The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-30 00:00:00

subject had been argued, arid as he could wish that a dee
eision .lucid b., curve to before the House rose that
night, he would not trespass long on the time of the
House. He thought it due to that Committee in the
first place to state that he believed no Committee of that
/louse ever met under a stronger desire to arrive at the
truth, and throwing aside all party feeling and party
objects, to do the best they could for the interests of the
colonists, whose case was before them.—(Hear, hear.)
He could not, however, say that the recommendations of
the Committee were satisfactory; and if they were
looked into, it would be found that they were
not so practicable as the course the Government had
pointed out; and he must remind the House
that it was almost impossible for the Committee to
come to any decision, as between the party 13
the Committee who would have carried protection
to its utmost bounds and the Right Hon. Gentleman the
Member for the University of Oxford (Mr. Gladstone)
and the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Liverpool
(Mr. Cardwell), who was in favour of protection in the
abstract, but on a graduated scale, the Committee W 55
likely not to come to any recommendation on the sub-
ject. When they did not decide upon a differential duty
of 10s. for six years, it was far from the general feeling
of the Committee that such was the proper decision, and
he believed had the vote been properly taken, there
would have heen a majority.—(Hear.) He objected to
the proposal of a differential duty of 10s. for six years,
on the ground that it would be injurious both to the
consumer and the revenue, and he did not believe that
it would benefit in the least the West India interests
themselves. All the most important witnesses ex-
amined before the Committee had said, that
the best mode of encouraging the cultivation
of sugar would be to bring the rate 0f
wages to a reasonable level, and that nothing would
be so certain to bring that about as the struggle nos
going on for competition, and the allowing those colonies
a small protection, in order to fit them for that stale'
when all protection must be withdrawn, and when cow'
petition would be general.—(Hear.) The Honourable
Gentleman who last spoke had stated before the Coos
mittee, that he would recommend a protective duty of
ten shillings for three years, and then allow a
dropping scale of duties, but he was of opinion
that of the two proposals the West India,
interests would rather accept that of the Government'
It was not alone upon the West Indies that the course
proposed by the Hon. Members would operate, as it
would also operate upon the East Indies, as it would for
a time give an impetus of cultivation there, and which.
would lead in the end, when the competition becanr
general, to the most disastrous consequences. He ad'
mitted that he long hesitated as to making any alteration
in the Act of 1846. but he had now come to the conch''
sion that the House would do wisely sbottiu
they adopt an alteration in that measure
within the limits proposed by Government'
He did not think that the spirit or the proposed measure
was inconsistent with the Act of 1846.—(Hear.) It
was true that the hopes and expectations created 13
1846 had not been realised—(Hear)—but their not
being so was not to be attributed to the Act passed to
that year, for the general convulsion which had fallen
on trade generally, had also fallen on the sugar-growing
interests, who were so much bound up in the interests
of the country. They were all aware moreover, that
long previous to the passing of the Act of 1846, the cry
of distress from the colonies had been on many occa-
sions loud and deep ; and while he did not say that
they should not make efforts to relieve it, he did not
think it fair to attribute all the misfortunes of these
colonies to the Act of 1846, while they bad for maple
years, and at very different times, been calling out foe
assistance and support.—(Hear, hear.) It would, hew
ever, have been a most ungracious thing when the Nest
Indian interest came before the House, to have refuses
them that sympathy which their case demanded, to'
to show that while the House was not prepared toi
abandon the spirit of the settlement of 1846, it was
least prepared to reconsider the letter of that settlement'
and as far as possible afford relief. He believed the Pls
of the Government would give more relief than and
other that had been proposed, and that the more it ha
been considered by the West Indian interest, the toi'a
satisfactory it had become. He believed that it Woll%
afford relief without preventing the settlement of waged
on a satisfactory footing, which would be the result .
any large measure of protection, and he attached titro
greatest importance to that point.—(Hear, hear.) as
believed the Government measure would lay the founds
tion for a better state of cultivation, and, consequentlY ,
,e
larger amount of production. This would be profitable
to the planter, and it would at the same time be Ovens;
tageous to the revenue of this country, thus obviating tr.
objections which had been taken to the Governme° 0";
measure on that ground. As regarded the interests t.
the consumers in this country, on which some Bel?,
Gentleman had thrown contempt—(No, no)—be cor
not but attach great importance to an abundant r
cheap supply of what had now become one of the daily
necessaries of a poor man's family.—(Hear, bear's)
With respect to the bearing of the measure on the greas
question of slavery and the slave trade, he could no
concur in the views expressed by the Hon. Baronet the
Member for the University of Oxford. The 11°°.
1
a
Baronet appeared to think that slavery was a patriarcne.
institution which might in certain cases be tolerated and
uphpld.
Sir R. INGLIS—What I said was, that as the state
i
of slavery was recognised by the Book of God, I 117
U
not be a party to any proposition for declaring t 11--
lawful
Mr. LABOUCHERE would not enter into a Scrip'
tural argument on the subject, but baying seen some'
thing of slavery, he must state his utter abhorrence
of it as a system which killed at once the
body and the soul—(Hear)—and he was Inas',,
anxious that this country should wash its hands of the
moral guilt of such a traffic, or the crime of encouraging
others in such an atrocious trade Las that which recur
nized man as the property of man.—(Cheers.) While'
therefore, he was prepared to give every fair facility r
the importation of free labourers into the colonies, an
ss
to amend the laws relating to vagrancy, it would be
upon the understanding that the one should not lead to
the establishment of slavery, nor the other to the ell;
forcement of compulsory labour by the police.—(Hear')
He hoped the House would calmly and dispassionate!,
consider the proposals of her Majesty's Government. Sle
was time that they did not hold out to the colonists te_
large and brilliant promises of relief which bad been
made in other quarters. But he believed that in tbe,
end they would be truly beneficial to the colonies. 1b
colonists had great claims upon us. They had alwaYs
been faithful to us.—(Hear, hear.) They were our fellow
subjects, and he believed that if the House gave its st
port to the propositions of the Government, that it would
be showing its sympathy and desire to aid our colonies
in the least objectionable and most beneficial manner.
Mr. GOULBURN said, he would detain the House
shortly as possible by the remarks he had to make ursf
the question. By giving his support to the motion u
the Hon. Member for Droitwiels, he did not pledge hiac3i;
self as to the amount of protection he might after
warbei
vote for. He must state at the outset, however, that
felt the Government, who had the whole case before thetn,
were the really responsible parties to deal with the etles;
tion, and that he thought should be done on the brow.'
principle laid down in the report of 1833, that ear°Peivi
cation should be in proportion to the enhanced cost
production caused by the legislation of that House.--'
(Hear, hear.) Reference had been made by the Noble
Lord at the head of the Government, to the state 0_
prosperity in which it was alleged nine-tenths of the
population in our colonies were, and that it was only thc,
one-tenth, composed of landed proprietors, who were 5313`,
fering. But by reports of publielmeetings, held in vatic). ;
portions of the colonies, and attended by all classes, 12
found that the distress existed not only among the
landed proprietors, but also among the bankers, me',;
chants, middle classes, and working classes. Of WI;
free negroes only one-third were addicted to consta
labour, the other two-thirds taking advantage of a _e
tile soil and fine climate, had entirely divorced theons
selves from labour, and were living a life of idleness ee
ease, amidst circumstances which were causing th Ls'
rapid demoralization.—(Hear.) The result must I've,
that, even as regarded cheapness of price, unless so
thing was done to relieve the planters, this country..
would suffer severely. If the island of Jamaica, for in'
stance, were thrown out of cultivation, and the ir
ti 3
es;
thousand tons now produced
.by it abstracted from
_es;
market, the immediate consequence would be a gran
rise in price. They had an instance in point. .7e of
St. Domingo ceased to be a sugar colony the eirlurbe
sugar rose from 255. to 75s a cwt.—(Hear, hear.)
ads
d n•
Hon. Gentleman the Member for Westbury. ba s,st of
some extraordinary statements as to the relative u-ried
free-labour and slave-labour, which had much surf 'w-
him. The Hon. Gentleman had stated the cost °f P a
ducing sugar in Cuba by slave labour was 176'
sold
cwt. Well, they knew that Cuban sugar bad theyb al-
in our market at 21s. a cwt., and, therefore, if
iiess
lowed the very smallest amount for freightage, 1., the
ance, and other charges, it would be e Cuba
proprietor as to the cost of labour was correct thf r froo
proprietor was selling at a great loss. Bat s° / nterS
this being the case, it was in evidence that the p shear.)
of Cuba realised a profit of 17s. a cwt.—(Hear, _ two
seen that
He thought it was only necessary to put there
facts together in order to arrive at a just e"c °lest
on the subject. He admitted that there was abft is
scarcity some years, owing to the climate,
other years there was a plentiful abandance of 77,0
and he thought it but just to take the mean ° this
such years. The House had been favoured during _
e'
debate, why the colonies should not have the refief
tires
quired by them. In one case the Right lion. Gen
man (Mr. Labouehere) says that the Act of 1846 was as
Act of benefit and advantage to the West Indies, 50
that because of those advantages it would be injudie,lau.."o,
to alter it altogether. He thought that the considerate
lion of the House should not be turned only to sa
.%_
but to other circumstances connected with those colon
eln:
and particularly connected with her Majesty's Gaviire 0
merit in relation to those colonies. He then, asWe tod
sh
now thought, that that the Government of 1846 e
take at the very least three or four months to consider
the alterations they were about to make, and he strongly o
t
recommended that opinion then; but he regretted
+be
say that such was not acted upon, and that afteralled
lapse of a few days—only fourteen days—they
csure.
Parliament to support them in that injurious meat
He should, however, say, that he gave his assent tho that
measure, because he thought that the colonies Mr,t
escape the injuries, which an Hon. Member of that
House had foretold, and he did not think that the mea-
sure had received that due consideration which a mea-
sure of such importance merited. The want of deliber.s:
tion on the part of the Government was the causep:
t
loss of seven or eight hundred thousand pounds to het
particular colonies, which future experience strongly
pointed out to all who know anything of the state of to
West Indian Colonies. Ile would ask was not this on 0
element of distress? Again, he would say that that v
ery
Act was the sole and only cause of slave-grown sugar be-
ing brought into this country, because of its being encour-
aged, according to the evidence of Captain Mauns.!,.
.."0
That gentleman, who gave the last evidence, says that