The Sun.
London, England, 1833-01-08 00:00:00

An the Spectator.)
of the Colonial Expenditure has
)r length than we originally in-
subject is of an importance to
'ier development. The Colonial
iry great source of national ex.-
pen. :ore, and a very considerable cause of our com-
mercial derangements. In no other department of
Government are abuses so rife; in no other branch
of expenditure is there so much room, or per-
haps such urgent necessity, for a keen arid search-
ing retrenchment. Absolute sinecures, useless or
overpaid functionaries, are numerous at home. The
sums paid in England for actual labour are generally
disproportioned to the money lavished on small or
pret, nded services. But these abuse's, this dispro-
portion, is as noth;ng when compared with those
by
Church,
ffifh
irhuce.ihs
whooa,ljodn
neverieeff
is c iens
ee t)Enormousfaoso tliincomes c
in t
regarded.
aersij
de
. settlement;eri
in
ayief.dp
plu-
ralities are ae numerous in the Colonies as in the
ay
officers, or subservient and unsuccessful trathrs, dis-
pense justice; veterans, whose notions of civil
government have been formed from the absolute
authority of the camp, or aristocratic youths, whose
experience has extended no further than the clubs,
the turf, or even less reputable associations, are ap-
pointed to the delicate arid difficult task of govern-
ing an unsettled community with discretionary
power; and if the statements of the Colonists are
to be credited, individuals are appointed to the office
of judge who are even ignorant of the language in
which the pleadings are made. Out of an expeedi-
.nre of rather more than twc millions, no less than
372,000/. is divided amongst 166 persons; being
on an average upwards of 2,200/. to each individual.
Celoniett, however closely connected by siqitiort,
language, and community of interests arid feelings,
must he burdens(' with a separate Gov. rnor and surreo
with their long list of allowances, &c., separate
Crown Law Officers, and separate Courts and
Judges. Here, then, is ample field for an econo-
mical Government to work upon ; and, by a rigid
economy in applying the Colonial revenue, as well
toas
'heir
by a
enableo,n
the
expenses, consolidation
Coloniesens e
s: of r
or
et
oii
either
l
require
e rr
ea t% vs
ainr ao, d governments,yast
aednrinc7m,
hfearrriogtmse,
Great Britain, excepting for naval protection.
Whatever possessions are unable to accomplish this,
should be considered as a dead weight upon the na-
tional prosperity. Justice and good faith towards
individual interests may compel us to retain them
for the present : motives of policy may perhaps
render their retention proper for an indefinite
period : but let them be set down as what they
really are—a cause of expense, and not a source of
profit. If the Reformed Parliament be adequate to
its duties, one great task will be a searching exami-
nation into the whole of our Colonial policy, and
the foundation of a system by which the national
expense, the interference with commercial industry,
and the various oppressions to which the Colonists
are subjected, shall be eventually got rid of. The
various kinds of Colonies seem naturally reducible
o (1) Military Positions; (2) Penal Settlements;
and (3) Colonies from which some tributary or
commercial advantages are derived, or which may
erve as a drain for the surplus population of the
Mother Country. If our Colonies be examined ac-
cording to this classification, it is perhaps only Malta,
Gibraltar, and the Cape of Good Hope, which
should be considered as important in a mil tary
point of view; and under a better system, their ex-
pense might be considerably reduced. New South
Wales and its dependencies are our only penal co-
lonies; and waving any discussion upon the policy of
such establishments, the last observation applies still
more strongly to these growing communities as to
the maintenance of their own expenditure. Our co-
lonies in Western Australia arid North America, so far
from yielding any thing to the taxation of the state,
are an expense in time of peace, arid in time of war
would be both an expense and a distraction. The
commercial advantages derived from the Canadas
we have already alluded to. The only utility of
these colonies, or of that of Swan River. is in
ettoruing an outlet for tire surplus population ; and
this, after the first formation of the settlement, need
never be a source of expense. The clear policy,
hen, with the whole of these colonies—which will
aome day or other become independent, is to prepare
them for independence as quickly and as cheaply as
we can. For every fresh political immunity we should
grant them, they would gladly undertake some ad-
ditional expense, arid surrender some commercial pri-
vilege, till in time their dependence would become
merely nominal, or their separation complete. Not,
however, the disjunction of violence, like that be-
ween Great Britain and the United States, but
such a separation as takes place between parents and
children, when, after years of anxiety and outlay,
the offspring arrive at an age to " settle in the
world" and " set up on their own account." Of
the remaining colonies, Ceylon arid Mauritius
might be placed under the government of India, and
the pestilential sinks on the coast of Africa, cannot
be too soon abandoned. But although the sugar
colonies are a source both of heavy direct and indi-
rect expenditure (and will remain so even after the
colonial revenue shall be diverted from supporting
aristocratic idlers, to more legitimate purposes),
such extensive interests are involved in their main-
tenance, that they ought not in justice to be aban-
doned rashly; for an instant removal of the whole
existing protection would complete the ruin of the
planters, and an immediate withdrawal of our sol-
diers would be a signal for general insurrection
amongst the slaves. To qualify the Negro for early
emancipation, is the object of all rational persons;
but more especially is it for the interest of their
masters. The only chance they possess of obtaining
a remuneration for their capital, is by the conver-
sion of the slave into a free labourer, and by the gra-
dual creation of a class of coloured capitalists, who,
trained to hard and continuous labour, wiili constitu-
tions inured to the climate, and with minds attached
tO the country by the ties of birth arid education,
may gradually supersede the European planter, and
buy him up, at a much better price than he can ever
hope to obtain from any other purchaser. We are
not enemies to the West India planters : we have
.-eeognieed the difficulties of their case, and to
a certain extent the justice of their claims. But it is
idle to deny that they constantly oppose theliselves
both to the feelings of the country and to the ex-
pressed wishes of the Legislature. We cannot shut
our eyes to the fact, that a quarter of a century has
elapsed since the abolition of the slave trade, with-
out bringing us apparently any nearer to the aboli-
tion of slavery; arid that even very moderate pro.
posals which are sent from England for hastening
his consummation, are rejected in a warmer which
would be insulting and offensive if the rejectors were
not altogether powerless. These measures willnot,
however, be tolerated under the vigorous govern-
ment of a Reformed Legislature. If the planters
still persist in their present course of insult and de-
fiance, the course of England will be clear. It will
be her duty not to confiscate the property of others,
but to look after her own. it be her duty to
sweep away the long list of protective dutiee which
impede and oppress the industry of her sues; to
withdraw her fleets and her armies from the contu-
macious colonies; and to leave either the slaves and
the slave-owners to settle their affairs ill their own

,way, or to give the latter full opportunity to" piaci
,hemselves under the protection" of any state which
may be foolish enough to fancy tha. -warn-out. soil
—that a turbulent and licentious commuy:ty—that
a population containiig within itself the seeus
interminable discord—that a province which, so far
from yielding a revenue to its masters, will anitually
drain them of their treasure, and whose industry
cannot exist (under the present Matiagemeilt it can
rieverfiouriih) without factious support—can contri-
bute any thing to the wealth and strength of empire.

A boa constrictor, tneasuAng seven feet seven
inches long, was found a few days ago in the neigb,,our.
hood of Low-Moor Icon-works. It was (lead when hound ;
how it came there no one -cin ascertain, It being a little
distance from the road. It is pow in the potmession of Mr.
41.tcruLL, surgeons of tht eagle Ntrorrill