The Sun.
London, England, 1840-06-05 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

Under-Secretary for the Home Department in his place,
wished to ask him if it was the intention of her Majesty's
Government to take into their consideration the Report
of the Hand-loom Weavers Commissioners, to found
any measures thereupon, and if the Report would
speedily be laid before the House.

- Mr.-FOX Mi..ULE said the subject more properly
belonged to the department of the Board of Trade,
to the President of which Board the question would
have been more fitly addressed. The Report., however,
would not yet be laid before the House (so we under-
stood.)

BUSINESS OF THE EVENING.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that his Hon. Friend the
Under-Secretary would now move the Order of the
Day for the consideration of the Police-rates Assess-
ment Bill ; after that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
would move the consideration of the Report of the
Committee nn the Customs Duties Bill ; he should then
propose that the House should proceed with the con-
sitleration.of a question which had been put off until to-
day—he meant the Grand Jury (Ireland) Bill,
and then, if not too late in the evening, he would pro-
ceed with the Colonial Passengers Bill.
Mr. O'CONNELL hoped the Noble Lord would
not bring forward any measure respecting Hill Coolies
after eleven o'clock at night.
CHIMNEY SWEEPERS BILL.
Lord ASHLEY wished to know when the Hon.
Gentleman opposite intended to pioceed with the
Chimney Sweepers Bill:
Mr. FOX MAULE intended to do so on Thursday
next.

POLICE RATES ASSESSMENT BILL.
Mr. FOX MAULE presented a petition signed by
900 inhabitants of Perth, in favour of the Police
Rates Assessment Bill. The Hon. Gentleman then
moved the second reading of the Bill.
Lord G. SOMERSET did not rise to oppose the
second reading of the Bill, but from the great number
of communications be had had on the subject, he
thought the Bill ought to be well considered before
it bad the sanction of that House. With reference
to the details of the Bill, he thought a sixpenny rate
would be sufficient.
Mr. FOX MAULE made some observation in
reply, but, in consequence of the noise in the House,
was almost inaudible. We understood him to say he
could not agree to the lower rate, believing the higher
to be necessary to maintain an efficient police. The
Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be
committed on Friday.
CUSTOMS, &c., DUTIES BILL.
On the Order of the Day for bringing up the report.
of this Bill being read,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
moved the addition of a clause, the nature of which we
were unable tr; hear.

The clause was then read a first and second time, and
ordered to be added to the Bill.
Mr. BENJAMIN WOOD wished to call the atten-
tion of the House to one clause in the Bill, which pro-
posed to charge an increase of duty at 3 per cent. upon
persons who bad bought goods previous to the 15th of
May, whether they had bought them with the duty paid
or otherwise. The object he ( Mr. Wood) had in view
was one which would in no way whatever interfere with
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's plan of levying
his duties. It would make, therefore, no difference as
to the amount of revenue, nor any difference as to the
manner of raising the revenue. The question was simply
between two persons, the buyer and seller of those goods.
Various sales had taken place, some by private contract
and some by public auction, with the condition that the
seller should pay all duties on those goods, awl
that was called selling at the lorg price. Goods
were sometimes sold at the short price, which
was when the party buying had to pay the duty. He
would first call attention to the mode adopted by par-
ties selling goods by public auction—he alluded
particularly to sugar, and it appeared that a very great
broker in the City of London was in the habit of
selling his goods with this clause. The clause
in the conditions of sale was, that " the duty of
245. per cwt. should be allowed on every lot in
bond." But the brokers gave notice they were ready
to pay the present duty on such lots as might be re-
quired for home consumption, but they would not
be responsible for any additional duty that might
be imposed." This proviso would prevent, in
their case, any question between the buyer and
the seller. But in other cases the same precaution had
not been adopted, and in consequence applications had
been made to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who
had introduced a clause to protect those parties who
had not so protected themselves. In some of these
cases the sugar not having been cleared out, the
duty remained to be paid ; and in those instances
the Bill would impose au addition of 5, per cent. to that
duty. To recover back that extra duty would be,
they apprehended, impossible. On this question
he had now an important petition to present to the
House from many wholesale and other dealers in the me-
tropolis. They stated they were buyers of goods, which
had been imported before the 15th of May last, but
upon which the duty had not been paid until after
that day ; and that they would be. serious losers
by the clause which made the buyers liable to
the increased duty of five per cent., whereas it was
through the neglect and incaution of the sellers that the
duty was omitted to be paid. In conclusion, the Hon.
Gentleman moved that the ith clause be expunged.
The CHANCELLOR •f the EXCHEQUER
admitted though the clause had been introduced in other
Bills, that it ought to be struck out of the present, if
it was unjust. The real question was who ought to
pay the duty. If a party purchased subject to the
payment of the duty, the present clause would not
interfere with them, it only affected parties who
bought at what was called the long price. It ap-
peared, therefore, that thejustice of the case was in
favour of the clause : in that view he had introduced
it. But this was not a new case—there were various
precedents for this mode of proceeding. The ver)
last Bil that was introduced in that House on the
subject of raising new duties—the Bill which raised
the duties on wines u case perfectly analogous
to the present one—bad this very clause introduced into
it word for word ; therefore this was not a new clause.
Iu the Act of the 36th of George 111., imposing new
duties on tobacco and snuffs, would be found the same
clause. It was also in accordance with the justice of
the case. The parties basing the remedy in
their own hams against the consumers, should
be the parties to pa;the duty. These were the rea-
sons which had induct him to introduce the clause
into the Bill.
Sir S. LUSHINGTON said that a considerable
body of his constituents were interested in this ques-
tion, and they considered that the clause was utterly
opposed to every principle of justice. His Right
Hon. Friend had said that he would not persist
in the clause if it could be shown that it was not in ac-
cordance with the principles of justice. Now as the
clause proposed to do what ought never ie be done with-
out the gravest consideration, viz., to interfere with con-
tracts already made, he thought the onus pf proving
the justice of it lay on those who supported the
clause. It was true that the dense applied only
to those who had paid a long price, but in paying that
price the purchaser bad actually paid a larger price to
cover the contingency of an increase of duti. It was
well known that apprehensions had been, for soCle time
past, entertained in the City among trader,' of
its being the intention of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to propose an increase of duty-
on various articles, and to meet this contingency they
had actually charged a greater. Now with this
the clause interfered, and deprived those purchasers
of the benefit of the contract they had entered into, and
for which benefit they had actually paid. Take the
converse of the case. Suppose the duty had been
lowered, who would have reaped the benefit of it?
Undoubtedly the seller. Could there, therefore, be
any reason why he should not be the person on
whom the consequences of the rise should fall.
He believed that a large body engaged in trade felt
interested in the pa.esing of the amendment, and he
should certainly vote for it.
Mr. BERN AL thought that the law as it now
stood might be attended with some occasional hardship,
any attempt to amend it might lead to still greater in-
convenience.
Mr. GEO. PALMER considered the holder of the
property was the buyer, and that it was up.in him the
duty was intended to be levied. He therefore thought
the clause ought to stand part of the Bill.
Mr. BR OT HERTON was also of opinion the,
clause ought to remain in the Bill.
After a few words from Mr. Alderman THOMP-
SO N and Col. SIBTHORP, strangers were ordered
to withdraw, and the House divided, when there ap-
peared—

For the motion
Against it
Majority for the clause —B3
The report was then agreed to.
GRAND JURY CESS BILL (IRELAND).
Lord MORPETH moved the Order of the Day for
the House going into Committee on the Grand Jury
Cess Bill (Ireland).
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON then rose to move that it
be an instruction to the Committee to divide the Bilf
into two Bills—one for fiscal objects, and the other for
the administration of justice. He was happy that ths
Bill was brought on at so reasonable an hour, for he
had felt it his duty
'on a former occasion to object to its
coming on at one o clock in the morning. On that oc-
casion the Noble Lori (Morpeth) made what he must
call an unwarrantable insinuation that be (Mr. Sergeant
Jackson) was desirous of impeding the progress of an
important measure by any means whatever. On the
other hand, he believed that the Noble Lord himself
and the Government were not rely desirous that it
should pass, for thziy had shown every wish to delay it,
having in the previous stages postponed it from day to
day, and fixed the second reading several times for
nights on which they knew it was impossible it could
come on. For his part he was desirous that the Bill
, should pass, and it was for that reason he pro-
posed to free it from fiscal clauses, which would
certainly be rejected by the Lords, and conse-
quently occasion the loss of the Bill on its coming

EVENING EDITION.

back to this House. There was an oversight in the Bill,
by which the counties of towns would be outlawed ;
fot instance, the county of the city of Cork comprised
tiraistrict oflo miles square, which would by this Bill;
in its present form, be left without a Justice, a Sessions
Mouse, a Coroner, or a constable. The Bil 1 before the
House was the most curious specimen of legislation he
had ever seen ; it took the levying of the cess from the
Grand Juries, and gave it to the councils of the cor-
porate towns. Now the Noble Lord was aware that
before a Grand Jury could present for a road or a
bridge, there must first be a public meeting of the prin-
cipal cess payers ; if they approved of it, it was then
;canvassed by the Grand Jury, and even after they had
. fixed the sum, it could not be levied on the district
without. the sanction of the Judge. Yet all these checks
were to be withdrawn, and the uncontrolled power
to levy money upon the public for these purposes to
be given to these town councils who might in
some places be peasants. He supposed that
this was for the purpose of giving them something
to do, as it had been contended in the debate upon the
Corporation Bill, that by giving them self-government
they would make them quiet, as their minds would be
withdrawn from violent politics. But he objected to
the class of people to whom such a power was to be
givea. Ho warned the Noble Lord that if his mction
viere not agreed to, the inevitable consequence must be
the loss of both Bills in another house, and the blame
would rest with them, and not with the House of Lerds.
He concluded by moving his amendment.
Sir R. BATESON seconded the amendment.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL (for Ireland) con-
tended that there was not the slightest inconsistency
in attempting to alter a clause of the Municipal Cor-
poretion Bill by one in the Bill under discussion. He
was astonished to hear the Hon. and Learned Gentle-
man say it was dangerous and unjust to give town
esuncils in Ireland the power to levy money for public
purposes, it being well known that such bodies in Ene-
land wire entrusted with the same power, and had
used it most beneficially. Was it dangerous or unjust
to extend to Ireland the benefits of a system which had
been found to work well in England ? The Bill then
before the House was in strict accordance with the
amendments introduced into the English Municipal
Corporation Bill ; what then had the Hon. and Learned
Gentlemen to complain of? They wanted that the
system pursued in England should be pursued in Ireland,
that these town councils should have the power to levy
money for borough purposes and for such purposes alone.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman went on to say that
unless it was intended entirely to abandon the course
agreed upon between the two Houses on a former oc-
cation, the leaders of the opposite party would not agree
to the line of conduct now proposed by the Hon. and
Learned Sergeant, which would have the effect of im-
posing os the people of Ireland fresh burdens, without
municipal representation.
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON shortly replied. He con-
tended that under the Bill the rural districts attached to
counties of cities would be unjustly taxed. He argued
that it could not possibly retard the object of the Go-
vernment to divide the Bill—that en the contrary it
might facilitate the passing of one portion, which other-
wise might he rejected, from the objection entertained to
the other. He warned the Government that if this Bill
should be consequently rejected in another place, the
opposition in this House had prepared them for it.
And he disclaimed any factious motive in opposing
the Bills coming on near one o'clock on Tuesday
morning, but the reason was his conviction of the ex-
treme impropriety of such late legislation.—(Hear.)
The Bill then went into Committee,
On clause 2,
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON suggested the propriety of
retaining the guards which the rate-payers now had
against improper presentments.
Mr. PIG OT said the councils would be representa-
tive bodies, while the Grand Juries were not. As to
private claims for compensation, in respect to roads, &c.,
if a clause specially was required to give the power of an
action, he would not object to it.
Sir R. BATESON wished for such a provision.
Lord MORPETH repeated the great difference was
in the representative system which was now adopted,
and tvEch gave a control to the rate-payers not pos-
sessed by the juries.
Clause agreed to.
Oa clause 4,
Mr. V. STUART observed on an omission to pro-
vide for the remuneration of barristers called on to ar-
bitrate.—(A laugh.)
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON—The omission is most
important—barristers don't work gratuitously.—(" Hear,
hear," very dryly from Lord J. Russell, and laughter.)
Mr. PIGOT said he would attend to it.
Mr. Sergeant JACKSON was not aware that be
had been pccularly eulogistic of the Grand Jury System.
After a few words from Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL,
the clause, as amended, was agreed to.
Clause 3 was agreed to, with some verbal amend-
ments.

On clatise 4 being proposed,
Mr. VILLIERS STUART asked the Learned
Solicitor-General for Ireland how it was intended to
remunerate the barrister who under the clause was to
bo appointed as arbitrator ?
Mr. PIGOT said he would be remunerated out
of the borough fund.
After a few words from Mr. Sergeant JACKSON,
the clause.was agreed to.
Clause .5 was agreed to without discussion.
Clause 6 was agreed to with some verbal amendments.
Clauses 7 and 8 were agreed to, as was Clause 9,
with a verbal amendment.
Clauses up to 19 were then agreed to, with some
verbal amendments, and without discussion.
On clause 20 being proposed, awarding compensa-
tion to different officers who may lose their situations.
Mr. PIGOTT moved a proviso, with a view of
making the inhabitants of the rural districts contribute
their quota to such compensation, which, after a few
words from Mr. Sergeant Jackson, was agreed to, and
the clause, as amended, was agreed to.
The other clauses of the Bill were then agreed to,
apd on the motion of Mr. PIGOT a new clause was
added to the Bill.
Mr. VILLIERS STUART moved that the fol-
lowing clauses be added to the Bill :—And whereas,
in order to a due valuation of the place or places which
may, under this Act, be added to the county of Water-
. ford, and to rectify any errors or omissions in the
valuation and table already made oat for the county of
. Waterford, it is expedient, that the power of the said
Commissioners appointed under the said Act should be
continued : Be it therefore Enacted, That the Com-
missioners appointed under said Act, and now living,
. be hereby re-appointed, with all power conferred upon
them by said Act, so far as same shell be necessary for
the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; and that said
Commissioners do, with all convenient speed, and in the
manner directed by said Act, make or cause to be
made a valuation of all houses and lands situated within
the place or places which, by virtue of this present A et,
shall cr may be added to the said county of Waterford ;
and that said Commissioners do also, within three
months from the passing of this Act, amend and cor-
rect, or cause to be amended and corrected, all such I
errors and omissions as may be found by them to
exist in the valuation already made out by them for
said county of Waterford ; and when the valuation
of the place or places so to he added to said
county of Waterford shall have been made ; and
when the said former valuation for said county
shall have been so amended, that the said Corn-
misiioners do act with respect to such new
and amended valuation in the manner provided and
directed by the said Act ; and that all such steps and
proceedngs be taken thereon, and with like powers and
authority as arc directed by the said recited Act with
respect to the valuation in the said Act mentioned ;
and be it enacted, that the power of the said Commis-
sioners so hereby appointed for the purposes aforesaid,
shall continue :or the space of one year from the pass.
ing hereof. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful
for the Grand Jury of the said county of Waterford,
without any previous application at any Presentment
Sessions, from time to time to present at any assizes, to
he raised in the said county at large, all such sum or '
sums not exceeding in the whole the sum of 3001., as
may be necessary to defray the expenses of the said
valnation ; add all monies so presented shall be paid to
suds person or parsons as the said Commissioners
shall, by writing under their liands, addressed
. the
Treasurer of the county, appoint tosurcaheeTivre the same,
and the same shall be so paid by Treasurer
ex-
penditure : provided always, that an ac.counteao
of the first sum presented to be paid toe tb
said Commissioners shall be laid before the first Grand
Jury before any further sum be granted to them ; and
in like manner no further sum shall be granted until
the account of the sum previously granted shall be
laid before such Grand Jury, and be approved of."
The clauses were agreed to without discussion.
The preamble of the Bill was agreed to, the House
resumed, and the Report was ordered to be brought up
to-morrow.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' (I REL AND) BILL.
The Insolvent Debtors' (Ireland) Bill was considered
in Committee ; the Report was received, and the Rill
was ordered to be re-committed on that day fortnight.
COLONIAL PASSENGERS' BILL.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL having moved the Ordc
of the Day for going into Committee on the Colonial
Passengers' Bill,
Mr. HAWES presented two petitions in opposition
. to Abe Bill.
Sir EARDLEY WILMOT said that he had cer-
. tainly no objection to the principle of the Bill itself:
He wished to know, however, if it was the intention of
the Noble Lord to remove the restrictions which had
been imposed last year on the importation of Hill
Coolies.
Lord J. RUSSELL said that the clauses of the Bill
did not in themselves contain any plan for the admis-
,„
li.,'/).,4 1 i T., I.; sion of Hill Coolies into the Nlauritim. The clauses
'l. were merely intended to bring before the House the
ic..r
;1;41,;(' general question, as to whether, under any restrictions,
'— '-' . - the existing prohibitions night be removed ? He
.Thought that those prohibitions were, at the time,the
• test measure which could have been passed, and that it
.;-',/was necessary to wait, till further inquiry was instituted

K

4

C

into the matter. Some time had elapsed since these
restrictive measures had been agreed to, and the-ques-
tion had, by this time, undergone a good deal of dis-
cussion. He believed that they would at present be
able to frame such enactments on the subject as would
prevent the recurrence of such scenes as had formerly
taken place in the importation of Hill Coolies. The
question was one which had been very much discussed,
and he was sure that any objections which could be urged
against the importation bad been of late stated with_
great force, and even with considerable exaggeration
*and distortion, as to the effects which would follow from
it, in various publications. What he proposed was, if
the clauses of the present Bill passed, that he should
take upon himself the responsibility of acting on the
best plan which he could form for authorising the trans-
mission of Hill Coolies from India to the Mauritius.
In doing so he should feel it his duty in the first place
te appoint an agent in India who should be specially
commissioned by the Governor-General of India, or
some other person in authority there, who would take
care to prevent the disgraceful practices which had for-
merly taken place in connexion with emigration. In
the next place he held it to be absolutely necessary to
enforce a regulation that parties, when arriving at the
Mauritius, should make such contracts as they
might think fit, and that those contracts
should continue in force for the pace of
twe.ve months, and no longer. He felt also that
there should be some provision made for the im-
portation of females as well as oldies. It appeared
that the leading persons in the colony who were anxious
for the importation of Hill Coolies would he ready to
submit to these conditions, as they had much abated
their former pretensions on the subject. He believed
. that under the restrictions to which he had alluded, the
importation might be allowed, and that so far from
being an evil to the Hill Coolies themselves, they would
receive considerable benefit from the measure. They
would receive a remuneration for their labour, and
many of them would thus be enabled to return to their
country with large savings. He thought that under
this view of the matter emigration might be considered as
favourable to the principle of freedom of labour. With re-
gard to the person who would have to superintend the im-
portation, whether it would be the Governor-General of
India or Sir Lionel Smith, the Governor of the Mau-
ritius, he thought that they might rely that care would
be taken by the party who might be chosen, that the
emigration would be regulated with a due regard to
the interests of those who night emigrate. He should
observe that though he would allow emigration to
the Mauritius, he would not allow emigration to any
of our West Indian colonies. He thought that that
last plan would be attended with considerable inconve-
nience. It would introduce a new and totally distinct
race into the West Indies. It would also subject emi-
grants to a long voyage, and would place them at such
a distance from their own country as to render their re.
turn to it very difficult. He thought those reasons were
sufficiently strong to induce them to continue the pre-
sent prohibition as regarded the West Indies. The
papers which had been laid before the House on the
subject were papers which had been sent over by the
Governor of the Mauritius, and the last plan that had
been suggested was the result of the labours of a Corn-
- mittee of persons in the Mauritius, who had sent over
here, as their agent, Mr. Anderson, who was a gentle-
man who had always manifested the greatest interest for
the comforts of Hill Coolie emigrants, and who had con-
stantly endeavoured to make their wages commensurate
with the value of their services. It was his (Mr. An-
derson's) opinion, that under proper restrictions emigra-
tion would be an advantage to the Hill Coolies them-
selves, while it would confer the greatest benefits on the
Mauritius. He should conclude by observing that he
would himself place the greatest reliance on the efficacy
of the regulations which should be made on the subject.
Sir ARDLEY WILMOT understood it to be
the intention of the Noble Lord to allow the importa-
tion of Hill Coolies, with such restrictions as would
effectually protect the interests of emigrants.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it was certainly his
intention to have recourse to such restrictions, but lie
did not propose to introduce them in the present Bill.
Mr. BERNAL could not approve of the intention
of the Noble Lord to prevent the importation of emi-
grants to any other colonies but the Mauritius. The
Noble Lord should know that our West India colonies
were now suffering severely from the want of labourers,
and it would excite considerable discontent in those
colonies to find that the Noble Lord limited the per-
mission of importation to the Mauritius ; and the Noble
Lord should have the same apprehension as to the
treatment which Hill Coolies might experience in
that last colony as in others. The fact was, that in
Jamaica, for instance, labour was only to be obtained
at a rate which cultivators could not afford to pay, and
many were even carrying it on at a loss. All parties
that colony agreed that without immigration they would
inevitably be ruined.

Lord J. RUSSELL said that the opinion he had
formed on the subject of the West Indies was the re-
!tilt of much consideration. He had discussed the sub-
ject last week, with certain Jamaica proprietors, who
had stated strongly the arguments to which his Hon.
Friend had just alluded. He still, however, adhered to
the opinion he had put forward. He did not say that
persons would be treated with more severity in Jamaica
than in the Mauritius, but he objected to the great dis-
tance at which Hill Coolies in Jamaica would be placed
from their own country.

Mr. HOBHOUSE was in favour of making a trial
of the importation of Hill Coolies on a small scale at
first. He believed that emigrants might be introduced
into the West Indies under proper restrictions, and if
they could not enforce those restrictions, he thought
they would be unfit to hold any colonies whatever.
Mr. E WART said the natives of the interior of India
were ignorant of the Mauritius, and therefore the argu-
ment for unity fell to the ground ; and the objections
urged against the Governors of the West India Colonies
would apply equally to the Governor of the Mauritius.
Ho did not object to emigration to either place, but to
the sort of emigration projected—that of persons ignorant
of the place to which they were going.—( Cheers.)
Mr. WARBURTON was apprehensive this emigra-
tion of ignorant persons unable to protect themselves,
would lead to a new slavery.—(Hear, hear.) If it were
an emigration of persons, with their wives and families,
from a place where population was superabundant to a
place where they sought to live by their free labour, it
would be very well ; but he entertained no expectation
that the emigration of these persons, through a vile system
of crimping, could end well. They expected to make
good the vast mortality which took place, as in the West
Indies, by the importation of free labourers. He sbnuld
prefer, of the two, this importation should he to the West
Indies. He did not believe, let the Noble Lord make
what emigration he would, or what laws for their protec-
tion he pleased, it would end in anything but a mitigated
slavery.
Mr. C. BULLER thought his Hon. Friend the Mem.
her for Bridport bad overstated the case, when he said,
that if this were a country of superabundant population,
emigration might take place.—(' No, no," from Mr.
Warburton.) He had so under stood his Hon. Friend, and
with great surprise. It seemed to him one great argu-
ment in this case was, that in thus allowing emigration
from India, they were allowing emigration from a country
where the population pressed greatly upon the means of
subsistence, and giving them an opportunity of remedying
their condition. His Hon. Friend had alluded also to the
great sickness that prevailed in the Mauritius, but if they
might believe the best evidence they could have on the
subject—namely, the army returns, it would prove the
climate of the Mauritius was about the most healthy of any
in the British dominions. He thought they might have
spared allusions to the past misconduct of the inhabitants
of the Mauritius, and have avoided arguments addressed to
excited feelings on this subject, and that they ought not to
discuss questions of this nature with reference to past coin-
] plaints. The measure was good or bad. If bad, it should not
be allowed ; but if good, it should not he prevented because
the people of the Mauritius had formerly acted ill. He
thought, from an argument brought forward by the Hon.
Member for Bridport, he had not sufficiently attended to
the connection between the people of India and the Mau-
ritius. He granted it was a doubtful experiment to intro_
duce a labouring population into a country with which
they were not acquainted, and this, to a certain extent,
would apply to the West Indies. He would say, as a
general proposition, be was astonished at the conduct of
some advocates of the abolition cf the slave trade, and
at the course they had taken on this subject—( Hear,
hear)—because he thought free labour only would put
down slavery throughout the world. Instead of coming
forward with this opposition to the introduction of free
labour into these colonies, the friends of slaves in this
country ought to give every facility to the supply of free
labour to the colonies, if they wished to put down slavery,
which prevailed to a greater extent than ever in Cuba and
the United States. It should be their business, by free
labour to drive slave labour out of the market, and for
this purpose they ought to bail any proposition
for bringing free labour into the British colonies.
He thought it the duty of the Government to try every
plan for bringing free labour into the colonies whenever it
could be done. There were certain difficulties with re-
spect to the West Indies which did not belong to the
Mauritius ; first as to the distance ; they could be con-
veyed to the Mauritius in sixteen days, whereas this could
not be done to the West ladies in less than three or four
months.—( Hear, hear.) Then he thought there was
great force in the argument of the Noble Lord—that in
the Mauritius the Hill Coolies were becoming a great
portion of the labouring population of the country, while
in
races—the wh
eWestli::te dieasntdhe
they would
Now,mixedamhoenfogretwtoheotandef
mslakvsey iorn, labour
ignrecaotnsneugmuebnecr of Indian
eoftheabo4nre
abolition of
in the Mauritius. It had been the custom, from time im-
memorial, for the Indians to go over to the Mauritius.
At that moment there were no less than five thousand
ich
free Indiana living at the Mauritius. His
hiltc h o
Lord
d theirdid not
propose families,
which
to re Ho-
nourable Friend had used an argument against their
btrlaonisfrntihsesioNo
n wwould
evil. He understood the Noble Lord intended to intro-
duce) an equal proportion of bath sexes, that they might
continue there and make a permanent habitation in the
island. Now, he a
to h
asked thete whetherintHoruosdioeuetnof
he
certainly put an end would
flrdeteby labour
hea
t fevaesri _
into the colonies, by which they had been saved from all
the evils of slavery ? It would be no argument to put an
end to it that it kept up the price of sugar in that colony.
He asked them not to look at this question with reference
to past transactions and disputes, but with reference to
the interests of both parties—to the larger population of
our empire in • India—and to consider. They were asked
to admit a portion of it to tho Mauritius, where the land