The Sun. — London, England, 1848-02-04 00:00:00

THIE SUN, 1,01 1 .-TDON, FRIDAY EVENiVa, FEfiIqUARY 4, 184& . 4 - three Lira es as dense as that of Ireland, and nearly three times as dense as that of England—which was more dense ly peopled than any other spot in the world, unless it w are Malta—the planters were unable to compete with the slave grown sugar of Cuba and Brazil, although they bad a duty of 6s. in their favour? He believed that there was sea example of any country with free labour being able - to compete with the labour of slaves. He had heard it said that Porto Rico was an example of this kind; but in Porto Rico sugar-planting was carried on entirely, or nearly so, by slaves. He was aware that 'Colonel Flinter, writing from Madrid some eighteen years ago, held a different opinion, but since that we had entertained very contrary ideas on the subject. Colonel Irlinter said in 1830, and that opinion was con stantly quoted in the House of Commons in the debates of 1833—that for one shilling sterling of daily wages a free labourer would work in the field* of Porto Rico from sunrise to sunset, and on a moderate calculation would perform more work in that time than two slaves. At the time that Colonel Flinter was thus speaking the exports of sugar from Porto Rico amounted co 20.000 tons; while the exports for the year 1847, up to the 10th of September last, according to the circalars which he (Lord G. Bentioek) had seen, amounted to 40,000 tons. But how had this been arrived at ? Was it by free labour that these results had been obtained ? Ile held in his hew', an extract from a work, the truth of which he had tio doubt would be confirmed by an Honourable G 6 nt'..ieman who was present. It was an extract from a work by Mr. Macgregor, who stated that in 1828 taere were 1,437,285 acres of land held there by 19,140 proprietors. At the same time, 423 individuals were proprietors of estates regularly worked by slaves, of 'which 275 were sugar estates, and 148 plantations. Mr. Macgregor went on to say that in 1822 there were bet 29 sugar estates, and the value of the sugar ea perted amounted to 57,0134 dollars; but he said that, in conse quence of the liberal conduct of Governor Latrobe, great encouragement was given to sugar planting under his administration, and a considerable immigration took place in this island. Mr. Macgregor said that dee ;planters from the neighbouring islands of St. Croix and 'St. Thomas brought their slaves to Porto Rico, and that, in consequence of the introduction of these slaves, and the capital possessed by their owners, the island bad continued to prosper since 1828, and had been and still continued to be s very considerable source of rerenue to the mother country. Thus it was shown that the prosperity of Porte Rico was en tirely owing to the encouragement given to alaveowners to come to Port Rico and bring their slaves with them. Bat, if the evidence of Mr. Macgregor was mot Sufficient, he had got another authority, which, per haps, would prevail more at the Colonial-office than even that of Isle, Macgregor. He had in his hand an extract ofr.i 'S feature on politic a l econom y, re l a ti ng to t h e i s l an d ..sorto Leo, which said, " So long as the fertility of sae land remains unexhausted, it is probable that the aloyenly labour of the small proprietors may continue to raise a considerable quantity of export produce; but it 'Cannot be doubted that most of its surface is io longer in this condition. It is becoming less practicable to cultivate it every day, excepting on large estates, with Ithe aid of much capital, and with numerous gangs of slaves." The same author went on to state that an .enormosts importation of slaves into this island was going on, and that the exports of sugar had increased from 2,0,000 tons in 1828, to 47,000 tons at the time when his lecture was written. The author of this lecture on poli tical economy was Mr. Merivale, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, and he hoped that Mr. Merivale Would instil into the mind of his noble chief that nothing could be more illusory than to suppose that free labour 'could over compete with slaves. But he (Lord G. Ben tinck) wanted no better authority than that of Lord Grey himself. He recollected that during the debates of 1833 the Noble Lord, taking very much the same view which he did now, retired from the Colonial-offfie, where he had been, he (Lord George Bentinok) be lieved, for three years, and, in resisting the apprentice ship scheme, urged in that illouse, With great vehe mence, eloquence, and power, that apprenticeship was only 'mother species of slavery, which robbed the free labourer of four-fifths (as we 'snderstood) of his labour. Lord G re y sa id that it '755 proved beyond all doubt 1 4 h s at the highest est s. a year ; " ; _'.:eate for a slave's subsistence was t a h , ;tea, at laterperiod of the discussion aiis stat..imse, a was by Lord Stanley, who that 50s. was a high estimate for the cost of a slave's maintenance in the West Indies. It should be recollected, also, that these people were slaves during a mitigated period of slavery. With respect to the num ber of hours during which they were bound to work, they were bound to work fire days and a . half during the week ; and, even in the Crown colonies, they were expected to work nine hours a now(?day.—Hear, bear.) What was the state of free labour ln the West Indies, and in Jamaica particularly, it was with difficulty that the people could be got to work four days in the week ; and, when they did work, they were only employed, on the average, seven hours a day, for which they got wages, even when provision grounds were given in, of is. 3d. a day. He had a statement male to him by a Noble Lord high in office under her Majesty's Government, informing that in the last year the labourer who worked the greatest number of days on his estate, where there were 1,500 labourers, worked 164 days, and that labourer was a woman. The man who worked the greatest number of days worked but 134 days in the year; so that three days a week on this estate was the utmost labour that could be obtained from those free labourers, and the Noble Lord was not a gentleman who was backward with wages.----(A. Voice --" Where is this estate!") In Jamaica. He paid half a dollar a day for work, though he could only get that work from six hours and a half to seven hours a day. How then, he (Lord G. Bentinok) asked, could these free labourers in Jamaica ever be brought into competition with slaves, who, he presumed, could be maintained in Cuba and Brand at least as cheaply as ever they were maintained in the Bri tish colonies ? And it was to be remarked, that slavery in the British colonies, since 1623 at least, was slavery of a most mitigated character. They had twenty-six days allowed them by law, exclusive of Sun days, and holydays at Christmas and Easter, and this, not only in the Crown colonies, but in all others. In the Crown colonies slave labour was limited to nine hours a day, but it was not so in Cuba or Brazil. In Cuba the slaves worked sixteen hours a day, and during crop time twenty hours a day. It was said that the negroes in the sugar plantations there lived, on an average, for ten years. A Noble Friend of his was in Cuba lately, and he stated that he visited for a single day an estate of a planter in that country. He saw these wretched negroes driven to their work. There were 100 men and eight women on the estate, aid on the day that his Noble Friend was there the agent informed him that two of the men had hanged themselves.—(Hear, hear.) But if a negro hanged himself in that country his Place was soon filled up. How did the House suppose that the slave-drivers in Cuba were prepared to enforce discipline? He remembered the horror which used t o be excited in that House by the mention of a driver carrying a whip with him, though it was assorted that the whip was only the emblem of power. But a w hip was not enough in Cuba. No driver ventured to go a mong the slaves unless armed with a cutlass and a dag ger, and he would probably also be attended by a couple of b loodhounds, as the slaves were more afraid of blood hounds than of men. This was the way in which slaves were treated in Cuba, and this was the kind of slavery that we were stimulating by admitting slave-grown anger into this country.—(Cheers.) He saw the Right lien. Gentleman (Mr. Labouchere) take a note of that; the Right Hon. Gentleman, he was sure, would not contradict him when he said that the admission of slave grown sugar would stimulate slavery, because he was old enough to remember the Right Hon. Gentleman using th e Sara. argument himself. What free labour could compete with the slave labour of Cuba and Brazil, at the price given as wages for the former? He held in his hand a statement of the amount of wages given for free labour in British Guiana, a statement which rested on the autho rity of Governor Light. He stated that 25,000 labourers received 300,000 dollars a month. If, therefore, there should be any attempt to excites ympathy for these free labourers, he hoped that the people of this country would think a littl e o f w h at they had already done for the ne trees in the West Indies. The people of this country, he apprehended, were willing to make a sacrifice in order to see the Slaves in the West Indies emancipated, but he conceived they never intended that those emancipated slaves should be suddenly raised to a conditicw far above their own, They never intended that the negro, whose emancipation cost 20,000,0001. sterling, should repay their generosity by idleness, and refusing to compensate them by hi s labour for the millions which had been silent. The wages of field labourers in British Guiana, as stated by Governor Light, were for navigators, work ing from 7 to 8 hours, 45. 6d. a day ; digging small drains, 7 to 8 hours, 4s. 6d. ; cutting and carrying canes, to 6 hours, 48. 6d. ; shovel ploughing, 6 to 6 hours, relieving and supplying, 5 to 6 hours, 2s. Bd.; "'int? Cleaned lands, 5 to 6 hours, ls. Bd.; weeding aid ould,ing young canes, 5 to 6 hours, Is. 6d. ; clearing t nas and grass, 5 to 6 hours, ls. 6d. ; weeding and s aching , 4 to 6 hours, Is. 6d. • making on an average ours and 54 minutes of work ' done per day, at average wages of 2a 811 There were also in-door labourers engaged with the mills, who were not so well paid, but thesei were the wages which the field labourers got. here were those in Demerara who thought that if TeY could get 100,000 or 150,000 free labourers — "lough were they were to be procured he could not tell labourers— _ would be able to beat down competition ; but it must be recollected that there were 25,000 labourers in sh In Guiana already, which extended about 200 miles. a country, therefore, where food could bo 'grown so ;IV Y ' what possibility was there of beating down coulclr by competition to the point at which slaves wor k ? Besides, it must be perfectly clear that although there West In was a great desire to immigrate into the dies now existing in Madeira, where the Portu guese Government was obliged to have a steamer of war in order to prevent Portuguese subjects from going to the West In dies, as soon as wages were beaten down to the point deed, th e wish of the Portuguese to get there would besir re moved also. He was one of those who thought that this object could not be attained by immi gration into Barbadoes or Antigua, though perhaps something might be done in Jamaica, but not enough to enable free labourers to compete with slave grown sugar produced by slaves maintained at a cost of 503. a year. While a free labourer in Demerara cost 311. a year, and the subsistence of a slave could be Procured in Cuba for 505., the slave did three times as Much work, and, not only so, but did the work when it tes wanted to be d one. The great loss which was sus ained in the West Indies arose in some measure from the fact th a t the n egroes frequently did not work when t he canes were r i pe, and that the canes consequently r otted, and ruined a whole pan of sugar. He thought that, as regarded immigration, much might be done in e moving obstructions and in cheap en i ng the conveyance O f, immigrants. He could not under s t an d why any fear sl ave -trading should prevent the British p l anter from obtaining labourers on the coast of Africa, so long as those labourers were free when they left the shore. It *es impossible to doubt that the condition of the African the Chinaman, and the Hindoo, would be immensely benefited by their transport to these islands. He held in his hand a speech of Sir C. Metcalfe, delivered in 1840, only two years after emancipation had been com pleted, in which he described the condition of the ne groes of Jamaica with respect to comfort and indepen dence as very striking, when compared with other countries. lie said, " probably no peasantry in any other quarter of the globe had such comforts and advantages" as those negress had, though he did not speak in the same high terms of the prosperity of the planters. " The deterioration of property" he said, " proceeded. '.e.oin want of continuous labour," which was a ettt'aral effect of the " peasantry possessing means thet rendered them in a great degree independent of lenour." He then re ferred to the Act which eaci been passed to encourage immigration undee proper precautions for the heels"; and aceoteescdation of those interested, and eteLe& that ho " wee t id readily co-operate with them. In this very teetessary measure;" and, though he entertained no cer tain anticipation that t would be productive of much good, yet ) ";t was satisfactory to reflect, that whatever number of immigrants were likely to csome from any part of the world, there was room for all, end to spare;" that there Was the greatest fertility of soil, and everywhere abundance; that " any multitude could ho provided for without a diminution of the comforts of the present population." But, later still they had a report as to the condition of the leheMers in these islands, which accompanied a dt!ltliAtol with sub scriptions made in the British eolehica for the relief of the Irish. At a pelage !sleeting fur this purpose the Colonial Retches'-General (as shown in this report), speaking of Guiana, referred to the great comfort of the labourers, even when there was a 3 ear of comparative dearth. The Rev. Mr. Forbes on the same occasion stated that in a country like that food was plenty, and that " even the dearth of the previous year did not pro duce much Want editing the labourers ; no case of desti tution del eeer or could ever occur there." But the Most teenarkable of all the statements in these papers was that which was to be found in a letter of Mr. Holmes, addressed to Goternor Light, when trans mitting to him a nubscription of 1,200/. for the relief of Irish distress. He said—" Almost all persons have subscribed, though it had been a difficult task to ex plain to the labouring men of this fortunate colony the meaning of starvation and intense cold."—(hear.) He could conceive nothing more expressive than this, that the great difficulty in the island was to make the labourers understand what was meant by "starvation" and " cold." He thought, therefore, there need be no delicacy about encouraging, in every possible way, the immigration of labourers into the West Indies. It was entirely a question of cost ; and it was the restriction which successive colonial Govern ments had always put upon the free immigration of labourers that had created the burden and expense which were too much for the colonies to bear; hampered with all sorts of restrictions—able only to contract for a single year, and that only in a British colony—obliged to send back the labourer at the end of five years; the expense of the carriage backwards and forwards eating up all the advantage of his importation. Now, he wanted to know why they should be so delicate about au African, or a Coolie, or a Chinaman, who was only going from one hot climate to another—who was going from a climate not more genial than that to which he was sent—and why should they say that such emigrant was not to be hired for more than five years, when in this country her Majesty's troops were expected to serve at all events ten years in the colonies for four years at home, while, practically, the army had served in time of peace 14 years in the colonies for four at home, many regiments having been 23 years in India ?—(hear.) If that was net to be held a hardship—if the flower of the British army was to be sent from a genial climate to climates that were destructive to their health for ten years—why were we to restrict the period of emigration for these Coolies, and Africans, end China men ?—(hear.) His opinion was, that there should be no obligation on the planters or importers to carry back the immigrant. He should be left to his own resources. —(Hear.) He should be free in the colony, and feel himself to be so; and he should feel also that he must rely on his own industry, and pay for his passage back to his own country. More than this he must not be permitted to go home till he had repaid the expenses of his importation. These were all matters that would form a fit subject for inquiry before the Committee. He would now come to the case of the East Indies, which cer tainly had not the same claim as the West Indies, on the ground that their property had been taken from them, and that they had received but a very small portion of the value of that property, In his opinion, however, they had the same claim of good faith from Parlia ment that the fundholders or any other interest had. When they emancipated the slaves they invited all British interests to exert themselves to produce sugar by free labour; they induced the capitalists of this coun try to send their money and invest it on the banks of the Ganges; and, in his opinion, the faith of Parliament was as much pledged to them to enable them to repay themselves for the outlay of that capital as it was pledged to repay the fundholder the debt that was due to him. He would next advert to the Mauritius; and here he would say that if ever there was a justification of any Gentleman in moving for this Committee—if ever there was a justification of any Gentleman asking Parliament calmly to revise its previous judgment, it was to be found in the last voice that was heard on the last day of the last session from the Colonial-office. He was sure it was in the recollection of his Noble Friend opposite that on the last day of the last session of the last Parliament, when he (Lord George Bentinck) gave notice of an inquiry on this subject, in presenting a petition from the British West Indies, his friend Mr. Hawes, with an air of great triumph, said, " The Noble Lord had confined his at tention to the West India islands, but let him turn to the Mauritius, and he would find that there the greatest prosperity was manifest. The Noble Lord might rest satisfied that a system of free trade and open competition would be most beneficial for all parties concerned; that it would lead to greater economy of production, be the means of embarking more capital in the growth and manufacture of sugar, and tend to the general pros perity of the whole population." Now he really thought that when the Colonial. office was, on the 23d of July last, co entirely in the dark; so entirely ignorant of the true state of her Majesty's colonial possessions, so totally uninformed of the true state of this question, it was a complete justification of the course he now took in pro posing a Committee of Inquiry; not that he might teach his friends, the 130 who supported him and predicted all that had happened since 1846, but that there might be an opportunity for her Majesty's Ministers and the free traders in general to make themselves more perfectly acquainted with all the branches of this subject.—(llear, hear.) He thought there was a hope that this Committee might be the means of per suading her Majesty's Ministers that" they had, thus far taken altogether an erroneous course, 'whet); instead of finding the Affituritius in a " manifest" state of prosperity, they found that out of six great firms in the Mauritius unfortunately but one remained standing; that the liabilities of the houses that had failed amounted to no less than 2,900,000/.; when they had the proof which was supplied by the necessity of advancing 450,000/. upon sugar to enable the colony to go on, and the fact that they had to send over to India for rice to supply the people of Mauritius, and prevent them from starving—all because their policy had brought down the price of sugar, on an average, 11s. per cwt. Perhaps when they found all this, they might begin to pause and consider whether their free-trade statements were correct as regarded the British colo nies. —(Hear, hear.) And, when he asked for a Com mittee of Inquiry into this subject, he asked, as it were, for a bridge over which her Majesty's Ministers and the free traders might pass. He had too much re sect for the talents and abilities of the gentlemen oppo site, and of those free traders, to imitate the example of the Hon. Member for the West Riding. He would not hint to them that it should be a bridge such as acted as a guide to a certain proposition in " Euclid."—(A laugh.) They wanted no bridge for the blockheads who had predicted all the evils that had occurred ; they must have a bridge for the men of brains—which the Hon. Member for the West Riding of Yorkshire and his friends might be permitted to pass over, but certainly not with colours flying, or drums beating and guns firing, the bands "playing, " See, the conquering Hero comes," or the tune of " Ccalur de Lion," with which the Hon. Gentleman was, he believed, greeted abroad—(A laugh)—but they might be permitted to pass over with arms reversed and with muffled drums, muttering per haps between their teeth, " If our cause is from God, it will live; but if not, it must perish." Their cause was not from God, and therefore it must perish. With regard to the Mauritius, what was the nature of its difficulties ? They arose not so mach from a want of labourers—for they had had an importation, at an ' expense of 80,0001., of 93,000 labourers—but from the regulations under which they were compelled to make their contracts, whereby it was found impossible to get a sufficiency of work from them. Grievous indeed was the state of the Mauritius, for that colony had experi enced none of the prosperity and great happiness that among the negrooe had accompanied emancipation in the West Indies. In the Mauritius they had diminished greatly in number, the mortality among them having been promoted by the debauchery and drunkenness into which they had fallen. The condition of the Coolies both morally and physically in the island was also one that was very painful. He understood that the small proportion of women who were imported had 'led to much of the immorality that prevailed. It had become too much the fashion to condemn the merchants connected with the Mauritius as rash and gambling speculators ; but a more unfounded charge could not be well made. He could not give the details as to the business of individual merchants trading to the Mau ritius ; but he found that the total quantity of sugar consigned to those merchants was 28,000 tons, which, at 101. a ton, gave a sum of 280,0001. It was charged against the merchants that they had advanced money on those estates ; but it was the produce on those estates which was their security. When it was considered that 28,000 tons of sugar were the animal value of the estates so hypothecated, and that this annual value had been reduced 10/. a ton by the operation of an Act of Parlia ment, it would be found that the said sum of 280,000/. would make up the liabilies of all those merchants together.—(hear, hear.) A great portion of them, though their property had been rendered almost value less, would yet honourably meet the larger portion of their engagements. It was nut only that the value of the property on which they had lent their money had been at ten years' purchase diminished by 2,800,0001., but the property bad been made altogether unsaleable. A harder measure never had been dealt out to any men than to those merchants, of whom five only had escaped out of forty-eight, the number stated in a list which he had received, and who had been ruined, not by over-speculation, not as bis Honourable Friend on the other side of the House would have it, by any mistaken calculations in regard to tsade ; fie. all that they had to be mistaken about and all they needed to calculate upon was the honour and good faith of the British Parliament.—(Cheer:.) They eould not reckon on the measures suggested by versatile minds. When they heard it said that the honour of the British name was concerned iu the exclusion of slave-grown sugar in 1841, when they saw a majority of that House affirm that proposition, when they found on an appeal being made to the country that a majority of 90 had been returned to advocate that principle, what, it might be asked, were gentlemen engaged in commerce to do, or where there they to look for any security, if they were nos justified in trading on such security as that ? eCheers.) Such a course as had bl en followed tended to the ruin of the country. Comments had been freely made on the subject in the United States, and it had been observed that commercial countries could not en dure soeh shocks. A trade of 100,000,0001. sterling 000 1 .s1 not be shifted from the old channels into new without producing those consequences which were now experienced in the West Indies. Everywhere, whatever an estate produced, they found the same statement was made. The estate was put under inspectors, a balance-sheet was presented, the liabilities were put down on one side, and the assets on the other ; the stock was put down at one third of the original cost. It was only in July last that Mr. Hawes pointed to the Mauritius as enjoying the greatest prosperity ; so it was only in September that the Economist, which was the preceptor of hsFriend opposite, put for a most exulting antic i pation, under some such title as th " Cheap sugar—the triumph of free trade." And how was it to be a triumph ? Not only were they told that the re venue had very considerably increased ; not only were they told that the consumers had gained somewhere about 2,000,0001. sterling in value on their sugar ; but the glorious result was announced that there would be 4,600,000/. additional realised, which would fall to be divided among factors, merchants, shipowners, and grocers. Before the end of October they found many of those men who were numbered among their greatest merchants involved in ruin ; the engagements which they were unable to meet amounting, not to the 4,500,0001. of profit, which was to be divided among them, but to 6,3oo,oool.—(Cheers.) But how had the measure bene fited the cotton districts ? How had it fared with Lan cashire? it was in Manchester that the cry had arisen— "o, let us have cheap sugar for the poor man. Open to us the trade of Brazil." He did net see the Honourable Gentleman who had moved the Athirese ; but, having received a friendly challenge from the Honourable Gentleman to show that the trade of Lancashire had not greatly benefited, he had accepted the challenge. But how had it fared with Lancashire? It was said,— " Open wide the portals for the admission of foreign productions, and the mills don't exist, the bricks are not made, which will be required in consequence of theenor mous trade to be thereby created." In vain it was said by those with whom he thought, derided men! " Don't sport with your interests in the West Indies, the Mauri tius, and the East Indies, where you have a trade pre ferable by far to any you may imagine in prospect; keep the substance, don't grasp the shadow." Those who raised a warning voice were ridiculed. He had received, through favour of Mr. Richard Burn, of the Glance, an account of matters is regard to cotton which took date from the 12th of September, the Bill having passed on a late day in August. He said, "It was true the trade with Brasil had improved. In sixteen months, from the 12th of May to the 12th of September, 1846, the exports of cotton to Brazil were 1,981,6201. la the sixteen months since the Bill passed the exports had increased 2,264,3861., showing an increase of 282,7661." But those who were acquainted with the Brazil trade knew that the trade was carried on upon eighteen months' credit; so that the exports were still unpaid for. He had received a letter from a great British merchant in Liverpool, who informed him that there had been great speculation, and that the trade was carried on by British money espe cially. His correspondent said— " From about the middle of 1846 to the same period of 1847 our exports to Brazil were heavy, and consider ably in excess of the demand. To Bahia, particularly, they were stimulated, owing to the prospects of a large crop and consequent increased means of the natives, to pay for them; all this resulted in accumulation of stocks; so much so, that in July and August of the past year the public stores were full to overflowing, and British ships had to remain, in many instances for several weeks, without being able to discharge their cargoes for want of storage and room ashore in the Custom-house, where all goods must go. I need scarcely tell your Lordship that the dealers in Brazil are sagacious enough, when the markets are so overstocked, to purchase sparingly, and the anxiety of importers to effect sales must have the result of depressing prices. Your Lordship is correctly informed that large quantities have been got rid or by forced sales on very long credit, in proof of which I may state that the principal exporters are scarcely in receipt of any returns for their exports of 1847. whilst not less than probably a fourth, or a third, of the exports of 1846 are still unpaid for." His correspondent observed— " It may be as well to mention that there is an export duty in Brazil of 12 per cent. on sugar and cotton." What, then, had all their liberality to Brazil done ? Had she reduced her duties ? No. Since 1845, when she had laid them on, their amount had risen from 7,000 contos to 16,000 contos. Had she selected England as a power to be favoured under her system ? She had selected the United States, France, Sweden, and other powers, but she had conceded no privileges to England, which had been fool enough to part with her own ad vantages without asking a return. His correspondent said— " Several thousands of both sexes are annually im ported from Africa into Brazil. I have heard the number estimated at 30,010 and upwards. In October last several cargoes of slaves were landed in Bahia, or on the coast in the neighbourhood, aid in a letter from Bahia, written about three months ago, I saw it stated that the assort ment was not considered very suitable, there being too many old ,women amongst them, which were a drug in that market." Comparing the 16 months antecedent and the 16 months subsequent to the Act for the admission of slave•grown sugar, there had been to Brazil an increased export of cotton goods amounting to 282,7661. From the period from the 12th of May, 1845, to the 12th of September, 1846, the value of the exports was 1,981,620/.; for the period from the 12th of September, 1846, to the 12th of January, 1848, their value was 2,264.386/. But the exports, to Cuba had fallen from 322,4881. in the first period, to 210,7321. in the second, showing a decrease of 111,756/.; and the exports to Porto Rico had fallen from 4,820/. in the first period, to 1,892/. in the second, show ing a decrease of 2,928/. After all, this grand Brazilian trade furnished an increased export to the value of only 168,082!., the goods exported in 1846 not having yet been paid for. So that it was not a very profiable trade. How did the matter stand as regarded the British colo nies? In the second period of 16 months, ended the 12th of .January last, the exports to Bombay had fallen from 1,643,5151. (the exports for the first period of 16 months) to' 1,179,763/. ; toCalcutta, from 2,816,585/. to 2,174,0081. There had been a trumpery increase of exports to Ma dras—from 102,490/. to 107,494/. The exports to Mauritius, as might well be supposed, had fallen from 89,7821. to 41,189!, and to the British West Indies from 827,483/. to 635,175/. The result of the whole was, that upon the Brazilian trade, :the home and colonial trade, there had been a decrease of 1,339,2441., while there : had been an increase to the extent only of 168,0521., which was still unpaid. He had a statement as to the raw material of cotton in 1845 and 1846. It was dear in the end of 1846 and in 1847; the price being advanced from 25 to 40 per cent. on the ♦alue of the exports. The balance which remained for wages of labour and profits, comparing these two periods, had de clined by 1,871,0031.; and for this they were told the poor labourers were to be compensated in the cheap sugar they got. From a return moved for by the lion. Member for Salford (Mr. Brotherton) it appeared that there were engaged in the factories of this country 360,000 persons, of whom above 100,000 were below Is years of age. About 90,600 were dependent on those hands; and, estimating the whole number dependent on manufactures at 500,000, if each was supposed to have received 231bs. of sugar, which was reckoned the average consumption, the whole would amount in the 16 months of which he had spoken to 6,904, say 7,000 tons of sugar. If by the policy of Ministers they had saved 10/. a ton thereon, Ministers, it would be found, had given them on the one hand 70,0001., but on the other had robbed them of trade to the value of 1,571,000/. sterling. He was sorry that the Hon. Gentleman the mover of the Address was not pre sent, to show that the exchange of new lamps for old had benefited the people ef Lancashire and the West of Scotland. By the last mail from Calcutta he had re ceived a remarkable account of the trade there. The sugar laws with regard to the East were altered in 1836. In the year 1834-35 the entire trade of Calcutta was estimated at 1,500,0001.; of that but 735,0001 consisted of cotton manufactures. Now, what was the state of the exports? The entire exports from Calcutta to Great Britain in the same year were 1,526,4751., and of this about 134,226/. consisted of the produce of the sugar-cane. Well, after that the Legislature let in the sugar of the East Indies into this country; and what was the result of that? In 1846-47—before the recent free-trade law care:: into practical operation—the sugar trade had increased from 134,2261. a year in 1834-35 to 1,690,032/, while the general trade had increased from 1,526,4751. to 4,459,4221., being an increase on the general trade of 181 per cent., and upon sugar alone in the same period of 1,159 per cent. Well, was this re quited by increased imports from the Spanish West Indies and Brazils, which he had shown amounted only to the miserable balance of 168,000/. ? Far from it; whereas, our ex port to Bengal had increased from 1,574,1821. to 4,241,0721. By this, Lancashire and the west of Scot land had gained. The increase upon cotton goods alone had amounted from 735,687/. to 3,087,135!., being an increase of 2,321,4471., almost double the entire trade of Great Britain to Calcutta before we opened the sugar market to the East Indies. Well, the sugar trade bad now been cut off from Bengal. It was well known, and admitted on all hands, that whilst Bengal could supply us with any quantity of sugar so long as the price was kept up, yet when the export price fell so low as 11 rupees (about 235.) the export ceased.—(Hear, hear.) Well, we had destroyed the prospects of the trade with Bengal, and what had been the effect ? The effect had been that, for the six months just concluded, the export of our cotton goods had fallen from 1,500,0001. io 424,549/. Now, there was a picture of free trade for the House.—(!dear, hear.) This was the triumph of free trade, which had been described as the greatest fiscal triumph ever on record.—(!dear, hear.) But would these diminished exports be confined to cotton goods ? lle had got a statement (though it was hardly sufficiently full) of the exports of machinery from this country to the Mauritius, for the years 1845, 1846, and 1847, from which it appeared that in 1845 they amounted to 41,138/.; in 1846, to 17,1511.; while, in 1847, they had fallen to 10,0391.; so that we are losing the experts of machinery to our own colonies in a greater degree than we were gaining those to foreign countries, with the certain knowledge that foreign countries could obtain machinery from the United States as easily as from us. It was sometimes said, " Oh, those West Indian and Mauritius absentees should go and reside on their properties, and make use of their capital, and im prove them. He held in his hand a return respecting the export of machinery to our colonies which had been moved for by Mr. Hastie in the last Parliament, and from this return it appeared that the exports of mill work and machinery to the British West Indies and the Mauritius, in the seven years ending 1846 inclusive, amounted to 380,7331., and to the East Indies and Ceylon, 482,243/., amounting altogether to 862,9761, against exports for the same period to Brazil and Cuba of 231,2031.—(Hear, hear.) There was, there fore, no ground for accusing the British planters of being wanting in energy and spirit in the manage ment of their estates. But they were told of the vast sums which had been paid by this country for the putting down of slavery and the slave-trade. He acknowledged at once that the cost of putting doe n slavery and the slave trade had cost this country from first to last more than 100,000,000/. 29,000,000/. had been spent in putting down the slave trade by means of blockading armaments, of head money, of loans to dif ferent nations, in making treaties which were never fulfilled, and in maintaining a military establishment on the coast of Africa. We had paid 20,000,0001. by wa3 of compensation to the planters, and 1,000,000/. more for the cost of distribution. The friends of emancipa tion had prophesied that free labourers would do twice the work that slaves did—and had argued that planters were entitled to no compensation, because they would be benefited rather than otherwise by emancipation. Ile remembered an argument which was often used, espe cially by the lion. Member for Liverpool, that " the day that made a man a slave took half his work away"—and they applied this to tropical cli mates. Now what was the amount of the produce of the British colonies at that time ? With the mitigated slavery which then existed there was imported into this country on an average (aecording to the calculation of Lord Stanley) 50,000 tons more sugar than we could consume.—.(Hear.) The consumption certainly had been kept down by the war duties which were imposed on West India sugar of 30s. and 28s. a cwt., for, notwith standing other war taxes, such as the property and income•tax, the leather tax and some others, had been taken off, no relief in this respect had been afforded to the West Indies—and the change in the currency that took place in 1819 certainly tended to depreciate the prices of West India produce. But to return to the subject of emancipation; let him again ask, what had been the cost of that experiment? The advocates for emancipation urged that the maxims of political eco nomy authorised them in predicting a greater produce of sugar from free than from slave labour, and yet the very contrary had taken place. The planters had gained nothing by the change, nor did he exaggerate when he asserted that the abolition of the slave trade and emancipation had together cost the country, during the last forty years, more than 115,000,000/. ; and yet after this enormous sacrifice had been completed, and at a moment whoa some of the slave-holding colonies were actually debating the question whether it would not be advantageous for them to liberate their slaves in order to enjoy the premium given to free-labour sugar, the Government had chosen to knock down all the country had achieved during forty years, and by the expenditure of a hundred millions, by admitting 311 sugars to consumption. To enter more minutely into the question, he would call the attention of the House to the fact that the planters did not get the value of their slaves when the emancipation Act was passed, The value of the slaves in the British colonies was esti mated at 45,000,000/a and this estimate had been greatly reduced as compared with the value of slaves in other colonies. The Government then came forward and said that 20,000,000/. must pay for 45,000,0001. worth of slave property. That gave an average of about 121. 14s. for each slave. During the war with the United States there were captured about 3,800 slaves, and England was bound to compensate their owners. The claim made l i for 3,601 slaves was 380,000/., and the question was I subsequently settled by the arbitration of mixed Eng lish and American commissioners, who gave the price as against England for slaves belonging to the states of Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, and other non-sugar growing districts at 581. 6s. 4d. per head. For slaves from the states of South Ca rolina, Columbia, Georgia, and Alabama, 872 in num ber, the price awarded was 811 ss. per head ; but for slaves from Louisiana, a state which produced as much sugar as the whole British West Indies, the average value put on each slave was 1201. 16s. Bd. The whole sum awarded was 266,197/., :giving an average of 7.3/. per head for these American slaves, whilst the British planter and citizen only got from his own Government 25/. per head for property equally if not more valuable. The Noble Lord here entered into some details respect ing the subject, the result of which he summed up to an aggregate loss to the planters during the twelve years that had elapsed since emancipation took place of 42,242,7484—(Hear, hear.) Was it therefore surpris ing that the West Indians were grumblers? As to the assertion that the bargain was closed with them when the compensation money was granted in 1833, let him ask whether part of that bargain was not the seven years' apprenticeship, of some years of which the planters were subsequently robbed? And was there no other bargain than that referred to? Who could not recal the times when a candidate who was not for negro emancipation could not hold up his head on the hustings—when negroes bound in golden chains were paraded in public, and if negroes were not to be had, then chimney sweepers were substituted for them? Who that recollected those times but must have felt perfectly certain that the British public never would change its feeling on the subject of slavery, nor would ever admit to consumption, at alight diferential duties, sugars grown by slave labour in colonies where the cruelties so prominently put forth were hourly practised? Who could have believed that such a stimulus would be given to the slave trade? When Sir F Buxton was examined on his oath before the Committee of the Lords—not that Sir F. Buxton's oath was better than his word, in his (Lord G. Bentinck's estimation—that ardent supporter of emancipation was asked what security the planters had for the numerous benefits in respect to increased prices and produce. He answered, " Who ever supposes that, whilst the people of England are emancipating their slaves, they will hereafter admit slave sugar to con sumption in their country?" It was only due to the memory of Sir Powell Buxton to state, that he opposed granting freedom to the slaves without first paying for them. Others were not so honest; and the Quakers exemplified, in that instance, the truth of the poet's observation, that Saints themselves will sometimes be— Of gifts that cost them nothing, free. He recollected having been told that the first cargo of slave-grown sugar that arrived after the duties were reduced was consigned to a Quaker at Cowes, and the union of • sanctity and avarice was well exemplified in the story of the grocer who called out to his shopboy, " Have you sanded the sugar? Then come into prayers." So likewise, in the case of the emancipation of the West Indian slaves, the saintly class had made a great pre tence of religion, but they cared little about justice. The Noble Lord then referred to a letter which he had received from a naval officer, describe ing the horrors of the slave-trade as carried on in the swift-sailing vessels which are equipped ex pressly to escape the cruisers off the coast of Africa. He (Lord G. Bentinck) agreed entirely with the writer of the letter referred to in deeming it a ruinous task for Eagland to have to blockade a coast of 2,650 miles in extent. He would, instead of pursuing the blockade and preventive system, strike a blow at the chief resort of the slavers, and would smother the hornets in their nest at Cuba. He had recently seen in the Times a paragraph taken from a New York paper, wherein the views of England upon Cuba were very broadly speculated upon, and the reasons which would justify her in seizing that island in payment of the debt duo by Spain to her citizens set fully forth. Every one knew that the slave trade could not be put down as l o ng as a market existed in Cuba. Destroy that mart and you would at once be able to withdraw your block- , ading squadron, and further the ends of justice in liqui dating the claims of the Spanish bondholders. He would say take possession of Cuba, and settle the ques tion for ever.—(Hear, hear.) It:would be only distraining for a just debt, and it would have the effect of completely destroying the slave trade. Mr. LABOUCHERE—WouId you also take Brazil ? Lord G. BENTINCK—There was a material differ ence in the two cases —we have no just claim against Brazil. In possessing Cuba, England would have the key of the Gulf of Mexico, as she had in 1762, when she took it with six sail of the line. Then we need have no alarm for our American colonies, because we could cut the trade of the United States in two by destroying the communication between New York and the Missis sippi. We should then hear no more boasting from Uncle Sam about stretching his length from California to the Pacific, and turning Cuba into a kitchen garden. He (Lord G. Bentinck) thanked the House for the patience with which he had been listened to, and had more decided step for only the relief of the thatan in i not tors m , in h making did to add, not preclude himself from supporting more decided resolutions, if proposed d, p ag a by another. He would go into the Committee deter mined to see if anything could be done for the planters, and he was willing to accept whatever relief might be inquirethe result. into Ile moved—" m p o re v s e e d n 7 c " on ' r ° li r tie li n and Select Committee to prospects of the interests connected with and dependent on sugar and coffee planting in her esty'a East and West Indian possessions and the Mauritius ; and to consider whether any and what measures cal be adopted by Parliament for their relief." Mr. ROBINSON seconded the m ot i on. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he did not rise for the purpose of op pos i ng t h e mot i on o f the Noble Lord. Early in Novemb er hi s N o bl e F r i en d the First Lord of the Treasury had promised, that if a Committee were moved for he would not oppose it. The Noble Lord had stated several points of inquiry respect ing the West Indies, in which Government concurred with him in thinking inquiry necessary ; but he should deceive both the Noble Lord and the House, and also the West India interest, if he led them to suppose that in consenting to the appointment of a committee, her Majesty's Government meant to imply the slightest doubt as to the soundness of the policy of 1846, or the slightest intention of departing from that policy.— (Hear, hear.) He thought that this statement should be made as soon end as decidedly as possible, because ho considered that in =razes of this kind uncertainty was the worst of evils.—(llear, hear.) Ile proposed, at the same time, to state fully what the views of the Govern ment were, as to the various points of minor importance ie which he believed relief might be afforded to the West India interest. Ho would not follow the Noble Lore through his various statements respecting the general state of trade during the last twelve months, because the peculiar circumstances of the time precluded the possibility . sound iatereece; neither would he go into his proposition for foreclosing our Spanish mortgage by seizing the island of Cuba— (A laugh)—in other words, taking possession of the de pendencies of our ally to secure the claims of the ' Spanish bondholders.—(Hear, hear.) He would confine ' himself to stating shortly what the Government intended to do, and what were their reasons for not intending more. The chtitus put forth by the Ice)ble Lord, and which had reviously beet submit redo, amounted Government in the statement of the West India 1 eedy, amounted shortly to this—that the pre.:2nt price of sugar was not sufficient to maintain its cultivater, that th t t low price was c a u se d by the Act of 1846, an d i t erted that nothing l ess than a protecting duty of 103. pee e wt. would enable the planters to maintain cultivation at. , d to preserve their property.—(Hear.) He was anssio. ue in anything he ' should say to avoid giving offences to the West India body; and if in defending the rights' of the community at large he should occasionally deal *hardly with them, he trusted that it would not leas . .? to 3. !' 3- inference that he was hostile to th e i r f a i r rights b. Interests. In th e Peculiar stir- I first place, he th oug h t i t necessary from' tem separate porary depression o f p r i ces , ar i s i ng f ro ' cumstances, from th a t w hi c h was owing to 'she increased quantity of sugar imp orte d ; because, when a :eduction of price had fallen upon almost every other foreign Ind colonial commodity,. it would b e a b sur d t o a t tr ib ute th e reduced price of sugar wholly to the Act of 1846. (blear, hear.) It was notorious that many articles of colonial produce had been during the last year subjected to an extraordinary fall in price, as large or larger than the fall in sugar, and that that fall was owing to the distressing state of commerce which prevailed during the autumn.—(Hear, hear.) He found that, comparing the beginning of the month of January, 1847, w i t h th e same period in 184 S, the price of sugar fell from 345. 2d. per cwt. to 233. .5.1c1., being a fall of about 30 per cent. But indigo, which was not exposed to any competition from slave-grown produce, fell 25 per cent. during the same period. Rice fell 25 per cent., sago 51 per cent., and the better description of tea 84 per cent. If these falls took place from the commercial distress, was it not fair to attribute some por tion of the fall in sugar to the same cause ?—(Hear.) Again, comparing the price of sugar last year with the price at former periods, he found that during the exist ence of slavery the price reached as low a point as during subsequent periods. The average price during last year was 235. 5d., and in 1829 it was 28s. 7d., while in the three consecutive years immediately preceding emanci pation the prices did not range so high. In 1830 it was 245. lid.; is 1831, 235. Bd.; and in 1833, 275. Bd. Ia saying this he did not maintain that the Act of last year had not something to do with the fall in price, he merely contended that all was not to be attributed to the opera tion of that Act. Another point—if gentlemen looked at the progress of entries of foreign sugar for home con sumption, they would find that at the period of greatest entry the prices did not fall below, but generally ranged above the average.—(Hear, hear.) In January, 1847, when the price of sugar was 345. 2d., the importation of colonial sugar was 22,000 tons, and that of foreign 6,900 tons. Prices rose for the next two months; but in September, when the price had fallen to 265. 10d., the importation of colonial rose to 25,000 tons, while that of foreign was only 3,100 tons. This showed that the reduction in price was not wholly referable to the importation of foreign sugar.—(Hear.) In November and December the importation of foreign sugar had fallen to 1,700 and 1,900 tons, and the im portation of colonial was 19,000 and 20,000 tons re spectively. He was not standing there to prove that large importations did not bring down prices, but he asserted that in the months ho had quoted large impor tations of foreign sugar were coincident with the highest range of prices. —(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord had alluded, to the general depression of trade, but he had omitted to mention a main cause of that depression, namely, the high price of cotton. He had also men tioned the case of the Mauritius, but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) though that Mr. Hawes was quite justified in asserting the then prosperity of that colony; and he begged to remind the Noble Lord that its subsequent depression was caused by two failures in this country not at all connected with the sugar trade.—(Hear, hear.) Was it not equally notorious that West Indian distress had been in a great measure caused by the failure of the West India Bank, which, by almost destroying the circulation of the island, had seriously embarrassed the planters ? The Noble Lord did not contend for the exclusion of slave-grown sugar. Lord G. BENTINCK— What he said was, that he did not press for the distinction of slave-grown and free labour sugar, because after the declarations of his Noble Friend opposite, and those of the Noble Lord the Secre tary for Foreign Affairs, he did not think it would be consistent with the Queen's honour, were she to allow such distinction to be made without dispensing with the services of the present Ministers, and he was not prepared to run the risk of such a misfortune.—(A laugh.) He had at the same time said that he was on principle pre pared to exclude slave-grown sugar, and, if necessary, foreign free-labour sugar along with it. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIIEQUER begged the Noble Lord's pardon. After so kindly a declaration respecting the present Government, he would not quarrel with his words.—(Laughter.) He would now allude to the period when the question of compensation to the West India planters was before under consideration. They were then in possession of a large body of slaves, and manufactured sugar much cheaper than at present. The Noble Lord complained of the amount of compensa tion then given; but on this point he would quote the authority of another Noble Lord, now in the other House of Parliament—an authority which he did not think the Noble Lord opposite would be inclined to dis pute. Lord Stanley had quoted a number of documents laid before the Board of Trade by the West Indians themselves, in which it was stated that the amount of profit derived from the cultivation of sugar was about 1.200,0001. annually, and on other produce about 300,0001., making the whole net annual profit about 1,500,0001. Then Lord Stanley stated that at the usual rate at which estates were sold—via., ten years pur chase, fifteen millions would be full and ample compen sation. The Noble Lord added that this country had given the planters fire millions more. Therefore, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) did not think that the planters had any great claim, or that the consumer should be put under heavy sacrifices for his advantage.—(Hear, hear.) It was quite true that the apprenticeship ceased before the time contemplated, and that some parties were injured by its sudden termination; but it should be re collected that, in one or two islands, the planters also li,hed it themselves. Indeed, ho believed it was gene rally considered to be anything but beneficial.—(No, no.) He must also state that the claim founded on slavery did not apply to many of the cases of hardship quoted by the Noble Lord. It was con sidered, and urged at the time of abolition, that the Mauritius had no claim for compensation. They had then 40,000 free labourers, and since then 20,000 more had immigrated. They could not say either that the East Indies had any right to compensation. Therefore he would would ask were they, for the sake of the West Indies, from which we only got half our supply, to impose a tax which would amoont to 101. per ton on consumer, and. this, too, to compensate a party for a loss which they had not sustained.—(Hear, hear.) He thought that nobody would contend that 101. per ton should be paid on 15,000 tons to the Mauritius for the abolition of slavery in the West Indies, which did not ' affect them.—(Hear, hear.) If they had to deal with the West Indies alone the demand of the Noble Lord might be consistent, but the ground was cut from under them when they considered the various sources of supply. In 1844 a proposition was made by a Government not unfriendly to the colonial interest, for the admission of free. labour sugar. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had stated at the time that the distinction could not be maintained, because we should be indirectly encouraging slavery by withdrawing the free-labour sugar from its usual markets, thus opening fresh vents for the slave grown article. The Right Hon. Member for Oxford ad mitted that it would have a tendency that way. A great supply was then expected from Java ; but the result was, that whereas in 1840 the import was 6,090 tons, in 1847 it had fallen to 5,503 tons, showing a decrease of 500 tons in the last seven years, in despite of the encouragement which our admission had given to its cultivation. But independently of that we were bound to admit slave-grown sugar for manufacture. Last year he found there was an importation of 3,000 tons from countries where slavery prevailed, such as the Danish colonies, which we were bound to admit under most favoured native treaties. What was the ground on which the admission of free-labour sugar was per mitted by the late Government? It was stated that we had an inadequate supply of sugar from our own colonies, and we were promised an extra 20,000 tens. That year the actual import was only 4,000 tons, and after three years it only reached 11,000 tons, in addition to 3,000 tons from foreign slave colonies. But in 1844 the Secre tary for Foreign Affairs gave his opinion that, if we ad mitted foreign free, we should admit slave-grown sugar, and that the only country whose produce we could ex clude was Brasil.—(Hear, hear.) What was, then, our position? Professing to admit free-labour sugar only, to discourage slavery, we found that we were bound to admit slave-grown sugar from every part of the globe except Brasil.—(Hear, hear.) The supply of free labour sugar promised at the time was 100,000 tons ; he had ventured to fix it at 75,000 tons, and the result was a supply of 73,000 tons. If, then, the question of sla very were left out, the question they had to decide was simply protection or no protection, and what they had to consider was, whether they should continue that system. He believed that all protective duties were an unjust tax on the community.—(Hear, hear.) Another point to consider was whether they would impose a tax of 101. per ton on sugar, avowedly to enhance its price by that amount.—(Hear, hear.) Why, the consumption of last year was, in round numbers, 300,000 tons, on which the proposed increase of tax would amount to no less a sum than 3,000,000/. sterling.—(Hear, hear.) This was no exaggeration. Mr. Porter stated in 1840 that protec tion cost us five millions ; and in a pamphlet it was stated that in five years preceding 1843 the country had been taxed for protection to the amount of sixteen millions.—(Hear, hear.) That was no light burden on the consumer, and before they imposed !t they should seriously inquire on what grounds it was asked. He was sorry to say that the finances were not in the most flourishing condition, but on sugar and molasses the duty had increased because they had dealt with them on sound principles, abolishing dis criminating and protective duties.—(llear.) In , 1845, the duty was 3,500,0001 ; and in 1846, it was 4,000,000/. Last year the duty on sugar and molasses was 4,590,0001. —(Heer, hear.) They were, as in the case of th e corn-laws, required to tax the consumer for the sake of tho producer, and that was a principle which her Ma jesty's Government could not admit. Their principle was that duties should be levied for revenue alone, and not for the purpose of enhancing the price to the con sumer.—(llear, hear.) Besides, the planters had not been suddenly dealt with in abolishing protection ; it had been and was gradually vanishing until its final termination in 1851.—(IIear, hear.) It had been fully admitted, during the debates of 1846, by all parties, except the advocates of protection, that the abolition of protection was merely a question of time. This was distinctly stated by Sir Robert Peel and the Member for Leicester at that time. Therefore with re gard to the re-imposition of protection on the sill of 12346, be thought it proper here distinctly to state that the the Government did not contemplate any alteration.—(Hear, hear.) In the papers laid upon the table it was stated that the restrictions to which the West India planters were subjected since the period of emancipation amounted, according to their own esti mate, to ss. 64-d. per cwt. on the produce. Those re strictions, as therein described, were, first, the necessity of obtaining their supplies of lumber and provisions from the North American colonies. This restriction had been since entirely removed. The next was the differential duty imposed on the export of goods. This, also, had been repealed, or it was in the power of the colonial legislatures themselves to repeal it. The third was that which was consequent' on the operation of the navigation laws. As his Noble Friend (Lord G. Bentinck) had stated, the colonies had asked for the removal of this restriction; and he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was happy to be able to announce that it was the intention of her Majesty's Government, at an early period, to submit to Parliament a measure to remove the resteilions which those laws im ' o sed.—(Hear, hear.) The next disadvantage to which it was stated tile se colonies were !subjected was, that their produce, se iner, was not admitted into the breweries and distilleries of .this country. This disad vantage had been removed by L. `lO Act of last session— an Act which had not been altogether inoperative, for he found that during the last year no is than 73,000 cwts. of sugar had been used in the breee.eries, and 20,600 cwts. in the distilleries. It was true thee' the fall in the price of malt last autumn had since made h .more Advan tageous to distil from malt, anti the sugar use,d for that purpose had consequently fallen off; but it was neeeeehe less an important fact, as showing the operation of th e Act in question, that nearly 94,000 cwts. had been brought into use during the year for the purposes of brewing and distilling. Another restriction complained of was the high discriminating duty on rum in Ireland and Scotland. This, too, had been altered in 184 G and 1847, when the discriminating duty was reduced from ls. 6d. to 9d. a gallon. That this change had been at tended with advantage was proved by the increased consumption. In 1845 the quantity consumed was 2,469,000 gallons, in 1846 it was 2,683,000, and in 1817, under the reduced duty, it had risen to 3,329.000, notwithstanding which he wa s h appy to find that the distilling trade in those two countries had been in no degree injured. While upon this subject he might state that his opinion was the same now as it had been last year, viz., that the distillers of this country were entitled to some differential duty, but that sixpence a gallon was sufficient ; and if his Noble Friend (Lord G. Bentinck) would assure him of his aid, he would bring forward a measure to reduce it to that sum.—(Hear, hear.) The next complaint was the want of labour. Into those colonies where that want was greatest a large amount of labour had been introduced last year. His Noble Friend had spoken of the large number of slaves formerly employed in the Mauritius. He (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer) believed, however, that the estimate made of the number of slaves in that colony at the period of emancipation was 28,000. Since the Emancipation Act the number of labourers had been almost doubled, 23,000 had been added, and the total number was now 60 ; 000. In Jamaica the number of free labourers imported was not large about 11,500, he believed. In British Guiana the number of slaves had been estimated at 90,000; the number of free labourers imported since emancipation had been 40,000. In Trinidad the num ber of slaves had been 24,000; the number of free labourers imported, 20,969. Thus in Guiana there had been an increase of one-half of the whole number of labourers, and in Trinidad the increase had been equal to the whole number of slaves in the island at the period of emancipation. Therefore, though he was not pre pared to deny that there might be a deficiency of labourers, he believed that that deficiency had been much exaggerated; and he would advise the colonies rather to turn their attention to improvements in their mode of cultivation and manufacture that to depend altogether upon the immigration of labourers. He now came to another question—the admission of molasses for the purposes of brewing in this country. He was sorry to say that this was a demand to which he could not accede. As his Noble Friend had stated, this was altogether a question of revenue, and it was as a ques tion of revenue that he treated it. The House would be aware that the duty was paid upon malt before itwent into the brewery; with sugar it was the same, and there was consequently no loss; but he found, on investigation, that if molasses were allowed to be substituted, the loss to the revenue would be equal to Bs. 6d. on every quarter of malt which would be thus thrown out of use in this way. With regard to distillation, the duty was paid when the spirit was produced. Last year he had stated that if further experience should justify him in doing so, he should be happy to extend any further indulgence to the West India body in his power, and he was now happy to say, that after the experience of the working of the Act of last year, the Excise did not object to the admis sion of molasses for the purposes of distillation.—(Hear, hear.) Therefore he proposed shortly to introduce a Bill to permit the use of molasses into distilleries, under similar regulations to those on which sugar was now admitted. It had also been urged that cane juice might, without any injury to the revenue, be admitted for the same purposes. That was a proposition to which he had never objected, provided that the revenue could be guaranteed against loss, and since he was called on last year to fix the rate of duty at which cane juice should be admitted, he had caused an analysis to be made, so as to ascertain the quantity of sugar contained in the juice, the result of which was, that lls. 4d. per 'wt. was found to be the lowest duty which in justice to the revenue could be imposed. Ile had been told that this would amount to prohibition, and he had been asked to name a lower duty. It was true that it was difficult to obtain quan tities of the article sufficient to make experiments upon for the purpose of arriving at a satisfactory result, but from the produce of the small quantity which had been furnished to the Excise, this was the lowest rate of duty he should be justified in naming ; but if a larger supply of cane juice was supplied, he should have no objection to fix a lower amount, provided the result of the analysis he would cause to be made would enable him to do so. It must, however, be understood that he could not admit cane juice at a duty lower in proportion than that which was paid on sugar and molasses. With regard to the other question—the supply of labour—at present the supply of labour to the colonies was derived partly from free immigration and partly from re-captured slaves. The free immigrants were partly coolies and partly, negroes from the coast of Africa. His own impres sion was that the immigration of the coolies had not answered—(Hear, hear)—but he believed a certan and valuable supply of labourers might always be had from the African coast. It was quite true that many of the Kroomen had turned out valuable labourers, had accu mulated large sums of money, and had by their repre sentations on returning to their own country, induced others to emigrate ; and others had declined to return when offered a free passage, preferring to remain in order to accumulate more money. The means of carrying on this immigration was provided by loans raised in the colonies. He was not prepared to say that that was a profitable system as far as those colonies were concerned; but when his Noble Friend (Lord Grey) entered office as Colonial Secretary he found the system established, and that it had been acted upon by his two immediate predecessors; he did not, therefore, feel justified in dis turbing it, though he might not have been disposed to sanction it had it been proposed for adoption for the first time. Neither Guiana nor Trinidad had, however been able last year to borrow the money authorised by their respective legislatures to be raised for defraying the expellee of the immigration now in progress. Under these circumstances, he thought it was only fair and right that this country should step in and assist them. He should, therefore, feel it to be his duty to propose to the House, during the present session, an advance of a sum not exceeding 200,0001. for the purpose of promoting emigration to our West India colonies.—(Hear.) It had been suggested that it would be an act of humanity to take the negroes by force, and transport them to the West Indies to be there employed as labourers— this was a coarse to which he must decidedly object.—(Cries of " Hear.") He must insist in what ever arrangement might be made that the negroes should go of their own free will—that they should not be forced.—(Hear.) Then, with regard to the liberated Africans who were set free ander the adjudication of the mixed commissions at the Havannab, lei°, and St. Helena—these were universally carried to the West Indies, but the expense of sending them there was row defrayed by the colonies to which they were sent. The Government thought it right that, for a time at least, the expense should be mainly (not altogether, for obvious reasons,) borne by this country. Looking at the prevent condition of the West India colonies, Government were prepared to take on themselves almost the whole of that charge—a small portion only would remain to be paid by the colonies as a security that they really required the labour. The majority of the liberated negroes were now set free at Sierra Leone—recently they had shown a greater disposition than they formerly did to proceed to the West Indies, and it was thought measures might be taken to facilitate their immigration with advantage to themselves, the West Indies, and Sierra Leone. A Committee of the House which sat some years ago had, in its report, said that the effect of the constant introduc tion of large bodies of these captured negroes info the colony was to retard the progress of civilisation, and bring back to a state of barbarism those who had adopted civilised habits. Dr. Madden had also said if the system was continued the colony must be enlarged, or means devised for removing the population. He believed it would be advantageous to remove those persons from a p l ac e where they were relapsing into a state of barbar ism to the West India colonies, where their labour was wanted, and where after a time they would be free men, in a position of independence and comfort. The expense of removing these persons, the Government were dia -1 posed to recommend, should be borne by this country.— (Hear, hear.) Another suggestion had been made — viz., that the repayment of the hurricane loan should be still further postponed. The colonies had already had ten years in which to repay that advance, and Govern ment was disposed to recommend that the period should be extended five years further, interest being paid in the mean time. When an application was lately made on the part of Tobago for assistance, in consequence of the earthquake, a grant was immediately made to relieve the immediate distresses of the sufferers, and Ministers would be prepared to make a further loan, so soon as they should have received the necessary information as to the amount required. These, then, were the mea sures the Government proposed—first, the admission of molasses for the purposes of distillation in this country —to admit cane juice provided a rate of duty can be fixed by which the revenue should be guaranteed against loss—a loan for the purpose of promoting free emigra tion—the removal to the West India colonies of cap tured negroes almost wholly at the expense of this country—the postponement of the period of paying the hurricane loan—and an advance to the island of Tob ago . He hoped that the West India body would consider that this would be sufficient—as far as this country could promote that end—to restore those colonies to prosperity. If he were asked if he considered this suffi cient, he would reply that it waB not, unless accompa- , / 1, (•1:*/,i .., ssfits , s sa .e-seeeas ss .„. 644‘.., 10 nied by a total change in the proceselAo 4 of cultii-asi o and manufacture. Without the exifFilielef a mu c h / a,. greater amount of en erg y i n th e proeitisfi Vfzegrieulture,' ''''' no measure could secure the permal• l ientH of tieSfidtpsirk had i t yof the West Indies. Alth oug h th e wages no doubt fallen in St. Kitts and Antigens t from 10d. to 6& a day, and was partly the cause of the present distress, he believed that ultimately no inconveiais lice i eould arise from it, as the negro would be thereby itiducest to work for a longer period of time, and thus in the end ,'sakes as much as when wages were high. In a dispauch re cently received from the Governor of Antigua, he stated that the working classes would suff er no ser i ous incon venience from the reduced rate of wages, and w - ould beoblig vv ed eek, to work more regularly, in s t ea d o f only onlyth three days ain order to support their families in the same ease and comfort. He was happy to find that the reduction in the price of labour had been well met by the labourers themselves. They had submitted to it, cheerfully, hoping thsit in time their wages would again be raised. It was proposed in Antigua to reduco the import duties and impose a land tax, and he believed the result would be to induce the negro to expend more work upon sugar plantation. This was most essential. There was universal testimony to show that since the abolition of slavery there had not been that amount of improvement in the process of cultivating and maninae turing sugar which had taken !dace in the agriculture and manufactures of this and other countries. In what state would this country now be if there had been no improvement in these respects within the last twenty or thirty years? He alluded to manufactures as well as agriculture ; for the West Indies con sidered that they were as much manufacturing as agricultural countries. Mr. Price, speaking be fcre the House of Assembly in Jamaica, said that al /nest every process of both was very generally ne glected throughout the Island either for want of capital, want os' attention, or want of proper energy. lie found statements{ to the same effect in the " Sugar Planters' Manual," a book published by Dr. Evans. He could not, therefore, admit that the present losses and distress of the West Indian interest were to be attributed to the Act of 1846 for admitting foreign slave-grown sugar, or to the doctrines of free trade. He found it stated in a report of the Select Committee o the Assem bly of Jamaica, that of 653 sugar estates 14) had been abandoned ; and this he attributed more to the Act of 1836 than that of 1846. Going back to the period of slavery, and when the slave trade was most flourishing, he found it stated by Mr. B. Edwards, in his History of the West Indies, that in the course of twenty Jeers, ending in 1791, no less than 177 sugar plantations had been sold for the payment of debts, fifty-five had been abandoned by the proprietors, and ninety-two had still remained in the hands of the creditors.. He found that in 1804 several British merchants had filed bills in Chancery, but that even when they obtained decrees they declined to execute them. In 180 T things were no better. In 1811 it was observed that the ruin of the original possessors had been gradual, and that estate after estate had passed into the hands of mortgagees. In 1832 a Committee of that House re ported to the same effect; and in 1844 the agent of the West Indies represented that the abandonment of estates was continuing. Surely it was not possible to attribute that state of things which continued from 1791 to 1844 either to the abolition of the slave trade or to foreign competition. He feared it should rather be attributed to that baneful want of energy and exertion which prin' cipally arose out of a reliance upon protection. As for the distress which prevailed, it would be found to exist as well in colonies where slavery was still continued; the produce of the West Indies was greater than that of either Cuba or Java, and that being so he did not see any ground for despair, or any reason for apprehending that with free labour properly directed, and the aid of machinery, the West Indies should not produce as cheap an article as could be had by slave labour. There was much testimony to favour that belief, Ia Trinidad, even before slavery was abolished, a considerable portion of the labour was had from gangs of free men. Mr. Scotland, a member of the assembly of Jamaica, and a resident planter, stated that in his opinion free khalif was a shade less expensive than slave labour. He attributed their inability to compete with slave growers to the want of a resident proprietary and proper management; ands oontrasting Cuba with Jamaica, he observed that in 6a former the proprietor was resident, well skilled in the, cultivation of his estate, managing it with a strict regard to economy, and on the spot to correct all abuses; While in the latter he was not only hundreds of miles awety • but his estate left to the mercy and management ar mortgagees. Still more decisive evidence was given by Mr. Prince, who went out some years ago to manage at% estate in Jamaica, and which he had done most satisfac torily to the owners. He stated that in 1843 it produced 190 hogsheads, in 1844, 290 hogsheads, in 1845, 400 tons, and in 1846, 700 tons, while, by constructing a new tramway, he had effected an economy of eight labourers and 142 head of cattle, and was of opinion. that, by machinery and an improved process of cultiva tion, he could produce sugar cheaper than any slave owner. But there was one remarkable circumstance to which he must call the attention of the House, as showing that the sugar grown in the French West India colonies, where slave labour prevailed and continued to the present Ines' ment, could not compete with the beet-root sugar cultis vated in France. In 1843 a duty was imposed by thei French Government of 5 francs per kilogramme on beet root sugar, which was to continue until 1848, when an equality in the duties was to take place. In Mr. M'Culloch's " Commercial Dictionary" it was laid down. that this duty upon beet-root sugar would annihilate its growth and cultivation in France ; but so far from this being the case, the cultivation had increased in 8 moat remarkable degree. At this moment the duty was its course of diminution, and in August next there would be a perfect equality of the duty on beet-root saga? and upon French colonial sugarimported into France. And yet this cheap slave-grown sugar could not now compete with free- labour sugar made in France, and the French cokes nial slave-owning sugar growers were now making re presentations to the French Government claiming the imposition of a protecting duty against beet-root tugar. He believed, however, that It was capable of proof, by a mere reference to admitted facts, that the system of free lrbour, by the aid of proper and improved process, may render free-labour sugar as cheap, if not cheaper, than slave grown sugar. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), therefore, did not despair that, if improvements in machinery and in the mode of cultiva tion were carried out in the British West India colo nies, as they had been at the Mauritius and elsewhere, those colonies would still continue sugar-producing colonies, and might be restored, by a different system of management on the part of the resident proprietors, to a comparative state of prosperity. He hoped that such would be the case, and if any propositions beyond those which the Government was now prepared to con cede were made in a Select Committee moved for by the Noble Lord opposite (Lord G. Bentinck), they should be considered; but he must repeat, that the Government was not prepared to restore the system of protection which had so lately been abandoned.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. G. R. ROBINSON said, that though he differed altogether from the views of her Majesty's Government, he still gave them credit for the declaration made by' the Right Hon. Baronet the Chancellor of the Exchee quer, to the effect that in consenting to the appointment of a Select Committee, he would be no s party. ,to the creation thereby of a delusion that they would in shy degree depart from the Act of 1846. If the West italie colonists were not to look for any relief other than that contained in the measures propounded by the Right Hon. Baronet, the sooner they knew it the better s in order that they might be prepared to meet the conse:7 quences which must ensue, via., the eventual ruin, if not the entire loss, of the colonies. His argument was, that protection was absolutely necessary for the interests of these colonies. When he coneurred in the measure for the abolition of slavery, he little thought that those who had carried that glorious measure would ever be the parties to advocate the admission of slave-grown sugar of other colonies to compete with the free-labour sugar of the British colonies. The effect of the mealtime of 1846, when it came to abolish the existing differ ential duties, would be to throw open the market in this country to all parts of the world ? This would be the result of the free-trade principles which already had been adopted ; and he must remind the Noble Lord that it would be easier now to retrace the steps which had been erroneously taken than after a farther onward course ; at all events, if the Noble Lord would not retrace the steps taken, he ought to pause before he went farther. He was aware it was hopeless now to expect a renewal of protection generally, bat if asked what he would do, he would tell the Government that he would restore the protection of sager to the extent of ten shillings per cwt., and, if consistent with existing trea ties, he would exclude slave-grown sugar altogether. He warned the Government that, although the revenue might not immediately feel the effects of the falsely called free-trade measures, yet the state of the revenue, embarrassed as it was now admitted to be, would become more and more embarrassed, and the consequence would be that the income-tax, so unpopular in this country, would not only become perpetual, but there would be a necessity for increasing its amount every year. In that case what was to become of the masses of the population, crippled as they would be by the transfer from their hands of their trade to the hands of fo reigners ? Why the result would be, a vast increase to the pauperised population, already subsisting upon . pa rochial rates, and a still further increase to the criminal records of the country. The repeal of the navigation laws was now called for by the free-traders in their dis tress ; and thus it was that when the protection was removed from one interest, those who suffered sought to take it away from others. Whatever palliative the Committee now proposed might devise for the sufferings of the West India colonies, unless protection were restored, those colonies must be ultimately lost to the mother country. For where would be the advanta ge of retaining them if their trade and navigation were to be given up to other c ountries ? In such case, th e sooner we set about negotiating with the United States (for the disposal of these colonies the better.—(Laughter.) Of course, be did not mean this seriously, but he was con - vinced that our free- trade legislation was producing such a feeling of alienation in these colonies,that, in the event of a war, their support and attachment would be very little to be relied on. Mr. HUME said the Noble Lord (Lord G. Bentinck) had laid the foundation for an inquiry into everything relating to these colonies; but as the Chancellor of the Exchequer had declared that, whatever conclusion the committee might come to, the Government would not go beyond a certain point, and would not recede from the measures that had been passed, he thought it would be better not to appoint a Committee at all, lest false hopes might be excited in the West India colonists.— (Hear, hear.) He hoped tho Noble Lord would not accept the Committee to be so appointed, but would leave all the responsibility to Government. Many of the sug gestions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer were good, as far as they went, and he agreed in thinking that mach of the colonial distress now existing was attribu table to the want of free labourers in the islands. Had they been properly introduced at first, much of the ex- i l ~S~I