The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-04 00:00:00

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.., ssfits,s sa
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nied by a total change in the proceselAo4 of cultii-asio
and manufacture. Without the exifFilielef a much /a,.
greater amount of energy in the proeitisfi Vfzegrieulture,' '''''
no measure could secure the permal•lientH
of
tieSfidtpsirk had i t yof
the West Indies. Although the wages
no doubt fallen in St. Kitts and Antigens t from 10d. to 6&
a day, and was partly the cause of the present distress,
he believed that ultimately no inconveiais lice i eould arise
from it, as the negro would be thereby itiducest to work
for a longer period of time, and thus in the end ,'sakes as
much as when wages were high. In a dispauch re-
cently received from the Governor of Antigua, he stated
that the working classes would suffer no serious incon-
venience from the reduced rate of wages, and w-ould
beobligvvedeek,
to work more regularly, instead of only
onlyth three days ain order to support their families in
the same ease and comfort. He was happy to find that
the reduction in the price of labour had been well met
by the labourers themselves. They had submitted to it,
cheerfully, hoping thsit in time their wages would again
be raised. It was proposed in Antigua to reduco the
import duties and impose a land tax, and he believed
the result would be to induce the negro to expend more
work upon sugar plantation. This was most essential.
There was universal testimony to show that since the
abolition of slavery there had not been that amount of
improvement in the process of cultivating and maninae-
turing sugar which had taken !dace in the agriculture
and manufactures of this and other countries. In
what state would this country now be if there had
been no improvement in these respects within the
last twenty or thirty years? He alluded to manufactures
as well as agriculture ; for the West Indies con-
sidered that they were as much manufacturing
as agricultural countries. Mr. Price, speaking be-
fcre the House of Assembly in Jamaica, said that al-
/nest every process of both was very generally ne-
glected throughout the Island either for want of capital,
want os' attention, or want of proper energy. lie found
statements{ to the same effect in the " Sugar Planters'
Manual," a book published by Dr. Evans. He could
not, therefore, admit that the present losses and distress
of the West Indian interest were to be attributed to
the Act of 1846 for admitting foreign slave-grown
sugar, or to the doctrines of free trade. He found it
stated in a report of the Select Committee o the Assem-
bly of Jamaica, that of 653 sugar estates 14) had been
abandoned ; and this he attributed more to the Act of
1836 than that of 1846. Going back to the period of
slavery, and when the slave trade was most flourishing,
he found it stated by Mr. B. Edwards, in his History
of the West Indies, that in the course of twenty Jeers,
ending in 1791, no less than 177 sugar plantations had
been sold for the payment of debts, fifty-five had
been abandoned by the proprietors, and ninety-two
had still remained in the hands of the creditors..
He found that in 1804 several British merchants had
filed bills in Chancery, but that even when they
obtained decrees they declined to execute them. In 180 T
things were no better. In 1811 it was observed that
the ruin of the original possessors had been gradual, and
that estate after estate had passed into the hands of
mortgagees. In 1832 a Committee of that House re-
ported to the same effect; and in 1844 the agent of the
West Indies represented that the abandonment of estates
was continuing. Surely it was not possible to attribute
that state of things which continued from 1791 to 1844
either to the abolition of the slave trade or to foreign
competition. He feared it should rather be attributed
to that baneful want of energy and exertion which prin'
cipally arose out of a reliance upon protection. As for
the distress which prevailed, it would be found to exist
as well in colonies where slavery was still continued;
the produce of the West Indies was greater than that
of either Cuba or Java, and that being so he did not see
any ground for despair, or any reason for apprehending
that with free labour properly directed, and the aid of
machinery, the West Indies should not produce as
cheap an article as could be had by slave labour.
There was much testimony to favour that belief,
Ia Trinidad, even before slavery was abolished,
a considerable portion of the labour was had
from gangs of free men. Mr. Scotland, a member
of the assembly of Jamaica, and a resident
planter, stated that in his opinion free khalif was a
shade less expensive than slave labour. He attributed
their inability to compete with slave growers to the want
of a resident proprietary and proper management; ands
oontrasting Cuba with Jamaica, he observed that in 6a
former the proprietor was resident, well skilled in the,
cultivation of his estate, managing it with a strict regard
to economy, and on the spot to correct all abuses; While
in the latter he was not only hundreds of miles awety•
but his estate left to the mercy and management ar
mortgagees. Still more decisive evidence was given by
Mr. Prince, who went out some years ago to manage at%
estate in Jamaica, and which he had done most satisfac-
torily to the owners. He stated that in 1843 it produced
190 hogsheads, in 1844, 290 hogsheads, in 1845, 400
tons, and in 1846, 700 tons, while, by constructing a
new tramway, he had effected an economy of eight
labourers and 142 head of cattle, and was of opinion.
that, by machinery and an improved process of cultiva-
tion, he could produce sugar cheaper than any slave owner.
But there was one remarkable circumstance to which he
must call the attention of the House, as showing that the
sugar grown in the French West India colonies, where
slave labour prevailed and continued to the present Ines'
ment, could not compete with the beet-root sugar cultis
vated in France. In 1843 a duty was imposed by thei
French Government of 5 francs per kilogramme on beet-
root sugar, which was to continue until 1848, when an
equality in the duties was to take place. In Mr.
M'Culloch's " Commercial Dictionary" it was laid down.
that this duty upon beet-root sugar would annihilate its
growth and cultivation in France ; but so far from this
being the case, the cultivation had increased in 8 moat
remarkable degree. At this moment the duty was its
course of diminution, and in August next there would
be a perfect equality of the duty on beet-root saga? and
upon French colonial sugarimported into France. And yet
this cheap slave-grown sugar could not now compete with
free- labour sugar made in France, and the French cokes
nial slave-owning sugar growers were now making re-
presentations to the French Government claiming
the imposition of a protecting duty against beet-root
tugar. He believed, however, that It was capable of
proof, by a mere reference to admitted facts, that the
system of free lrbour, by the aid of proper and improved
process, may render free-labour sugar as cheap, if not
cheaper, than slave grown sugar. He (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer), therefore, did not despair that, if
improvements in machinery and in the mode of cultiva-
tion were carried out in the British West India colo-
nies, as they had been at the Mauritius and elsewhere,
those colonies would still continue sugar-producing
colonies, and might be restored, by a different system
of management on the part of the resident proprietors,
to a comparative state of prosperity. He hoped that
such would be the case, and if any propositions beyond
those which the Government was now prepared to con-
cede were made in a Select Committee moved for by the
Noble Lord opposite (Lord G. Bentinck), they should be
considered; but he must repeat, that the Government
was not prepared to restore the system of protection
which had so lately been abandoned.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. G. R. ROBINSON said, that though he differed
altogether from the views of her Majesty's Government,
he still gave them credit for the declaration made by'
the Right Hon. Baronet the Chancellor of the Exchee
quer, to the effect that in consenting to the appointment
of a Select Committee, he would be nos party. ,to the
creation thereby of a delusion that they would in shy
degree depart from the Act of 1846. If the West italie
colonists were not to look for any relief other than that
contained in the measures propounded by the Right
Hon. Baronet, the sooner they knew it the betters in
order that they might be prepared to meet the conse:7
quences which must ensue, via., the eventual ruin, if not
the entire loss, of the colonies. His argument was, that
protection was absolutely necessary for the interests of
these colonies. When he coneurred in the measure for
the abolition of slavery, he little thought that those who
had carried that glorious measure would ever be the
parties to advocate the admission of slave-grown sugar
of other colonies to compete with the free-labour sugar
of the British colonies. The effect of the mealtime
of 1846, when it came to abolish the existing differ-
ential duties, would be to throw open the market in this
country to all parts of the world ? This would be the
result of the free-trade principles which already had
been adopted ; and he must remind the Noble Lord that
it would be easier now to retrace the steps which had
been erroneously taken than after a farther onward
course ; at all events, if the Noble Lord would not
retrace the steps taken, he ought to pause before he
went farther. He was aware it was hopeless now to
expect a renewal of protection generally, bat if asked
what he would do, he would tell the Government that he
would restore the protection of sager to the extent of ten
shillings per cwt., and, if consistent with existing trea-
ties, he would exclude slave-grown sugar altogether. He
warned the Government that, although the revenue
might not immediately feel the effects of the falsely-
called free-trade measures, yet the state of the revenue,
embarrassed as it was now admitted to be, would become
more and more embarrassed, and the consequence would
be that the income-tax, so unpopular in this country,
would not only become perpetual, but there would be
a necessity for increasing its amount every year.
In that case what was to become of the masses of the
population, crippled as they would be by the transfer
from their hands of their trade to the hands of fo-
reigners ? Why the result would be, a vast increase to
the pauperised population, already subsisting upon . pa-
rochial rates, and a still further increase to the criminal
records of the country. The repeal of the navigation-
laws was now called for by the free-traders in their dis-
tress ; and thus it was that when the protection was
removed from one interest, those who suffered sought
to take it away from others. Whatever palliative the
Committee now proposed might devise for the sufferings
of the West India colonies, unless protection were
restored, those colonies must be ultimately lost to the
mother country. For where would be the advantage of
retaining them if their trade and navigation were to be
given up to other countries ? In such case, the sooner
we set about negotiating with the United States (for the
disposal of these colonies the better.—(Laughter.) Of
course, be did not mean this seriously, but he was con -
vinced that our free- trade legislation was producing such
a feeling of alienation in these colonies,that, in the event
of a war, their support and attachment would be very
little to be relied on.

Mr. HUME said the Noble Lord (Lord G. Bentinck)
had laid the foundation for an inquiry into everything
relating to these colonies; but as the Chancellor of the
Exchequer had declared that, whatever conclusion the
committee might come to, the Government would not
go beyond a certain point, and would not recede from
the measures that had been passed, he thought it would
be better not to appoint a Committee at all, lest false
hopes might be excited in the West India colonists.—
(Hear, hear.) He hoped tho Noble Lord would not
accept the Committee to be so appointed, but would leave
all the responsibility to Government. Many of the sug-
gestions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer were good,
as far as they went, and he agreed in thinking that
mach of the colonial distress now existing was attribu-
table to the want of free labourers in the islands. Had
they been properly introduced at first, much of the ex-