The Express.
London, England, 1848-08-25 00:00:00

the system hitherto pursued with a view to the sup-
pression of the slave trade, ea not only inadequate to
attain the end contemplated, but as positively aug-
menting the atrocities and horrors of that nefarious
traffic.

The first resolution embodies a tabular statement of
the extent of the African slave trade in each year
from 1798 to 1897 ; from which it appears that the
amber of slaves exported from Africa in 1807 (the
year in which the slave trade was declared illegal by
act of parliament) was 85,000, and that the number
exported in 1817 was 84,356. The second resolution
states that, during the progress of the present year
the slave trade has been in a state of unusual vigour
and activity, although, as we are told in the third,
the preventive squadron on the west coast of Africa
hue, since 1845, attained an unprecedented degree of
strength and activity, and has, moreover, been aided
by French and American squadrons. The fourth reso-
lution goes on to say that the total number of negroes
liberated by British cruisers in 1816 and 1847 eaarcely
exceeds four per cent. of the 'ambir carried off
from the coast of Africa; and the fifth, that during
the years 1846 and 1847, and the part of the present
year already elapsed, the price of slaves in Brazil has
experienced • progressive and very considerable
decline. It is obvious from these facts, that all efforts
of Great Britain have been unable materially to
diminish the extent of the African slave trade. From
the sixth resolution, we learn that our fruitless laboure
are coating us, one year with another, not less than
650,000/. tier annum. The seventh, eighth, and ninth
resolutions, state facts which show that future persist-
ence in the system which has proved so ineffectual,
must be at least equally unproductive of results.
The seventh states that the Brazilian slave
trade has always been attended with large profits, and
is now conducted with a degree of organisation and
confidence of success, such as never before stimulated
the parties engaged in it to bid defiance to any efforts
to suppress it; the eighth, that the extent and ac-
tivity of the slave trade have always been governed by
the demand for the produce of slave labour in the
markets of Europe ; and the ninth that the admission
of slave grown sugar into the British markets has
rendered an effectual check on the slave trade more
difficult of attainment than at any former period. The
tenth resolution claps the climax on this picture of
contented perseverance in efforts which have not been,
and cannot by any possibility be, prodactive of good.
It states :

That the suffering' and mortality of slaves in the barns.
coons, and in the middle passage, arc appalliog to humauity,
and the intensity of the sufferings, and the amount of the
mortality, are unexampled in the history of the slave
trade.

We leave it to any unprejudiced man of average
common sense to say what wee the duty of a com-
mittee which, alter a protracted, extensive, and
searching inquiry, has had these convictions forced
upon it ? That duty clearly was to declare without
cum prom ise or evasion that the system hitherto pursued
by the British government having been proved by the
experience of thirty years inadequate to diminish
the extent of the slave trade—that this system having
been proved by the experience of thirty years to have
aggravated the guilt and horror of the slave trade—
it is the duty of the British government, without
loss of time, to adopt some other system. Great
Britain is pledged in the face of Europe and the
world to put an end to slavery and the slave trade ;
Great Britain having been shown to have adopted
measures for this purpose which have had the effect
of aggravating the cruelty of the slave trade without
curtailing its amount, is bound to relinquish such
mischievous schemes and adopt others more conducive
to the end contemplated.
The committee have, however, seen fit to wind up
their demonstration of the impotence and mischievous-
ness of the system of slave-trade suppression hitherto
pursued by the British government with the follow-
rug inane resolution :
That, in the uncertainty under which the committee
labour, whether any recommendations which they might
make would be accepted by the government and parliament,
they have not thought it advisable to take into considera-
tion, at this late period of the cession, an alteration of the
policy heretofore pursued for the suppression of the slave
trade. The committee have been induced to adopt this
oourse from a wish not to weaken or embarrass' the execu-
tive government during the recess, but they cannot conclude
without urging upon the immediate atlontion of the govern-
ment the difficulties and embarrassments which attach to the
present position of the subject.
Tne first part of this precious resolution is simply
untrue. It appears from the minutes of the procted-
ings in committee that no less than three different
plans for modifying or changing the preaeut system
of slave-trade suppression were deliberately pre-
pared and brought under consideration by
the three classes or interests of which the committee
was composed. The discussions and votes on
the resolutions actually adopted show that the minds
of a majority in the committee are made up as to the
main features of the system by which slavery and the
slave trade ought in future to be combated. The
majority of the committee have shrunk from the duty
of urging an immediate relinquishment of a system
which has been only powerful to increase cruelty and
suffering. The shallow pretexts by which they seek
to palliate such culpable weakness only add to their
disgrace. It was their part as brave and honest
men to state their convictions on a matter of
such importance and urgency, regardless of
what the government or the parliament might
see fit to do. If they entertained suspicions that the
government and parliament would not do what was
right, that was only an additional reason for publish-
ing the truth as an appeal to public opinion. The
second reason they assign for their dereliction of
duty is more pitiable still. They aver that they
have sacrificed the interests of humanity from
mere partisan or political considerations from
reluctance to weaken or embarrass the execu-
tive government during the recess. The actual suf-
ferings of the negro are to be protracted—the prospect
of gradually extinguishing slavery and the slave
trade is to be indefinitely postponed—in order to
avoid the chance of rendering a minister uncom-
fortable

Such motives would be discreditable even were they
real. But it is apparent from the proceedings in the
committee that they are men e pretexts. It is clear
from the divisions in committee that a majority of the
members belonged to one or other of three classes.
There were munquirinq zealots who would gladly
bungle on with the present ineffective system ; there
were West Indians anxious for upholding the preven-
tive squadron in the vain hope of increasing by its
efforts the cost of labour in Cuba and Brazil ;
and there were Dome who dared not act
upon their own convictions, inasmuch as that
would have involved a departure from esta-
blished precedent. The last named took fright on
finding themselves in a majority, and to escape the
responsibility of recommending a wiser but novel
policy, proposed that the committee should report no
opinion as to the measures to be adopted in future.
With this proposal the other two, seeing themselves
in a minority, gladly cloeed, and thus the arduous and
protracted labours of the committee have, for the pre.
sent at least, been rendered fruitless by its own deed.
The advantage to which Lords BROUGHAM and
DENMAN have turned this suicidal policy of
the committee, is, so far as the corn-
mittee alone is concerned, a just retribution for
its unmanly weakness. To the noble and learned
lords themselves, the speeches they thought fit to
deliver on Tuesday evening were anything but credit-
able. They called upon the House of Lords
to pronounce judgment lefore they were in posses-
sion of the evidence, for the report of the committee
has not yet been communicated to the Lords. And
not contented with this un)udicial conduct, Lords
linouGnAm and DENMAN indulged in unfounded
attacks on the characters and conduct both of wit-
nesses and members of the committee. The world
has long ceased to be surprised at such conduct
on the part of Lord BROUGHAM, but from Lord
DENMAN better things were expected. It is pecu-
liarly unfortunate that Lord DENMAN's son should
have been evincing soreness because the resolutions
of the committee express convictions the reverse of
what he laboured to impress upon them, and that
Lord DENMAN'S speech—the personal imputations
excepted—is a mere echo of his son's pamphlets and
evidence.