The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-15 00:00:00

ABOLITION OF NEGRO APPREN-
TICESHIP.

CITY OF LONDON TAVEiZN.—(YESTERDAY.)
( F,-om our Second Edition of last night. )
A meeting was this day held at the City of London Tavern, Bishops-
gate-street, for the purpose o '
f petition:a, Parliament fur the speedy
termination of negro apprenticeship in the Colonies. The Great Room
ea considerably crowded, and amongst the persons. present there ran
ofa
ry large proportion of lailes, and of members of the
ge
frauds. At one o'clock precisely the Chair wss taxen by Sir Matthew
'Wood, Part.
The Calm:m.ls said, that having been called on by several
friends to take that place, he could net but express great
pleasure in attending such a meeting, and he m
duty had not steam
steamed meow, an abler person Butlly regretted that the
lie could not refuse
the request of his constituents, Ise:rause he thought that he was at all
times bound-to perform a duty of that, kind, when called on by his
ree`ow citizens.= (Hear.) He was not well aceuainted with the subject
mialie2resent meeting, but hibelieved that the eoisditicn of the Negroes
'was tat sasproved by the apprenticeship Y
Itsaniament ought to interfere in their beaaslE'Ll area he thought that
Lila d on
Me Scnosems,wao said that he had been deputed a
dby , the Central Negro
tertancipation Conernitleee to toy before the meeting statement of flits.
;
object which they had in view of die means to be token to advance it
cad of the ground on which they appeared be ore the public. ihtir objec
was simply to !introduce into the Colonies unqualified liberty, instead o
the present systeht of bondage.—(Herr, hear.) Their means of effactin
this would be by presenting to the public attention the facts of the case,
amid to pour into
both
Houses of the Legislatuee petltitio e in favour o
the great object. The Committee, upon the most anxious aani tatsorio
inquiry, felt jus'lds'l in taking their present position. In the ye-
7 the Imperial Parliament for the abolition
1833 an A:t Wa' peseta,
-: ... 4 sad riogroes had long felt that th
slavery. Befee: that the frienas s elnaeamen by their previa
latter were entitlen to all the rights or _ 4 ,stry
.....(ifear , hear.
sufferings, their patience, and unrequited in... -:.fed a statu
In no part of that Act was it stated that there ever ex -a,
which gave to any man a property in his fellow-man. Put the
.:
eipaSion of the negro was qualified by a system of apprenticeship, wh ere•
by slavery was continued in effect,. although abolished in name. ]
To carry the Imperial Act into effect was committed to the Colonial
Legislatures ; and he would show the meeting how they had exesu.f ed
the trust, for which this country had paid them 20,000,0001. The
Act provaim: that the apprentices should be supplied with sufficient
food, either from a::atments of land to be cultivated by themselves, or
from the stores of their raaatera ; and it was provided that in those colo-
nies where the allotment system nrevail.,
ed, the
negro should work 40 %
hours per week for the benefit of his ram ter '. these hours to be distri.
buted over the first five days of the week, and the apprentice to be al-
lowed the half of Friday for the cultivation of the ilotule,o, t, to supply
himself with provisions, and to have the whole of Saturday for tlisieo.por-
pose of as selling the produce of his labour. But the power of ttlps
.
was left to the masters, both as to the quantity and quality of the lama,
and the distance from the negro's homestall ; and in some instances the
allotment was twenty miles distant from the hut, so that the apprentice
had to travel on his half Friday twenty miles from his hut to cultivate
his piece of land on the side of a mountain, or in the depth of a
ravine; am! had, moreover, to carry b..ck his provisions the same
distance.—(Shame, shame.) The masters had further the power of
mulcting the negroes (under the penal enactments) of the whole of their
Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year, so that they could only
cultivate their allotments on the Sabbath.—(Shame.) So far was this
carried, that Sir Lionel Smith, in one of .his despatches, recommended
that they should be supplied with provisions fr°m their masters' stores.
—(Hear.) In the other colonies, where they were sanplied with food
from the masters' stores, as in British Guiana, the 45 hour: of labour
were scattered over the entire six days ; whereby the apprentices ;.'ere
deprived of the Sabbath, and as much labour was extorted from them
by the tariff of the planters as when the cart-whip was carried in the
field. Every advantage intended by the Legislature was taken from
them. In many cases, the fish which the masters used to supply
the slaves with was withheld from the apprentices ; although it
was well known that a Negro in the West Indies could not live in
health upon vegetable food alone.—(Shame.) Mr. S. then went into
various details to show that in the Colonies where the apprentices were
fed from the stores of their masters the supply of food had been reduced
in some places one-half, in others two.thirds, and in others four-fifths.
Thus, in British Guiana 21 pints of farinaceous food used to be allowed
per week—that was reduced to 10 pints—(Shame)—in Nevis 9 pints
per week—in Trinidad to 6—and in Tortola to 4 pints of farinaceous
food per week for a labouring Negro.—(Shame.) He was sorry to say that
that laufhad received the sanction of the Crown!—(Great indignation.)
During his stay in Guiana he had brought under the consideration of
the Governor there some facts connected with the present subject. He
had stated to him that the allowance made to the Negroes was not more
than sufficient to sustain them three days in is week ; that the planters
had allowed their plantations to go out of cultivation ; and he im-
pressed upon him the fact, that unless something was done to enforce
the planters to increase their plantations, or keep a larger supply of fari.
naceous food, there would very shortly be a famine in the Colony.
Upon this his Excellency issued a proclamation, restoring the Negroes
to the allowance of farinaceous food to which they were entitled as
slaves. Upon this the planters had a meeting, from whence
a deputation waited upon his Excellency, headed by Doctor
M'Turk, a name that would ever be viewed with horror by the
enemies of slavery.— (Cheers.) In consequence of this deputation, his
Excellency ordered the proclamation to be suspended for six months ;
the persons forming that deputation stating to the Governor, that if
the twenty-one pints of farinaceous food to each Negro were insisted
upon, there would be a famine in the Colony in less than three weeks.
Since that period, the proclamation had been further suspended till the
pleasure of her Majesty's Ministers should be known, and thus the Negroes
were left to starve.—(Cheers.) The next point to which he would ad.
vert, was with respect to the law regulating the punishment to be in.
flicted upon the Negroes under their new state of bondage. Mr. Stanley,
when he introduced his famous resolutions upon thesubject, stated that the
negroes were in every respect tobe entitled to the privileges and advan-
tages of British subjects; that they were to bear in their persons no taint
of a servile condition, but were to he elevated to the dignity of free men,
subject only to the restriction of being compelled to work forty-five hours
weekly for the benefit of their present owners, who, after the Ist of Au-
gust, were to become their employers. The Hon. Gentleman then went
into a long and beart-rending statement of the privations and punish-
ments to which the negroes were subject, which called forth the lingua-
titled condemnation of the meeting, and concluded by expressing his firm
conviction that a voice would go forth from the meeting that would shake
the Colonies to their centre, and would compel them, however reluct-
antly, to give justice to their Negro brethren.—(Cheers.) The great
strength with which they had to contend was at home, and in the Cabinet,
and their only course was to breathe into the nostrils of the leviathan
the wishes of a whole nation, and by that means crush them for ever.—
(The Hon. Gentleman sat down amid much cheering.)
Mr. PAT,I3ON rose to propose the first resolution. When he first
came forward as a candidate fur the honour of representing the city of
London in Parliament, he had been asked what his principles were with
respect to slavery, and he then said, that as long as lie breathed he
should ire its decided enemy.—(Cheers) Such being his opinion, he
thought he was in duty bound to attend the present meeting.—(C eers )
The meeting had heard front Mr. Schobell details that were harrowing
in the extreme; he hoped, however, that such scenes as he had
described were not general. Sufficient, however, had been stated
to call upon the Legislature to interfere, and put a stop to such
practices : in what way that was to be done would be for the
consideration of Parliament. And he could assure the meeting,
when the subject was brought forward in the House of Commons, any
measure that was calculated to improve the condition of the negroes
would meet with his most cordial support.—(Cheers.) Upon principle
Ise appeared before them, and upon principle he moved the first resolu.
tion, which was to the effect—that the meeting, regarding colonial
slavery, under any name however modified, as repugnant to the Bri-
tish Constitution, contrary to the dictates of humanity, and opposed to
the principles of religion, condemned the same, and would never relax
in its exertions against it, until the last vestige of slavery was merged
in unconditional freedom.—(Cheers.)
S. GURNEY, Esq., seconded the resolution. ' He was convinced that
the system was as injurious to the Masters as to the Negroes themselves;
and the statements made this day convinced him, that it became a mat-
ter of moral obligation to put an end to it immediately. He strongly
recommended to his friends the book of Mr. Sturge, and concluded by
seconding the resolution.
Mr. Mawr begged to ask from what fund it was intended to compen.
sate the planters for the two years which they would lose if the appren-
ticeship were immediately abolished ?—(Laughter, and cries of" Oh, oh.")
fir. OPPENHE:M could not allow the question to go unanswered. He
had resided many years in Jamaica, and he was ready to contend that it
was to t..e Negroes the compensation was due for their wrongs and
sufl'erings.—(Applause.) Twenty mil:ions had already been given to
support in luxury an indolent race, who cried out that you were going
to rob them of that which they had never earned, and to which they
never had a right.—(Cheers) The planters were the real robbers ; they
robbed the labourer of his hire, and their fellow-men of their wiener,
able rights.—(Great applause.)
Mr. ALEXANDRu moved the second resolution. He felt it his duty
as a Christian to come forward in endeavouring to rescue from misery
600,000 of his fellow creatures. Cf the nature and extent of that
misery, there was abundant proof in the laws of the Colonies, the reports
of the Governors, and Parliamentary documents. He asked them,
should we not, as Christians, do everything in our power to terminate
so much sufferitm, and not allow it to be protracted for two years
more?—(hear, hear.) He could not omit to refer to the honourable
conduct of Lord Howick, who withdrew from the Administration,
of which his father was the head, rather than give his
sanction to a measure *filch would continue slavery under the
name of freedom.—(Cheering.) Sorry he was that a Stanley was to be
found in the British Senate to introduce a measure to indict intolerable
suffering on 600,000 of his fellow creatures.—(Hear, hear, hear.) But
he (Mr. A.) was acquainted with circumstances which led him to hope
• th:it the petition of the meeting would be supported by a majority of
British senators.—(Cheers.) The resolution was to the effect :—" 'That
it is the deliberate opinion of this meeting that the Act passed by the
British Legislature in 1833 for the abolition of slavery has become, in
the hands ofeits administrators, a system of bondage more rigid and
inhuman than the system it was meant to supersede. That the attempt
to combine slavery arid free.lom under the na.ne of apprenticeship has
signals. failed of its object—neutralised the efforts of the friends of the no..
gross—and defeated the just expectations of the suffer ing and oppressed."
The Rev. Dr. BURiSET, in seconding the resolution, would not occupy
the meeting at great length, because he wished that it should be a
London meeting, and express the opinions of the people of Londor.
He did . not view the question merely in connexion with the
immediate object of the meeting, but as it n fated to the prince.
pies of pure liberty and Christian justice. With some it was re-
garded as merely a commercial question. Etch was the view taken by
the gentleman who had asked—" What more will you give the
plenters ?"—(Laughter.) With that gentleman there was no question
of human rights—none of the principles of eternal justice—none of
the present honour or future glory of this great country, when it will
be said in future generations, "Shame upon the history of Britain—
she supported slavery!"—(Cheers.) With that question there was no
question of morality, or of the injunctions of Christianity.—(Great
cheering.) 'I he high ground of principle i.e (Er. Dixon) entirely
abandoned.—(Hear, hear.) But he (Dr. B.) would not object to
argue the question upon commercial grounds. The questions was
coked for tire planters by their friends, "How much will you give us fur
having tricked you ?"—(Cheers and laughter.) They had broken their
bargain, and now they asked for payment for the trick.—(A laugh.)
Dr. Burnet then went on, at considerable length, to comment on the
provisions of the" Twenty Millions Act"—fur he would not call it the
" Abolition Acs"—to show that the planters had broken faith, and vio-
lated the compact, by their treatment of the apprentices. Amongst
father things, the author of the Act, Mr. Stanley, then Colonial Sarre.
tary, recommend,l to the Colonial L^gislature that the tints exacted
from a master, for ill treatment of an apprentice, should go In part to the
injured apprentice, by way of compensation ; but to this the maters
would ty no means consent.—(Shame, shame.) Well, he would give
them the compensation which they gave the apprentices.—(Cheers and
laughter.) 'I he Rev. Gentleman concluded, amidst great applause, by
seconding the resolution.
Mr. S. Fox moved, and the Rev. Mr. CAREY 'seconded, the next li reso-
lution, to the effect, that no act, short of complete emancipation, can
isfy the claims of justice, humanity, and religion ; that as the share..
liters have received the enormous grant of 20,000,0001. to secure their
acquiescence in a great act of national justice—and that it has been k
proved that the Imperial Statute has been evaded or violated—this meet.
ing earnestly deprecates the re.appointment of the Parliamentary Com-
mittee of inquiry into the apprenticeship system as unnecessary, and pro.
tests against any legislation which does not secure complete freedom on
or before the Ist of August, 1838.
Mr. PEWTRESS moved the next resolution. In doing so he had to
bring the attention of the meeting to the remarkable fact, that in those
colonies, such as Antigua, &c., where total emancipation had taken
place, it was found to be as beneficial to the masters as to the
apprentices ; and lie had this morning met with a gentleman
had been the
from Antigua, who assured hini that such