The Express.
London, England, 1848-06-17 00:00:00

WE"T INDIA DISTRESS.

Lord J, RUSSELL. —1 ell' now proceed to make the state-
ment, which I had promi, d to the house before the holidays I
would make on this dey, with rop et to the state of West
In lia diArees. I mean oeday -co end by a mere motion of
torm, no 1 to wove, th ✓, on Monday mat, the !lease
,Itne:,l itse:f into a col: mate., of the whole house,'
tar the purpose of c disiderin ! the prmesition which I shell'
this day hero the honour of stating to the house. Sir, in
ooesid. vice th present state of .he West Indies, and, genre I
rally, of those twee of the Bri'ieh domirdoils in which the
production of auger exists, I think it will to nee-wary—
although I aids to enter a lilti into 4r:tomcat ae possible, '
—to take some gent re! view of the past course of our Ifni.-
Winn. I m c .nfirined in my view that it will not be tuffi•
cient to prak of the net of 1846, by the opini n of a
gentleinat. whose views ate antrum in many reeducts
to mine, hut who is a {Arson of greet experience, aeel
who has peiel attention far many years to this subject.
Mr. lone., the gentleman to whom I allude, fn answer to a
question by the committee, save that the price of sugar
would have been ae kw an it was if the act of 1846 Fad never
pawed ; but he considered that that act, having destroyed
ell confidence on the port of the Wes: India planters, there
would be a certain diminution in the supply of sugar from
the Won India colonies. My view is, that the distress
which hie exi•ted of lee, in the West Indies resembles other
eases of dieresis growing nut of the system of monopoly and
protection; and what we have to eonsiler, therefore, is some
general legisla ion reviler than the distrs which exits in
the pretest year. There are two great acts by which the
preientetate of she West In lies has been KID cied. The flret
is the act for the e.naneipation of the negroes, which
I coneieh'i to ha a crest act of humanity and jus-
tice. (Hear, hear.) I think that act was due to a people
who were living under the British, but who were in the
mixable corelitioe cf slime., and that if it had not
pes•cd we should have had a eerie. of ii.turrections and die-
'whence., w! ieh wi n'.l have been latel to the peace of the
West Indies. But it ws• not to he exp, eted that a great act
of that kin•l, which wave freedom to 800,000 human beings,
could be cheated without great inconveniences ; aed we mai
be wall sat stied that those incouv,rdeaccs did not exist to
each a el. gre• as to dis'erb and overthrow the state of society
❑together- It speak, well, both for the West India pro-
prietors end for the negrene, that the trare'einn from a state
of slavery to a state of freedom was aceomplishall with so
Lute disturbance. (:fear, hear.) O.her tamer's were
passed at the same time, which threw additienal difficulties
in the ways of the West Indian proprietors. I epenk of the
measures f ,he pro` of the Importation of labourer.
from the enact of Arica, a•.d of the great difficulties thrown
in the war of the mestere attempted for importing persons
from Sierra L. one, ar, tram the Hest Indies into ",aa•
ritius. kcieurec e!•.rwards taken to supp'y the West

Indies and Mauritius with lebourcre ; but those measure,
Link a considerable time. The introduction of Europeans
into the West Indies failed as a source of !Rime supply, and
the introduction of hill coolies hes not been attended with
any greet success. Neithee have the measures taken in 1813
and 1314, as yet, had any sigoal effect in supplying labour to
the Wert Indies. Another incisors was token at the same
time, to which great objections wore made, hut which, in my
opinion, was not liable to those objections—l mean the mea-
sure relating to contracts for labour for one yt ar. The other
great rbaog,s to uhich I referred are the thangee which
took plan' in 1845 and 1840. In 1815 en act was passed
for lowering the duties on sugar the produce of free labour,
and in 1816 an act was passed which hovered the duty on all
foreign sugars, at Hest from 63.. to 21s , with subeceuent
reductions, which in 1811 was to end in an equalisation of
the duties. 1 think that if the Ernancipet. Act of 1831
recta on the indep rdont principles of religion, humanity,
and justice, the act of 1810 rests sto lees on views of sound
pas icy and of justice to the Ishourine people of this country.
(Hear, he tr.) i cermet hut think that at was not to he ex-
pected that whilst there erns but a seenty supply of sugar to
obtained from our colonies, and the preprietore in the
WrAt Indies had managed their estates with greet extrave-•
g tnee, sod whilst the labouring population there waked
only tour days a week, and only live hours each
day, the labouring population r f this country should
to rote. d the power co ohteining a general article of
consumption at a the per rate then it could be furniehed by
our o it colonic.. (Hoer.) With regard to the two mea-
sure., their general elf et for tho mein purposes for
which they were adoir ed may he paid to be comph tidy cue-
emsful I believe no person will deny that the act of 1931
has hat the eff et of making the no hr,, population of the
West Indies independent, prosper. ur, end bappy (Hear.)
So with regent to the ohj, ct of the net of 1816 it was com-
pletely successful in obtaining a lar,ze supply of sugar at a
tem charge to the comment r in tt is c •untry, whilst, at the
Caine time it inereued the reatenne of the et "to. I find that
the oirotimption of cog •r in 1845 was 211,000 tons ; in 18t6
it wee 201,300 tons; in 1817 it was 290,700 tons ; the Petiolate
which I made in 18f6, bring 280,000 tone. In 1815 the re-
venue itheiia, d from the duties was 3.745.0001 ; in 1h46, it
Was 4,050.0 01 ; in 1817 it eat 4,593,0001, giving an in.
crease in 1847 over 1915 of tint lets then 851,0001. (Bear.)
This was in consequent e, be it recollected. of a reduction of
the dutiee. The crest object of the act of 1816 was obtained,
t, as I said before, ti r nets aecomrent ing the mt assure 01
1834 subjected the West Indian proprietors to great iPeall-
venieneeP, and it is said with truth th ,t a great advantage is
given to the foreign producer hemmer, by the present ar-
rangement, he is I !WOW aged to send the better quality sugar
into the market of this country. while be vends the inferior
quality to the rootlet, nts] markets, It is also ranted that with
regains to rum the West Indians are untie r a g reat disad v ant 3 ge,
aril the present differential duties give an unfelt advantage
to persons in this country. Whilst I think that the two
great maser.% to which I have alluded arc in their main
principle, not only defensible, hut worthy of commendation
and ',upped, I em of opinion that they here placed the
Wrest Indians in a most dieadvantogenus p I think,
thtrelore, that the goircroultat is bound to propose any
Meow. e which tht y can fairly reeommend for the purpeso
of allevietin e the evils which those who are now eli,tre eyed
are of -pinion will relieve them. I will new state what it
is we have in (nein mplation without going ill'o any argu-
ments on the eutject, as I wish to defer the discussion
of the subject till Monday, and em only their, to
of puttivg the house its pnsetaion of our vie is. Wi.h
recant to the firt4 'petition, the difficulty impin d on the
West In lien pr prietore of procui lag leheur, much has been
dtme, of lam ye .re, to litnirdsh those difficulties. Toe present
state of the are is this, that labour, rt. may he intreluceo
from any pose .whin in Africa, the only ce ultimo being Coat
an officer most he on !mad to see that no traneaction re-
v/.IA tag the purchase of Pl..v,s or the leave trade be carried
on, end that the perm& who immigrates to the lt eat Indies
dose so with his uwn consent. Another meaner. hat been
introdeeed by my noble friend at the head of the colonist
department with teemed to the liherate d Africans, The
li is. rated Africans w. re ormerly ten! •0 S.erta Leone,
or some nth r pos.ossior, but the West ludic derived no
advents a from the labour of these versooe, yet they were
m e 'stained in a state of idleness at pee xpense. My noble
friend has now provided for *ratline these • persons, with cer-
tain re trietire certlitions, to the West 1111.11CP, f. r the pur-
peso of being there cmplsyed as I theorem. The suspicion
which eXiA'Cli in this country lint the slave trade would, he
revate,t an lee the p *tree, otimmieretion,an 1 th .t t'e el ev, s
would be comorlivd to 'yolk in tlm Indio., had ie.
ended f r a longer period than was e iiher just or fair to the
West Indian prow+ tore, a 'poem of WWII gratios. E Arr.
Mining these views we propose now to do more than we
should have dune had the quettiou been settled from
the beeinning, and had the impartation of labour-is
continued from the year 1821 to the pr, rent dvy.
We prep° rs, Omer. ire, either to make on advance on the
security of the colonial novena-•, or to guile sotto in love to be
raised fur the coke I e, for the purpuse ,t providing an ire.
p 'nation of inam'grents irto t! • West Ind es : and we pre-
mise VIA t..e sun, ti Sr swat-ants el shall net ho mace than
500,0001 in addition to the suns alreet'y wed by the
house for that punter.. I ehnulti stet • with repot to the
nuestioa of I ontrte.s for servile., vagrancy, and twinning,
1 that my cotile friend the Cult WWI Seas are I.ca psi .1 every at.-
tentieu to the subject, sod that he is wild. g to agree to any
thing rear.,:.ble that may he .isdip sled w ith mere to it;
but t :tee are anat difficulties in framing a law on .
the select, and it do s not aprear that the colonial
legislature are themselv. s able to euagest any measure
that would be preeticelly h neficial to the eolonito.
Any measure which It ry can outer st which will nut imply
comonisory labour wig ncvict the ready attention fmy
noble friend. I come now to the greet 0, the set of
1816. Complente have het n made of the too rapid Opera-
tion of that act, and that there is one kind of sugar which
has an advantage from the present elassiffestirm or the
dutice which it ought not to have. Now in considerieg
this subject, I must say in the outset I do not think it would
be fair to the British c insumer to impale any thing like a
differential duty of 10a. per cwt. to last for a period of oil
years for the purpose of reviving the industry and prosperity
of the West Indies. (Hear, hear.) I think, consider ng the
la, ge emount of taxes irneosed on the people of tots country,
end that the labourers et this country have to work from 10
to 12 hours a day, and Auger is nne of the greet and a of
censumption—l think that to impose on him s duty which
it mat be an e xaggereten to say wovld amount to
2 900,6001., but which must be a d arty scarcely less than
2,0(41,0001 a year—(nn, no)-1 an 2 rosily to take it at
1,601.0001. er even L000,n0w.,; ..d stilt I say to impose en
the Brittsh consumer such a ;.e tix foe so long a period
would be a hardselp to whit lam not prepared to accede.
(Hear, hear.) I leek, therefore, is another direction.
The experience of late years has shown us that, with
regard to many artistes to which I need not now
re• r, on which the glut:: has 'wen letratned, sad even with
regard: In articles on which the .tuty has not Nen lessened,
hut in ehieh •here has been a great prnduction, and there-
fore a !ma rine of the price, Peen an inereseed consumption
has taken vise" that there bas been no lons to the revenue,
although there hvet been a great gain to the consumer.
(Hear, hear.) Leonine, therefore, in this direction, end
not in the din etien of an increate of the &dice now existing,
we propose, nnt breaking the hope. held out to the British
pined . of a reduction of the duties, to look :n the elirectien of
an inerresed consumption, for the purpose of modifying the
set of 1846. (Hear, h. ar ) On this point g leave to
read to tt eh• use an met of a paper laid before the select
oommitts eon ',tiger and toffee plenting, by Mr. B. B. Green.
lit is an account of the increase of ceneumption which 021
lowed On a lows ring of the prices. Ile soya:—
In 1925 an inerrtuct of 7e. on cut. in price mined a decrease in
you :uniption tons :
Tons.
In ISM a fall of 7MI Ild.lneremed consumption 24,900
In 1837 grime 1.4 Is. 3d. dieniniektal 12,50.1
I 1628 a fall of is. Id. incree.ed 17,•10
In lead a Amber fag vf Is. 12,11)
In ;MI • rife of 7r. 5(1. &Welshed 21,54.0
In 16,7 a fall td Inereurd ::2 sou
Is 11119 a ri.eof H. 6.l.ttloslaledted p.sort
In 1110 a further rise of Mk 40. 11,800
la 1911 a tel. of S., increased 23,100
That increase of 85,000 tons in three years is a remarkable
pr Hof of the pewee art consumption in this country ; sod it
allerde us encouragement to try further experiment, in the
reduction of duties. (Hear, hear) What I propose there-
fore is, that the duty on colonial sugar shall be renuced, after
the 5:11 or July in the present year, to 135., and shall be re-
duced by Is. a year till it reaches 10s, I propose that the
duty on ordina y foreiga Muscevado sugar should remain
according to the °et of 1846, but I propose a new distinctive
duty with rt gent to sus or to be called brown cloyed sugar,
or !Alger of a quality equal thereto, which, from the 6th of
July in the pre.eut year to tee 5111 of July 1849, shall
remain at 20a.—which in the present duty on all foreign
Muscovado sugar—and shall taco let reduced by Is. 6d. a
year till it re moo $ 10. on the 6th of July 1854. The house
will tee therefore that colonist sniper will fall, if this
plan is adopted, to 13e., to 125., to Ils , and after
three years there will be a permanent duty of 103.
The foreign sugar in the tame way will fall Is. 01., till in
the year 1811, siftor a lapin of six years, it will he 10s., and
then there will be an evalisation of the duties. I will read
from a paper what we propose to do:
Year ending Foreigi: Colonial
J lily 3. Brow.. 3111.c0v.514. Museves.lo.
d. a. .
19,6
1830
1631
1451
1833
1911

... 10 0

10 0

10 0

Thera wilt then be no temptation tointroduce the superior
clues n' sugar rather than the inferior strut., any mere than
colonial sugar. I think it would be a serious mischief if we
were to introduce this diatinction with ri gard to East Indian
sagars. This would In a new dis'inction u regards them,
nod I think it better to avoid raisitth any question of this
kind. Of course these changes in the duties will require a
corresponding change with regard to the duties on relined
and double refixed and white cloyed sugar and molassin. I
have said that complzintf were msdc nn the subject of rum,
and that the differential duty on that article was considered
an injustice to the producer in the West Indies. (hear,)
Last year my right hon. friend the Chancellor of the
Exchequer proposed that the diffirential duty on rum should
be 61. Finding great difficulty in carrying that reduction,
he c msented to a substitution of 9d. for 61. ; but at tho
same timo he retained his opinion that 6d. would b 2 sulfl
Meat. In the committee on sneer and coffee planting,
evidence was given on this subject; and a gentleman who
Ma the merit, which is a rare one in regard to this subject,
of being impartial with regard to it—(laughter)—but who
has, at the same time considerable knowledge, was examined
—I allude to Mr. Jchn Wood, the chairmen of the Board of
Excite, Ifs says that if he were called In to arbitrate
between thn pintas he wotild Its disposed to my that 4d, was
quite sufficient us a differartial duty on rum. After that
Opitli/ll from a p_rtha in whose judgment I place confidence,
propos-: that no .3:•easr.r du•y than 4d. shall be im:ossd:
Whil.t ae him acted on our own ilotiour of what the intr.