The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-05-02 00:00:00

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WEST INDIA COMPANY'.

the uufettered worship of his Creator. (Applause.) In conclusiott,
I conjure those who hear me to recollect, that in this country the
'titbit,- mind upholds evety thing, and that by its influence you can-
cot tad to accomplish every object. I have demonstrated how
etaggerated were the praise,' v.hich have been bestowed noon sue,
although I cannot but any that even in that exaggeration I ►ce the
genius of Rcti;h generosity, which exaggerates even the most
humble merit, when engaged in an honest and strainhtfonzard
course. (The Learnt,' lien:letnan sat duwa adnist the lou.Lst
plaudits of Cie assembly.)
The Resolutioa was carried by acclamation.
Sir Joists Steatotar then moved a vote of thanks to the
Illustrious Chairman. It was seconded and carried unanimously.
His Rome iIIOUNILas returned thanks in a very neat and ele-
gant speech, in which he combated sore rirgtottents which had bc,.
advanced agMnst the hoLrty, and urged the necessPy of exertion
tiu ultimate tt.amplt.
The tneeting then separated. We should observe, however, that
we hate settle:tt seen a greater assemblage of rank atoll fashion th at
on this CICCaAIIIII. The great ball of the Freernatoos"favern was
completely filled with cligaittlyailressed females, n:-.d presented a
very gratifying spectacle, livightrtied not a hale by the mixture of
ten ur vs:44e free 'Negroes, who scented to listen wiih deep attet.tion
al Att. proceedings.

No H.
TO THE EDITOR OF TUE BRITISII PRESS.

Sin—l now proceed to reply to those arguments of the opponent
of tha West India Company Bill, wheeli maintain that if every
orirah• Ydest India inevehent is drawing in his advairea, it is eh-
turd to suppose there can be any eligible oppottunity for a public
company to invest its capital. This objection, at tint aieht, is cer-
tainly natural ; and setae explanation is necessary to prevent its un-
duly biaiiitue these who are unacquainted with the state of things
in the colonicre It must be solticiently evi lent, that, exclusively of
the ordu.ary risks attending West India sett:rhino, in regard to the
fluctuations in the pare of produce, there is much more important
risk to bt contemplated, the motibility of insurrection, and the an.
tire loss of the it ttletnents to the mother country. It shout( there.
fore be universally known. that if the Nest India planter t ads
not the usual readiness on the part of his merchant to advance him
pecuniary loons on mortgage, its cause is solely that the discussions
la this country have aroused apprehension in the latter by the clan-
gorous excitement which those discussions have created among the
Mimes. No difficulty whatever existed in supplying the tempo.
eery emborrassments of the colonists previous to the noiti'm of 3lr.
Buxton in 1825. flue the unhappy eartiStflitelleC of the infl
hey statements then disatettinatol wirri, to indiose all cor.sitlerate
. men to pause until the storm should pros by, and be socceedcd by
some prospect of future security. 'f he colonial question haying
Iles 'n•SUIIIIM a political aloof.. men of :mallow; became less in-
clined to embark, or exterti their connections, in a mite wLere,
exclusively of the ordinary detailaof the month g.hrose, their un-
remitting attention wan demardal to coontemet every species of in-
sidious attack on the oslonial system. It is not :1 sitll2tlOrt to be
coveted by a private West India merchant, to Mot that, after the
usual labours of the day are completed, he must set about defending
his character pealed the unceasing calumnies of ev.cnyinous as.
usilants--prejlitheed, persevering, and imamate, avowing epenly
aro' publicly that titeti hostility to the colonial system IMO! be ap.
pease a only by its destruction. Further than this, a merchant eel
be fully competent to jodge of the nature of the markets, of the
probable variation of prices, and of the general casualties t ettdant
upon trade, and yet feel his incompetecey to judge of every poll.
Peal measure. or to determine how long a period mute elapse before
the people et Great Britoil) shall di, cover (fiat any disparagemert
of their own colonies operates solely to benefit lacier' settlement.,
und so far from diminishing tire evils of slivery In the one. tends to
uggratme' those evils in the other, in a multiplied ratio. From this
sew of the subject. it will be obvious that if loans on mortgage ate
vilscomirued by individuals, it is not because such inireetitient is
einprolitable, but because they arc influenced by the arts of such
men as oar pamphleteer, who have untried no effort to foment po-
pular clamour, in order to forward their own interested otter-rue.
Sugar cultivation cannot he ativantegeously carried on without a
onsideratie capitol ; and as loans on mortgage arc generally to an
aT.O'JII! very serious foe a private merchant, the indecementa for the
estab:ishenetit of a Company met be evident to all, affording at It
ears to Fiona ieuels the oomirtunity to subscribe whatever proportion
c; their capital may Suit their convenience. It is universally ',neon.
tear. by o.e employment of a large capital. projects may be Sue.
Ltile.ll4 pursued to which the limited funds of individuals are in-
adetorate. In such concerns the risk is so extensively divided as to
precluee the poasibility of heavy individual loss, while the certainty
of profit is almost secured. It is on this principle that the nume.
rem Insurance ()Mee, so flourish ; and toccicely similar are Cie
gtounda on a Lich the West India Company is establialied. 1 hare
fairly stated the risks which within the last two years have given
a new feature to West India commerce, and to them it may
n tautly be urged that the Company is as liable as private merchants.
Although, however, the latter may be averse, for the ferrous as-
Egret, to make forther advances, yet there is uneoestionabl.: se-
Clti!V to both, that should the pro:ratings of the liegishourc of
toe Mother onritry ever mit-or:on:to:1y lead to the loss or rein of
her Colonies, the rights of those pie:toeing property there to be in-
dernnthed for aloft loss are fully establiehed, and hsvc been for.
malty recognised. This security is nothing less than the solemn
ocean:tam of Parliament. The concluding Resolution, ettorted on
toe Itch Slay, itl23, for ameliorating the condition of the Negroes,
is in the following terms r--ro 'Mat this House is anxious fir the
' accomplishment of this purpose at the earliest period that shall
" he compatible with the yell-being of the Slaves thentselyea, with
" the safety of the Colonies. and with a fair and equitable consi-
" deration of the interests of private property." Now, the incan-
inp ut this '• fair WI equitable consideration of the interests of pri-
" vote property" clearly is, that the legal rights of the Planter
shall be protected ; and the Legislates stands pledge!, to adopt no
proceedings to militate against the security of property, the sacral.
mete of which is here so unequito,-.013- coallaned.
Any apprehensions on the part of the Sharebolderfin this im-
ports:it particular are tbes precluded. And when it is considered
tint Site distress existing is our Scitlements loomed' from the fa-
naticism of a party, whose influence in the country, it is to be
hoeitat, is on the wane. it is not to be doubted that Parliament will
dem: it a bottnden duty to afford the Colonists every facility to
relieve their eefferinos.
I have now. I conceive, satisfietotily shown, that the statements
of our repro:rent regarding the difficulty of procuring advances on
re Colonial securities ate perfectly erroneotie and I may ildJ, that
had he been susceptible of shame, he would have shrunk frdnt the
topic, since he is undoubtedly one of dose to whose efforts may be
attributed the miseries under which our Colonies have laboured.
I shall row proceed to comment on a few other points, betraying
an equal design to milked the public. It is asserted that the his-
tory of West India mortgages exhibits them regularly falling into
the 'lends of creditors, and that it would be folly to expect a diffe-
seat result to the Company. The reason of the great changes which
have taken place has been fully explained in my (miter ; and
Pont the causes there sasigned, it is not at all likely that they can
Ityftril ornate. But even supposing that, front trisnianagernent on
tte par; of a Preprietto, lie should be enable to ray eft his mort-
gage, it by no means follows that the property should bemme the
permanent possession of the Company. It is intended that the Com-
pany should be merely a lender of money, obtaining a fair rate of
interest, and receiving consignments of colonial produce, in retort..
ii; employment of its funds wilt be sufficiently profitable, with-
oto its becoming the owner of plantations; and for this object, a
I ttlr reflection will show, that it possesses advantages beyond the
ree^h of private merchants. ShuuM a property on which it has
made advances ever be brought to sale, the Company's large
sttiirds ninny facilities to transfer, which the niece limited ftihda
..r ft Si .gle mercontile house could not compass. This circumstance
operates as an additional reason for the forrrortion of a large Com.
pony ; and it temorto any objection of its fdcelihood hereafter to be
the Proprietor of Slaves.
I Sal am come tothat part of the pamphlet which forebodes the
fatal, the mirectilnua effects of an extensive Company creating a
monopoly in the market. In reply to this assumption, a very plain
resod. will suffice. The Coropany are to he the sellers; not the
hayers. of sugar. They have no power to enter into the market and
luaee purchases; and when the manor', the seasons of the year
when colonial produce is imported, as well as the amount of the
total annual inipmtations, are consider d, it is preposterous to mult-
i-toe that an injurious monopoly could ever be treated. Indeed
this author as fully as conveniently confutes himielf. He has no
Honer completed his profound reasoiiing about monopoly, than.
cad) admirable consistency, he proceeds to 111os:rote the position,
;hat a large surplus exists, and that as the Colonists are continu-
ally exclaiming that this superabundance is the cause of the die-
r:s-t, it is egregious folly to set about augmenting it by additional
eecouragement. The disinterested observer canna bun smile at the
effrontery with which a writer thus employs the most conflicting
;tegumenta ; for it is manifest that moropoly, and a surplus obliged
ro ba exported to the Continent, cannot eatst together. Even re-
ii;toduig the nature of this surplus he is altogether mistaken.—
....hough it certainly shows that nomonopoly can exist, it is valet,
renew.; to adduce it as a reason against the establishment of any
immature designed to promote the interests of the West Indies.
lied this writer known any thing of the principles of Political
Economy. he would have discovered, that it as not a large
or a small surplus, but any surplus at alt that keeps down prices.
An extent of 10,0OU hhds. will produce this effect as well as 30.000;
and if it were necessary to the present queetion to dwell on this
cureseastauce, it would be to point out, that as the increased supply
of sugar to the Cont lent has been entirely frotn slave labour, any
hem lit eonferced on our own colonies moat teed is lessen the trarc
in • lava aniongforeign states. It should, moreover, be observed.
that great relief may be afforded without increasing cultivation.
A planter, whose capital is entirely sunk in his plantation build.
Mee, labours under. Cu many disadvantages in procuring his sur.
Foie. and is comatratted to employ so many tempotary and expen-
sive expedients, that while the productive power of his estate is in
all activity, its net profit is entirely absorbed. But let him pro-
cure the requisite funds foe making his purchases on the most
favourable tenon, and though die same extent of culture continue
si before, Ise will enjoy a handsome income. It appears then that
' rphlet, as hitherto examined,
tend to the eery converse of
that the expensive manage-
possibility of profit, is best
the numerous institutions
t country for the last ten-
iercantile houses are mot:
of public establishments, is
iemberesi that public bodes
„es as greatly to overbalarce
trey any additional cost of
in this country to conduct

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Isv.....rable -terms, and though the ume e
as before. he will eny,l, a handsome intor
the arguments of the writer of this pampl
Se ate not only fallacious, but that they ten,
hid The general aysertion, th
mo,.t of a large company precludes the N.
answ:rud by dineuny the attention to t
which have existed and fLoirishoil in the
ttary. That the concerns of private me
4 economically eor.locted t1...n those of
s , freely admitted ; but i, should be 'omen.
psr.vms such opportunities r.? ~1 aSraut. •r
this oujJefon, sal far vilqie than deji
• caatiageintat. The capability of a body