The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-04 00:00:00

P,VENING EDITION.

I Governor, had no power to alleviate their sufferings. l
Ile (Mr. L.) would take that opportunity of correct-
iog a mistake into which he fell on the last occasion.
The statistical details relative to the West Indies were
very imperfect and contradictory. He had greatly un-
derstates; tin-
( . I
led the amount of the white population. He be-
lieved that, accordin,g to the best esleulation, -it
amounted to 16,000, and he was very gled of that op-
portunity of correcting the mistake into which he had
fallen. The House of Assembly had refused to trans-
act business. The occasion was the passing of the Pri-
suns Bill by that House, and they declared that they
would not resume their business until it was repealed.
With great deference to Gentlemen opposite, there had
been great cavilling about these words, but the case stood
thus. The House of Assembly complained of the course
which the Imperial Parliament had taken, and they re-
fused to perform their functions unless the course of
the Government Was completely altered, and Parlia-
ment refraincd from interfering in their concerns.—
(Cheers.) Upon the part of the Government he would
s,"Y that they were not prepared to alter their course—
(lmmense cheering)—on the contrary, every day's ex-
perience confirmed them in the impression that not only
-was it necessary to confine that course, hut that it was
their duty to redouble their vigilance.—(Lout cheers.)
He would ask the British House of Commons were
the` prepared to retract? Would they abandon
that resolution which they came to last year,
that after the negro had been raised to a state
of nominal freedom, they would vigilantly watch
Over his interests and protect him from wrong ?
(Cheers.) In order to understand the question pro-
perly, he had looked over the debates of the House of
Assembly at the time that these resolutions were passed,
and he had been struck with the strong difference be-
tween the manner in which that House stated their own
Views, and the manner in which they were stated on
their behalf by some gentlemen in this country. During
the
discussions which had taken place, many unfounded
attacks had been levelled against the Gallant Officer
Who was administering the Government of Jamaica
to times of the utmost difficulty. Even the Right
Honourable Baronet complained of his conduct,
and said, that had he communicated the present Bill
in a conciliatory spirit, all would have been well. Now,
during the whole of the debates, not one individual
Member of the House of Assembly in Jamaica, had
ever made one word of complaint against the conduct
of Sir Lionel Smith. No Jamaica man, either in the
Assemblyfnr t
or outltey of it, complained of the want of
Psi Bill knew that his conduct upon the
. sons was that of any other Governor, commu-
n!cating with the Legislature. They did not complain
of the manner in which it was communicated, but of
the substance of the thing itself. In order to show the
feelings of the Assembly, the Hon. Gentleman
read extracts from the speeches of Members,
both of the majority and of the minority ; all
bighlY. eulogising the conduct of Sir Lionel Smith.
A Mr. Leslie, a decided opponent of the Government,
had said that " her Majesty's Government were not satin-,
fled with disallowing the laws they had enacted
but had proceeded to legislate for them by an Impe-
rial Act. The Prisons Bill been forced upon them,
and were they to waste time in enacting measures to he
afterwards disalloWed by the Imperial Legislature? It
would be better if the Colonial Legislature were
abolished and the Government administered by a Go-
vernor
and Council." He (Mr. L ) read this to show
that the Bill would not be such a surprise in Jamaica as,
Gentlemen opposite Appeared to think—(Cheers)—
aril he was not surprised that some Members of the
Assembly had made up their minds that it would be.
better for the people of the colonies that there should
be an efficient and trustworthy Legislature established in
the Colony itself.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon.
Gentleman had at great length gone into those general
grounds, on which they were all agreed, of the great
danger and inexpediency of interfering with the char-
tered n
rigs nybtasof any colony. He (Mr. L.) felt as
strongly
one the force of these arguments, but
when the Right Hon. Gentleman said certain overtures
ought to be made to the Jamaica Legislature, and that
if the Jamaica Legislature did not accede to them lie
Would then be prepared to legislate as now proposed,
he (Mr. L.) felt bound to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman
Whether there was any reasonable probability that the
House of Assembly would give up their own solemn
professions and declarations, and would proceed to alter
their conduct on the bare declaration of the House of
Commons—a House which they had spoken of in no
vespectful language in the protest to which the Right
Hon. Gentleman had alluded. There was another
question which he felt bound to ask the Right Ho-
nourable Bartonet, which was this : If the Right Hon.
Gentleman should be deceived in the House of As-
sembly—that the House of Assembly, even if they
legislated at all,- should legislate in a useless and
unsatisfactory manner, for it was impossible to say
what that legislation might be—they might give the
word of " promise to the ear and break it to the 'lope"—
suppose they should then find that the Jamaica Legis-
lature persisted in their resolution of not legislating at
all, or that they proceeded with legislation in such an
imperfect way that it would be better if they abstained
from it altogether, what would then be their po-
sition in consequence of the excitement and want
of authority that the delay would have created ?
(Hear, hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had
taunted them about the preamble of the Bill, and had
said that although he might agree with them in the jus-
tice of the measure, yet because the preamble of. the Bill
was too narrow he would vote against it.—(Cheers.)
That was a course which he thought ill became the
Right Hon. Gentleman to adopt,considering the station
he occupied in that House.—(Cheers.) Well, then, as
to that house interfering with the Legislature of Ja-
maica. Why this was not the first time that such a
Step was taken. Had it not done so when that great
measure was passed by a unanimous Parliament, and by
a Parliament representing truly the feelings of
the people of England—he meant the Abolition
Act Amendment Bill.—(Hear, hear, hear.) Did
not the Right Honourable Gentleman recollect
the circumstances under which that Bill was passed,
and had he forgot the reasons that were urged in his
favour? That Act interfered with almost every part
lot fe
a the
)
he
internal economy of the West Indies.—( Hear,
Let it not be said, therefore, that the Prisons
Bill was a new and unheard-of thing. The misma•
nagement of the Jamaica workhouses and the Houses of
Correction formed a prominent part of the inquiries of
the Committees of that House. He would not harrow
up the feelings of House the by relating the scenes of
horror,cruelty, and
indecency practised in those pri-
sons. If Hon. Members read Captain Pringle's Report
on the Prisons, they would see that some such measure
as the Prisons Bill was absolutely necessary. By abo-
lishing the system of apprenticeship, those Prison
clauses of the Abolition Act Amendment Bi I 1
which were only applicable to apprentices became
null and void, and the consequence would have been
that there would be no protection against the recur-
rence of those cruelties to negro labourers com-
mitted to prison unless, the Jamaica Legislature passed
a proper measure for the regulation of those Prisons.
When they refused to do that, and after the matter
had been referred to a Select Committee, the Govern-
ment would have neglected their duty, and been justly
liable to censure, if they had not introduced that Bill.
The Right Hon. Gentleman had said that the Bill was
introduced at the close of the Session, and excited no
attention in the House of Lords. A very distinguished
Nobleman, conversant with West Indian affairs, Lord
Ellenborough, stated that he bad read through the whole
Bill, and completely approved of it. Lord Chandos, then
in the House of -Commons, connected with Jamaica,
Wwhen the Bill was introduced, and ne-
veras in
said his
pa
oneo rd on the subject.%sns also in his la
Tile Hon.p ce,and
'Member
fur Newark (MV. Gladstone)Why l
e men- did i
did not say a word.—(Hear, hear.)
tion these things ? because at thatsfresh timersh in be r
tlie ctoeducet.
of the Assembly of Jamaica wa
collection of Honourable Memtbhaerts,sauTtileact. stronigiefeelwings• a
existed in the country on
not surprised therefore that Gentlemen did not atthat
time think it very convenient to offer any opposition to
a Bill of that sort ; and yet they now came forward, and
denounced the Government for having brought it for-
ward at so late a period of the Session.—(Cheers.)
But after all the question
was, what would be the con-
Nuence, supposing the
thi
that
of
the theiln
Rightuseof
Ho n
Baronet were disappointed, and
As-
sembly should persist is the determination it had
formed. Those laws wanted for the present 6
n
esentr 8 monthspositionof
Jamaica would have to be postponed fo
I
willing unless the House of Assembly was
unctions. He would mention some o f those toresume its
laws,
nad t
he
f
House would perceive the great importance owfitthhetmhe.
ere was undoubtedly no question con
West Indies which at this moment could belookfeedr
the
with greater anxiety by those who were anxious
Prosperity of the colonies, as the
question of how
by a System of free labour you might continue theen_l
farti
.
vation of West Indian estates. On that question
stion
raainly depended the success of the great experiment
they bad made.—(Hear, hear.) He for one would
be
greatlydisatisfiedif he saw the negro population spend-
ingie i
their time in ignorance and idleness, and in what
believed was called " squatting." He thought he would
rather prefer seeing them in the servile state from
which they had lately been emancipated than reduced
to such a miserable: condition ; and unless they could
raise the negro to the condition of a free citizen only
l one-half of their work would be done.—(Cheers.)
Ile also thought it would be most unfortunate if
Englishmen of enterprize and capital had no induce-
ment to take their capital to Jamaica, or if those who
already bad property there should be obliged to with-
draw it. He should view such a state of things with
alarm, but he was bound to say that after looking at the
documents which had reached the office to which he
had the honour of belonging, he did not feel any great
apprehension or despair from the course that had been
Pursued. He believed that to the cultivation of West
Indian estates a continuation of labour was necessary.
7-7-(Hear, hear.) The only mode of obtaining a con-
tinuity of labour from the negro population was to
I enter into contracts with them. He would just state
What the law of contract was there at the pre-
! sent moment. By the present law, any person hay-