The Sun.
London, England, 1807-10-01 00:00:00

REPORT

'mom THE •COMMIt. TEE ON TIIA COMMERCIAL STATE

OF TIM WEST INDIA COLONIES.

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. '

Edward Ricketts, Esq. examined.

Are you a Proprklor of a plantation in the Island.
of Jamaica,?---Yes, I am.
Where the. parish: of•Westmorelaud, an
estate 'called Canaan.
What is the average prodUce of that cstate?-4
think it should average about 250 hogsheads of
sugar. I' went to Jamaica 'about seven years ago,
and at that time I faun& the estate in a Very reduced
,situation. The Negroes were very much reduced,
both worn down and reduced in nurnbr.T. -My first
obje& was to recruit the strength and' condition of
the NegroeS as much aFr pAible, and likewise to ,
• add other Negroes W the est4te.
Previous to your. going to Jamaica, on the general -
state of the case, wiat. May be called in round num-
bers the averave produce of the estate should
0
average about 250 hogshead;, '
What ha'S been the average produce of the estate
in gross numbers, do you think more than
15t1 hogsheads, tothe best of my,recolluaion.
On what averageOf Years-is that an aver-
age of sevep years'.. -;
Are there :any 'particular circumstances which
have atfetled.the produce of that estate, winch bare
tended to lessen the quantity of the produce
Yes; Wln first went to :Jamaica, I found about
140 Negroes on'ibe estate; to which I added, in the
course of my stay
,there,; 90'; ' but I thought it po-.
litic on the whole tospare.the new Negroes.aswol.
as the old; the old on account of their r6luced state,
and the new on account of their not being Capahle_
of, the exertion?wbich they .would be' after they

shriuld be seasoned. -The last yea's produce was:
184 hogsheads, 1 mean the crop of the last year,,
Then you considdit an estate of 150 ii0•11e,id:!?
Yos ; I think this year, from the account I have:
received, that it will ship 215 or 2.20 hogsheads. I
have not got any letters,by this packet r but by in-
formation I had by'the preceding, we had then
made uSb
Was it not the reduced stare of the Negroes which
contributed to;the small, prodtke of the estate?—
Yes: ; and other circumstances. •

The estate being niiaer-manned; and those Ne-
groes being over-worked ?..----They would have been
over-worked, if I had increased the produce.
' Does this estate make better or worse sugar than
the general avdrage of estates in the neighbourhood ?
I. th ink it Makes 'better sugar than most of the
estates i» the parish of Westmoreland, as Car as I
can obser\ e. I think there are 63 ; and I believe
I have teen on every one of them. •
Has this estate, considering the state of the West
India, trade, been conducted' with the utmost. mho-
Auny during the last, six or seven years ?.-Yes ? with
the ulnwit possible economy.' -I was there myEeil,
and my oltj,d,was, as did udt "make large cr6ps,,to
make what I did with as little expellee as possible.
Do you recoiled the amount of the British sup-
'plies altogether, on an average of the fe SV la s„.t years,
• or 'of any particular year ?--4, have taken a me-
morandum of the last year, I, mean applicable
to alio crop shipped Wine last year (1806) it was
Gtgl. l is; 7d.

w. That is the British supplies ; the British
supplies.
These supplies;were.necessary for the conduaing
of the estate, .and for the comfort of the Negroes,
and, did not contain any article oflukury or Unneces-
sary expence. ?—None whatever ; nor doe§ this COM..
prize the herrings. ft comprizes the beef and hilt-
ter, but not the herrings. I have the list of the
,supplies in 'my pOcket, it the Connuittee Wish Co see:
it. There is heavy article, no
,copper, nothing.
of that sort ,is occasionally sent..out.:
this estate been 'Valued at any time for the
purpose of sale, and. when ?—lt was ualued in the
y..ir Ittou or 1801, '01) not reeolled exactly ; htlt
con Obtain the original or as copy of the valuation..
1 thought I bad it in town with me, but I buv.,1,:r44.
'1 hc sum was about L 3,0001. sterling. , •*:
WAS any oifer made to. you of a. purchasc of. it.
in • consequence, of th:it yalnation O'er wo
nuide the by one of thef.iontletnen, who-valued the
estate.

To take it at the valuation ?—Yes'; to take. it.;
with seine small
To pay. yOu kir it upwards of _50,0001. ?—ikbqut.,
50,0001. This Gentleman was, in • treaty. With, ne
for it several times, and I think 'Wonld-have pur-
clutsedjt,; but from the death of ,my brOther,'wilo,
was a joint .proprietor,. I had no longer ilower to
grant zi title. •
Can you sthte the experieei. of the-year
British supplies were 6181. 1 Is. 7d. 2 - •
British 61.060:y ; the: ishuid ,contingencies
were ;55'51. Sterling.
What were the principal items of the Island con-
-611g-enc.:l 6.5 ? -;---71.11e salaries of the White, Poople, the
taxes, the lutnbee, and the provisions, in vtiich I in-
clude the article of herrings. There are fic.,ll pro.
visions for the Wllite. People, bat flour and biscuit
for the,Negroes are included; but. I could diStin-,
guish the particular itians it it were desirable. •
Have the amounts in your es.perience of the last
seven years, as to, the cost of any given quantity of
the „Britisri supplies, and the cost of any given quasi.:
City of I stand contingencies, increased I—Certainly,'
considerably.,

.
it been increasing for the last six or seven
years progressively ?-.-Not as to all articles, but as
to the e3pcuce of British supplies that • has been
progressive ; but with respe6t to the cattle on the
Island of Jamaica, they were nearly,as dear when,
I went there as when I left the Island.
But the -eipences of any given quantity of sup.
plies exported from Great Britain and lreland to that
Island have increased?--.YeA, they have. •
Tito nit to the re.turn made to.you, on this econo.
mica' management, what proportion has e.r
the.,
turn borne, to the estittiated capital, offered...to you in
the year 180.1 for the -estate ?—I think pot above
one and a half per cent, if so much. The return of
this crop of 1806 is p 641..
On a computed capital of 50,6001. ?--.lleS,
that capital. There were 'lB4 hogsheads of su-
gar, and 64, puncheons of rum the_ runt being