The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, JUNE 27, 1848.

teas Now ter=b: the metortly of the porde, in eider to
seed as • bet we salwait teat t cannot be wo-
seer* via 'of tees trade to give to he sere colonial.. a
Miligramall/ M gm
ka m•ge •rk et by allowing them to cultivate Ripe
to ,• sod we submit hey must:have mat
segaspellp Bit tie West Indies cease to guppy the market with
MB 3tene lordship must have ascertained that a supply from the
SW cannot be (reigned at the rates of sheogrewn produce.
! um resident proprietors, sod ail of us, with one exception,
and leased our property ranee the Emancipation Aet.
be evident from the frets rioted that we cannot cultivate for
illigliggymr; Indeed, we have not the meting, unaided, of hiking off
the gessmiterop, and the British West India merebants are now unable
BO MBA as, end of course disinclined, where there is no hope of profit
or even of recovering their advances. If we, being proprietors and les-
sees, living on and managing °strewn properties, brought up to tropical
aorrieultute, soil availing ounwives of every practical improvement,
have only such • result to exhibit as ham forth an the 'dement of these
testa, the inference to conclusive that the position of the absentee pro-
prietor or mortgagee, represented by paid agencies, is still more de-
plorable. It is evident that unlees some mode of rupprosting slavery
and the slave trade more effectual than that hitherto pursued he
militated, taut without immediate aid, in the shape of money loans,
sugar cultivation, upon which 300,000 of the emancipated entrees are
wholly dependent, must cease In Jamaica. But orr object in submit-
ting these hots to your lordship is to enable you to draw your own in- ,
Brener,. end suggest your own remedies; and we beg you will eon-
eider our desperate position se an excuse for troubling you with the
statement.—We have, he., (Signed) 11. A. Witimume (and ffiteen
others).
It had been geld by the Colonial-office that no despateh
from Sir C. (hey had been received in time for the com-
mittee, giving a general statement. There was the dispatch
of Sir C. Grey dated 22nd Oct., 1547, giving a general state-
ment : had this not been received in time fur the committee?
Again, as to Trinidad, had no general statement% been re-
ceived thence in time for the committee, and of essential
importitace to its deliberations There were despotchea
from Lord Harris, the one doted the 4th Sept., the other
18th Sept. of lest year, both of them expresaing the
writers' convictions that, sinless speedy aid were
given to the colonies, the cultivation of their pro-
duce would be relinquished, and the islands must
subside into barbarism. The former of these despatches I
wu received on the 4th October; tho latter on the 22nd
October ; their production was moved for in the house on the
26th November. Yet,theugh the house eat for four weeks after-
wards, these papers were net produced until the evening of i
the night on which the debts in that house Bused—(hear,
hear)—and after statements had been made there, and
in another place, capable of refutation, hail tee house
and the country been in preesess.con of these despatches—
statements calculated to create much prejudice against
the West Indian planters, and to show them guilty
of an entire want of energy and good management.
Haying payed the way by these observations in order to show
the system which prevailed at the government offices, he '
would now go back to the sth of April, and examine into
the course pursued by the hon. Under Secretory. Granting
for the moment that it was tho honest intention of the
Colonial-oltice on the 27th of March to send the derpatch of
Governor Grey before the committee, and {trotting also
that some mental confusion on the part of the lion. member
had prevented him from understanding the question put to
him when he was before the committee by the right hon.
gentleman the member for Cambridge, and that by this'
means the committee was left in the lathe( that no despatch
relating to the agricultural and social state of Jamaica
had been received from Sir Charles Grey, he
(Lord 0. Bentinck) wanted to know how the honourable
member would account for the answer which he gave after-1
wards to the questions of the committee ? lie begged pardon
for going so minutely into (Haile, but they were essential
towards proving the charge that he made—namely, that the
government was guilty of keeping back imeortant despatches
front the committee. The evidence was closed on the sth of
April, and the house adjourned for the Easter renew,. On
Tuesday, the 2nd of May, he summoned the committee to
receive the draft of the resolutions and the report, both of
which were circulated in M.S., and a copy of which was
sent to the hon. Under Secretary and the right hon. gentle.
man opposite (Mr. L ,bouchere). On the 4th of May the
committee met pro fonew, but only six or seven members
were present, and the right hon. gentleman expressed a re-
gret at the circumctance, as the government desired to
know what impression the evidence had produced on the
committee ; at the same time he gave them to
understand thot although the ministry would not be
governed by the opinion et the majority, they should sever-
theless feel it to be their duty to allow themselves to be in a
great measure influenced by the opinions expressed on the
pert of a body of gentlemen who had a* unremittingly devoted
themselves to the inquiry. It was then agreed that the
committee should be adjourned until the Turaday following,
May 9, in order to secure a full meeting, when the tight
hon. gentleman said be hoped in a frien Ily manner to learn
what their opinion was. On Thursday, May 11, the corn•
naittee received in M.S a copy of a despatch trim Mr. Sti-
pendiary Strutt, which, as was averred, was sent because the
committee was then deliberating on its report. Why we re
other de-patches from Governor Light and Lord Harris
kept back at that time particularly one which arrived
simultaneously with that from Stipendiary Strut', dated'
March 23, and written by Lord Harris ? I/mat:hestad been
communicated to the committee by tho For. ignedliee a.
soon as received, and why did not the Colonial.elliee pursue
the same course? He believed the house was tired of these
details—(hear, hear); but he considered them important to
make out his case, for the Gets he bad laid before them
proved that when the despatches contained evidence that
told against hint they were immediately laid before the cam.
mittee, but when they favoured his views they were sup-
pressed. The members of the committee came prepared to
judge by the evidence before them, nod without any mental
reservation to agree to the resolutient and the report ; and
when a member of the government came down and salted
what impression the evidence had produced on their minds
they had a right to coneliete that they had received the
whole of the evidence. Therefore he had a right to say that
the West Indies had not been fairly dealt ,
To revert, however, to the proceedings of the committee:
on the 4th of May they met, and adjourned to the 9th, and
then again to the 18th. What happened in the into real ?
On Friday, May 5, he came down to the house to move for
new papers; the hon member for Kinsale was not in hie
place, but the hen. Secretary for the India Board said that
no time should be lost in consequence, and he undertook to
move for the copies of the despatches which had been kept
back, He (Lord G. Bentinclo left the house, but the hon.
gentleman forgot to move for the papers, and he apologised
for the neglect as well as mewed him that no time should be
lot in conureemee, fur the colonial department wuald at once
set to work tel prepare the despatches. Now he never meant
to say that when Earl Grey did see Governor Grey 's despatch
emblazoned all over with comments as it was, it did not
occur to him that it had come hack without ever having been
sent before the committee. But what was the conduct of
the hon. Under Secretary on that occasion? Practically
speaking, as he had shown. The despatch of Sir C. Grey
was moved for on the sth of Me', and what he wonted to
know wu, how Earl Grey and the hon. member excused
themselves when they found that the despatch which was
to have been sent en the 28th of March hail not been sent
on the sth of May ? Earl Grey never asked wi o was to
blame, nor did he express any regtet. The result of this
keeping back of important intonuation was to induce the
right hon. gentleman the member for Cambridge University
and the hon. member for Liverpool to bold hock from giv-
ing any opinion as to the question of protection. His pur-
pou in going into there detai's was to show that the West
Indies hail not had fair-play, hut that they: had been
treated by those who ought to have protected them
as if they were criminals at the bar of justice.
The charge he made against the government was,
that a systematic suppression of the truth as regarded
the state of the West Indies had been resorted to by the
government in order to mislead the committee in melting
their report. And he must say that the hon. Under Secre-
tary, and the right hon. gentleman also, if he knew of the
existence of the suppreesed despatch, which he (Lard G.
Bentinck) believed was not the MC, did not deal frankly
and fairly by the committee when he asked the members of
it what their opinion of the evidence was at a moment when
the lion. Under Secretary knew that evidence had been kept
back which if known would have decided the vote of the
committee. That was the charge he brought. The hon.
Under Secretary had given his explanation such as it was.
But when it was .aid thee he (Lord G. Remind') had'
charged with fraud the noble earl, who stood BO high as to
be above such a charge, he would only reply that bin ch ego
amounted to a political holding !ACK of certain despatches,
in order to attain a political purpose. (Loud cheers.) Ile
was there in hie place defending the interests of the country.
It was his duty to arraign a high minister of state, and he
would persist in so doing. But he had charged no fraud on
the noble earl. What he said was, that a wonderful want of
memory had been exhibited by the hon. Under-Secretary.
He repeated he had made no use of the word
" fraud ; but he hied only quoted the words of Burke
in his speech on conciliation with another portion of the
British poseeesions in North America, when that great man
said, with ref recce to trickery and the purity of statesman-
ship, " Refined policy ever has been the parent of confusion
and ruin, and will be so u long as the world endures. I'lnin
good intentions, which are as easily discovered at first view
as fraud is surely to be detected at last, is, let me sty, no
mean ingredient in the policy of governing mankind."
Lord J. RUSSELL said that he mold not hut think his
hon. friend was entitled to an answer to the questions he
had put to the noble lord that night; and he (Lord J. Rus-
selljrose, nut to make a reply to the noble lord's long speech,
hut in order to elicit some reply on beh..lf of his hon. friend.
The noble lord, on a former night, accused his hon. friend
of keeping back a despatch from the committee
of which he was chairman, to which charge his
hon. friend replied by reading a minute signed
Earl Grey, dated March 30, ordering the despatch
in question to be laid before the committee. Oh Friday
lest the noble lord said that those minutes must have been
contacted after his hon. friend's evidence had been given be-
fore the committee, and at the end of his speech he quoted
the sentiment of Mr. Burke, that—" Plain good intentions
are as easily discovered at first view as fraud is surely to be
defected at last." His hon. friend then said that an allega-
tion of that kind was not to be met without previous notice,
upon which the noble lord said, " that if the minutes were
not got up"—that was to say, if a gross and disgraceful
fraud had not been committed by Mr, Fox, Mr. Elliott, his
hon. friend (Mr, B. Hume), and Earl Grey—" subsequent
to the sth of April, the bon. gentleman was troubled with
the shortest memory that had appeared since the days of
Majocchi, of green-bag memory." And now, when his hon.
friend made an explanation as to the facts, and asked the
noble lord to prove his charges or to witialravr them, or
else to have a committee appointed to examine into their
truth, what did the noble lord do ? He favoured them with
a long speech, but es to the character or honour of his hon.
friend the noble lord had not said anything by which the
house could infer what his intentions were. As to the
minute, he had certainly said there was no doubt his hon. '
friend was correct in his statement, but then subsequently
he seemed to nay the contrary, and he (Lord J. Russell)
wanted to know whether the charge of concocting it was
withdrawn ? That was the first question he put to the noble
lord. Now, an to the second point, the charge was perfectly
intelligible, and constituted what the noble lord called the
other horn of the dilemma—namely, " that if the minute
was not concocted alter the 6th April, the hon. member

must be troubled with a memory es short as that of Theodore
Majeocht, of green bag notoriety," who, as they were all aware,
had acquired a character by trying to deceive all the world in
giving his evidence. Now his hon. friend had gives his answer
before the committee in the sense in which he understood
the question, and even when subsequently taxed on this
score in the house he hid appealed to the right hoe. gentle-
men the member for Cambridge, when it turned out that he
had misunderstood him. But he (Lord J. Russell) wassure
the right hon. gentleman would readily distinguish between
misapprehension and deliberate falsehood. Now, ha asked
the noble lord did he mean to withdraw the charge of having
concocted the minute, and in the second place, did he
persevere in the other imputation? If so, his honour.
able friend wished to have a committee, to inquire
into the truth of these charges; and in his
(Lord J. Russell's) opinion, he was entitled to one.

Mr. DISRAELI rose.
The SPEAKER reminded the bon member that there
was no qutstion before the house.
Mr. F. MACKENZIE moved that the house do now ad-

joints.
The motion having been seconded,
Mr. DISRAELI said that it was unreasonable in the
noble lord, after having blamed his noble friend for making
so long a speech to expect him to rise nein. If his nettle
friend had not conveyed his meaning already to the house he
' might well +pair of being able to do so in any supplemen-
tary speech. The noble lord opposite had risen with great
alacrity to remind the house that the important point before
it wen the accusation made by his noble friend the member
for King's Lynn against the hon. member for Kin-
sale, of having committed a pslitical fraud, by concocting
or inventing some e.c post facto minutes ; but the house
would recollect when the noble lord rose the other night he
never once alluded to that point. He then rose in a state of
some excitement in consequence, as he elated, of a charge of
fraud having been brought against the government of sup
pressing important information contained in despatches, and
it was a subsequent observation of the hon. member for Kin
sale which drew forth from his noble friend the statement of
the dilemma upon one or the other horn of which the hon.
secretary must be impaled. He had his choice—either he
had cram xted the minute, or elm he was troubled with a
very short memory. Well, he (Mr. Disraeli) believed that
the hon. ire mher's memory was 'hon. (Cheers and laugh-
ter,) This was, at all events, the least difticult
conclusion, seeing that the hon. member, when
Wore the commutes, was perpetually asked to produce
a despatch, the existence of which he as perpetually forgot.
His opinion was that his noble friend had never intended to
make the charge which had been so much elaborated upon
against the hon. Under Secretary. (Oh.) The real charge
sgainst the government was a systematic suppression of im-
portant information. (Hear, hear.) The hon. Under
Secretary asked whether his noble friend persisted in the
odious charge of forging the minutes. His f Mr. Disraeli'ej
answer was, that the charge bad never been made, or, if it
had, had been most amply withdrawn. (Hear, and oh.)
Let them look to the really important question. All this
discussion had arisen because certain must important de
spatches hail been withheld from the committee on sugar
planting, one of those despatches which had come from the
govt reor of a moat important colony, recommendirg a
protecting duty of ten &tailings. (Hear.) Then there was
another important despatch from the governor of Trinidad,
which, from the same extraordinary circumstance, never was
produced. But that was not all. There was anot•er still
from Iterbice. (Cheers and laughter.) Here were three
material despatches which might assist the committee in
forming a government (loud laughter from the treasury
benchee)— he meant a report, all of which had been must
unecceuntably withheld. (Hear, hear.) Was not, then,
the wi.hholding of these important despatches at a most
critical juncture a fair ground of attack from a constitutional
opposition ? But even that was not all. He would now
bring forward ame respecting the Chief Secretary of the
Colonies respecting which (or he was very much mistaken)
the public would call for information. On the 7th cf
February last that noble earl, speaking in another
place, wished to fill that august assembly with
the notion that there was no reas in yet to despair
of Jamaica ; that new social circumstances were developing
themselves; new resident proprietors of a new race were
springing up and investing vast capital in the land, and that
such were the men from whom England was to look for the
regeneration of Jamaica. The noble earl further held this
out se an inducement for the increased investment of British
capital. The noble earl's words were reported to have
been these ; "Among many documents which had passed
through his hand' respecting the colonies, he had been very
much struck with a memorial from certain planters of Ja-
meica, stating that they had invested 142,0091. in the 'ele-
ctive of their estates. He believed that in a few years they
would see the soil cultivated entirely by planters who wire
resident on their estates." Now this document, which
the noble earl had described as a most important document,
hut from which he had quoted so meagrely, ran as follows :
" Your memorialists are owrerrs of 19 and renters of 13
sugar estates, which, together, produce 2,796 hogsheads of
linear and 1,351 puncheons of rum, the production of which
altogether will cost 60,0001. Now, 151. per hogshead for
smear and 141. per puncheon fur rum will produce alto.
gether 60,5101. against the capital sunk, taken at 6
per cent.—the usual interest in the colony-32,0001.
for implements on the 19 proprietary estates, and
95,0001. fur rental on the other thirteen." Now, the noble
earl, in endeavouring to persuade the assembly of the resus-
citation of Jamaica through the exertions of a new race of
planter', should not have omitted this paragraph: " It will
be evident, from the fact+ stated, that we cannot cultivate
for another year. Indeed, we have not means of taking up the
present crop." (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") These were
the men of whom the noble earl had boasted as having in-
vested 142,0001. in the purchase of land in Jamaica subse-
quent to emancipation. The mem rialists went on to point
out that if they, resident proprietors and planters, were in
such a plight, what must be the condition of absentees and
mortgagees who were represented by agents. Now, this was
the document to which the noble lord had referred as proving
that the restoration of Jamaica was going on, and that the
island offered iadueement for the further investment of
British capital. (Hear, hear.) How could he find words
to describe the conduct of that minister who, receiving do-
cuments from the colonies, mutilated them to seems his pur-
pose, and used them to corroborate views which thi:y were
intended to confute ? (Hear, hear.) Looking at this cir-
cumstance, together with the suppression of the three de-
seatchee, he considered that his noble friend was fully justi-
fied in asserting that there was a systematic attempt on the
part of the government to suppress and pervert colonial in-
13111MtiOn. (Hear, hear.) Another case wee that of Go-
vernor Higginson's despatch, every line of which the noble
earl had designated as most important, but of that he only
quoted as much as supeorted his own cpinion. (Hear.) One
part of Governor Iligginson's despatch ran thus " It must be
conceded that free-grown sugar can never render such a return
as that produced by foreign slaves." Why had those lines
been left out ? (Hear, hear.) Were not the omissions he
had complained of strong symptoms of a wish to repress all
information which bore against the noble earl's opinions ?
(Hear, hear.) The hon. member having alluded to Lord
Harris'e despatch, which has already been so fully discussed,
proceeded to say that, to all these charges, ministers had
commenced their defence by pleading guilty, their allegation
ing that their offence was a Wunder, not a crime. (Hear,
hear.) Ile thought that nothing could be more enormously
ridiculous than their position. (Cheers and laughter.) It
was very convenient for a government to deprecate dis-
cussion, and to censure all inquiry as in bed lege. Nothing
could possibly be more indelicate than asking a man
questions which he did not find it convenient to answer.
(A laugh.) But these were questions which must be an-
swered. lie believed that that discussion would make an
impression elseseeere—that " elsewhere" to which the hon.
Under Secretary had so confidently appealed. " Elsewhere"
it would be said that there were some facts of a very suspi-
cious character which must bc explained. "Elsewhere" it
woul I he reinemlemed that three important despatches had
not been produced before the sugar committee ; and " else-
where" it would not be forgotten that the noble Secretary of
stem bad held upJamaica as a desirable place for invest-
ments of capital. (Cheers and laughter.) These were all
facts which would tell "elsewhere ;" and he had that confi-
dence in the good sense and spirit of "elsewhere" to believe
that they would not Mid fault with a member of parliament
who attempted honestly to do his duty and to elicit truth,
and who was not afraid, when necessary, to impeach a
minister, however high his position, bright his honours, or
long his pedigree. (Loud cheers, and laughter.)
Mr. V. SMITH complained that the hon. member for
Bucks had evade el the main question, which was the charge
against the Colonial-ottice of having concocted certain
minutes. (No.) The observations of the noble lord in plsin
English meant a charge of forgery. (Hear, hear.) The
hon. member for Bucks had said that his noble friend had
withdrawn the charge. It he had done so, he (Mr. V. Smith)
considered he had done so in a very unhand-
some manner. (Ministerial cheers.) He thought that
the noble lord should either withdraw his charge
or put himself in a condition to prove it. (Hear, hear.)
The second charge was that his hon. friend's (Mr. Hawes)
memory was shorter than anything on record since the ci he-
footed case of 'Llietedore Majocchi. Now who was that
Majocchi ? The greatest liar the world had ever produced.
"Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of him."
(Laughter.) Were such things to be asserted of an hon.
member of that house and not either fully proved or frankly
withdrawn ? (Hear, hear.) He thought that these per-
sonal questions should be settled before they entered into
the general question which had been stated by the hon.
member for Bucks, relative to a general and systematic sup-
pression of facts by the Colonial-office. (Hear.)
Sir J. PAKINGTON said that his noble friend the mem-
ber for Lynn had distinctly stated that after what had fallen
from the hon. under secretary he could not make any im-
putation against the minutes, and the hon, member had
taken off his hat in the manner in which hon. members were
used to do when satisfied.
Mr. HAWES—That was to the hon. member for Buck-
inghamshire, not the noble lord.
Sir J. PAKINGTON had seen the hon. member do so to
the noble lord. (Hear.) He (Sir J. Pakineton) could
assure the bon. member that he completely exculpated both
himself and the noble earl at the head of the colonial depart-
ment from any such charge as that of altering minutes. AU
he meant to aver, was that in the matter of these despatches
there had been grave neglect somewhere. (Hear.) Having
recapitulated the facts respecting the despatches, the hon.
baronet concluded by observing that in such proceedings
there must have been intentional suppressions or very grave
blunders.
Sir G. GREY complained that the hon. baronet also had
attempted to divert the attention of the house from the ques-
tion really before it. What was the real question? His
hon. friend the Under Secretary for the Colonies feeling that
a charge had been brought against him on Friday night
deeply affecting his honour, had come forward with an ex-
plicit statement of facts, and also to ask the noble lord the
member for Lynn either to prove his charge, or to withdraw
it. The noble lord had entrusted his retractation to the
hon. member for Bucks and the hon. baronet, and therefore
he (Sir G. Grey) would put that matter aside. The real pee-

tion was the charge which had been made on Friday night,
and now a new aeries of charges were brought forward.
The noble lord and the hon. member had spect the jotters/
in ransacking Hansard for speeches, or rather scraps of
speeches imputed to Lord Grey in the other house of parlia
ment, to support charges of neglecting to lay certain papers
befwe a committee. Ile appealed to every honourable man
in that house whether there was not a difference bets een
accidental omi•sion and fraudulent suppression, u charged
by the noble lord. The charge bad been brought forward
recklessly, for the purpose of injuring the character of his
hon. friend (Mr. Hawes).
Lord G. 1313NTINCK replied with some warm,b, and re-
minded the government that there was ample time to have
produced the despatch to the committee, after the fact of its
not having'been received was known. He would not retract
the charge which he had preferred against the government,
• charge involving a grave and serious offence deeply injuri-
ous to the best interests of the transmarine possessiuns of the

crown.
Mr. CHARTERIS was obliged to understand that the
noble lord had withdrawn his charge against the under
Colonial Secretary, but he certainly had no; done it iu the
handsomest manner.
Mr. NEW DEG ATE did not see why his noble friend
should be called upon to withdraw a charge which in reality
he had Inver made.
The motion for adjournment was then withdrawn.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH SPAIN.
In answer to a question from Mr. OSBORNE,
Lord PALMERSTON said that the only medium of com-
munication between the government of this country and that
of Spain was their respective consuls ; and, as regarded the
Quadruple Treaty, it had been established for a particular
purpose for maintaining the indcpendenc, of the Spanis.l
crown and the Spanish people ; but if it were not so, all he
could say was that the British government would never be
a party, by treaty or no treaty, to enslave any nation on the
face of the earth. (" Hear," and laughter.)

SUGARO.
oldUpTsl
°ENS
resumed
lit Nhe
debate,k: D
and
TE
contended Mr.
that there had been no breach of contract with the \Vint
India body ; the full comi ensation had been paid, and
West India property, so far from having deteriorated had
increased in value since 1831. He condemned the
practice of importing Coolies into the West la-
dies as unprofitable and demoralising. His opinion
was that the system of immigration hid been a
failure, and 'hat if carried out extensively it would only
create a slave trade under false Colours, and injure materially
the interests of the colonies, both in their s cial and moral
condition. The hon. gentleman then referred to the ap-
prenticeship system established at the period of the emanci-
pation of the slave, and contended that as early as 1835 there
were numerous complaints of the cruelties practised against
their apprent ces by the planters in the West India islaes.
' The Marquis of Sligo, formerly a got senor of Jamaica,
anal himself connected by property with the colonial in-
terest, on his return home published a pamphlet which
fully justified all this representations which had been
previously made in the imperial parliament respecting
those cruelties; and the Earl of Mulgrave took a simi-
lar course. He admitted that the planters had a lair
claim to relief if it could be given consistently with
the principles of the basis of our commercial legislation,
and with the rights, interests, and future prospects of the
negro. But the house ought to be careful hew it sanctioned
immigration by private indiviSnals. or encouraged grants
of money for promoting that object. Missionaries in Jamaica
had complained of the system, and of the iniquitous manner
in which the emigrants were entrapped to leave their own
country, and abandoned and left to starve when no longer
tf use to those whom they served. If it was wring to con-
sume slave-grown sugar it was equally wrong to consume
slave-grown cotton and tobacco. If non, gentlemen pro-
hibited slave-grown produce altogether he would know how
to deal with the question. But the vision of those who sought
protection for the West India interest seemed to be circum-
scribed within the dimensions of a hogshead. (Liughter.)
In advocating protection they were only h ding their selfish-
ness behind a cloak of humanity. (Hear, hear.) He was as
strongly opposed to slavery as any man, but he could
not vote with thew who called upon him to support dis-
criminatory duties; nor did he think they could be at best
more than a temporary advantage to the interest which it
was sousht to relieve by them; while advancing money was
only like giving pecuniary aid to a man already much em•
barraged, who grasped at a straw but eventually sank. The
tate of those islands was Reeled. They could not compete
with Cuba and Brasil. It was a question of extent of terri-
tory and cultivation, and he confessed he hoped to see the day
when there would be no absentees from the estates. He
lamere.ed that the government had made any con-
cession, or that they had departed from the
principle laid down by the bill of 181 G. If their
scheme afforded a large measure of relief to gentle.
men opposite, it would have some recommendation, but it did
not. It was in fact a change without an advantage. It was
a retrograde step on their part without conferring any bene-
fit on these for whose distress they expressed their sympathy.
lie could not therefore support a vote of money, because its
tendency would be to diminish the wages of those who had a
right to the full value of their industry ; nor could he on
the other hand support protection, because it would be a
gross injustice to the people of this country, who were such
large consumers of sugar. He must, coasequertly, vote
against both propositions.
Mr. BERNAL hoped the house would deal with the ques-
tion in *spirit ol impartiality and candour—looking not merely
to the interests of the proprietors, but to those of the pu olic at
large. (Hear, hear.) The \Vest India interest had unfor-
tunately to deal with dubious friends and open and con-
cealed adversaries. The opp siti a of the hon. gentleman
for the Tower Hamlets was certainly open and avowed, and
he had been the undeviating, he might gay without meaning
disrepect, the rancorous adversary of that interest for many
years. But ho scarcely expected that that hon. gentleman
would have attempted as he had done that evening,
by a reference to the cruelties of slavery and the
mitigated cruelties of the apprenticeship system, to
revive the old West India 'debates of that house.
The member for Westbury, speaking of the beet-root sugar,
declared that the Zollverein were anxiously encouraging its
production. Why, hail they not put a heavy duty upon it ?
Again, the hon. member had held up Porto Rico as an
example to the West bullies, and. had talked of the excellent
roads in the colony. Why, there was not a single carriage
road in that inland. Again, the same hon. member said that
there were no less than 800 miles of railway in the Wind of
Cuba. Why. it was true there were tramways, but the rail-
ways on which there was anything like passenger traffic
were very limited in extent. The bon. member for Kinsale
had told them the other night " that the truth must be told."
Would his hon. friend revert to a despatch of Sir C. Grey
of the Bth of December last, showing the number of estates
abandoned since 1833 in Jamaica ? Of the 640 sugar estates
in that island, no less than 142 had been given up ; and the
coffee plantations abandoned were even in greater proportion.
There were 16 gentlemen who had become proprietors in Ja-
maica since the abolition of slavery, and every one of them
declared his inability to go on under the present system. it
was said the West Indians were a reckless, improvident set,
and that they were so deeply mortgaged that they could
never hope to prosper. There were many proprietors, how-
ever, within his own experience whose estates were quite
clear of mortgage. Hie own properties in Jamaica had never
been encumbered to the extent of one penny. Every claim
had been met—money had been provided for every want.
His estates were under the charge of a free trader—as free
as the hon. member for the West Riding. No one who
knew his (Mr. Bernal's) opinions would charge him
with bigoted views or with being insensible to
the advantages of new machinery and new plans.
And yet, under all these circumstances, "the fact
must come out "—his estates were losing concerns.
(Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman who spoke last was con-
sected with India, and most probably that circumstance was
the key to his speech. The hon. member had talked of the
labour of the West Indiss. It was quite true, as he had
said, that tee island of Barbadoes and parts of Jamaica were
well peopled; but other Wands and certain quarters of
Jamaica were sadly in want ce labourers, and would never
he prosperous until there was a regular and certain supply.
The negro at present would only work five days a week
nutter any circumstances. The negro labourers often kept
horses and gigs, and some of their horses were high bred.
What would be thought of a thaw-bacon in this country
who kept a horse worth 201. ? Who was it that had en-
couraged slave labour in our West Indian colonies ? The
British legislature. Yet the West Indian planters did not
desire the legislature to retrace its course as to emancipation ;
al. that they required was that the legislature should aid
them to struggle against the difficulties in which, as a con-
sequence of emancipation, they had been placed. If the
government thought the colonies worth preserving at all— per-
haps they did not—they must apply their most earnest consi-
deration to the complaints of the West India planters.
What was the state of Jamaica at this moment? Tnat
estates one after another were being abandoned; that estates,
forced to a sale, fetched next to nothing, as an in-
stance of which he could mention the apparently
incredible fact that an estate of 2,000 acres, well
stocked with machinery, with two hundred head of cattle
upon it, was sold for 2,0001, ; that another estate, whose
cultivation was continued, which had once produced 12,0001.
a year now produced scarcely_ 3001. a year. (Hear, hear.)
Oa what ground , was our West India planter thus left to
destruction ? On what principle was he to be refused the
same paternal protection which the British farmer enjoyed ?
(Hear, hear.) The British corn producer had the protection
afforded him in the home market, as against the Pomeranian
corn grower, of the freight and other charges which the latter
had to pay before he could bring his commodity to a save in
our market; but the West India sugar or coffee grower had
no similar protection as against the sugar or coffee grower of
Cuba or Brasil. (Hear.) As to the duty, he admitted that
as tar as the scale of reduction upon Muscovado sugar was
concerned, the proposition of the government was better than
that of the right hon. gentleman on the opposition benches.
He believed that if he were to go amongst his mercantile
friends and connexions he could not raise one shilling upon
his West Indian estates. Why, therefore, under such cir-
cumstances as these were the West Indians to be subjected
to the charges so constantly made against them of apathy
and idleness, when they had not the means of cultivating
properly their estates ? He should be sorry, in the year
1848, to find that England had so far departed from the dic-
tates of common genre as to give up the West India colonies
for worthless possessions. For the reasons he had stated,
and considering that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
had held firm to his differential duty on rum, and had not
listened to the gay Lotharios from Ireland, he should vote
for the propositions ef the government before the house. (A
burst of laughter.)
Sir J. GRAHAM said that he had net joined in the laugh
which accompanied the announcement of his intended vote
by the hon, member for Rochester. He concurred in the
sentiments uttered by him at the commencement of his
speech. The subject was surrounded with difficulties, and
it must be decided upon principles consonant with the general
intexesta of the community. But what were the remedies
proposed for the distrees is the West Indies by the hon.
member ? He was opposed to the importation of creole., and

to coolies—as well am to large immigrations of liberars,csa,
cans. He also disclaimed all wish for protection, lad 47:
many disclaimers he was at a lose to discover the ta:
member's remedy. With respect to the slaver.
of the question that certainly WU nic‘,
portant feature. The abolition of the slave 44,,
subsequently of slavery. were the greatest .611
meats ever accomplished by the humanity of a
He was ferry that the apprenticeship period tit t
liberated negroes had been cut short, uthat had heel —*
tended with baneful effects on the happiness and a.
of the colonies. But with respect to the question pp
house, when his right hon. friend the member fur Tainin,g7
thought it wise to reduce the price of all primary
heeeaearya
of life, he considered it only right that so importantar, atids
of consumption as sugar should also be included in tau,
Suction ; and in 1844 he saw that the time had arrivedeee;
the duty on that article must be lowered; but it was ess,e--
sary also to attend to the state of the supply, for if
.
hat
was deficient, the reduction of duty would go to the sea
and nut to the consumer. The result of ieria.
's
.
showed that the supply was se limited as to rend.r it inf.
pensable to enlarge the area of supply,and in consayea,...„4
then government admitted, on easy terms of cornmeg.•
with West India free labour sugar, the free grown s.gsa;
foreign colonies. The question of slavery was 001 the tai
difficulty th it existed in making this alteration of the lev,ai
it was urged that, under the most favoured oven, atime
of the,reciprocity treaties with foreign countries, star
auger• could be imported into England under the set
1844 ; and the euestion:was argued with consummate thee,
by the right honourable gentleman below hoe (Y 27.
Gladstone), but still it was a doubtful case. Oadw
these circumstances, it was that the present gem,
mcnt sought to introduce the act of 1816, which levelki
the distinctions between slave and free labour stew"
measure to which he had given a reluctant ,app,,
The house and the legislature, in passing the act et leg,
had done so deliberately, upon lull argument, and
the facts brought under review ; and he must say, there*
that the act of 1846 was to be considered as a deliberstessi
final settlement, which gave ample warning to the Wm 4,
diens and to foreign powers that the it pithy was a utast
one. (Hear, heir.) What had been the enact of that aise
sure? I' added greatly to the revenue, and cheepereetk
price of an almost necessary article to the consumer . • meta
was not satisfied that it had increased the slave trod: to ea
Inver ptiblc degree. The intentions of the legislature ire;
therefore fully carried out by the consequences of the led
1846. (Hear) He had had different distinct suggerk,
made on this subject. There was the statement of the nee
hon. gentleman the member for Coventry t Mr. Elba), tkg
what the West Indians wanted was a litt.e assistance toads
over their difficulties. Why that was what he had ha
hearing on this subject since he had the honour of a sent tt
that house. (Hear, hear.) 'lnert the petition of the Wee
Indian body said, " That no legislation which did nut own
profitable cultivation would he of avail." The legi.latureb
assure a profitable cultivation ! How could the leais atsn
give any such insurance ? (Hear.) It was a rmuest rid
which it was impossible to comply. Then there v
the proposition of his hon. friend the member fur Inc*,
with, which he thought would have contained &met*
more specific. lie said, indeed, that a divcriminatiagday
of 7s. would not be sufficient; but he (Sir J. Grais)
wanted to know how much would besufficient ? The e
mittee over which the noble lord had presided proposed a
discriminating duty of 10.., without which the amsdas
must of a majority of the West Indian estates ass Mem
able. Sir C. Grey, in the despatch of which they bad hard
too much (hear, hear), gave an opninn to the 1111311. eget,
But he thought that the answer of Earl Grey to that dewed
contained the sound and true doctrine on the suli,ece Ileum
in that answer that a high rate of wages, ieteuflieient taboo,
and the went of a steady command of it, which were the
great difficulties of the West Indian colonies, were in a gnat
measure to be attributed to the duties on sugar, whirl, by
maintaining an artificial high price of that article, had is
duced the planters to compete with each other in the ease
market, and had thereby created an artificial rate of warn,
It was by keeping both at their natural level that he bops/
to see the colonists able to produce suiter with a profit. Ms
(Sir J. Graham) looked upon that passage of the reply d
the node earl as sound in principle, accurate ia
point of fact, and the true answer to the rms.
mendation of the committee. The hon. gentleman the
member for Leominster said that the mkinte trance of the
protection proposed by the committee beyond two yen,
would be, in the highest degree, injurious to the Wet
Indies. The Mauritius afforded a remarkable illustrate@
of the soundness of the doctrine of Earl Grey. An imagre
tion of labour bad taken place to Mauritius, which was al-
most incredible-65,000 coolies having been intredaced
within the last Me or seven }ears. But notwithstanding that,
the rate of wages rose from viz dollars to ten dollen
a month. (Hear, hear.) He considered that protectica witk
regard to the article of sugar was very dangerous, and tag
it gave encourasement to a species of gambling like the
which took place with respect to the cultivation of hem fs
this country, where the profits were either great or the ken
immense. His hon. friend the member for llroitaich sit
that the average cost of production in the West Indies we
11. 2s. 6d. per cert., whilst the average cost of protectim we
only 6e. 100. per cwt., making a difference of lie. k
Aseeming that to be true, a duty of 10s. would at
enable the West Indian planters to cultivate with a peg
(Hear, hear.) He was decide fly opposed to a perms=
10i. duty for six years. (Hear, hear.) It was ieexpedirn
to grant it first of all to the colonies. That was his pet
ticular ground for opposing the amendment, but he weed
steel state the general ground on which he opposed it. De
hon. member tar Buckinghamshire said the other night
our recent c rnamercial policy would lead to a erection, lad
that the time hail arrived when it was to take place. In
the other house of parliament also Lord Stanley had pro-
posed as expedient a prosongation of the time within wheats
corn laws were to expire, and the rght hon. gentleman the
member for Stamford (Mr. Herrin) had said that nothing
really effectual for the relief of the Weet Indies could be
accomplished except by a discriminating duty approaching
to a prohibitory one. He also saw in manitietoes from the
Protection Society ginned by the Duke of Richioend that
cheapness was treated with derision. Taking ell these sits
together, he believed that an attempt at reaction was
pending, and to such reaction he was decidedly opposed.
(Cheers from the free traders.) In passing, he would ,peal
of the value of cheapness.
Lord G. BENTINCK—And the cheapness of wage
(Protectionist cheers.)
Sir J. GRAHAM would not shrink from that part of th
question. (Hear, hear.) His experience of the year 18th
convinced him on that point.
Lord G. BENTINCK—You stated it bath ways.
hear.)
Sir J. GRAHAM—The noble lord's taunts fell harmlea
on him. (Hear, hear.) No taunts could drive him new
from power to make room for others. (Hear, hear.) Hs
was there ready and bound to speak the truth—(aearl ; rd
his experience of the distress of the manufacturing districts
convinced him that the converse of the proposition, namely,
that lowness of price was accerapenied by lowness of wages,
was true, and that low wages fell on the working cornmeal
when Reticles of first necessity were dear. (Hear, hear.) He
was satisfied therefore that tney must be cautious before the
allowed taxation to enhance the price of ureic es of the fine
necessity. (Hear, hear.) Cheapness of price could not le
put down by the anathema of the Duke of Rielimag
(Hear, hear.) What was the practical beanie
of the cheapness of sugar ? It entered into tie
consumption of every fatally. It was almost tat
only condiment to the tasteless rice, the insipid grid,
the saur-kraut of the poor min. (Hear, hear.) And win
he could get nothing more nourishing, it rendered palatable
his coffee and his tea. (Hear.) Cheapness, therefore, is
this matter was everything. Tots was the first attempt at a
reactionary policy rounded on a return to prohibitory dans,
and he was opposed to that reaction. (Hear, hoar.) He
believed in the present state of society in this country, sad
with all that is taking place around them, that it was We
practicable—(hear, hearl—and if practicable, he believedi
to be most dangerous. He believed it was the very reversed
conservative with regard to all their institutions, and, if ese
vied into effect, he trembled for the consequences. (Rem'
This proposition was the first step to give effect to the pet.
phecy of the hon. member for Buckingham. lie was at
I wpreiseparanedd
itmapotaikiet:cthoiant
detehp..ldiTheegthrsat.o)pilnlioentdhetoopriyhtaniat
.4.1 k
cerely, he could not hesitate to give his vote against de
amendment of his hon. friend. (Cheers.)
Mr. CALLAGHAN stated that it was his intention so
support the government proposition in as far as sugar en!
concerned ; but he should reserve himself on the subject
spirits until he heard what the government proposition telll/
Was.
On the motion of Sir R. Ixotaa the debate was adjourned
until Thursday next.
The house adjourned at half-past twelve o'clxk.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.—YESTERD %Y.
SLIGO. —Tho committee decided that C. To wukii
Esq., had not been duly elected.
DUBLIN.—Four votes struck off the sitting mem-
ber's majority, on account of non-payment ul rates.

THE ALLEGED BEQUEST TO LORD BROUGHAM..."
The executors of the late James Watt, Esq., have mu/eta
us to state that there is no truth in the report of a sum Cl
money having been bequeathed to Lord Brougham by Mr.
Watt.
LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN COIdPANT.—RE-
RIONATtON OF Ma. CREED.—It is stated that Mr. Croed,
I who, from the first projec• ion of the London and Birming-
ham Railway, has been the secretary to the company, his
resigned his office. His resignation has not TA been accepted.
—Liverpool Albion.
COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' SCHOOL.—The first
public examination of the children of this school took pleas
yesterday at the establishment at Wanstead, end the event
was celebrated by a Ate cAarropare in the spacious run&
attachtd to the building. The morning was occupied by the
examination, the results of which were not only highly sane-
factory to those who have had the conductof the education Of
the pupils, but called forth the marked approbation of the
subscribers present. After the distribution of the Well-
es. ned prizes—presented by the president of the day, Mr.
Waddington, M.P., each being accompanied by an appro.
priate address—a cold collation, provided by Messrs. Young-
husband, ot en
ding the
was served m the spacious
grounds surrounding the achools, of which sonic 120 of the
• supp irters of the institution, male and female, partook. The
usual loyal toasts were given; and afterwards the chairman
dilated at some length on the extraordinary but deserv. d sue.
cess which had attended this charity, and called upon the
commercial body generally to come forward in support of 0
praiseworthy an object.
RAGGED SCHOOL UNlON.—Since Lord Ashley's
motion relative to the condition of the juvenile poor of the
metropolis was brought before the House of Commons, 0
the 6th instant, her majesty and Prince Albert have best
pleased to make a donation of 1001. in aid of the funda of tM
Ragged School Union.