The Sun.
London, England, 1807-08-15 00:00:00

`EPORT.

The COmmittee who wer 'appointed to take into
consicletation the Commt4cial State of the We,t
India Colonies, and to report their proce4dinrs,'
from time to time, to the House of Commons;
and who were empowered to report the' minute
- - - -

. .
of evidence taken before then v; awl to whom all
_minutes of evidence which were taken before the.
COmMittee in the last Session of Parliailteni, on the
West India Planters' Petitions, together with their
proceedings„ were referred --have, 15ur3ont to
the order Of the House, examined the matters to
them referred ; 'and have agreed to the following
Report : •

Your Committee have thought it their duty), in
the first place, to inquire into the situation of the
West India Planters at the present moment, and for
several years preceding; and have examined various
respeatable witnesses, proprietors of estates, who
have resided many years in the West Indies, and
who have had the properties of several absentees
under their management ; and also many Merchants
intimately acquainted with the expences and profits
of a great variety 'of estates, and generally conversant
with the West India Commerce. From their tes-
timony it appears, that since the year 1799, there
has taken place a progressive deterioration in the
situation of the Planters; resulting from a progressive
diminution or the price of sugar, although at the
same time the duty, and all the expellees attending
the celtivatioe, have been increasing, till at length
'the depression of the market has become such, that
the prices obtained for the last year's crop will not pay
the 'expellee of cultivation, except upon estates on a.
very great scale; making sugar of a very superior qua-
lity, orenjoying other extraordinary advantages. Cal-
culations have been laid before your Committee, from
the accounts of estates,botli in Janiaica and the other
Islands, by hich it appears, that the British iop-
plies and Island expences amount to2os. 19d. in ti
former, and to 195..6c1. in the latter, an thp. Cwt. of
Sugar, atter accounting and giving credit, for the
amuunt received for the sale or Ruin. As these
calculations are formed upon an average of years,
awl upon estates of the ordmary wait , ~tai in no re-.
spects unusually circutustaneea, a appears to your
Committee, that these sums per cwt. of sugar may
be taken as the average espcnce of cultivation, inde-
pendent ofinterest upon the capital ; and your Com-
mittee are couhrmeein this opinion by finding a
similar calculation in the Report made by the Sugar
Distillery Committee, in the last Parliament.—To
this must be added an .expence of from 15s. (Id. to,
16s. per cwt. nemisaiily incurred for freight, insur-
ance, and other mercantile c.liires, bet w:A.I the
gulping the goods in the Colonies and their being
offered- to snarl et in this kingdom, forming together
an amount of from 353. ,to 3t)s. which appears, upon
this evidence, to be the ah,olute cost; to the Planter
per cwt. of sugar, before zny return of capital can
attach.—Upon a reference to the average prices:pub-
lished in. the Gazette for the List eight months,
wilich vary from ad.. to ;J is. giving a mean price of
335. dd. it appears evident that the Planters must
baVe,cultivated Iliole estates at a loss.
The interest, which has been stated to your Coop..
Initial) as what should be the fair profit upon a
capital of such a nature as that of a Sugar Estate,
conSisting not merely of land and Negroes, but of
buildings of great extent and cost, necessary for the,
c:lrryitig on of such a manula6turg, and subject
vorioes and peculiar risks and vicisiitudes,isnot less.
thait to per cent.
During the peliod of prosperity previous to 1809,
it is stated, that in general the profits did not exceed
that sum ;• and that, from that period,
.they have
grade illy diminished to 26 'and- I per cent, tall at
the presetit,tuomait, these is nu return of interest
whateveu.

It may perhaps be.right to notice'one exception,
namely, of an estate must favourably circumstanced
in every re3peet, where the profits are stated to hav;.!
amounted, during At: four years t,795, i:796,. 1707,
,and 1798) to 1 per' cent..; b,ut they *vat' also 19
have declined ever since.; in 181)1, 1802, 1.803, and
1804, to have been
.reduced :to about 6 per cent.
andin to about 3 per cent, and siibiequenoy
to have suffered a still further roduction. ,

-
In the course of their investigation of the situa-
tion of the Planters, your Conimittee thought it
right to .ascertaiti whether it mi.,;htnot .be in their
own power, in many instances, to remedy the
evils of ,their situation, by converting their sugar
estates to other more ~profitable cultivation ; but
the evidence on that point chews, that such. a con-
ver3ion must be attended
,with so. great a sacri-
fice of capital, as to be out of the question as a
mosure of relief.

With a view to the, prospeCt ,for the future, they
have obtained a return of the quantity of sugar at
present in the West India Docks ; froth which, and
from other evidence, •it appears, that the quantity
now• on band is unusually great ten the time of Year..
The Crop of last year is also on the puint of cotniat
into the market.
It should not be omitted furth:r to state, that fur
many
.yeays past the Islands have. almost entirely 4
escaped ,the natural calamities (of hurricanes, &c.)'
which have occasionally proved destriiiiive to the ,
property in those Countries.
In Investigating the causes of that depression of
the market; from whence the whole of the Planter's
distress. appears to alginate,
.the first objed which
strikes YPW Committee, is, that extraordinary situa-
tion, in_ which lie is placed, which prevents him i
alone exception, to every other similar case) from
indemnifying himself for the increase of duty, and
of other expences 'attending his celtivatiOn, by an
equivalent Increase of price to the consume r. For
it. appears, that since the year 1709, the duty on
sugar has been raised from 20s. to 275. and con"
tillgently to 30$. per cwt. ; the expellees; of the
estates are calculated to have risen in many ar-
ticles so, and in others above 100 per cent. ; and
the price haa fallen from 6gs. to 335. 6d. per cwt. the
average of the last eight months. As it appears ob-
vious, from the above statement, that the duty is
heavier than the article can bear at its present
price, it is suggested that it might be expedient;for
the relief of the home mark t, to extend the prin-
ciple which has been adopted on the•contingent,in.
crease, of duty from 275. to 30s. ; so that, from the
-maximum of duty then fixed, on a gross price of
80$. a4v,diug 30s. duty, and Sos. to the Planter,: the
duty should be thrown back on a similar se .e
nrouortion to the depression of the market, till the
prig o arrii'V., at bOs. groSs, leaving 205,

, al duty) to Governmetit, auvi lOL to the Papier ;
in` tither words, a iedtAiolt off is. of dhty
h n
redu&ion of 2s. gross price?. from the average then
fixed for the imposition of thebew duty, aslar as COs:
An increase of the lioenty un time export lets beeh
also recommended ; and yonr Committee are of
opieion, that it vv old& afford great reliefif ,given as
an accompaniment to measures of restridion %ton
neutrals, se es to render the expences un British and
foreign produce-equal in' the,fbreign mat ket.
A considerable depreciation in the. pr ice of rum
haying also taken place, it has beertisugested, that,
the enconragement,of the consumption of that arti-
cle would bee considerableadvantage to the Planter.
YoUr Committee are• a waret that such eecoutagcnient
has been given, to a certain extxot, but if it were
tbutid prztdicable to carry that assistance further, by
an increased consumption ,Irm the Army and Navy,
such a measure .would, in their opinion,' have very
beneficial etreCls ; or a .reduetiOn of duty on rum
might afford essential relief to the Planter, without
loss to the revenua,,which would be indemnified by
an increased consumption of that spirit.
Great, however, es are the evils of the decrease of
price and increase of champs, it does .not appear,to
your Committee, that they are the original
causes of the distress of the Planter, by applying to
which . alone any
,pradicable remedy he could: be
more than partially relieved ; but that the mein evil,
and that to which these are ultimately to be refer-
red, is the very unfavourable state of the foreign
market, in which formerly the British Mvichant en-
joyed
nearly a monopoly, but where he moot at
present enter into competition with the Planters, not
only ,of the. neetrat, but of ,the hostile Colonies. The
.ret4ilt of all their eneuiries.ou this most important
part of the subject bite brought before their' eyes
one grand and primary evil, from which. all the
others are ersily to la:deduced ; namely, the, faci:-
lily of intercourse Uetweeu the hostile Colonies,hed,
Europe, under the American new ral flag, by means
of which not only the whole &J' their pi othice
carried to a mai ket, but at charges e xecc i,l these
of Peece; while, the Britise ,P;l:er is hurtoeue&
with all the inconveniehc.e, risls, and e‘stmeoce, .re-
sultio& frum a state of war.
The' advantages which the hostile Colonies de-,
rive frcim the. relaxation ,of that principe,--whielm
prohibited any trade from being carried On will) the
enemy's Cblonies by Neutrals during. War which
the enemy himself did not permit to those Nen-
trals.therinpeace. may be in part es:lammed, by re-
terence to a statement of -the imports into Amster-
dam alone from the United States of America in •
the year i SOf, amountiog to 34,05,,, hlids. of
sugar, conveyed :in ,f 2
cofThe,"iad AL On 7 hh
vessels,;.'hereeeto annexed; and to a .statement
also annexed; of the amount of West India produce,
exported from .the. United-- States of America,
between 'the Ist October 'lBO5 gild 30Th September
10(i. in point of comparative expence, time ad-
vantages of the hostile Colonies will be tUtther
illustrated by the evidence of Mr. Marryat, sup--
Orte& by satisthctory documents, , which strew the
charges of freight and insurance on Stager from the.
hostile- Colonies, through -the, United Settes of
America, to the ports of Holland and FlandertyancL
to thcise of time Mediterranean, to be less by s,•l. t t cl.
to the former, and by 1 VS. 6d. to the latt.(v, than
those charges on British bmgars to the same ports.

Your Committee cannot omit to state also
another importont advantage enjoyed by the french
Colonies, arising frem the sale of nearly the whole
French mercantile marine to Neutrals, under the
stipulation of each vessel being returned into French,
por(4). in order to he navigated. as Frepoli
‘t it hin twelve months after peace., rmd With t, e en -
joyment during war, of the sline ht the
ports'. of France as if th.,!y Were:,: aetualiv French;
for initancc,
to import sugariit a duty of pdr
ewt,,less than the cktty Impose.l on sugar imported
in 'neutral vessels, •
In order, Ao e,opnterbalance, in some degree, the
adyantage3 thtrvoioYed by the hostile CoJenies, to
the detriment of the,British PhInLI, it has ken te-
Corntneitcleo, that a. blockade the ports- of the
Ent my'i setlit"""" siu'uld roorted to; such. a
measure,' if it .could be strictly enticed, would un-
doubtedly atiord
.relict' to. our export traac.

Biat a measure of more permanent and.certain ad-
vantage would be ;he enforcement revria-
,tions 'on the trade between Neutrals and the Enemy's.
Colonies, which were formerly miiintaisied by Great
:13ritaini and from the' relaxation of which ,the :Eno-
my'sColonies obtain indirecily; during wet; all The
:advantages of Peace; while our own Colonies; in,
the intercourse with whom that system of Mono-
ooly which has been,held essential to the Cooilnet-
and Nilitary. Navy of this Country is riorOusly
enforced, are deprived of the ai‘ iiitages under
which in former Wars they carried their prodtlce to
the tbreign markets, and which in .the present war,
by means of heir decided Naval ,soperiority, would
have aniountedto the exclusive supply.of the whole
of Europe; and when those extraorcinary
are taken into consideration which have been adopted
to exclude the. British Colonisl produce from. the
European market, it appears to your. Cominittee to
• be a matter .of evident and imperious necessity to
resort to such a system, as by impeding and restriit-
jog, and as far as possible, preventing the export of
the produce of the enemy's Colonies from the places
of its growth, shall compel the Continent to have
recourse to the only source of supply, whichvin that
event, would be open to it.

Ai it may be apprehended that from the adoption-
of such tueasures, difficulties might' arise in that in-
tercourse, from which the West Indies at present
derive a considerable proportion of some of their
supplies, your Committee have thought it thbir duty
to make inquiry into the resources in that reset
to which recourse might be had in such an event.
During the onlyperiod which 401.4 an 'example-of
the suspension of that intercourse, the evidence con-
curs as to the fn of a supply having been obtained
(though not without temporary and occasional
in-
canveuiences) from-a variety of sources v.11;i;11, may'
reasonably he relied upon In, case of such necessity,
at the present moment, to a greeter amount 'than
at the former period. Fritm the exaininarion of
perions who; in consequence of their residence in the
1304 :North American Settlements, or extensire
commercial canneations with diem, liosiesS the bes.t
information as to their pressitwand-buure,resources,
there is ground
.to 'believe that some supply of the
principal articletof lumber -Might lie-.6bnilied from
thence
,iromeJiately., and to esped7that with -dne

'encouragement, the quantity ,of that supply migiit
te:increased-to any extent.._,., ..„,- ~,,, ,''
i
',. The supply of Hour whifin they 'could at present
1, afford to the West India3.‘ rarket, Nyould be small,-
,-
and of inretiOr finality.- Ti'iey appear :to he catiablis
Of affording a large supply (If Fish, and what defi.»
ciency might exit in other articles of salt provisions
might be made up by supplies from Europe. ... .
Upon the, whole, the- impression which your
committee liave receivixf is, that. the trade no car- _
-rled on between.. flits Aritish Wet . Indies 4ind the
United States -Of Aivierica, 'is very convenient and
advantageous to the inhabitants of 'our o)lunirs, and
One which they could not relinquish without, essen:.'
tial:detrinient,' unless it were compen(atecl .by ctber
Advantages; but tlVitt it. is nut et.sent'ell to their eXist-.
:once, or equivalent to'the disadvantages of their situ-
ation,
in those respe6t-s,. which your Conainitte4 have
already gone through in the present statement.
Your ComMittee having bi idly stated the disteess-
ed Situation of the West India Plantar—the cati.,;el
WhiCh have gradually produced his:*disirress, whiCh
are beyond his reach to remedy, and which lutist
continue :oriperate with increased effea,—:ind hav-
ing stated such meabures of relief as have bc:eti sug-
gested to them, mid such es, from the best sources' of
infOrmation, appear most adequate to the end in
view, have only to add, that if those remedies•are
liable to objet4ions andditficalties,,there is en. the
other hand the strongest concurrent testimony and
proof, that unless some speedy and etficieut mea-
sures of relief are adopted, the ruin 0f a,great -num-
b of the, Pfaiits.rs, and of persons in. this country
holdinglatsnuoties, acid otherwise: d(pendent upon
those properties f4.)r•, their income,„ tuut inevita,bly
very soon teie.place, whisli tnust 6c.followed by filo
10,,s of a v--I,t C.lpital advati-Ltd on .st:curii i!,!.s in thtwe
countries; and by the. tin st ,'.t.11 injnrt• to tl:c., Ctip..
inertial, maritime„, and fiii.!ti-iiti ini...,-,..,t., of Groat •
Britain.