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

WEST INDIES.

Lord G. BENTINCK. then rose, pursuant to
notice, to more for a Select Committee to inquire
into the present condition and prospects of the inte-
rests connected with, and dependent on, sugar and
coffee planting in her Majesty's East and West In-
dian possessions and the Mauritius and to
consider whether any and what measures
can be adopted by Parliament for their relief.
If he had consulted his own convenience and wishes,
as he was aware that no opposition Was intended to

be offered to his motion, he should have merely
moved it, and made no statement at all with
respect to it ; but he believed he should
not consult the wishes of the House or the
wishes of those who were interested in the growth
of the sugar-cane, if he made the present
motion without: some statement. It had been repre-
sented to him by many who were interested in her
Majesty's colonies in the East and West Indies, that
the course he was proposing now to take was not
consistent with the necessities of the case, and
that there was something pusillanimous in the
motion which he was going to propose to the House,
and that, in fact, the East and West India interests,
which had already been so severely attacked,
would perish while the subject was being
discused in a Committee of the House. They had
told him that a Committee of Inquiry would be to
them—

" Like cordials after death, come too late !"

for that before a Committee had reported
the West India interest would be past re-
covery.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") It became him,
therefore, to consider whether he could obtain
any special relief from a direct vote of that
House ; and when he recollected that in the
year 1846 he had made a motion in that respect,
and obtained only 130 gentlemen to support him,
while 265 votes had been tendered against him, and
in favour of her Majesty's Government, admitting
slave grown sugar, he felt that it was hope-
less for him to adopt any other course than
the one he intended now to pursue, more
especially when he recollected that upon that occasion
he had but five gentlemen connected with the
West India interest who had recorded their
votes in his favour. Such being the case, he thought
the West India interest had nothing to say
against him for taking the course he had re-
solved to adopt on the present occasion.
Those who voted with him in 1846 did not
require a Committee to convince them that re-
medial measures were required. They were of
the same opinion now ; but at the same time
he felt bound to say, if remedial measures were
brought in likely to meet the wants of the colony,
he and the petitionerswould support them, irrespective
of those by whom they might be brought in. Holding
a petition in his hand, signed by 48 heads of houses
in London, Liverpool, and elsewhere, whose liabilities
amounted to 6,300,0001., he felt that he was justified in
calling upon the House to grant the committee for which
he was moving, and to state, with confidence,
that he believed he should be enabled to per-
suade the Committee to suggest new and
salutary measures. The Right Hon. Gentle-.
man the Vice-President of the Board of Trade
had stated elsewhere that he considered the ac-
count of the home country and the colonies closed
in 1833, when emancipation and millions of.
money were given to them; hut he was in a
condition to show that the colonies had not derived
much benefit from the millions thus paid. Both the
money and the emancipation of slavery were pressed
upon them. They derived no advantage from either;
and the cry of virtuous indignation against slavery
had materially subsided ; even at the last election
so much had the cry for cheap sugar
and free instead of slave labour died
away, that the subject was scarcely mooted. He
retained his opinion that by the treaty of Utrecht
they might have entirely substituted free for slave
labour sugar. He should not moot the question
now. He would not, therefore, whatever might be
his opinion, prt pose that this principle should
be upheld, as the refusal to admit thirty thousand
or forty thousand of slave-grown sugar
might, by renewing the agitation, not only prevent
the salutary measures which he looked
forward to, but endanger the stability of
any Government that might be in power.
With respect to the repeal of the navigation-laws he
could not go along with those who advocated a repeal
of those laws. At the same time he thought it
inconsistent that the West Indians should ask for
any protection for themselves, which they wished
to deny to others. He agreed with the
Noble Lord at the head of the Government,
that the system of protection went in a circle, and he
thought that it could not therefore be confined to the
West Indians. Letters had appeared in one of the
journals signed by five commissioners, which
stated that the -large amount of difference
of freight to several of the West India
islands was owing to the navigation laws.
He did net see how the repeal of the navigation-laws,
affecting the question of freight between Jamaica
and Demerara and the other West India islands with
England, could affect the question of the West India
interests, because any alteration in those laws would
equally cheapen freights as between Brazil and
Cuba, Java or the East Indies and this country. The
freights of slave-grown sugar would be equally
cheapened with the free-labour sugar of the colonies.
The West Indians in their petitions asked for several
things; they asked for the exclusion of slave grown
s,gar, for differential duties, for the fn e admission of
molasses into the breweries and distilleries of this
country, for the admission of rum on an equality with
British spirits, for the repeal of the navigation-laws,
and for access to the coast of Africa and other places,
in order that they might obtain free labourers in any
way they pleased. It was necessary he should state at
ence that he could not concur with the ♦iews of the
colonists with respect to the navigation-laws ; and fur-
ther, he must take leave to say, that it was most incon-
sistent on the part of the West Indian and East Indian
interest, whilst asking for protection to themselves, to
seek to deprive other interests of the protection which
they enjoyed.—(hear.) He recollected that the Noble
Lord, on introducing the measure for the alteration of the
sugar duties, said that protection must travel in a vicious
circle, and that protection to the West India interest was
a psrt of that circle which he was disposed to break
through. The Noble Lord was right. Protection must
go on in a circle, and it was irreconcileable with the har-
monious working of the system to take protection from
one interest and give it to another. But, so far as the
West India interests are concerned, ho was at a loss to
understand how they could expect to derive any benefit
from the repeal of the navigation-laws. He was aware
that, a letter had been written under the name of "Jacob
Otanium," by a gentleman who had recently thrown off
his disguise, so that there was hope that the Committee
would have the advantage of his evidence, and in that
letter it was stated, that whilst freights from St. Croix
were only 31. las., freights from Demerara were 61.
Assume that the difference existed, why suppose that it
was owing to the navigation-laws? Then how would it
benefit the West India interest to repeal the navigation-
laws, unless they meant to say that they were to be
repealed only as far as themselves were concerned, and
:o continue in force against all the rest of the world ?
Suppose that the repeal of the navigation-laws could
reduce freights from Jamaica and Demerara to Great
Britain from 61. to 31., would not the same cause operate
to cause a proportional reduction in the freights between
Cuba and the 13razils and this country ? Six-sevenths
of the whole trade between Cuba and the Brazils
and this country were carried on in British bottoms. 'I o
all intents and purposes, as far as the navigation-laws
were concerned, that was as much close trade, as much a
monopoly, as the trade with a❑y British colony. It was
indisputable that if the repeal of the navigation-laws
would reduce freights for free-labour sugar it would
(pally reduce them for slave-grown sugar. As to the
freights from Demerara, however, they were not 61., as
-. Jacob Ominum" said, and never had been except when
the- times were out of joint. They were more often
21. lOs., and that lie believed was the rate at the present
moment. He understood from those who were best qua-
lified to give information upon the subject, that the
freights from Jamaica at the early part of the year were
from 31. lOs to 4/. 45., and from Demerara not 64, but
21. 10s. to 31. ; whilst from the smaller islands, such as
Barbadoes and Trinidad, they were from 31.10,5, to
31. 15s. The last mail from Pernambuco and Bahia
brought advice, that British ships were carrying
freights at the lowest rates. The Cuba freights were
always lower than the Jamaica freights ; but
it ought to be recollected that this was in
consequence of there being no draggerage charge at
the former place. It was the custom of the country at
Jamaica to unship goods in small boats, and the ship-
owners had 0, pay draggerage. At Demerara, there
was no draggerage, a circumstance which perhaps was
attributable to •its having been originally a Dutch
colony. The freights from Demerara were generally as
low as from any sugar growing country in the world.
Having disposed of the navigation-laws, be came to the
question of the admission of rum on an equality with
British spirits. On this point he retained the opinion
which he held last year—namely, that if the West
Indians could show that they were in equity and justice
entitled to be placed on an equality with the manufac-
turers of British spirits, their claim ought at onee
to be acceded to. He thought, however, that
when the subject should come to be investigated
the British distiller would be able to show that
as long as he remained under the restrictions at
present imposed upon him, justice demanded that
the differential duty should be oontinued.—(Hear.)
That was his present opinion, but he would go into the
Committee w an honest desire to come to a just deci-
sion on the question. As to the admission ot molasses
into breweries and distilleries, it appeared to be a ques-
tion which might properly be left to the decision of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; but he did not think
the West Indian interest could derive much benefit from
a compliance with their wishes in that respect. He now
came to the great question of immigratiou. Some ot
the West Indian proprietors who lived in the thinly
peopled colonies, Demerara, Essequibo, Berbice, and
Trinidad, imagined that if the free immigration of la-
bourers were assured to them they would be able to
compete with all the world. Fer one, lie was not dis-
posed to object to the British planter colonists enjoying
every facility for the immigration of labourers
providing only that it did not verge upon slave
trading. If, however, the immigration of 150,000
Africans would, as was alleged, enable those colonies
to produce 400,000 tons of sugar yearly, the effect of the
proceeding would be altogether to swamp the old
colonies of the Crown. But whilst he thought that no
unfair advantage should be given to one colony over
another, he very much doubted whether any amount of
free labour would enable the planters to compete with
rivals who had it in their power to extort from slaves
all the energies of their bodies. If the case were not
so, how happened it that in Barbadoes—which was
more densely populated than China, which contained
750 persons to the square mile—whioh bad a population