The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-30 00:00:00

seriously detrimental to the negroes themselves, if their
apprenticeship were suddenly terminated.—(Hear, hear.)
The petitioners stated that the Colonial Legislatures had not
rnado the necessary regulations which would be required by
the new relations in which the masters and servants would be
placed with regard to vagrancy, the elective franchise, the
qualification of jurors, and more especially, the introduction of
a sound system of currency.
Mr. O'BRIEN rose to order. He objected to the
Noble Lord making a long speech, and entering into such a
•ariety of matters.—(Hear, hear.)
Lord STANLEY contended that he had not exceeded
the limits prescribed by the rules of the House. He
was merely stating what the prayer of the petition was,
and the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
stated that he would give an answer to their question relative
to the introduction of a sound monetary system.
Mr. GIL LON rose to order.

Lord STANLEY having read the prayer of the petition
relative to the introduction of a sound monetary system,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER stated that
the question of introducing such a system was under the con-
sideration of the Government. The Right Hon. Gentleman
then presented three petitions from Cambridge, and two pa-
rishes in Somerset. _

Lord HOWICK presented two petitions from the county
of Northumberland to the same effect.
_...

Mr. GILLON_ obtained leave to bring in a Bill to regu-
late the granting of licenses in Scotland ; and another to
regulate the sale of exciseable liquors.
NEGRO APPRENTICESHIP.

Sir G. STRICKLAND rose and said, Sir, in rising to
propose a resolution, "That this House is of opinion that ap-
prenticeship in the British colonies, as established by the Act
of Abolition, passed in the year 1833, shall cease and deter-
mine on the Ist of August in the present year," I hold it
impossible that this all-important subject, resting alone upon 1
the immutable principles of humanity, mercy, and justice, can
be d,sfigured by party.—( Hear, hear.) In 1833 that Act was
passed which has been called the Imperial Act, the Act of
Abolition, an Act which declared in emphatic terms that
slavery should be for over abolished. So strong were the
words of that Act of Parliament that I cannot refrain from
quoting this short passage from it, " that, subject to thei obli-
gations imposed by this Act, all persons in slavery throughout
the British colonies shall on the Ist of August, 1833, become,
and be to all intents and purposes, free and discharged of and
from all manner of slavery, and shall be absolutely and
for ever manumitted, and that slavery shall be, and is
hereby utterly and for ever abolished and declared
unlawful throughout the British colonies and posses-
sions abroad." If this great promise had been realised,
this was all that the friends of humanity and the enemies
of slavery have ever asked or wished for.—(Loud cheers.)
But it is, indeed, an extraordinary circumstance that an Act
of this Legislature, hitherto considered all-powerful, should
have been passed for five years, and at the end of that long
er.od, when the people of the United Kingdom were flattering
themselves with the fond expectation that the great work of
justice and mercy was in progress, and that all those wretched
p,-rsons, 800,800 of our fellow creatures, were passing through
state of comparative happiness from darkness and oppression
..that, after this long time, information after information
shoold be received from the colonies which has raised one
universal feeling of pain and distress from a thorough con-
s ietion that the Imperial Act has not been carried into effect,
but that it has been passed over, slurred, totally neglected.—
b( Hear, hear.) During the prcgress of that measure through
the House. so anxious were some Ilenourablc Members of the
Ilouse, so delicate were their feelings that no possibility of in-
jJeti,:e should be effected, that after a long and arduous dis-
sion it was at last determined that the enormous utni of
twenty millions of money should be paid out of the pockets of
tt,e British people to accomplish the great work. I firmly
belie 'e, however just and necessary many Honourable Mem-
bers of this House thought it that this enormous grant
should be *said, a grant which at this day is universally
.1. hosed to have been douale the amount of a fair remunera-
tioo as a price for the slaves, however delicate and proper the
l'oeliests of the House were, yet from experience and from
onsosvation I am thoroughly convinced that the country at
laree r did respond to the police of this measure, and
that the greet majority of the people never approved of the
grant being mad". I state confidently that the universal
feeling on the subloet is, that, especially in a land of regulated
liberty, personal treedom was one of the first of the rights of
man, and that no price ought to have been paid for it, arid
thet it ought never to be bought cr sold.—( Hear.) But it
is too late now to discuss this part of the subject. I think,
considering villa. has been stated, the House cannot be sur-
p, ised to hear that a Noble, Gallant, and celebrated Duke in
another place declared that, four years after the establi,h-
',lent of apprenticeship, be was ashamed that the Legislature
,hauld be called upon for the protection of slaves. Upon
n. iving for shortening the duration of the apprenticeship I
Le; that the consideratinn is essential that I have been con,
sistenO• and that I have taken a prominent part in demanding
teceeoso for the unhappy slaves. When the Bill was before
the house' of Commons in 1833, Mr. Fol,vell Buxton, that man
‘:hose aaserece from the House I deeply regret.—(Hear)—
as being one ,of the best and tried friends of human nature
wherever misery was to be found in any part of the world,
that Hon. Gentlem'n moved an amendment that the system
of apprenticeship, instead of being continued to 1840, should
terminate in 1836—in fact, that it should only have two years
continuance. On that occasion I am reported to have said
that .‘ I have felt from the first how great an object it was to
carry this measure with as much unanimity as possible, but if
it really do come to a question whether I must vote for the
.shorter or longer period, I shall feel obliged in consistency to
es to for the shorter period. Though for years the emancipa-
time of the slaves has been called for, the people have never
expeoted that it was to be accompanied by remuneration to
the planter. I aslmit that the arguments of the Hon. Mem-
ber for Leeds are ditNcult to be answered in favour of compen-
sation. But if it were not trespassing too long upon the at-
tention of the House at this time of night, I think I should be
able to show that so large a sure as twenty millions ought not
to be paid ; and as to the length of the apprenticeship, there
cannot be a doubt that the voice of the people is in favour of
the shortest possible period." It is my intention to deviate as
little as possible from the exact question before the House.
It is unnecessary for me to enter upon any remarks upon the
great maxim laid down in the powerful language of Mr. Fox,
and illustrated with no less eloquence by Mr. Canning, that
there is no intermediate state between slavery and freedom,
because there is no executory principle.—( Hear, hear,
hear.) It is unnecessary for me to advert to such great
aothorities, because I have that of the Noble Lord the Mem-
ber for Northumberland, whose opinions I for'one hold in the
highest esteem. Upon the occasion I before mentioned that
Noble Lord (Lord Howick) signalised himself by showing that
the allurements of office wee a matter of no consideration to
him in comparison with the preservation of his principles. He
said, " My Right Hon. Friend (alluding to the Noble Lord
the Member for North Lancashire, then Mr. Stanley, and Se-
tretary for the Colonies), has said that he proposes to place
the negroes almost in a state of freedom—to give them (1
taink was his expression) all the essentials of freedom. Could
I be persuaded that such would be the effect of the measure
he has recommended, I should be spared the pain of opposing
it. But the House must not allow itself to be imposed upon
by words. Slavery does not consist in a name. Sir, I be-
lieve it is a truth universally recognised, that men can only be
taught industry by having the fruits of their industry se-
cured to them—by being made to know that, if they will con-
.sent to labour, the reward of their toil shall not be taken from
I hem by another. I believe the plan of apprenticeship will be
as injurious to the planters as to the slaves. I know, Sir, that
we cannot trust the Colonial Assemblies to legislate. What-
ever might be the nominal effect of the laws they might pass,
in reality they would amount to nothing less than the maintenance
of slavery. There is no intermediate state between freedom and
slavery." In another place the same Noble Lord had said—
" I did not vote for the grant of 20,000,000 L, for this simple
reason, that I wished that Parliament, before it was pledged
to give the money, should have a more definite knowledge of
the consideration to be received. I contend that 20,000,0001.
is ample compensation for immediate freedom, and if part of
that freedom be withheld, what is more fair than that we
.should withhold part of the 20,000,000/. ?" I think the Noble
Lord is deserving of the highest praise, not for preaching
upon things after they have happened, but in anticipating what
has taken place. Notwithstanding this admirable discussion
the plan was pet-severed in. There seemed to be some power
overwhelming the Colonial Office, and they persevered in their
plan in spite of every warning that was given to them. But
though the plan was persevered in, some hopes were held that
there might be some mistake, and in brilliant language
promises were made to the nation that slavery should be
abolished. The Noble Lord the Member for North Lanca-
shire, then Secretary for the Colonies, in answer to a question
put to him by the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tam-
eaorth, expressed himself in these memorable words—" I do
naot mean that the apprentices shall not be liable to punish-
ment. I mean that their condition shall be precisely that
of -wyorkmen in England." Now, the inquiry to which I
humbly beg the attention of the House is simply in these
words —has that promise been fulfilled ? Are the apprentices
in the colonies, precisely in the state of workmen in England?
These were not the only memorable expressions made use of
on that occasion. At that time an Hon. Member of this
House (Mr. Patric:: Stewart), who was considered the very
mouth-piece of the Colonial interest, addressed the House,
and received high praise' for the talent and the moderation with
which he spoke. What did Mr. Stewart say ? He said this :
" The bargain entered into was this—that within a limited
period, on consideration of t.lee ee-operation of the Colonial
authorities, such a sum should be paid." He said likewise,
" I am perfectly satisfied that the Colonial Legislatures will
fulfil their part of the contract, and pass such measures .as will
facilitate the completion of the object the British Pal-liar:sent
has in view." He said, moreover, " I quite agree with Hoo•
e'dembers who say that any opposition on the part of the
Colonies, such as that contemplated, would be an infrac-
Selo of the understanding which was come to." I am
now approaching what I consider the far most painful part
4)f my task, for lam going to inquire into and produce some
facts, as few painful facts as possible, in order to point
out whether or not there has been, in the words of Mr. Stew-
art, any infraction of the understading then come to. On this
point I will just state The opinions of a very high authority. I
e. ill take one, that pithy passage from the message of Sir
Lionel Smith to the Assembly of Jamaica, dated the 31st of
October, 1837. He said there, " This island is subject to the
rs proaeh that the negroes are in some respects now in a worse
condition than they were in slavery." lux, is this the condi.
lion of British labourers ( Hear, hear.) Is this an infrac-
tkn of the undei standin ;ome to ?—( Hear.) I have said
irteea dytii
details.t, asifakrnasowpos6sible, I will avoid entering into mi-
such statements are distasteful to the
house, and therefore I will rather narrow the grounds of iny
Inquiry, by stating the infractions of the understanding, rather
.than go into minute specifications of the amount of them. In
first place, ix there ot an infraction fully made ma 4 to
-r

the regulations of the time of the apprentices One of the
means by which these unhappy people have to maintain them-
selves is by cultivating small plots of ground for their support.
Any enactment or regulation, therefore, which would effec•
tually prevent them from having an opportunity of cultivating
those small spots would be a most important infraction of the
understanding.—(Loud cries of Hear, hear.) Then, as to
food, I believe that throughout all the colonies, as far as the
evidence on the subject goes, the effect of it is to show that
the allowance of food to the apprentice is little more than half
of that he received in slavery. I ask, is this carrying out the
intentions of the Imperial Act, which says that no regula-
tions shall be made which shall in any respect place the
apprentice in a worse condition than when he was a slave ?
By the returns which have been made on this subject I find
that, whereas fourteen pints of Indiaa corn and twenty-one
of flour used to be given to the slaves, it was reduced to ten
pints of Indian corn and eight of flour to the apprentice.
—( Hear, hear, hear.) Then as to the treatment of, and
indulgence to, aged persons and pregnant women, and those
with a child to nurse, the accounts on these subjects are
most distressing. Old persons, who were virtually relieved
from labour till the apprenticeship system commenced, are
now forced into the field. There is one part of this question
which I believe has throughout this country, and most de-
servedly; made a deep impression against the system of
slavery : I mean the continuance of the horrid practice of
flogging women.—(Hear.) I will read a passage on this
subject from the all-powerful Imperial Act. That Act
states " That it shall not be lawful for any Governor, Council,
and Assembly, or other Colonial Legislature, to authorise any
Court, Judge, or Justice of the Peace to punish any appren-
ticed labourer, being a female, for any offence, by whipping
or beating her person." I will, 'first of all, draw the atten-
tion of the House to a narrative which has been widely circu-
lated in this country, and which was written by James Wil-
iams, a young man who was formerly a slave, and who is now
twenty-two years of age. This narrative, though from so
humble an individual, has, from the circumstances connected
with it, become a matter of great importance and interest. I
will'not read any extract from this painful narrative, but I will
state generally the effect of the narrative. It stated that when
he was a slave he was comparatively mercifully treated ; he
was seldom beaten, and then very lightly ; but from the mo-
ment he became an apprentice his master declared that he
rwould so work him and flog him till the end of his appren-
ticeship, in 1840, that he should then be of no value to him-
self or to any person.—(Cries of " Oh, oh !") He stated
that he was flogged repeatedly for no intelligible offence, and
that, before his wounds were healed, he was flogged again
P and again. He was immured in a dungeon—he was com-
mitted to the treadmill—and, what was the most im-
portant part of the narrative, in the treadmill he wit-
nessed scenes of horror which were disgraceful to human
nature. The narrative states that the treadmill and the house
of correction are placed beyond the power of the Stipendiary
Magistrates, and are in possession of and under the power of
the slave owners themselves. It states that the writer there
saw wretched women who were too weak and feeble to work
at the treadmill, hung up to a pole above it, and in that state
flogged in the most merciless manner. The writer recounted,
likewise, an account of a poor old woman with grey hairs who
was so mercilessly flogged that after vomiting blood she died.
--(Oh, oh. ) I will pass over this narrative. I feel that in
such accounts as th see, coming from this quarter, it may be
naturally infe:red that the whole is a fabrication, and that there
is not a word of truth in it. In order to set this question at
rest the Colonial-ofEce appointed a Commission to inquire into
the truth of the narrative, and what was the result ? Mr.
Gordon and Mr. Doughty, the two gentlemen appointed to re-
port upon the narrative, drew up a Report, of which I will read
a part. They give the whole of the evidence, but the Report
itself is very short. They state—" In reporting upon the re-
sults of this extended inquiry, it has become the duty of the
Commissioners to state, th it the allegations of James Williams'
narrative have received few inconsiderable contradictions,
whilst every material fact has been supported and corrobo-
rated by an almost unbroken chain of convincing testimony ;
that the abolition has not been properly administered in
some parts of the parish of St. Ana ; that the House of Cor-
rection was, until lately, a place of licentiousness and cruelty ;
and that the treadmill has been, and still is, an instrument
rather of torture than of just and salutary punishment." I
know that notwithstanding the forcible arguments which 1
have read this evening from the speech of the Noble Lord
the Member for North Lancashire to prove what should be the
condition of the blacks under the Emancipation Act, it has
been stated in many of the public journals, and whispered
amongst various parties, " Ay, it is true that in Jamaica
there have been abuses ; in that island the planters have be-
haved ill (for that is the lenient expression used) ; but it is a
hard case that all the other colonies should be punished on ac-
count of the operation of the law there." I have had little time,
as I said. for the investigadron of this subject ; but on cursorily
looking over the information I could procure, I have found
ample proof to justify me in stating, that whatever horrors have
taker, place in Jamaica are to be found everywhere, for they
form a necessary ingredient in slavery. I will not go into
the returns, which show that in all the slave colonies hundreds
of thousands of lashes have been inflicted on those wretched
apprentices, for what are called apprenticed offences—such as
not doing their work in a proper manner, or even looking
with disrespect towards their masters. These returns of hun-
dreds of thousands of lashes, are convincing proofs that this
system works very curiously indeed, if these apprentices are
really to be looked upon in the situation of British labourers.
But I will take only one account, which I have extracted, of
the manner in which the provisions of the Act relating to ap-
prentices have been observed in many other colonies—
" The Abolition Act requires that good and ample provi-
sion' shall he made for the apprentices by their employers.
But it appears that in Tortola the allowance of farinacious
food is less than one half the prison allowance of Jamaica
under the slave law in corn, and one fifth in flour. In Nevis,
St. Cristopher's, and Dominica, it is little more than one
half in either corn or flour. In Barbadoes it is little more
than two-thirds of corn. From such cause in British
Guiana, a Crown colony, the apprentices are said to
be in a state approaching to starvation." But I have
no doubt it will be said that the horrible account given
in the narrative of Williams, of the treadmill in Ja-
maica, does not apply to the other colonies. I shall there-
fore be obliged to read to the House the testimony of Mr.
Sturges to what he saw in Bridgetown, the capital of Bar-
badoes :—" On the top of the treadmill were a number of
negroes, to secure the arms of those who were too weak to
hold on by the rails. The women were on it. The brutal i
driver was flogging them with as much severity as he had
previously flogged the men. Ho cut them wherever he
listed, and as often as he pleased. We were dreadfully
shocked. On the mill was a mulatto woman extremely ex-
hausted. The driver flogged her repeatedly, and as she often
made the attempt to tread the mill ; but nature was worn
out ; she was literally suspended by the bend of the elbow of
one arm, a negro holding down the wrist, and her poor legs
knocking against the revolving steps of the mill till the
blood marked them. She hung groaning. When the negro
released her arm she fell on the floor." I think the case I
have quoted sufficient. There is also an account given of
the treatment of a poor black girl, about eighteen years
of age, which was no less severe than that which I have
read. Now, I ask you, has there been no infraction of the
understanding which was come to ? Are the apprentices
in the state of British labourers ? Has the imperial law been
disregarded or not ?—( Hear, hear.) If there were any doubt
of the evidence which I have now adduced, I have yet the
means of establishing it in the most triumphant manner by the
words of Lord Glenelg himself. And, before Igo farther. I
beg to say that I do not join in the unjust reproaches brought
forward against that amiable and accomplished nobleman._
(Cries of " Hear, hear.") I think, on the contrary, tint the
country is indebted to him for doing all that one in his situa-
' tion could do—for having spoken out boldly and firmly, and
not tried to slur over abuses.—(Hear.) That Noble Lord has
spoken in a way which must affbrd some excuse for the con-
duct of those erring individuals like myself who have brought
this subject under public notice. Lord Glenelg said, " The
complaints respecting the state of other colonies are not so nu-
merous or considerable as those respecting Jamaica. I must
allow, with respect to the latter colony, that many evils exist
which might be made the grounds for claiming (what ?) the
abolition of the apprenticeship system."
Mr. GL ADSTO NE—From what is the Honourable Ba-
ronet quoting?
Sir G. ST RICKL AND—I have no doubt the words I am
quoting are to be found in " Hansard's Debates ;" but I take
them from the Morning Chronicle of the 21st February,
1838, and I have no doubt they are correctly given. The
Honourable Baronet was proceeding to read some other
extracts from Lord Glenelg's speeech when he was inter-
rupted by
The SPEAKER, who said that the Honourable Baronet
was out of order in making quotations from the source which
he had mentioned.

Sir G. STRICKLAND resumed—Well, I merely wished
to refer to those statements for the purpose of showing that,
after repeated and earnest solicitations, the local Assemblies
could not be induced to make those regulations which were
just. The Noble Lord also admitted that scenes still occurred
which were horrible and revolting, and entirely confirmed
the narrative of James Williams. He moreover confessed
that, in spite of the law, females were flogged in a manner
which reflected disgrace on the Legislature.--( Hear, hear.)
But I understand that the Bill brought forward by the Noble
Lord is to be moved this evening as an amendment to my
motion. I feel bound, therefore, to allude by anticipation
to that measure. In the first place, I take it to he a full
admission of the grievances of the slaves. What else does
it mean? I will not quote authorities to sustain what I
say, because such a course seems to be displeasing; but, if
I were to do so, I could prove that this Bill has been intro-
duced to protect the apprentices from the effects of a con-
spiracy carried on against them. It is to afford protection
to magistrates, or rather to make another enactment to
prevent the flogging of females. Why, Sir, if it were
pos:ible to pass fifty laws, one after another,' is it likely
that words could be found prohibiting more strenuously and
clearly the evils which are now intended to be put down than
those contained i.e the Imperial Act ? This is legislating, as
it were, on legislation in .a manner which I was going to say
might be called impotena, but which, I am quite certain,
can produce no possible good. _(Hear, hear.) But there is
another point of view in which this Bill is to be considered
It is to enable the Governor, in case the apprentices are
used cruelly, to give them immediate freedom. Why,
then, when I hear of my motion being an infraction of
the contract, am I not entitled to say that these en-
larged powers to be given under the Bill to magistrates are
equally deserving of being characterized as an infraction of
that contract,' which I deny was ever entered into, at least
in the sense in which it is now interpreted ? I remember
the debates which then took place, in which the Secretary
fur the Colonies explained the object of the measure with
the greatest eloquence and perspicuity, and maintained that
the apprenticeship system was agreed to, not for the benefit