The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-29 00:00:00

which indispose both them and their agents in
the colonies to listen to terms, or which prevent
them from co-operating cordially with the
Government, by representing it as their greatest
enemy,--that the chief danger of emancipation
lies. Were the colonists to concede willingly
what they can no longer withhold,—were they
to look upon their slaves with the feelings proper
to the new relation created by the change of
condition,—were they to expect compensation
from the Government only, when they had as-
certained that their estates could not be culti-
vated by free labour, while order and discipline
were preserved, and vagrancy suppressed, by a
strong police and prudent magistracy, the
transition from slavery to free industry would be
comparatively safe and easy, and planters, mort-
aagees of West India property, and ship-owners
connected with the colonial trade, might sleep
in peace. But how can such a result be ex-
pected if West India proprietors are to listen to
harangues, or to act upon views similar to those
to which we have just alluded ? Times.
The West India question is one surrounded
with great difficulties. We cannot shut our
eyes to the danger which presents itself in every
direction. All parties are agreed that slavery is
an evil. We remember the time when it was
customary so to describe the condition of the
slave, that the free labourer of Europe might
wish to abandon his liberty for chains. But at
the great West India meeting of Monday, a
discreet silence was preserved on this point.
Slavery being an evil, the question presents it-
self, how is that evil to be got rid of with the
least danger ? The West India proprietors and
mortgagees dwell only on the mischievous con-
sequences with which they deem the plan of Mr.
Stanley fraught. Mr. Irving, for instance, un-
questionably an able man, adverting to the plan
of Lord Goderich (and with Mr. Stanley's plan
he is as little pleased as with thar of his Lord-
ship), says, " I hold the plan as valuable only
on account of one admission made in it. It
admits that colonial society cannot go on with-
out the aid of black labour—that the blacks
will not labour without some degree of coercion—
and that, therefore, coercion to some extent
was necessary. Undoubtedly we differed as to
the mode in which that coercion was to be
employed. The Noble Lord, looking to the
state of the society in Europe, and seeing
that in this country labour was obtained with-
out any great degree of coercion, thought that
the same principles would apply to the colonies,
forgetting that there was a great difference be-
tween this country, from its crowded population,
and the difficulty of obtaining food in the colo-
nies. We knew that the measure proposed by
the Noble Lord, if carried into execution, must
fail in its operation ; for we were aware that the
necessities of man, in these tropical climates,
were on too small a scale to act as incentives to
labour, as they do in Europe." It is no doubt
true, that a black man would not be such a fool
as to work without any necessity, merely to
enable a white man to derive profit from his
investment, in a country in which his own wants
could be satisfied with very little labour. The
great object of all men, in all parts of the
world, is to escape bodily labour themselves,
and to throw it on others. Till, therefore, the
black population of our colonies reaches the
point when the difficulty of obtaining food shall
place him in the power of an employer, coercion
of some kind will be necessary. But when will
this period arrive ? It has been proved that the
slaves in most of the sugar colonies diminish in
number instead of increasing, and that in a few
of the colonies (in which the quantity of sugar
raised is not great), though there is an increase,
the increase is very trifling. An attempt was
made to impugn the calculation, by placing the
.decrease to the account of the bad habits brought
by the blacks with them from Africa. Lists
were given of the births and deaths of the Creole
population, as compared with the African, with
a view to show that on the former there was a
great increase. But as the children of Africans
are Creoles, in a given number of Africans and
.Creoles, the excess of deaths, as compared
with the births, must necessarily be greater
in the former than in the latter. Besides,
how does it happen that the population has in-
creased in the parts of Africa whence slaves are
obtained, where, of course, African morality pre-
vails ? We thus find that if we wait for the
period when the pressure of populaion on sub-
sistence shall put an end to slavery, we must
wait for ever. Mr. Irving, therefore, views only
one side of the question. lie states truly, that
the circumstances which compel those at the
bottom of the scale to labour in Europe
do not exist in our colonies ; but he does no

state that during the continuance of slavery the
circumstances of Europe and the colonies ever
can be the same. The question is simply this :
—Nature, in the colonies, is a liberal mother.
She gives to her children, with little toil,
abundance of food, and enables them to dis-

Dense in a great measure with fuel and clothing.
But the European steps in, and says, you must
toil severely—not to satisfy your own cants, but
ro raise a commodity which is desired in
Europe. This renders coercion necessary. The
amount of labour necessary to enable the planter
to invest money without heavy lose, must be ex-
torted either by the coercion of the planter him-
self, or by the coercion of a third party. Here
comes the difficulty. We do not believe that
the place of the slave owner can be supplied by
another. The slave knows that when the master

has absolute power over him, there is no use in
resisting him. It is his interest to be on good
terms with him. But when a third party inter-
venes, the will of the master is no longer the
guide. The Magistrate, or by whatever
name the third party employed by the State
is called, must decide on evidence in disputes
between the master and the slave, and the

•
slave, if he can only satisfy the Magistrate that
he is in the right, need not care for the master.
There will, too, be a temptation to overlook the
slaves during the period of their apprenticeship,
and this will be an everlasting source of disputes.
We do not apprehend that there will be any
disputes between different masters with regard to
the time left to the disposal of the apprentice ;
for we imagine that the planters will come to an
agreement among themselves not to employ the
apprentices of each other. Mr. Irving says that
" as individuals, they (the Deputation of the
West Indian body) stated their opinions, and
that they, even at the request of the Colonial
Secretary, gave a detailed plan, which they
thought might suit the views of all parties ; but,
,orry I am to say, that not a single feature of
that plan is to be discovered in the plan laid be-
fore the House of Commons by Mr. Stanley.
We should like to see how Mr. Irving succeeds
in surmoun►ing the difficulty of putting an end
o slavery without putting an end to labour on
a remunerating scale. The termination of slavery
is the problem which the country calls on Mini-
sters to solve, and the West Indians do not show
how Ministers can, if so disposed, oppose the