The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-11 00:00:00

had never been exercised ; consequently all the alarm
of the Right Hon. Gentleman was totally without
foundation ; and such being the case, there could be no
necessity for the provisions proposed by him. The Act
to which the Right Hon. Gentleman had referred had
no reference to the black population but to the white,
and it would be found if Hon. Members would look to
the Act of 32d of Geo. the Third, that it was abro-
gated by that Act. The emancipated labouring popu-
lation had get the means, even without being compelled
to work, to furnish themselves with all the necessaries of
life, and, therefore, in the country districts, there were
no vagrants. He would put it to the Noble Lord op-
posite whether it was right to interfere with the Con-
stitution of Jamaica, and attempt to strangle it because
the apprehensions existed that vagrancy might be
punished in the way that he had alluded to. He was
happy to relieve the House and the Noble Lord of the
apprehensions that seemed to be entertained that such a
power existed, or that such a power was ever resorted
to for such a purpose. The House was mistaken if it
supposed that the negroes did not-desire to exercise the
right of representation, and of voting for the representa-
tives. Such a feeling did exist, and the people of Ja-
maica had no objection to it, but, on the contrary, pro-
moted that feeling. The emancipated negroes were
rapidly identifying themselves with the new state of
things, and if tere was no improper interference
with the Constitution, there wEIS little fear of the
ultimate prosperity of the colpny.—( Hear, hear.)
Had the people in Jamaica been allowed to enter into
the state of master and servant in a quiet manner, there
would not have been any of those heart-burnings which
now prevailed ; but the negro population were told by
the Governor himself that the masters were taking ad-
vantage of them, and distrust of the white population
was inculcated from high places. Mistaken humanity
on the part of the Imperial Legislature, which would
place the negro population above their masters, would
go far to lose Jamaica to the Crown of England. The
negroes would not give continuous labour, as they could
subsist upon very little labour ; they would not
enter into any contract for their labour,
but would go and come just as they pleased, and the
Orders in Council would not mend the matter. Laws
were necessary, but it was essentially necessary that the
colony should initiate that law, in order to its good
working. That Bill was one of the most harsh and un-
necessary that had ever been offered to the House, and
he pledged his reputation as a lawyer that there was not
the slightest foundation for it. Give the Legislature
of Jamaica leave to go fairly into legislation, and then, if
they rejected it, be for one would be ready to legislate
for them. He moved that the clause be omitted.
Mr. L ABOUC HERE was sorry that the Right
Hon. Gentleman had not been present on the discus-
sion upon the former Bill, as, had he been so, he would
not have thought it necessary to go so fully into topics
which had then been disposed of. He was happy to
say that the former Bill had not been with-
drawn, because of any opinion of its inutility
on the part of the Government—a locus 'Joni
tentix was held out to the island of Jamaica,
and if they refused to proceed with legislation
then that House would immediately proceed to do so.
If that Bill passed, the Government intended to give the
Assembly every opportunity of legislating for the Island,
but if they refused it he would, so far as was in his
power, take care that the community of Jamaica should
suffer as little as possible from such contumacy. But
he thought the Right Hon. Gentlemen would have some
difficulty in persuading the House that he was acting
consistently in the course he was adopting. With re-
spect to the attacks which the Right Hon. Gentleman
had made on Sir Lionel Smith, he (Mr. Labouchere)
would observe that he could read extracts from
the speeches of members of the House of Assembly of
all shades of opinion, who had stated that their quar-
rel was not with Sir Lionel Smith, but with the Go-
vernment ; and those members had complimented that
gallant officer on his upright, honourable, and impar-
tial conduct.—(Hear, hear, hear.) The main question
for the consideration of the House was, whether they
could omit to legislate on the subjects of vagrancy, con-
tracts, and the unauthorised occupation of land. The
Right Hon. Gentleman had said that there was no oc-
casion to introduce any new law in respect of vagrancy,
because there were no vagrants at present in Jamaica,
and that it was not likely there would be
any. Certainly the Right Honourable Gentleman
stood alone in that opinion, for the Governor and the

House of Assembly had stated that there was an urgent
and imperative necessity for amending those laws. The
Chief Justice and Attorney-General of Jamaica were
also of opinion that the most serious evils might result
from the vagrant laws being left in their present state.
—(Hear, hear.) He now came to the law which regu•
lated the contracts for labour. This was also one of
the points in which the Governor and the House of
Assembly entertained an unanimous opinion, and he
(Mr. Labouchere) with all respect for the Right
Honourable Gentleman opposite (Sir E. Sugden),
felt bound to say that"' the Governor and
the House of Assembly were a higher authority, and
their opinion was entitled to greater weight, than the
opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman ; and they stated
that if the law of Contract was left in its present in-
operative state, the greatest calamities might be ex-
pected to befal the negro. In fact it was necessary they
should interfere on this subject for the protection of
both master and servant. With respect to the un-
authorised occupation of land—if the law on that sub-
ject should be left in its present state, and if the system
of ejectment should be carried to any great extent, it
would operate most prejudicially towards the negro.
This was a subject on which the House was
imperatively called to interfere.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
He begged the House to recollect the position in which
they stood with respect to all those three laws. The
House had heard the Agent for the House of Assembly
—that Learned Gentleman did not state that any one of
those laws was in itself unjust or oppressive, or was not
an excellent enactment for the whole community. If
any objection could have been urged against them or
against the Orders in Council, the Agent of the House
of Assembly would not have forgotten them.—(Hear.)
He thought the House was now proceeding upon safe
grounds than they were generally able to do in attempt-
ing to legislate for a distant colony, with whose circum-
stances they were unacquainted.—(Hear, hear.) If the
House refused to accede to this limited interference they
would prove they had abandoned the ground which they
had taken last session.—(Cheers.) With respect to
the prison clauses, the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite
(Sir E. Sugden) introduced the clauses which had
raised the present dispute—(Hear, hear)—and in sup-
port of this assertion he would refer to the speech of
the Right Hon. Gentleman in April last. The House
had passed a resolution pledging itself to protect the
negro population, and was now on its trial as to that
subject. If the House refused to agree to the limited
interference now proposed—if they would not agree to
the measures which the House of Assembly acknowt
lodged to be requisite, and against which the agen-
for that Assembly had not found any real cause of corn
plaint—their constituents would infer that in passing that
resolution they were acting against their own conviction
merely in deference to the popular feeling, and that they
would lose all respect for similar declarations in future.—
(Hear, hear.) On these grounds he trusted the House
would not reject the clause.—(Cheers.)
Mr. GLADSTONE agreed with much that had
fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, and
concurred in his remarks that supervision over colonial
legislation ought to be maintained in conformity with the
Resolution of last year—that it was our duty to watch
and control the Assemblies of the West India colonies.
On the other hand, he asked the Right Hon. Gentle-
men to concur with him in another general principle, that
whatever might be the Imperial rights of Parliament,
yet that as a rule of expediency and of prudence—as a
rule of equity and of justice—where they established
Colonial Assemblies they ought to leave in the;r hands
the ordinary business of legislation, and thz,t Par-
liament should not permit itself to meddle and
interfere in the details of Colonial Legislation,
but reserve the exercise of its power of interposition for
great and worthy occasions. The proposition which he
maintained was this, that in the subject now at issue,
the Assembly ought to have a fair opportunity of pro-
ceeding to legislation. When that opportunity should
have been given, and not have been employed by the
Assembly, he would not be the man to interpose any
obstacle in the way of the interposition of the Imperial
Parliament. Now, had the Assembly had such oppor-
tunity of legislating on the question ? He maintained
that the House of Assembly had not had a fair oppor-
tunity of legislating since November last ; and it was
impossible to call the present proposition a fair opportu-
nity, not only in point of time, but in point of common
decency.—(Cheers.) Supposing the Assembly should
ultimately refuse to legislate, there would not be incur-
red the delay of a year. The law which that House
and Parliament would then doubtless unanimously pass,
might be in operation in January next ; for surely Par-
liament might reasonably be called together rather ear-
lier in such an extraordinary emergency, without the
odium having been incurred of anticipating the refusal
of the Assembly. Now, as to the injuries suffered by
the negroes of Jamaica; let it be remembered that they
were but a minority of these of the West Indies gene-
rally, and the existing laws were often as prejudicial,
or more so, to the planters, than to the negroes. As
to the Vagrancy Act, it had actually been repealed, by
the 6th Geo. IV., chap. 17.—(Loud cries of " Hear,
hear.") Yet the Law Officers of Jamaica held that
it had not been repealed. " Non nostras est
tantus componere lites !"—(Cheers.) The present
was not a case in which the choice lay between super-
seding constitutional proceedings and absolute anarchy.
There was no urgent necessity for the infringement upon
those constitutional principles in the present case, in
which the great body of the people were, after all, most
deeply interested—principles for respect to which this
House had ever been honourably distinguished, and
which, if adhered to upon the present occasion, would
prevent the passing of the first clause in this Bill.—
( Hear, hear.)
Sir GEORGE GREY slid he should not have
ad.lres,ed the House at. all, after the repeated discus-
sions which the subject had undergone—(Hear, hear)—
had it not been for the mistake—he might almost