The Express.
London, England, 1866-01-04 00:00:00

WHERE ARE THE BUTCHERS' BILLS?

[The following lettar appears fa the Daily Non :]
Ba4—Will you allow me to suggest to the Earl
of Wilton and to your eager contemporary, the
Herald, who are raving at her Majesty's govern-
ment for having suspended Governor Eyre before
the facts of the Jamaica case had been ascertained,
in compliant* with the unreasonable demands of a
faction at home--that it is most probable that the
Secretary for the Colonies knows much more about
tins Jamaica affair than he likes to tell. Since the
mail which brought home Governor Eyre's despatch
of the 20th October, two other mails hare arrived,
which must each have brought further and more .
complete official intelligence ; yet it has all been
kept secret. It is fair to suppose that had it tended
to place Governor Eyre's conduct in a better light
it would have been published at once.
The most striking point connected with the mis-
deeds of the negroes iu Jamaica is, that beyond the
riot and massacre at Morant Bay—and two or
three murders committed within forty-eight houe•
of that deplorable event—we have no official, br
indeed, other information of any murders, apes,
abductions, or other outrages on the persona of the
defenceless whites by the merciless insurgents. Mr.
Cardwell must by this time be perfectly well •
implaiatal witiatisesalest uf Absikeinis d *brit&
snrrection, which we are :inured equal those of
Meerut and Cawnpore ; why does he not specify
them Why have we not a nominal list of the
white men, women, and children murdered,
wounded, and otherwise outraged 1 Why are those
in this country who have relatives and friends in
Jamaica thus kept in suspense ?
Further—Why is no official information supplied
of the number of *bootlegs, hangings, and floggings
achieved by General Nelson and Colonels Hobbs
and Fyfe—epecifyiug the number and sex of the
persons (if any) shot, hung, or flogged without
trial, and the number and sex of the persons (if
any) flogged first and hanged afterwards ? Mr.
Cardwell must klow well by this time whether such
transactions took place or not ; if they did uot, and
if he knows they did not, he can scarcely allow
Governor Eyre's character to remain a moment
longer than is necessary uuder the atrocious stain
cast upon it by the colonial press, which distinctly
states that such deeds were done by the military,
naval, and volunteer forces with the approbation of
Governor Eyre,
Lastly, Mr. Cardwell must have ascertained by
this time from the law officers of the Crown whether
the transference of Gordon from Kingston to bio-
rant Bay, and his subsequent trial and execution,
were legal or not. If the opinion of the law officers
of the Crown is in favour of Governor Eyre, why is
it not made public ?
In his despatch of the 20th October, 1865, Go-
vernor Eyre mainly attributes the rebellion to Dr.
ljuilerhilla seditious letter. There can be little
doubt that could be have laid his hands on Dr.
Underhill at that time he would have packed him
ofi as he did Gordon to the tender mercies of a
Morant Bay court-martial, and that the doctor
would have shared the fate of his coloured friend.
But as Dr. Underhill haft happily lived to pub-
lish his letter, we now find that it was
not a seditious letter at all, and that, moreover, it
was a private letter, uLuocesearily published by
Governor Eyre himself. These facts, I think,
justify the public in doubting seriously Governor
Eyre's temper and discretion, and in calling on Mr.
Cardwell to lay before it the real facts of the
Jamaica insurrection, as far as he knows them,
without further delay. In plain English, we want
the butchers' bills on both sides.—l am, dlc.,
ONE OF THE PUBLIC.