The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-14 00:00:00

FREE LABOURERS IN ST. LUCIA.

We, have along been of opinion that the statements
i.om this island, of the conduct of the labouring popu-

. ,
lotion, were grossly exaggerated, if not totally false. It
is little more than a month since we were shown a pri-
vate letter from a gentlernarphigh in office in the island,
in which the " poor creatures" were spoken of, in ge-
n nil terms, as subject to much oppression, which had
driven many of them to obtain lots of land in the moon

taios, where they were industriously growing large
quantities of provisions. The whole seera is now out.

The suspicions of the negro labourer—his indisposition
to labour on the estates—his flight to the mountains, are
all accounted for in the following article, extracted from

the first number of the Independent
The injudicious anxiety evinced by the generality
of the Proprietors of the colony, encouraged as it was
by the ready assistance afforded them by the Special
Magistrates, led most of them, immediately after the
Ist of August, 1834, to bind their labourers by con-
tracts, stipulating a very low rate of wages ; hut like
all undue attempts to impose restraint upon an equitable
adjustment of the labour market, they have so signally
failed in their attempt to enforce the fulfilment of the
bond (even the penal enactments imposing imprison-
ment and hard labour for breach of a civil contract,
sanctioned by a Royal order in Council, and rigorously
enforced by the Special Magistrates, having been found
insufficient) that the opinion seems to be now pretty ge-
nerally established, that it is more advantageous to both
parties to have a free-labour market. Many of the con-
tracts entered into by the labourers have now expired,
but many more have been cancelled by mutual con-
sent. Since the commencement of this second year
of liberty, we have visited most of the districts of the
island, and we have found the labourers quite disposed
to enter into arrangements with the proprietors for the
cultivation of the estates. It is true they will not again
enter into yearly contracts at the rate of two or three
dollars wages per month, but they are wiling to pay
rent for their houses and gardens, and to perform con-
tract work upon terms which we consider highly ad-
vantageous to the Proprietor. It must not, however,
he concealed, that in this colony, as well as elsewhere,
we hear bitter complaints from certain quarters, of the
utter impossibility of cultivating estates under the new
system. Whence arises the difficulty in these cases, (if
it really exists), it shall be our future business to dis-
cover—at present we can only say, that where our
labourers have been dealt with frankly and honestly,
and let us add, civilly, they have evinced corresponding
virtues—they have been steady and industrious in the
performance of their labours, and respectful in their
bearing towards their employers. We shall endeavour
to obtain a return of the quantity of produce shipped
this year, and next week, we shall return to the subject
of the agricultural prospects of the Colony ; for we
consider it of such vital importance that we shall spare
no pains to persuade to the adoption of a better system,
if it can be discovered—and, to expose those abuses
and vicious practices on the part of subordinates, which
are alike destructive of the interest of their employers
as of the public reputation of the Colonial Proprietary.'

With the assistance of the Order in Council for
regulating contracts, the planters had imposed a twelve
months' modified slavery upon the people, with all the
devilish machinery of penal law to enforce it. Is it to
be wondered at, that the labourer, having got his neck
out of this yoke, should be unwilling again to wear it?
The Independent states, on nis own observation, that
" the labourers are quite disposed to enter into arrange.
ments with the proprietors for the cultivation of the
estates ;" and although " they will not enter again into
yearly contracts at the rate of two or three dollars wages
per month, they are willing to pay rent for their houses
and gardens, and to perform contract work upon terms
which we consider highly advantageous to the proprie-
tors." If, then, they are not employed—if the estates still
remain uncultivated, the fault,on this showing, is certainly
not theirs. They would be acting very foolishly to put
themselves again into the power of the planter—to sub-
mit to his slavish terms. If he will not employ them
on equitable terms, interfering with none of their rights
as free men, they are perfectly justified in refusing to
work for him ; and, happily for them, they can find the
means of subsistence elsewhere. What cares Huma-

nity—what care Justice, Reason, if not an ounce of
sugar be made in the colony—if every plantation be
abandoned to ruin! Is sugar God ?—St. Jago Gazette.

MR. GRATTAN, THE ENGLISH

CONSUL.

(From the Boston Atlas of Saturday, Oct. 5, 1839.)
The excellent speech made by Mr. Grattan, at the
Festival of the Mechanic Association, is another evi-
dence of the good feeling that exists in the British na-
tion towards our own country. This feeling it is our
duty and our interest to cherish and encourage. We
are connected with Great Britain, and with all the
world, by ties that are every day becoming stronger
and stronger, and happy will it be for us, if nothing
should occur to interrupt this general harmony. One of
the regular toasts given at the Mechanics' Festival
alluded to " the mother country" in lattering terms, and
to the intimate union of England and the United States
by steam. The band then played" God save the Queen,"
and " Yankee Doodle."

Mr. GRATTAN rose, and said that the compliment
which had been paid to the British nation,—the union
of two national airs,—and the flattering manner in which
the toast had been received, rendered it incumbent upon
him to give utterance to some of the sentiments that
rose up in his mind. He could not but feel how ut-
terly incompetent he was to do justice to the occasion
and the subject. He had been called upon by the Pre-
sident, he presumed, from the circumstance of his hold-
ing here a public situation ; from the fact that he was,
in a certain degree, a minor link in the great chain that
binds Old and New England together. He would at.
tempt, he said, to respond to the sentiment that had been
offered, because he telt confident that indulgence would
be extended to simple Mr. Grattan, as well as to the
English Consul, while he should, for a moment, give ex-
pression to his private feelings.
If the period of his acquaintance with our citizens, he
continued, should be measured by the old fashioned rule
of weeks and months, he should consider himself a
stranger in Boston. But he was thankful that such a
mode of measuring friendship was exploded. Men now
take lessons from the march of improvement, and the
progress of the civilized arts. No man, who steps into
a railroad car, is asked how far he is going : the only
question is, what space of time will the journey occupy ?
We ask not how long have we known a man—but how
many acts of good fellowship have we exchanged ? how
many friendly meetings have we enjoyed r 1 how many
cordial greetings have we received 2 And when he
measured his acquaintance with the citizens of Boston
by this better rule, he felt as if surrounded by a circle
of old and familiar friends.
He was happy, he added, in being present on such
an interesting occasion. He had examined the articles
displayed in the exhibition with great pleasure ; and he
felt that he expressed the sentiments of the country he
came from, when he said, that when the news of this
great Fair should go to England—as go it must—it
would be met, not with emotions of jealousy or envy,
but with a feeling of joy and pride, by the mechanics
and artisans of Great Britain.

He had come among us, he said, at a most auspi-
cious period—at the very moment when, by the enter-
prise of an individual, the two countries ware about to
be united together more firmly than ever. And he felt
it his duty to call the attention of the Assembly to the
fact, stated by Mr. Cunard himself, that had it not
been for the liberality of the English Government in
assisting this great enterprise, he could not have suc-
ceeded in bringing Boston and London within a dozen
days of each other.
Mr. Grattan closed by offering a sentiment which we
published yesterddy. The above is the substance of
his remarks, given from recollection, and stripped of
the elegant English in which they were clothed by the
speaker. The assembly appeared to be highly gratified
at the excellent spirit which they manifested, and gave
expression to their feelings in three loud and hearty
cheers. The sentiment immediately offered by Mr.
Buckingham, of the Courier, was received with still
more tumultuous applause. It was as follows :
JOHN BULL AND BROTHER JONATHAN.—So long as
the old gentleman sends us such fine specimens of
taste, eloquence, and refinement, his nephews will be
sure to run through " highways and by-ways" to give
him a cordial welcome.
We are glad that this opportunity occurred for an in-
terchange of kind offices, between the citizens of Boston
and this distinguished officer of the English Govern-
ment, and for a pubbc expression of the feeling that
exists in the hearts of our people, towards that nation
and its representatives. We trust that the residence
of Mr. Grattan in our city will continue to be as agree-
able to himself as it must be to our citizens.

THE CORN-LAWS AND THE PUBLIC EXPEN-
DITURE.—A ship of war firstofthe
ibs of bread
class carries say
850 men a-board ; those men consume •
daily. The consumption, annually, will be 310.2.50 lbs.
bread, under the present system of
That quantity of
Corn-laws, would
cost Government just half as
much more, in all probability, than it would do were
the Corn-laws
repealed, and the corn trade free. If
such a d
large
mption of bread takes place on board
cos nsu
the
of one ship only in the Navy, in one year, how great
must be the consumption of the whole Navy! And,
supposing that Government pays only one penny per
pound for the bread supplied to the Navy,how great would
be the advantage to the Government and the nation
could they supply that quantity of bread at one half-
penny only ! a saving of 6461. annually for one ship.
The calculation is made on the supposition that the
price of bread supplied to the Navy costs the Govern-
ment, at the present time, one penny per pound. Is it
not, then, a subject worthy of the consideration of the
Legislature that they should support a measure from
which such vast benefits would flow (namely, the repeal
of the Corn-laws), without inflicting injury upon any
one, save and except the injury which would be sus-
tained by the present monopolists of the bread tax in
the loss of their popularity amongst their sycophants
and retainers?—An Old Sailor in the Corn Law Cir-
cular.