The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 4, 1859,

in favour of colonial was only 6s. 6d. He contended that
no case had been made out for treating this duty apart from
the general question of finance. Reference had been made
to the reductions that would take place in 1860, but it was
most objectionable to fetter the hands of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer a year beforehand. (Hear.)
Mr. WILSON said that Sir R. Peel and Mr. Gladstone
had long urged the impolicy of these duties, but he would
never be a party to repealing a duty until he saw his way to
the revenue being made up. The hon. baronet opposite had
resisted the motion, on the ground that the duty was paid
by the foreign producer ; but he (Mr. Wilson) contended that
the price of colonial timber was regulated by that of foreign,
not the foreign by the colonial. Such arguments were new
to his ears for the last ten years. He should resist the mo-
tion, believing it impolitic to deal with fiscal questions in an
isolated form. As our expenditure was increasing, and the
income from certain taxes diminishing, he thought the re-
solution ought not to be entertained by the house.
Mr. HUDSON bore testimony to the strong confidence
felt by the shipowners in the present Government. They
knew well that Ministers were disposed to do something for
their relief, though they might not be able, to do so. He
had heard gentlemen on the other side express their convic-
tion that the shipping interest ought to be relieved as far as
possible, but after the five years they had been in office, the
shipowners might well have lost all confidence in them.
(Hear.) It was said that the repeal of this duty would not
benefit the consumer. If so, why not impose taxes on raw
cotton, silk, and wool ? A friend of his at Sunderland, most
extensively engaged in the glass trade, had paid £1,400 for
timber for packages alone for glass, the duty being £3OO.
The. glass manufacturers of France and Belgium had their
timber for this purpose duty free—a decided disadvantage,
to the British glass manufacturer. Ho regretted that Go-
vernment did not support this measure. The paper duty
did not press so heavily on the people of this country as the
timber duties. Ho should support the motion of the hon.
gentleman because he believed it to be just.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he could never have
' made any promise that the timber duties should be repealed,
because it was not in his power to perform any such promise.
What he said was that the duty was objectionable, and that
he hoped the time would soon arrive when it could be re-
pealed. Hemust express his surprise at the doctrines which
had been enunciated by the hon. gentleman the Secretary
to the Treasury. He regarded the duty on timber as one of
a most mischievous character. With regard to the shipping
interest there was no fear that British ship-builders would
not be able to compete with those of foreign countries. So
far was it from being true that the ship-building trade was
being transferred to other countries in consequence of the
withdrawal of protection that precisely the contrary took
place. He thought the earliest opportunity should be taken
to repeal the tax, but he would not vote for an abstract pro-
position for the repeal of any tax till he heard the financial
statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. (Hear.)
Lord H. VANE expressed surprise at the doctrine pro-
pounded by the financial secretary of the Treasury. The
hon. gentleman remarked that there had been a rise in the
price of timber when the duty was reduced, from which he
argued that the consumer did not receive the benefit of the
reduction. But it was natural to suppose that an increased
demand for timber followed on the reduction of the duty,
which would account for the rise of price. (Hear, hear.)
The tax was most objectionable, and pressed heavily on the
shipowner. He would suggest to the hon. member for Brid-
port that he should add to his motion the words, " as soon
as the state of the revenue admitted." (Hear, hear.)
Mr. MITCHELL said he should respond to the appeal
of the noble lord by agreeing to the addition of the words
suggested.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER considered
that the addition made the motion much more objectionable
than before, for it pledged the house to the repeal of the
duty as soon as the state of the revenue admitted it. He
could not agree to the statement that this was the only
mode in which a tax, supposed to be injurious to the public
interest, could be brought before the house for considera-
tion, and that unless the house sanctioned a resolution of
this character, it was impossible that the grievances of any
class of the community could be brought before the house
for consideration. There were means, such as by moving
for papers, of bringing the whole merits of any fiscal ar-
rangement before the house, and if the house expressed an
opinion on the subject, it would no doubt influencethe finan-
cial minister, if he had the means of giving it effect. But
he could assure the house that at present the position of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer was of that nature that there
need not be any scramble amongst the different interests of
the community for the surplus he had in hand. (Laughter.)
He therefore asked the house not to sanction motions of
this kind, which had an injurious effect on the public mind,
and led to a'feverish anxiety amongst the different branches
of trade affected by them. He thought his hon. friend had
been misunderstood. He did not say that this tax on tim-
ber was not a bad tax, even though it was of a protectionist
character ; but that there were many taxes on raw materials
which were worse. He should be very glad to be able to
repeal the duty on timber, but it was not in his power to
hold out any expectation of that kind. In a short time—
probably in a month—he should call the attention of the
house to the financial condition of the country, and if any
gentleman did not approve of the proposal then made, it
would then be open to those who represented the timber
trade or called for the remission of other taxes to bring their
cases before the house, when they would no doubt receive
impartial consideration.
The motion, with the addition suggested by Lord H. Vane
was then put, when there, appeared—
For the motion
Against it

Majority against....
SALE OF SPIRITS IN SCOTLAND.
Viscount MELGUND moved for a select committee to
inquire into the laws regulating the sale and consumption
of exciseable liquors in Scotland. The subject of investiga-
tion was the operation of the Forbes Mackenzie Act, re-
specting which the noble lord entered into many details.
The motion was seconded by Mr. CRAUFURD.
Sir A. AGNEW moved, as an amendment, that the in-
quiry should be entrusted to a Royal commission, instead
of a select committee of that house. The subject would, he
thought, be treated with more impartiality by commissioners
nominated by the Crown, whose investigations moreover
could be prosecuted without interruption through any pro-
rogation or dissolution of Parliament.
Mr. FINLAY seconded the amendment.
Sir G. GREY supported the original motion, as did
Mr. C. BRUCE.
The LORD ADVOCATE stated that, in the opinion of
the Government, the inquiry would be best conducted by a
Royal commission. He hoped the house would consent to
adopt that course.
After some remarks by Sir E. COLEBROOK;
Mr. WILSON esntended that the inquiry by means of
a commission would be attended with many inconveniences
and enormous expense.
Mr. HARDY showed cause for believing that, on the
whole, a commission was the best medium for the proposed
investigation.
The discussion was pursued by Mr. Baxter, Lord J.
Stuart, Mr. E. Ellice, Lord Duncan, and others.
The original motion was then negatived by consent, and
the amendment, for appointing a commission, agreed to.
THE WEST I
seNDIES.
Mr. BUXTON moved for a lect committee to inquire
into the condition of the West Indies, and the best means
of promoting immigration into them. He denied that the
distressed state of the islands could be attributed to the
emancipation of the negroee. All the misfortunes of the
planters could be traced to other sources. The supply of
labour was, however, the question of chief importance, and
on this point he urged the advisability of inquiry, with the
view of discovering the quarter from whence and the means
by which this supply could be best provided. The hon.
member criticised the system of immigration as at present
established, objecting to many of the arrangements now in
force, and eontending that the whole esponee Incurred in
importing labourers should be defrayed by the planters.
Sir E. B. LYTTON—Sir, let me, in the first instance,
express my senee of the ability and the motion, `The
which the hen. gentleman has introduced his motion. The
bearer of his father's nanie enters into the discussion of all
questions that rdlbet humanity with an hereditary title. deed
to reepect. It is clear that he Will iiratiSaVe that heirloom
Without a flaw. If I queetien Me views f can equally hon-
our his sincerita,s alli glad this subject is openly. dis-
cussed. I take it first on its broadot grotthd. Sir, I
shookt bo dealing unfairly teWards those friends of the
Anti-Slavery Society Whose petitions have been before
me if I did net assume that on printlifo they are op-
osed to the whole system of laboar inimigration. Which
I-kind established in the West India Cehinies: Oil my
part, I so sylersthist aith Zeal bit behalf df the heardt even
where I think those who entertain it misguided informed On aaeile, that entreat beforehand forgiveness
if fitAxivoitently a single word should ;eaeake the that may
titkilk It disparage the humanity that I hold iti reverence.
But I must say, frankfr and firmly 1 that
.froth that sYStem
of immigration I t3/4m tot:minted that he Mlniatei
for the welfare of the West India felonies can depart. Let
the hence lief& to factu and figures, and then say if I am
Wrens; in tho 'eon fictions I express. The hon, gentle:Man
says that the prosperity of the eolenibe does not arise from
%Migration alone. No j . but Where immigration has been
continued prosperity has folloWed. Sir, the ql' rliilent ;f
Coolie immigration was first tried in the Mauritius in 1835
or isns.; it tme theft eeinkienced lay the planteee as private
importer's a labour. Abuses arose , the iththigititien Was
stiVendeti in 1838. In 1843 the CleVernment took it into
their hands, land by the Government it has since been con-
ducted. No* hear the result. Since the eaperi-
Meet there have been introduced ifito the colony
170,000 persons; out kit these, in
.A 856; as Many
as 134,291 net atilt residents.. The effect do
the prodae d the colony hasbeen this •:=-s. The Atter troll
inlB4 111'aa 76,00,0001h.;in 1855 it tatetinted to 238,480,0001 b.
That has been the eked on the produce. What has been
the effect On the immigrant population ? Thre4-felirts hs of
thoseeMigrants who retusned to India at the end of three
.or five years bronglit bek With them from 500 to 1,200
rupees each, and Sit G. Anderson, who had fernierly.been
a distinguished fudge India, in 1850 istaiorbed iii; Opinion
in these words— " These ants, as a labouringpopula-
, tion, are perhape nowhere in the world in such favourable
eiremnstrineas." But I may be told that the Mmitiiis. is a
special and singular example. It it eo? take nest British
Guiana; there about 23,000 Coolies hasSe been intrechieed;
they do not, as in the Mauritius, form the whol of the agri-
cultural population, but a considerable part of it, and the
sugar crop, which in 1841 was little more than 141000 bads:,
was in 1855 55,366 b.hda. While this Was the inertiese to the
wealth of theeolonsy, what was the benefit to the immigrants?
Judge by this instance : In a single ship which left British
Guiana last year 277 Coolies paid into the hands of the
authorities for transmissjonto Indiamore than£6,ooo, I will
now show you what has been the increased prosperity of
the colony of Trinidad by the results of immigration,
find in the despatch from the Governor dated Sept 26,
1858, that the population returned by the census of 1851
was 68,600 ; by immigration and the influx of strangers it is
now raised to about 80,000. Well, the imports of Trinidad
in 1855 were £554,534, in 1857 £800,830; the exports,
in 1855 were £387,999, in 1857 they were £1,013,414;
and the Governor in summing up the census of this pro
gressive and amazing prosperity, says, " But it is to the
stream of immigration which has flowed into the island
during the years undo; review that it is mainly indebted
for the progress it has achieved." Now compare this
increase of produce in colonies caused by immigration
with the decline of produce in Jamaica, whore immigration
has been suspended. In Jamaica the produce of sugar for
three years after the apprenticeship was 1,812,204 cset,, and
during the last three years it has fallen off to 1,244,373 cwt.
Turn next to Trinidad. There about 10,000 Coolies have
been introduced. There the wages are far inferior to those
nab Britishd
yGeitliainnath;
ethlasertereitsurnan
Cioniumlieenshseipeofrommpetritriionnidfuodr
1343 Coolies deposited with the inspector £5,389, and on
their persons took more than £9OO. Now, then, I respect-
fully ask you. who advocate the cause of humanity, who
colour
lomwainthd ;no euuthat humanity belongs exclusively to no
or Chinese) I ask
the negro, must odvo
country, who, if you advocate the cause of
than 200,000 person.scalteefteqcuoaull:,ritehse
ienauwsheiochf
labour
ultruwliaans
labour exist, where, as was said by wheneth:e
worth from 2d. to 3(3l7uasawayh,e,thvheer:
impressmentd Lieutenant-Governorll
nthda t m o
forcede
of Bengal, "the strong universally pressed upon the weak"
—left, 1 say, those countries for British colonies, in which
easy labour secures comparative affluence, where the la-

bower lives ree...st .I::itish law and has at all times access
to a British magistrate--I ask you to say whether humanity
should bid me arrest that immigration. fling these human
beings back to oppression and to famine—and why ?—be-
cause their labour benefits our fellow British subjects and
saves a British colony from ruin. You object to the
system of indentures to a master. Just hear the answer
as it is supplied to me by the Immigration Commissioners
—" It has, however, been objected that the Coolie, being
paid for a certain time under indenture, is in reality in a
state of bondage. The answer is that, before the inden-
ture system was es.ablished, the Coolies abandoned their
work and wandered about the country, and, in many
instances in the West Indies, perished miserably from dis-
ease and want." Their condition was thus described in
August, 1859, by Mr. Carberry, a stipendiary magistrate in
British Guiana, whose sympathies are much more with the
coolies than with the planters. " With the indentures,"
he says, " the immigrant becomes a useful and industrious
member of society. His labour is alike profitable to him-
self and his master. Without it he too often becomes a
wandering mendicant, a nuisance, and disgrace to the
colony, and finishes his career in the public hospital ; in the
interest, therefore, of the coolie himself the indenture sys-
tem is necessary." - But it is said there has been great mor-
tality on board the immigrant vessels from Calcutta. Un-
doubtedly there was in the years 1856-57. But it is fair,
while allowing this fact, first to remind the house that the
rate of mortality was taken from selected vessels, and that
it may be as much accounted for from causes that do not
apply to coolie immigration alone. Take the very worst
cases that occurred. In Calcutta ships the average mor-
tality was in the years 1856-57 a little more than 17 per
cent. ; but in 1847, on board the vessels that carried the
Irish immigrants to America by a far shorter voyage, the
mortality was much the same—about 17 per cent. Imagine
what advantages would have been lost to Ireland, Eg-
land, and America if, on account of that melancholy
average, the Irish exodus had been stopped. I hold
here recent reports of the mortality of coolies from in-
quiries instituted in India. The causes are most carefully
' analysed; remedies which will receive the most dili-
gent attention are suggested. The most searching
1 of all the inquirers, Mr. Morant, who is the inspector of
gaols and prisons, thus sums up :—"-I am distinctly and
decidedly of opinion that the great sickness and mortality
of 1856-57 need not recur ; that whether exceptional or not,
it can be prevented by proper care and attention, and that
there is no need to prohibit the continuance of immigration
on grounds either of humanity or policy." What he thus
says is borne out by facts and figures ; for I have here a
return showing the average of mortality on board Calcutta
vessels during the whole 11 years immigration has taken
place. 94 ships have been sent from Calcutta to the West
Indies, and the average mortality in these years had been
but 6 1-sth per cent. ; while on board 311 vessels sent from
Madras to the West Indies that average has been under 2
per cent.. and it will be satisfactory to the house to learn
that in the last year there has been a marked decrease in
mortality, both in Calcutta and Madras ships, for whereas
in 1857-58 the mortality in the first was 13 per cent., in
1858.59 it has been only 6 1-6th per cent. ; while in the
Madras ships in 1858..59 the mortality has been a seventh
part of 1 per cent. Stress has been laid on the Coolie im-
migrants in Jamaica. In most of the petitions that have
been before me it is stated to be 50 per cent. What are the
facts ? I find by the last return, August, 1858, that the
total number of Coolie immigrants since the immigration
began was 4,451, and that the number of those who had
died, disappeared, or were unaccounted for during those 13
years was 1,597. lam told, in fact, that a number of these
immigrants chose to re-emigrate to Jamaica to work at the
railroad, and lost their lives by that climate ; but that was
their own fault. But suppose they all died in Jamaica ;
calculate that mortality, as taken for the 13 years, it gives,
not a percentage of 50 per cent., but a percentage
of only 2 1-6th per cent. But, taking it, as I think you
ought, by calculating the average mortality of those who
had returned to India during the 13 years, you only get
about four per cent. And this is a specimen of the exags
geration by which honest and well-meaning men have been
deceived. As to the colonies generally, we find by returns
that the average mortality among the Coolies in the
Mauritius is a little more than three per cent. In British
Guiana it is under four per cent. ; in Trinidad it is singu •
larly low, stated at not above one-half per cent.;. in Grenada
it is two and one-sixth per cent. I think there is here some
mistake, and I estimate the mortality as under three per
cent. I turn, then, to the second class of argument—viz.,
that which condemns the present system of immigration as
unfair to the Creole. It is said that there is really no
scarcity of hands to meet the habitual requirements of the
labour-market in the West Indian colonies; that immigration
is an attempt on the part of the planters to beat down the
wages of the negroes. But surely it is a sufficient answer to
that assertion that the proprietors pay an extra sum to obtain
elsewhere the labour which you say they can find more con-
veniently at home. Is that human nature ? Do men do so
even in the West Indies ? Does Barbadoes do so ? No.
Barbadoes sends for no immigrants, because Barbadoes has
a sufficient population, and that population is eminently
industrious. But does the absence of immigration keep
up wages ? No. Wages in Barbadoes are lower than those
in any of the colonies to which emigration has been ad-
mitted. Compare the average wages of Barbadoes even
with those at Jamaica, where you say the planter wishes
to drive so hard a bargain with the Creole. 'Wages at Bar-
badees since emancipation have ranged at Is. lid. per day
to 10d. At Jamaica they have ranged from ls. 6d. to lc ;
and in the colonies, where immigration is admitted freely, a
man, be he Creole or Indian, can obtain by task-work at
least 2s. a day. But is the immigrant a competitor for
labour at less wages than are current,with the native ? No ;
it is provided that the immigrant shall receive as a mini-
mum the current rate of wages paid to an unindentured
labourer, and these wages cannot be low if, as we have seen,
they enable the coolie to return home in a few years with
what to him is affluence for the rest of his life. But it is
said, "At all events, for this importation of labour the
planters should pay exclusively ; the population should not
be taxed for the labour that competes with their own." Sir,
I grant at once that the planter should pay the greater por-
tion of this expense, that is a condition which both my pre-
decessors and myself have kept steadfastly in view. And,
according to the Jamaica Act, the planters pay two-thirds ;
but that is not all. The money applicable for the payment
of the first immigration is the sum of £50,000 remaining on
the imperial guaranteed loan of £lOO,OOO. The repayment
of that loan is to be effected by an export duty, and an ex-
port duty falls on the producer, that is, the planter. But
granted that a portion of the expense does fall on the general
community, if the immigration conduces to its prosperity it
may fairly be expected to contribute towards it. Increased
civilisation is always followed by increased taxation; more
money is required for schools, for religious worship, for
public works; every indi%idual in the country rises higher
in the scale in proportion as 'it becomes more pros-
perous ; is it unjust to call on them to pay some-
thing towards what enriches and exalts the country ?
Well, sir, then I venture to think there are really no grounds
for this committee. So far as the West Indies are concerned
there are no petitions from them demanding this inquiry,
nor are there any special measures for their benefit proposed.
So far as information is concerned, it is given to you every
year in blue books as numerous and as bulky as the most
passionate student of blue-books could desire. And we are
now printing for Parliamentpapers upon nearly all the sub-
jects to which the hon. gentleman has referred. But it must
not be supposed that we shrink from inquiry. And I make
the hon. gentleman two proposals--Ist, Let him wait till
the papers about to be printed for the use of members are
on the table; if he then wants more information let him
specify the points ; if the Government cannot give them let
him have his committee upon those ; or, 2dly, if he insist
on a committee immediately I will grant it, provided he
thus defines its inquiry—viz., To inquire into the present
mode of conducting immigration into the West Indian
colonies, and the best means of promoting that object. I
think that is fair; but if he take my advice he will
wait for information before he decides on any commit-
tee at all. (Hear, hear.) Let me say
,in conclusion a
few words to the friends of the Anti-Slavery Society. I
have fought by their side in my youth, and now, when I
think they have been misinformed, I still believe that our
object is the same—namely, to give complete success to the
sublime experiment ofnegro emancipation. It becomes them
above all men to do their best to bestow prosperity on the
colonies in which slavery has been abolished. (Cheers.)
Every hmidrodWeight of sugar produced by
the Immigrant
at Jatilaita is a hundredweight withdrawn from the tatteket
of Cuban slavee. (Cheers.) Will slave States follow our
example, unless capital flourish under it? Can capital
flourish Unless It has the right to hire labour wherever la-
bour is willing to be hired ? (Cheers.) I warn them, that
if in any indiscretion of over zeal on our part our Westllndi an
Colonies hem= Vitally injured,it is we who shall rivet the
bonds of liege slivriery Wherever it yet desecrates a corner
of thd earth. (Chtera,)
MI) LAIWITCHEIIFI salti:---/ rejoiee to say, especially
at tins time of night, that f do not feel the least disposi-
tion to trespae,g More than a few minutes oil the attention
of the liotite i btip hafitiq reeOrtly filled the situation which
IS fie* ottiiimed bY the right hon. gaittleinati, I feel it in-
cumbent oti me to address a few words on the present occa-
sion: I think the lesite6 insist have observed of recent years
a grest alteration, in the Wade hi raffish colonial subjects
have 'seen iie4t6d iviiliiio Walls. I, at least 3 can remem-
ber W`iell till eilhari tit gu j ediS,Nfaa debated With MOTO acri-
rnonyindeed, it was often the tafettritd battlefield when
domestic policy did not present any poitit partiesaarly
teiiq for thqse eutillicts, But a much better feeling has
of late WS tiiiseh illioil these questions. lam bound to
ackhoifledge that during the two years I had the honour to
130 &detail Air the titnotieg I received from gentlemen
*hi *Pere eptiesed id lite iii gtteral policy nothing
but .counsel and assistance. I do not Wolfed that a
single hostile metiers was made by any gentle naafi,
and both taint
.. my pgisse of duty to the colonies,
as well as t e recolleeimil of that circumstance, I trust I
shall alifaft bildettirotte to view Mould subjects entirely
frtje frd,,..,Thi amts' bids. (tiheet§.) On the present occasion
I Ant glad tti say that lam able to ex tress an almost com-
plete coincidenee of epinion with the right ham gentleman.
I egret in holiiii# that my hen: friend who has brought
forWdrpt DA I:notion ifith such ability, and in a manner so
• beCoining his. hate kid Ilbeltiali, Will hot, on the present
occasiph, invite the house to undertake aft itkpify into the
general stag of the Wept Isidiee, which I am snit is thine,
cessary, and may be nuschictous, Wear.) I think this
house shoul be sparing of inquiries into the state of our
I colonies. ( Or.) 1 haire never said, and / Will never
My, that th S dun gliatild not keep a vigilant eye uponthe
1 British Colonies as well as upon owl other great interest
oommitted_to it, but 1 do say that very sparing interference
is *jab. (Hear, heals) This house may depend upon it
that there is growing up in the Colonies a jealousy. not only
' of unnecessary interference on the part of the Executive,
but on the pit of the Legislature itself. They think
justly that they are able to nigher their own concerns
better than we can manage them for them. The house
may depend -Upon it that they will best preserve the su-
preme authority in the last resort respected and revered, by
exercising it only on the greatest and not on light and un-
neeesaary oteasiotte. (Hear, hear.) That being the case, 1
ask what reason can be given as to the necessity of any in-
quill, into the general condition of the West Indies ? From
my knowledge of the colonies, 1 have no hesitation in say-
ing that it would be adverse to the feeling of the British
West Indies. (Hear, hear.) Jamaica has at great popular
constitution—a great popular Legislature ; and I think
they will consider any inquiry into their affairs on the part
of this house unnecessary. I see no good in such an inquiry
-and, seeing much evil, I cannot but join with the right
hon. gentleman in hoping that my hon. friend will not
press that part of his motion on the present occasion.
(Hear, hear.) The general picture of the West Indies
at this moment is extremely gratifying. There can be
no doubt they have struggled through that period of
distress which long weighed on them. Some are in a
state of great prosperity. They are all in a state of improve-
ment. With regard to their moral and social position, I
hope the two races, black and white, are becoming amalga-
mated, and acting in greater harmony together. I know
that black and white lawyers sit side by side as barristers in
their courts of justice. I know that official situations are
held by men of colour, and when I had the honour of hold-
ing the seals of the Colonial-office I always rejoiced to find
a man of colour, of character and ability, to whom I could
give an appointment. If those causes are left to operate I
think the house may rely on an improved condition of the
colonies, both socially and morally, being produced. (Hear,
hear.) The general state of things with regard to the
sugar trade is vely curious and interesting. I believe it is
the fashion to say that the West Indies, as sugar producing

colonies, are almest entirely ruined. But, with the excep-
tion of Jamaica, there is as much sugar produced and ex-
ported from the rest of the islands as there was in 1831,
before the Emancipation Act. .I say, with the exception of
Jamaica, and I cannot attribute the falling off in agricul-
tural prosperity of that island to the causes assigned by the
right hon. gentleman. I believe the great, if not the sole
cause, has-been the unfortunate mismanagement of her own
self-government, by which her finances have been ruined
and her affairs confused. A wretched constitution has in-
duced jobbing and confusion, and resulted in most disas-
trous consequences. (Hear.) lam glad to find that the
foundation has been laid, by the improvement of her con-
stitution, for a better state of things, and I trust that Ja-
maica will ere long resume her natural position at the head
of the West India islands. Jamaica used to send to this
country 1,500,000 cwt. of sugar; now she sends not quite
500,000. But the void in her exportation has been filled
up .from another source. The Mauritius has taken the
place of Jamaica, and now sends us about 4500,000 cwt. In
fact, wherever you find an adequate suppl*of labour, whe-
ther it be in the Mauritius, in Trinidad, Demerara, or Bar-
badoes, there you find the cultivation of sugar successfully-
conducted, and the whole community in a state of pros-
perity. The lesson taught by this—and I hope it
will be borne in mind not by us alone, but by the
whole world—is, that the question whether free
labour can compete in a tropical climate with slave labour
depends upon the sufficiency with which that free labour
is supplied ; and happily in our own colonies the experi-
ment has worked satisfactorily. My belief is, that by en-
couraging by all legitimate means the introduction of free
labourers into your own sugar-producing possessions, you
are doing far more to put down the slave trade and slavery
than can be accomplished by all the squadrons you may fit
out and all the treaties you can devise. I should look with
the utmost alarm at the carrying out of the views of the
well-intentioned but mistaken men who ask as a boon for
the coloured races, above all people in the world, that you
should check the supply of free labour for your own colonies.
Successive Governments have carefully watched the whole
system under which this immigration has been conducted,
in order that the interests of humanity might not be neg-
lected, and that, as far as could be done under a highly
artificial and complicated set of arrangements, the claims of
the planter upon the coolie should be reconciled with the
right of the latter to protection in his comparatively de-
fenceless positidn. One other point of great moment is
whether free labourers can be taken from the coast of Africa
and carried to our colonies. My own opinion is that any
attempt to effect this on the part of England or any other
country will only end in a revival of the slave trade in
another form. (Hear, hear.) Another question of great
importance is whether a supply of labour is obtainable from
China. No doubt, if a system of Chinese immigration
could be established under proper safeguards, it would
be of great advantage to the West India islands. But
there are difficulties in the way. One of them is the
alleged impossibility of insuring by fair means the intro-
duction into our colonies of a due proportion of Chinese
women. The attention of the late Government, and doubt-
less that of their successors, was turned to this point ; and
Lord Elgin had special directions to make inquiries into it
as far, as his other and more pressing duties would permit.
When one of the West India islands had expressed a wish
to send out an agent to China to assist in promoting the same
object, every facility was offered on the part of the British
Government to the mission of that officer. I will only add,
that if the hon. member who has made this motion will
follow the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
and confine the proposed inquiry to the subjects to which I
have referred, I have little doubt that it will be attended
with useful results. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. F. CROSSLEY expressed the satisfaction that he
felt at the speech of the Secretary for the Colonies. He had
visited the slave states of South America and the plantations
there. The planters were anxious to get his opinion on
their " domestic institution," and they asked him if he did
not think it was attended with advantage to themselves and
their slaves. He endeavoured to show them it would be
more to their advantage if they paid their labourers wages,
instead of having to give large sums for them, and then have
to hold the whip over them to make them work. He advised
his hon. friend the member for Newport to accept the offer
of the Government

Mr. C. FORTESCUE, who rose amid cries of "divide,"
said he only wished to appeal to the hon. member for New-
port to take the advice tendered to him by the Secretary for
the Colonies. He did not think that the public opinion of
the country demanded this inquiry, and that the facts did
not require it.

Mr: C. EWING was sure that if there was sufficient
labour in Jamaica they could beat Cuba out of the market.
He did not think that differential duties would do them any
good.

- Mr. BUXTON said he would accept the first proposition
of the Secretary-for the Colonies, and if he did not get the
information he required he should bring the subject on again.
The motion was then withdrawn.
COUNTY COURTS ACT.
Sir S. NORTHCOTE obtained leave to bring in a bill to
repeal the 32d section of the County Courts Act, 9 and 10
Viet., chap. 95. The object of the bill, he said, was to
abolish the offices of High Bailiff of Westminstet and South-
wark.

MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT BILL.
On the order of the day for the third reading of this bill,
Mr. B. HOPE said he was bound to enter his protest
against this bill, and to give it an undying and undeviating
opposition. (Laughter.) All the women of England were
opposed to this bill. (More laughter.) It was said, when
this bill was before the house on the last occasion, that the
clergy of London were in favour of it. He had no answer
to make to that statement at the time, but to -night he had
an answer. He had presented apetition against it from the
Dean and Chapter of Westminster, and another from Sion
College, and he had also presented one from the clergy of the
important manufacturing town of Leeds. He was satisfied
that, though the bill might pass that house, it would not
become law. He moved that the bill be read a third time
that day six months.
The house divided—

For the third reading-
Against it . ... 89

Majority -
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS BILL.
This bill went through committee pro forma.
LAW OF PROPERTY AND TRUSTEES' RELIEF
AMENDMENT ACT.
This bill was read a second time.
MANOR COURTS, &c. (IRELAND) BILL.
The house went into committee on this bill.
Mr. COX, who had an amendment on the paper, moved
that the chairman do report progress.
The committee divided—
For the motion' 6
Against it -

Majority
Mr. COX said he had taken the division on the ground
that no opposed motion should bo taken after 12 o'clock.
He denied that the bill did not relate solely to Ireland, and
he and other English members were determined to oppose it.
It was not known how many of the courts there were to
be abolished or the number of persons to whom compensa-
tion was to be paid. If those two facts were stated in a
schedule to the bill, he would not further oppose it. He
moved as follows—Clause 1, line 9, leave out from " act" to
" courts," inclusive, in line 12, and insert "no seneschal or
judge shall hereafter be appointed to any manor court in
Ireland, and upon the death of any person at present holding
the office of seneschal or judge of any manor court, or on his
ceasing to hold such office by resignation, removal, or other-
wise, the manor court of which such person was judge or
seneschal shall be abolished, and no action or suit shall be
commenced or prosecuted therein."
Mr. WHITESIDE said this question was fully discussed
on Wednesday. He urged the necessity of abolishing these
courts, which had beeneondermaed by every judge in Ireland,
as well as by a committee of the house. These courts used
to be held in public-houses, and the suitors who brought most
drink got the most verdicts. He had not set out a schedule,
because a great many of the judges of these courts would not
receive compensation, which the fact of putting them into a
schedule would have admitted, and the provision that those
which had had real business during a year would receive
compensation would have been abused by the getting up of
business for the purpose of getting into the schedule.
Mr, J. I) FITZGERALD thought that the member for
Finsbury was perfectly justified in protecting the public
finanees. The way to abolish these courts was not to ap-
point /VW judges, and then they would fall to the ground of
themselves. (Hear, hear.) Being unable to obtain any in-
formation from the Government as to the number of courts,
he had made inquiry himself, and found that there were
numerous officers of these courts claiming to be in the re-
atipt of £5O to £350 a year. The courts were not so wholly
inefficient as Mr. Whiteside represented. The judge of the
Antrim court stated that he had issued 10,000 processes in
one year without having any appeal from his decisions.
Mr. SPAIGHT referred to an instance where a judge of
one of the manor courts could only speak Irish. (Laughter.)
Mr. J. LOCKE wished for further information as to the
amount of compensation likely to be claimed. There were
all the ingredients in the bill of a very gross job indeed.
Mr. Dodson, Mr, P. O'Brien, Mr, Maearthy, Mr. Pease,
and Mr. Kirk, took part in the debate.
The committee then divided :
• For Mr. Cox's Amendment l4 •
Against it 7O-56
The remaining clauses were agreed to with some verbal
amendments.
The house adjourned at a quarter to 2 o'clock.

SPORTING INT.ELLIGENC.E.

TATTERSALL'S.—TnvEsnAy.

The few investments made were scarcely worth quotation.
For the Chester Cup 25 to 1 was taken about Royal Sove-
reign, 30 to 1 about Bankrupt, and the same odds, to a
small amount, about Simpleton. Nothing was done on any
other event.

AQUA TICS.

ETON COLLEGE.

The boating, season commenced on the Ist of March,
when the crews altogether made their first voyage to Sur-
ley Hall, tinder the command of their new captain, C. A.
Wynne. Upon this occasion three new beautiful boats
were launched—the Britannia, built by Goodman ; the
Prince of Wales ; and a new ten -oar, built by Tolladay.
There are few who remember seeing Eton visited by more
old Etonians than were present on this interesting occasion.
As is customaryupon such occasions, all the captains of the
respective boats, together with a large number of old
Etonians, chiefly from Oxford, were invited to an elegant
breakfast at the residence of the Lower Master, the Rev.
W. A. Carter. The boats are manned this season in the
following order, viz.:—
UPPER BOATS.—The Monarch—Wynne, ma., captain
of the boats ; Grosvenor Morrison, Lord Newry, Burr,
Norman, Hankey, Lord 'Wallscourt, Le Merchant, Char-
rington--Hopwood, steerer. The Victory—Lubbock,
second captain ; Rhodes, Wynne, mi.,, Eaton, ma., Chap-
man, Stanley, M'Clintock, Elwes—Chapman, steerer. The
Prince of Wales—Kekewich, captain ; Moore, Burton,
Wood, Partington, Hall, Hobbs, Bradley—Walpole,
steerer.
LOWER BOATS.—The Britannia—Hoare, captain of the
lower boats ; Rose, Barnett, Lord Boringdon, Glcnnie,
Campbell, Wood, Lawes—Moore, steerer. The Dread-
nought— Scholfield, captain ; Butterworth, Kinglake,
Lubbock, Wynne, Chambers, Baker, Barne—Mr. Need -
ham, steerer. The Thetis—Humfrey, captain ; Broivn-
rigg, Birley, Griffith, Egerton, Michel, Eaton, mi.,
Sparkes—Mr. Bertie, steerer. The St. George—Garnett,
captain ; Dallas, Gosling, Bruce, Humberston, Welby,
Bruce, Parker—Vidal, steerer. The Defiance—Fraser,
captain ; Lord Brabazon, Chapman, Tyssen, Amherst, Mr.
Carington, Acland, mi., Reynolds, Garratt—Acland, ma
steerer. -)

DR. CUMMING AND 1881.—Jews refuse to go to
the restored New Jerusalem because they cannot leave their
places in Parliament, and plead parliamentary privilege.
Old Jerusalem an 4 New Jerusalem break down,—Kelli 8
Railway Guide.