The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-11 00:00:00

The Insurrection in Jamaica.

A very stringerit Alien Bill had occupied the
House of Assembly. The following is the text of
the bill :
Whereas it is expedient as well for preserving the
domestic peace of this colony and its security from
incendiaries and other depredations, as for preserv-
ing the peace between the said colony and other
colonies, that provisions be made for the deporta-
tion of aliens and other persons, not being natural
born subjects, proved to be intriguing and enter-
taining designs adverse to the objects aforesaid.
Be it therefore enacted by the Governor, Legislative
Council, and Assembly of this island, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the same as
follows :

First. When and so often as the Governor shall
have reason to believe, from information given to
him in writing by any known and credible person,
subscribing his or her name and address thereto, and
deposed to before any magistrate as true, to the best
of the informant's knowledge, information, and be-
lief, and supported by the written recommendations
of two or more respectable householders, one of
whom must be a magistrate, or by any magistrate
before whom any investigation or inquiry may have
been made, supported by the recommendation of
any respectable householder, that for securing the
external peace and domestic tranquillity of the
colony, it is expedient to remove therefrom any
alien or other person, not being natural born sub-
jects, it shall be lawful for the Governor, by order
under his hand, to be either served on such alien or
other person, not being natural born subjects, or
publicly gazetted, or otherwise published to direct,
that any such alien or other person, not being na-
tural born subjects, who may be or may here-
after arrive therein, shall depart this colony
within a time limited in such order ; and
if alien, or other person, not being natural born
subjects, shall knowingly and wilfully refuse, or
neglect to pay due obedience to such order, or shall
be found in the colony, contrary to order after such
service or publication as aforesaid, and after the ex-
piration of the time limited in such order (except
under the conditions herein stated), it shall be
lawful for the Governor, or for any justice of the
peace of the colony, to cause any such alien or other
person not being natural born subjects, to be arrested
and to be committed to the common gaol, there to
remain without bail or mainprize, until he shall be
taken in charge for the purpose of being sent out
of the colony, under the authority hereinafter given.
Second. Except under the conditions herein
stated, every such alien or other person, not being
a natural born subject, so knowingly and wilfully
refusing or neglecting to pay due obedience to any
such order as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misde-
meanour, and being convicted thereof shall, at the
discretion of the court, be adjudged to suffer im-
prisonment for any time not exceeding one calen-
dar month, for the first offence, and not exceeding
twelve calendar months, with or without hard labour
for the second and any subsequent offence.
Third. It shall be lawful for the Governor in any
case in which any such alien or other person, not
being natural born subjects, shall be found in the
colony after the expiration of the time limited in
such order, except under the conditions herein
stated, and whether he shall or shall not have
been arrested or committed for refusal or neglect
to obey such order, or convicted of such refusal or
neglect, and either before or after such alien or
other person, not being natural born subjects, shall
have suffered the punishment inflicted for the same,
by warrant under his hand and seal, to give such
alien or other person, not being natural born sub-
jects, in charge to any person or persons to whom
he shall think proper to direct such warrant, in order
to such alien or other person being conveyed out of
the colony, either to his own country or to the place
he has left, or to some place in the British posses-
sions ; and such alien or other person, not being na-
tural born subjects, shall be conveyed accordingly ;
but, nevertheless, such person may in lieu thereof
be at liberty to deport himself to any other place by
consent of the Governor ; provided always that
when such alien or other person, not being natural
born subjects (not having been convicted
as aforesaid), shall allege any excuse for
not complying with such order, or any
reason why the same should not be enforced, or why
further time should be allowed him for complying
therewith. It shall be lawful for the Governor to
judge of the sufficiency of such excuse or reason,
and to allow or disallow the same either absolutely,
or on such condition as he shall think fit ; and when
such alien or other person, not being natural born
subjects, shall be in custody under such warrant as
aforesaid, the person in whose custody he may be
shall forthwith, upon its being signified to him that
such excuse or reason is alleged by such alien
or other person, not being natural born subjects,
make known the same to the Governor or Attorney-
General, and the Governor, upon receiving such
notification, or in any case in which he shall be in-
informed any such excuse or reason is alleged, may
forthwith suspend the execution of such warrant
if he shall think fit, until the matter can be more
fully inquired into and determined by him after
advice with the council ; and such alien or other
person, not•being natural born subjects, shall not-
withstanding remain in such custody, or any other
custody to which he may be transferred, until the
determination thereon shall be made known, unless
in the meantime the Governor shall order the release
of such alien or other person, not being natural
born subjects, either with or without security. Pro-
vided always that the clerk of the council or other
proper officer shall, in the last mentioned case, cause
to be delivered to such alien or other persons, not
being natural born subjects, either a copy or a
general summary of the matters alleged against
him, and shall state to him the reasonable time
to be allowed to prepare his defence ; and it shall
be lawful for him to summon and examine upon
oath witnesses before the Governor and Council,
and to be heard before them in support of the ex-
cuse or reason by him alleged.

Fourth. When any inquiry proceeds before the
Governor in Council he shall be empowered to
administer oaths, to commit for contempt, and to
adopt any necessary lona of process, and also to re-
quire the assistance of any officer of the Supreme
Court ; and the Governor may, either remit the in-
quiry to the Supreme Court or require the assistance
and association of the Chief Justice thereof. Pro-
vided always that in any case in which power is
given by this act to commit any alien or other per-
son, not being a natural born subject, to gaol with-
out bail or mainprize, it shall and may be lawful for
the Chief Justice, if upon application he shall see
sufficient cause to admit such alien or other person,
not being natural born subjects, to bail, on giving
security for his appearance to answer the matters
alleged against him.
Fifth. The writ of arrest for any indebted person
shall prevent the enforcement of this act.
6. When any alien or other person, not being
natural born subjects, who shall have been com-
mitted under this act to remain until he shall be
taken in charge for the purpose of being taken out of
the colony shall not be sent out of the colony within
three calendar months after such commitment, it
!hall any' case be lawful for the Chief Justice, or
AT arm two of the Judges of the Supreme Court, or
"-^ -,.ftee of the colony, upon
-i—of of

of this act shall be defrayed in the usual manner out
of any unappropriated revenue of the colony.
9. If any such alien or any other person, not
being natural born subjects (of the Queen of this
island), shall be unable to deport himself, or if the
Governor in Privy Council may deem such depor-
tation inconvenient, it shall be lawful for the Go-
vernor in Privy Council to order any such alien or
such other person, not being a natural born sub-
ject, in any one of the gaols of this island for such
period of time as the Governor in Privy Council
may deem necessary for the public safety.
10. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Privy
Council, upon such information on oath of any
householder, and on the certificate of any magistrate
as the Governor in Privy Council may deem suffi-
cient, to order any alien or any other person whom-
soever informed against, and certified upon satisfac-
tory evidence to be conspiring against the good
order and peace of the colony, to be taken under
warrant, and kept and detained in safe custody in
any one of the gaols in this island for such period of
time as the Governor in Privy Council may deem
necessary for the public safety.

On Saturday last a deputation from the Com-
mittee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery So-
ciety waited upon the Right Hon. E. Cardwell; to
present a memorial on the subject of the outbreak
in Jamaica. The Right Hon. Earl Russell had ap-
pointed to receive the deputation at three o'clock,
jointly with Mr. Cardwell, at his lordship's official
residence, in Downing-street, but was prevented
from doing so in consequence of continued indispo-
sition. The deputation, which was a very numerous
one, included delegates from the following places :
—Bristol, 7 ; Brighton, 8 ; Gloucester, 1; Brad-
ford, 2 ; Cirencester, 1; Reading, 2 ; Sunderland,
10 ; Birmingham, 7 ; Liverpool, 1; Manchester 1;
Canterbury, 4 ; Worcester, 1; Woburn, 1; Ox-
ford, 4 ; Southampton, 3 ; Kendal, 3 ; Southwicke,
1 ; Rochester, 3 ; Glasgow, 1 ; Warrington, 1 ;
Lewes, 1; Hertford, 2 ; Gravesend, 2 ; Chelms-
ford, 1; Croydon, 5 ; Ipswich, 2 ; Chatham, 2 ;
Woodford, 1; Nottingham, 1; Stroud, 1.
The following Members of Parliament were pre-
sent :—Samuel Morley, Esq., M.P. ; Sir Thomas
F. Buxton, Bart., M.P., Lynn ; G. Carr Glynn,
Esq., M.P., Kendal ; Thomas Hughes, Esq., M.P.,
Lambeth ; Peter A. Taylor, Esq., M.P., Leicester;
Samuel Gurney, Esq., M.P., Penryn ; Charles
Gilpin, Esq., M.P., Northampton ; Colonel Sykes.
M.P., Aberdeen; T. W. M. Torrens, Esq.,
Finsbury ; James White, Esq., M.P., Brighton.
The Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-
Slavery Society were represented by Messrs. Joseph
Cooper, Thomas Binns, Josiah Forster, G. W.
Alexander, W. S. Lean, William Allen, Edmund
Sturge, Robert Alsop, Charles Wise, A. W. Ben-
nett, Henry Sterry, and Frederick Wheeler.
Upwards of 250 gentlemen in all attended.
Sir T. F. Buxton, Bart., M.P.; Mr. Chamberlain
Scott (City of London) ; and Dr. Tomkins, at-
tended as representatives of the Freedmen's Aid
Society, the provincial branches of which also
sent delegates.
The deputation having been introduced by Mr.
Samuel Morley, M.P.,
Mr. CHAMEROVZOW, secretary of the society,
read the memorial, which, after quoting the resolu-
tion of the meeting by which the deputation was
appointed, went on to state that the committee had
been very painfully impressed with the narrative of
the " alleged insurrection as set forth in the de-
spatch of Lieut.-Governor Eyre." The several re-
ported incidents of the insurrection were then set
forth and commented on, and other facts and cir-
cumstances asserted to prove the desirability of
which the committee felt convinced that, "in the
interests of justice, humanity, law, and public order,
there should be a full, searching, and a thoroughly
impartial inquiry into all the circumstances con-
nected with these deplorable events. The commit-
tee are further of opinion that, in addition to the
immediate steps which may be taken in this direc-
tion by her Majesty's Government, a Parliamentary
investigation, embracing an inquiry into the opera-
tion of the existing laws, and the administration of
the government of Jamaica, is necessary to meet all
the requirements of the case."
The Rev. W. ARTHUR delivered a long and elo-
quent address, and concluded by expressing a hope
that the Government would be prepared to do
prompt justice in this matter. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Alderman MANTON, of Birmingham, re-
marked that public opinion in that large town was
very much excited. He asked whether Mr. Card-
well would feel himself at liberty to say what the
Government had done, and especially whether the
Flogging Bill passed by the Legislature of Jamaica
last session had received the sanction of the Crown.

Mr. T. HUGHES, M.P., said he was not present
that day as one of the committee who had drawn
up the memorial, but as one representing a great
constituency close by, in which so far as he had
been able to ascertain there was but one opinion
on this subject. (Hear.) He was present as an
Englishman, jealous of the honour of
England—
(cheers)—and he did not come supposing it would
be necessary for them to press upon any English
Government, much less upon a Government com-
posed as the present Government was, the neces-
sity of a strict, rigid, and impartial inquiry into
what had happened in Jamaica ; but he did feel it
was their duty to urge upon the right hon. gentle-
man, in order that the inquiry might be a fair one,
that Lieut.-Governor Eyre should—temporarily, at
least—while the inquiry was going on, be brought
over to this country. (Cheers.) He hoped the
Government would not allow the Indemnity Act to
beome operative.
Sir T. F. BUXTON said he had attended that day
as president of the Freedmen's Aid Society of Lon-
don, to express their general sympathy with the
address that had been read ; and he desired to
tender his own adhesion to the opinion pronounced
by Mr. Hughes in favour of the recall of Governor
Eyre—(cheers)—as a step no less required in the
interest of those who had lately suffered so grie-
viously than in his own. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. TORRENS, M.P., believed he expressed the
sentiment of every man present when he said in
perfect good faith that they were not there that
day to urge the Government to precipitate action,
or to incur the charge that had been brought against
them, of asking the Government to condemn a man
unheard. (Hear, he,..r.) Their prayer to the Go-
vernment was to hear that man where he could
alone be fully and fairly heard, within the realm of
England. What they at present had to deal
with was their own honour as a people. (Hear,
hear.) That honour had been slighted, and their
conscience as a nation had been stung as it
never had been before. So long as the gripe
of triumphant repression was upon the throat of the
colony they would never hear the truth. He joined
u the request that Governor Eyre should be recalled,
so that he might have an opportunity of clearing
himself and them from the terrible and unprece-
dented stigma which had been cast upon their cha-
racters as Englishmen by the painful occurrences
that had taken place in Jamaica. (Hear, hear.)
His trial to be a fair one must take place in this
Country.

Mr. p. A. TAYLOR, MX d -1-
.1 desired also to express
his opinion that the honour of England and the se-
curity of the Government required the instant recall
of Governor Eyre, and every one responsibly con-
nected with the late events in the island of Jamaica.
(Hear, hear.)
Rev. DAVID THOMAS, as chairman of the
--;on of England and Wales, de-
'- of his could adequately
• feeling of the con-
' Wales on this
-ith which
Go-