The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-15 00:00:00

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•
to-day, lie said, "t 1011 et?Aro fd-tyleiTow ; you •
have reached your limit." I ois was, therefore, a source
of strugele and irritation between master and slave, but •
the punishment was utterly inadequate to I nforce a proper
degree of labour. If this was the case under the er ler
in council, what might be expected during the hours
that the apprentice worked for his master ? The ne,ro
would have no possible interest in the work ; he I ;he
stand seven hours a-day -with his hoe in his hand, and
would do as little as he could. An Hon. Member near
ldin reminded him that he had said nothing about the
slaves' subsistence.—(Hear, hear.) He wits glad be had
mentioned that circumstance, because he might not per-
haps have adverted to the manner in which the slave sub-
sisted in Jamaica. The whole value of the articles the
planter gives to each negro was 455. a year, and the only
thing in the shape of provisions was one-third of a leant
of herrings, which was not so much food as seasoning for
flood. The Noble Lord read an extract from a work en-
titled " Notices of Jamaica in 1811," written by a planter
of 30 years' experience, who stated that the negro had a
lot of land given him, from which he was expected to sub-
'ist himself and family. If the provision-garden was un-
productive or insufficient, the negro was not allowed to
Attain a supply from the stores of the planters. Such,
with a few exceptions, he said, was the general practice
from one end of the island to another. In case of ss ar v,
brothers were to assist sisters, uncles nieces, and children
, arents ; and the aged and infirm, who had no family,
were to have recourse to the charity and benevolence of
their neighbours. "It was the duty of the negro to
provide food for himself and his family, and it was
Iris own fault if he did not take the necessary pre-
cautions against want." His (Lord Howick's) ar.
gument went to show, that if, under the• Order in
Council, there was no possibility of extorting from the
negro an adequate amount of labour, it was quite imposs
•ible to do so under the system proposed by his Right
Hon. Friend. The punishment, under this system, was
to be left in the hands of the magistrates : and let him
tsk any Hon. Gentleman who had seen agricultural labour
performed, how a magistrate, when a gang of slaves was
brought before him for idleness, was to decide the point ?
Suppose they said they had passed the time with the hoe
in their hand ; that they bad done as much as they could,
Ind were sorry they could not do any more ; how was the
magistrate to decide in such a ease? How was it possible
to obtain from any labourers the amount of labour they
could give ? Task work had been suggested, but:it was
impracticable here. Suppose it could be adopted, how_
aver, how could a magistrate decide a point which de-
pended upon individual strength, upon soil, and upon
other points which varied materially ? A negro of ordi-
nary strength might work 120 cane-holes a olay,. but the
accidents of dry or wet weather would make a difference.
Row was the magistrate to enforce labour from the
slave—and when he said labour, he meant stre-
nuous, not inefficient, exertion—under these circum-
stances ? It would require a whole army of magistrates,
—as many magistrates as planters. But the experiment
hail been tried, under ten times as advantageous circum-
stances as it could be under the plan his Right Hon. Friend
proposed, and in the case of white labourers too. The
high price of labour in the Australian colonies led to the
experiment of sending out indentured servants, who were
bound to work for their masters on a specified scale of
wages, and the experiment had invariably failed. The
reason was obvious. They laboured without any inte-
rest; they had no object in their exertions. The masters
were driven to resort to compulsion; the servants were
punished, and came back more idle and stupid than before.
There was, however, in this case no previous animosity
against the master ; but the negro apprentices would have
money, and many a year of drudgery to lay to the ac-
count of their masters, as well as many a raw hack._
(bear.) The white men entered voluntarily and by
choice into the agreement; their situation was improved
thereby, and, if gratitude was a sufficient motive, those
men ought to have worked. The negroes, on the con-
trary, instead of a sense of justice, would be stung by a
sense of injustice at receiving only a fifteenth part of the
value of their labour. Then, whether the interests of the
toasters or the negroes were considered, the plan pro-
posed by his Right Hon. Friend, if by any accident it
should come into operation, could not answer But how
could it come into operation ? His Right Hun. Friend
said that he should pass the law by the authority of the
British Parliament, and that there was no limit to the
authority of Parliament to legislate for the colonies, ex.
cept Parliament itself set a limit. With reap ct to
the legal right this might be true ; but he consi-
dered that, in giving free constitutions to the colonies,
this country had, practically at least, given up all right to
interfere with the hoed legislatures, unless there was a
I rong necessity for such interference. He admitted that
there was the strongest possible necessity for interference
in this case; but as the right arose from the neces-iry of
the case, it should be limited by it, and we should go no
urther than was necessary to do strict justice to al/ c'as.es
in the colonies. But when the people were opposed to a
ivas, it was very difficult to make it operative. How
would the people of Jamaica treat this measure ? Would
the judges, who are planters, hold it good ? Would co-
lonial juries convict? His Right Hon. Ft lend must abro-
gate in his Bill every constitutional privilege in the
ionies.—(Hear, hear.) It was only extreme necessity
hat could justify this ; but did that necessity exist ? He
(Lard Huwick) believed we could not trust the Colonial
Legislatures to legislate if we allowed them the right ov( r
be labour of another, which would be ens 'ting a coati.
nuance and perpetuation of slavery. But on a d ffeient
irineiple we had a right to act: let us say that every man
is alike entitled to the produce of his own lauour—(ll ar)—
and to judge how it can be most profitably employed for
ois own benefit, and he would allow the Colonial Legisla-
tures to do what they pleased.—( Hear.) His Right lion.
Ft lend admitted there was no competition to regulate labour
in Jatnaicet, but unless competition could be introduced we
could not introduce free labour. Unless competition was
orought to bear on the mind of the negro, he could
100 notion of free labour. The conclusion to which he (Lord
llowick) bad been irresistibly led was, that there ware
only two possible courses to be adobted ; we must recognise
perfect slavery a perfect freedom; the present scheme was
neither. To leave things as they are was an evil which
Iris Right Hon. Friend had argued in a masterly manner.
He had correctly stated that the population of Demerara
was wearing down. Various reasons had been given to
Account for the diminution of the slave population ; but
the fact was, that the diminution was in direct proportion
to the labour exacted from them, and was regulated by
the number of pounds of sugar for each slave. The
Noble Lord then read an extract from a sworn return to
the Court of Policy, Demerara, showing this fact. The
cultivation of sugar was carried on by hired agents,
who bad no permanent interest in the welfare of the
slaves, and experience showed that their employment
depended upon sending home a large crop of sugar,
and drawing the smallest remittance. In the Anna Regina
estate in Demerara, till the end of 1831, the quantity
of sugar raised was small, and the number of slaves

increasing. In the estate of Reedy Hook the attorney
was raising a large crop for the advantage of the proprie-
tor, and to the distress of the slaves. At the end of 1831
Mr. Moss, the proprietor, dismissed the attorney of the
.Ihtia Regina estate, and substituted the manager of
Reedy Hook. The result supplied the comment. In six
:nontlis the negroes on the estate had diminished from
805 to 800. His Right Hon. Friend said it was desirable
to get rid of the existing system, but how, he had asked,
was it to be safely accomplished ? The safest course was
by fixing a date, at the earliest possible period, for the
abselute and entire termination of slavery. He did not
say this was perfectly safe, but it was safer than any other.
If we proceeded on the scheme of his Right Hon. Friend,
or any other, we should not bring our views to bear on the
mind of the negro. He will be told he is free, yet he
one i
other
u mlseurs!
will get no benefit from his freedom. Gratuitous labour
e
)swill
exactedbe exactedby from
ea
s increased
himed
severity.
compulsion,and t
together,
effectreye i maative, he might be told that it was impossible to apecti-:
late on free labour. He doubted the accuracy of that
opinion. if we afforded to the Colonial Legislatures. en-
si o
t the
e lwag exertdanger
he themselves,trho ie
finr
agents
he e carry-
ing
plod act
rouragement and assistance they would acquiesce. The
s
is
propr ori n
tla od
tuo t hht e : n
ef athlaa egsi
gtiyaucifut l
co ie
e tri oo
dl i
o theany
measurecolonies.n
There
4islatures, but a greater danger in attempting to carry a
ronaplicated plan, which was neither one thing nor the
'tiler. It would not satisfy the slave, and would create
liscontent amongst the masters. What would be the
.esult if emancipation were carried without the consent of
the local legislatures? He confessed that only bad conse-
quences were likely to result from it ; but he did not . ahrietdi:
apate bloodshed. The negro would gain all heas!,s been
anal what had he to expect from disorder ? Ith d
? How was slavery
the colonists the power of resistance f
ee
withdraw it,
uaintained ? It was by our military force; •
suggested that the colonists would resist; but how far. had
He considered
and slavery fell to the ground.
by the Right Hon
if the country than that propounded
secretary for the Colonies. His earnest and conscientious
that it might with more safety be adopted,
lie plan infinitely more calculated to benefit every interest
-:ainion was,
iliough he did not mean to contend that it, or any plan
:hat could be proposed, was entirely free from danger.
Committing, therefore, not without anxiety, to the con-
4,teration of the House the propositions which were the
esult of his humble conviction, he trusted that they would
,n time, and under the wall of an overruling Providence