part of the Aft which relates to the Abolition of the Slave Trade. —The Britith Parliament have fo enatied it ! ut the Aft contains claufes, foreign to the avowed punpoles of the law, which are calculated to ellablifh aneafures of internal regulation, tobverfive of the local rights and legidative authority of this Wand, repugnant to its colonial laws long ex- Ming, and founded upon wife policy, and molt hu• mane confideratipfts. t And that the Aft of this Wand of the 15 Qeo. 111. cap. 18, for regulating the manumiffion of negroes. is (tiredly connterafted by the operation of the claufes alluded to. That the Aft blends two dilline °kWh, the one having an external operation upon our commerce and trade, which was the objeft fir ft profeffed by the partifans of the meafure ; the other, from the vari pus alterations which the nil has undergone, and in which the original principtes were departed from, having an internal and unjult operation, by interfer. ing with, and being fubverfive of laws which are to regulate the internal government or the 'colony I— the muffing of which has long and uniformly been afferted by this ifland, and recognized by the parent Rate. Vat, as the original faders of this illan I were free 13:itilb lubjeCts ' many of whom allied in the Conquet of it from Spain, it is manifeft that they brought with them all the rights and privileges of Britons : That the native (pita of freedom, which dillinguithes Britifh fubjeas, is alto the charalteriftic of his Majefty's loyal inhabitants of Jamaica ; and that every attempt to abridge, or interfere with, the colonial rights of this ifland, have been contlantly 'reified. The arbitrary meafures; in the reign of Charles 11. to impofe the Irith .form of legiflation upon this country ; the many fubfequent endea vours to fahnitufe the King's infiruttions for laws of the itland ; to raife money without the concurrence of the people's Repreferratives ; have ever been re ified, and; we trill}, will never be fubmitted to by this colony. . That perfons in this itland, charged with offence's againtt the Abolition Al, are not, as in Great DO min, liable to be tried only in CoOrts of Record,but thofe offences are made alto tognitable in the CoOrts el Vice Admiralty, although committed in the inte rior 'of the country, which enactment is an abfolute disfranchifement of the colonifl, by depriving him of his birth right, the Trial by Jury. That, in regard to the retources of the itland, it appears that, from the lad ireat efforts which have been made by the African merchant and factors in England, the importation of flares in the current year has been fo confiderable, as to have produced, on account of the negro duties, a furplus of near 32,0001. after dedu6ing the ellimate for the year, and that it is probable, that the duties which will =We from the negroes recently imported, and thofe which are expected to arrive before the day limited for the termination of the trade, will amount to a farther (urn of 20,0001. making about 50,0001. ap propriable to the capence of the ellablithment of the ifiand, or towards redeeming the itland papers, which are outflandiug, and which amount to 260,0001. a confiderable part bearing interell at eight per cent. ; but, immediately after the tint day of March next, that refouree will be entirely cut off. That another productive branch of the Auld revenue, the land tax, introduced to meet the heavy debt occafioned by the Maroon war, and other martial laws, cannot be relied upon to ecme in aid of our exigencies to the nfital extent, fence the uncnltivated lands are now rendered of no value to the proprietors ; the Ilamp duties will alto, neceffarily, be diminifired ; and the operation of the deficiency law will he unav ailing, with terpeet to the objeZts either of policy or revenue, ince the temptation which induced fettlers to come to, or to continue in, the itland, will no longer exill, the natural confequence of which will be, that the white Militia mutt inevitably be contiderably di. minifhed. That, in purfuing the inquiry into the caufeswhich have occafioned the reduction of the value of the fkaple commodities of this itland in the Britith mar kets, the Committee find that much light has been •• . tbreiviit en the ruble& by -femur ;publications, *lstch have been widely eireulatekh Old by the report of a Committee of the Imperial Parliament, made the laft fethons, after very full inquiry. r • As there publications, and that teport, are accorn• panted by, and grounded on, official doctiruents, and the melt re(peftable evidence, the Committee-coati • der it onneceffary to enter on an inveftigation °fleas now not controverted, and think they are juaified in. reporting that the following appear the principal' caufes which have produced theextreme depreciation of our principal Retrie s fugar : ill, The departure from what has been ufually called the rule of the war of 1756, but which, in fadt, was eflabliffied long be fore that period, and decided, r 6 That a neutral had no right to deliver a belligerent from the preffore of his enemies' by trading with his colonies in time of war, in An y. manner which was prohibited in time of peace." zd. The peculiar relaxations of this rule, by the orders iffued to the prize courts, in the years 1794. and 1798 refute - lively, whic', with very trifling modi fi cations, continue to regulate the decrees of thole important tribunals. 3d. The gen. graphical pofition of the ports of the United States of North America, the neutral power chiefly engaged in carrying the produce of the enemies' Weft India Colonies, which renders the few rellrillions yet re tained by the salt mentioned orders to be hardly an inconvenience, as they are got over by fyfternatic fraud and perjury. 4th. The eafy expence and fe corky with which, by means of this fraudulent fyltem of neutrality, the fugars of the enemies' colonies are tranfported to the European markets, it having been proved that, for freight and infurance alone, the Britifh planter pays for every hundred weight of fu gal, conveyed through the parent (late to the ports of Holland, or the north of Europe, Bs. rtd. tier. ling, and to the Mediterranean I as. 6J more than attaches on the goods of the French or Spanith cul tivator, carried in neutral bottoms to the fame mar kets. gth. The reftridlions on importation into the continental ports, from the power and influence of French domination, whilft the temptation to refill or evade it, is taken away by the abundant fupply brought under the neutral flag. 6th. A rigid en• forcement of the navigation fyltem againfl the Brit& Colonies, at the time when it was thought expedient to grant relaxations in favour of neutrals and ene mies. The agriculture of the colonies of the latter has been encouraged by a monopoly of the demand from the United States of America, and by having their produce tranfported under the fate and cheap protatian of the neutral flag, to every market where it was in requeft. The Britilh planter, without funds or credit in the mother country, where his Raple was of no value, has been refirained from harming any part of his fugar, in exchange for the lumber and fifh which could not be difpenfed with, which his rum was unequal to fatisfy, and for which, often, it would not be received, whilfl it has been 'hewn that no other refources were left. He has been called upon to fend to the American market fuch produce as he wiffied to fell or barter there in &lab bottoms, but no con voys have been appointed, no facilities given to an intercourfe which would have required the molt de cided and regular prated:lion. He is required to fact ifice his all to the prefervation of what is called the navigation fyflem. Of that fyllem he admits the wifdom and general utility ; but he humbly fubmits that it Ihould be fupported at the common expence of the empire ; and mull be permitted to doubt the j office of relaxing it for temporary purpofes, in favour of other claffes, and rigidly enforcing it againft him alone, when not merely occafioning expence and inconvenience, but overwhelming him with ruin.- 7th. The inadequacy of the demand for the ufe of Great Britain and Ireland, compared with the pro dation of the colonies, which mull, under the eiiffing laws, be carried arid &poked there, whether there (tall or (ball not be a profpeit of exportation. The excels of importation, above the confumption of the United Kingdom, is nearly two-fifths of the whole quantity, or above too,oco hoglbeads of fugar ; but the lofs of two fifths of the gro(s produce of his ethic will be far from the meafure of the Planter's damage --the remainder can never bear a fair price, whilft the quantity in the market fo far exceeds what the confumer reqoires. Which excels and depreffion are inereafed by encouraging a licenfed intercourfe with the ifland of St. Domingo or Hayti. Bth. The ex CeStre duties which) continue to be levied on this (bele now bearing no proporti as to the ;sr ice, falling nearly, if nut wholly, on the grower, and not as has been at all times intended or profeffed, on the con fumer. To thefe may be added the diTcouragemcnt to the planters by the confumption, in the navy and other wife, of foreign brandies and fpirits, the ufe of which might be ii a great mealure fuperfeded by rum. A policy infringing the fy Hem of reciprocal monopoly, and aggravating d'illrefs, which more liberal endue towards the Colonies might have al ley i afed. Continuint Om coffee a duty, amounting to a prohibition, in place of endeavouring to bring this wholefome beverage into general ufe, mull be a MI fubjed of complaint to the inhabitants of this ifland, and mull by the Committee be adverted to, as affec ting the price of an important Raple, which may foon be excluded from the Continental market, tbrough the only channel open to the grown. But the ovet whelming dittrefs of the fugar planter, fwallows up all inferior and lefs preffing evils. What has been long known and felt here, has been lately fully proved before a Committee of the Houle of Com mons, that, from the operation ot the caufes which we have only briefly adverted to, the great Raple of the Biitifh Well Indies, fugar, does not fell in the markets of the mother country for the duties, with the expences and charges of (ending it there. And that, with the exception of a few plantations on a very large fcale, or under circurnfiances peculiarly fortunate, no revenue whatever is left to the planter, for the fupport ot his family, or the fatisfadlioA of his creditors. The Committee need hardly reprefent that the only permanent fourca_ of taxation muft be the clear revenue of the individuals cumpofing the fo• ciety, who give up a proportion of it to the general ufe, and for the common fafety, in whatever manner that proportion may be railed. If a community Stall ever be reduced to that calamitous &nation, when the whole clear income of the proprietors of the foil thall have been put in regniiition for the ttaafury, there can remain inethat country fcw objcas of legi t timate taxation. • • it,haX'been proved beyond the polEbility of befog! Controverted, tbat.the cultivators of roger in this Mod, comprehending both landholders and farmers, are, with very few exceptions, in the udfortunare date fuppofea, even if they were exempt from the burthen of debts. • The greateft proportion of the taxes of this coml. 'try is raifed on this body of proptietors direBly, and a •conliderable (hare of the remainder indiratly, through various claffes of the inhabitants, whole chief , means of fupport are drawn from the roger planta-' tinny. • - ' It were pain to fearch for means of levying iihrt of] a revenue that does not exit!. And it is painful to the Committee to Rate, that it will be impraticable to continue to raife within this ifland, thofe contri butions which were cheerfully paid iri happier times, unlefs the fugar planters than be enabled to rapport their !hare of the public burthens, by Tome radical, e tetanal, and permanent meafures, which lkall reftore and enfure to them an income, bearing a jell pro portion to their large capitals, on which our local taxes have been heretofore chiefly affeffed. That, from the unexpelted rums which have been, And may be, collated, from the extraordinary im portation of Africans, as before Rated, and the un expated falling in of debts due to the public, it may be praticable, with rigid economy in all 'other branches of the public expenditure, to continue loch fubfillence another year. And the Committee re commend to the Houle to vote rums neceirary for giving the raid additional fubfiftence to the 31f1 day of December, zBoS. The Committee humbly hope, that, on a faithful reprefentation to our moil gracious Sovereign, of the calamitous fituation to which his loyal fubjela of this ifland are reduced, his blajefty, with his accuftomed benevolence, will recognize the uniform zeal with which the voluntary contributions ' towards the comfort of his Majefty's troops in this ifland have been made, whilft the inhabitants had the means : and, confidering the Rate to which proprie tors, once opulent, are reduced, that, his Majefty will be pleafed to direa his Minifters to adopt fuch mea- Cures as (ball be neceflary for - protating this yet im portant colony from the general funds of the empire, to which it contributes fo large and difproportionate a fhare. And the Committee recommend to the Houle to appoint a Committee to prepare a moll humble Addrefs to his Majelty, fatting forth thefe our grievances and oppreifions, earneftly !screeching' his Majefty's commands on his Miniflers to adopt proper meafures for our relief' and redrefs. Ordered, that Mr Stevenlon, Mr. Grant, Mr.White borne, Mr. Sims, and Mr. Finlayfon, be a Committee for that pnrpofe. 2. Refolved, That this Houfe, for itfelf, and on the part of its conaituents ' and of all other perfons in any manner concerned in the welfare of this ifland, do, in the molt folemn and decided manner, proteft againft the at of the Imperial Parliament, palled on the 2sth day of March left, entitled, sr An All for the Abo lition of the Slave Trade," not only as a breach, on the part of government, of the conditions under which his Majefty's fubjefts embarked in the fettle• ment of this Wand, but as a novel, unjuft, and uncon- Ilitutional interference with its internal government and affairs ; calculated to defeat and to fubvert our laws, to deprive us of our deareß birthrights, the trial by jury, to raife envy and jealoufy in the !smelts of the fettlednegroes ; fubverlive of an ancient and admitted principle of the Britifts Conflitution, that no laws can be binding on thofe who are not repre. rented in the Parliament which enacts them, placing not only our rights and properties, but alfo our liver, in the molt imminent ] danger, and tending to promote dilatation in the ands of his Majelty's molt loyal fubjeas. 3. Refolved, That the Legiflattire of this ifland has, and ever had, the excluffve and abfolute right to enact its own laws, and to regulate entirely its in ternal government and affairs : That the Imperial Parliament lath not, nor bath any other power upon earth, the moll dillant right to interfere therein, (except only his Majelly, in the inftance of difallow ing the laws here made), and that in fupport of the deareft rights and liberties of our fellow fubjeas, it is our duty, by all conflitutional means in our power, to refill the attempt that has been, and every attempt that may be, made, to deftroy or to abridge that right. 4. Refolved, That this Houfe, in more fortnnate days, when the lituation of the inhabitants of this ifland was different, and when the burthens and re ark:Hats impofed by Great Britain were infinitely lets oppreffive than they now are, has never failed in fhewing the Rrongeft difpofition to render the fitua tion of Ids Majefty's troops in this ifland molt com fortable ; and that this houfe is Mil influenced by the fame difpofition ; but is totally deprived of the , fame means. 5. Refolved, 'l'hat the nfual pay and fubfiflence granted to his Majeßy's white troops, Rationed in this ;Rand, to the extent of Soon men, be continued to them until the 3t ft day of December, 18a ; in the firn place, by exhaulling the funds to arife from the duties on new negroes, under the aft commonly called the additional duty bill, and, as to the deficiency, out of the monies to arife from Come or one of the other money bills to be paired this feffion. 6. Refolved, That the abolition ad, by its totally denroying, for the future, the cußomary revenue under the negro duty bill, by its baneful creels on nor ordinary tefoorces, and its general tendency to overwhelm the unfortunate fettlers and inhabitants of this ifland, in combination with the endive duties and charges on our produce, and the well•known general dtarefs of the colony, tender us totally una ble to make any provifion for his Majefty's troops, beyond the period above mentioned, nor can we contemplate a renewal of fuch grants, until, by a redrefs of DOT grievances, the minds of our confti. tuents refpeCling our conflitutional rights mall be quieted, and the poireffion of the. means fhall again enable us to bear fa heavy a burthen. 7. Refolved, That, under the preffirre of a heavy public debt, and of individual dillrefs, now adtually telt and become infupportable ; and from the pro. fpee of the calamities which mutt be the inevitable conferprence of the abolition ad, it is abfolutely ne cefary to relieve all ranks, by moderating the taxer, and by retrenching the public expenditure in every poffible manner, even in Come cafes of acknowledged public benefit and advantage. That the vote of the Houfe, refuting the annual grant of ts,oool. for roads at a diftence from the fest, by which internal fouler:; who Co mach augment our arength, are e .• 'd i t ri t i i:f s u arr . f 4 pen n a ci gta d b f a ir r i a h t c h n k e n t i , :r e e b fe c n e f p t o t a tt l o i l n we a d grants li li m P i fo t b e r d y psrblic a de r g e r r e :b il u a t i t n l nn t under very apparent neceffity. 8. Refolved, That the further profecenion of the meaferes about to be adnpled in the Imperial Nair, ment . for the-reliet of the fugal- colonies; the repeal in toto of the Abolition Ad; or, if that csrinnt tx effected, the ahfolute repeal, at leaf of aU the oboo‘i. ous and unconftitutional enadments thereof; coupled with a full compenfation to the Wand for its lodes, fufferings, and difappointments, in confequence of the abolition of the trade; the adoption :by the tills Government of the means of affording general protedion to this colony at the general erpence of the empire ; and, above all, an abandonment by the Imperial Parliament of every retention to an inter. ference with our internal government cr affairs, are objeas of the higheft importance •to this i fl and, and call for the immediate, the ferious, and molt ener `getic attention of the ifland agent. KINGSTON, (JAMAICA) OCTOBER 31. The brig Atkinfon, Annet, from this port bound to the Indian coaft, put back laft week into Yallah's Bay leaky, having encountered a tremendous hurri cane on the 17th intim, in which the had heady been loft ; the hurricane blowing from N. W. while the was embayed by Cape Levall, and drifting lift upon the rocks under bare poles, it being.impoilible to carry fail, as, the tlrongeft canvas would not have refilled the ftrength of the breeze : i n thi s p er il ous fitnation the was driven fo cloth to the rocks that the crew, 27 in number, feeing no poftibility of Caving themfelves, had refigned themfelves to their unfortu nate fate, waiting for the awful moment that was to put A period to their efiftence, when the wind fud. dent) , and molt providentially Rated to the S. W. of which they Wendy availed themfelves, by hoifting tome tarpaulins on the fore rigging, got the yard before the wind and clear of the Cape, when they ifkudded fix hours at the rate of t t knots per hour. The Heeded trader St. Matthew, on her way from the Harannah to this port, was, on Thurfday fen night, at two P. M. chafed otfthore, within a mile of 'Portland Point, by a French privateer of five guns and upwards of too men, and feveral paffengers on board robbed of fpetie to the amount of 45,000 dol. tars. The banditti who compofed the crew then left her, and went after a Negro belonging to a poor Merman in that quarter, wh o m they took with them, and direely after flood out to tea. The St. Matthew, after great exertions by her crew, was extricated, and came into Pert Royal on the follow. ing evening. The Gipfy tchooner, of to guns, Watt mailer, arrived on Tuefday from a cruize. Off Bluefields, on the 2,3 d ult. the deluded a fchnoner dole in (Lore, when the Gypfy hauled her wir.d and gave chace, and on firing a gun at her the enemy trollied Englith colours, but continued her courfe. She afterwards hauled down the Englith and hnifted the French flag, and fired a (hot, which carried away the Gipfy's (larboard foremaft aloud, and continued a running fight for an hour and a half, when the Gipfy, having a valuable licenfed trader under convoy, was obliged to give up the chace. The privateer was f u pp o f e d to be the Prince Murat. Off Cape Maize the Lavater was plundered of all her running rigging, live Rock, Bce. by a French pri vateer, of two guns and 40 men. The drogging fchooner Polly, Lennon, failed on Saturday for Calabel's Bay, but was compelled to return into port lhortly after, in confequence of hav- ing been chafed by a French privateer, which had captured the fchooner Little Ann, Marks ' that failed the fame morning for Mor a n' B a y. Th e (loop Baker, from Black River, was alfo taken by the f a m e privateer, the crew of hich, after taking out the failor ncgroes and an inland Jack, (offered her to proceed on her voyage to this port, where the arrived on Sunday. BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOES, SEPT. rp. The American brig Venus, from New London, fell in at eleven, A.M. on Saturday lan, with the two French privateers Pune Addle and Fripon, 250 miles to the windward of this ifland, cruizing in con fort; and being boarded by them, was informed that they bad, on the ad inn. after a (harp corneß of four hours, captured a Bridal brig packet from Falmouth, and fent her to Cayenne. On board the Jeune Addle, winch bad lately been engaged off Demerara by the - Skipjack, King's fchoo ner, they admitted having had, in that and in the more recent ;salon with the packet ; about twenty men wounded ; and the American Rates, that he obferved on board both privateers a great number of wounded, force of whom he imagined were Brio tifb prifoners. The Venus, three hours after having fpoken the privateers, fell in with his Majelly'a fhip Blonde, which, kilt as the had brought her to, deferied the enemy, then about t 5 miles to windward of her, and inflantly made fail in chafe. At funfet, on Sunday, the American alfo (poke his Majeßy's brig Supe• rieure, too miles to windward, (landing to the north ward and ealtward. The following is an Extract of a Letter from Captain M'Ls•tt, dated off Dover, Dec. 28. * I faded from Cape Francois, on' the a9th ult in company with the Lady Warren; when off the Corcos More I hove•to to (peak to her, the being then on one weather quarter, when Ile CA= almoß wat►er hail of us, to my great furprise, I taw her put about and (land In Quire from us, and I taw no more of ler. I left at the Cape the Alexander, Watt ; Charlton, and Duke of York, Dunn." The Eliza, Search, from Cabs; and Antoinette, for St. Domingo (both for ISaltinaore); !multi, Harley, to Savaupeh Fox, —, to New York; and Monarch, —, to Guernfey, all from St. Domingo; Horatio, •—••••, from New York to Hon• duras; and the iledor, —, from Guernfey to St. Domingo, are all detained and foot Into Jamaica. The Jere) Baltimore, -......, of and for Baltimore to Jamaica, it taken and carried into Cuba. Th e Grinder, -- , from Halifax ; and Atlantic, ..—..., from New York, both for St. Domingo, have been taken, gink g o, an 4 canted lot* Jamaica. The Experiment, from Virginia to Jamaica, is eapured . The gio, Pergofon, from London to Tobago, to Branded o 3 the coati of France, The Maryland Mary, from Virginia to anima, is taken by a Ruinan privateer, and carried into Corfu. A copper-bottomed Guinean:an (ruppefed to be the Beaver, of Liverpool), of :8 guns, with sio (lave:, laft from Barbados:, is taken and carried into Cuba. ' 4 ;.~_ t