The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-14 00:00:00

THE SLAVE TRADE.

.
A public meeting .fig held last evening at the
London Tavern, 13ishiTsgate-street, to consider the
traffic in Chinese and coolies carried on in *British
ships, to British and foreign colonies, and to adopt
a memorial to her Majesty's
.Government, praying
fora committee of inquiry into the subject.
Lord Brougham presided, and besides his lord-
ship and other speakers, there were present Mr.
Charles Gilpin, M.P., Mr. William Allen, the Rev.
J. F. T. Brown, and the Rev. S. Green.

Lord BROUGHAM said it gave him 'very great
satisfaction to meet his friends in that room, in
order that they might take into consideration a
•
subject of very great-importance, most interesting
to every friend of humanity, and, he would Add, to
all friends of a sound and well-considered
policy,
,
concerning a large number of their fellow men.
The main. object, of. their meetin,g_was -to .consider
the state of the immigration into the British colo-
nies of the coolies from the East India possessions
of the Crown and from China. There were many
differences of opinion upon the subject, and whether
or not there existed in the West Indian colonies,
and .generally in our colonial possessions, that want
of labour which was contended for on the part of
thoSe who favoured the introduction of this
class of labourers, it- inust - mind
.that the system had existed for five-and-twenty
years, almost as many years, indeed,
..as had
elapsed since the liberation •of the - Mayes.
Whether the system ought to exist at all, and if
so, to what degree, was a -question I.'which, • lie
thought, deserved careful inquiry, and
.one upon
which it would be rash to give a confident opinion ;
before they could come to any irrefragable conclu-
sion upon it, it would be needful to resort to the
process of investigation. He felt .no hostility
•against the West India -body ; 'on the Contrary, he
believed he had been their best friend-,--first, in
promoting the abolition of the infeynal: slave trade
—(loud cheers)--and next dri promoting the de-,
struction of the foreign' slave trade after the entire
abrogation of, the systeni, as far as she was con-
cerned, by England. (Hear, hear.) That was the
course he had adopted in order to see the slave trade
really and effectually put down'all over the World.
But the immigration of the coolies into the West
Indies was said to be calculated to effect great relief
to the 'West India proprietors. If it were so, and
if it could be shown that, in consequence of the
liberation of the negroes it was necessary that other
resources should be placed within reach of the
planters, still they ought not to have the benefit of
the immigratiOn if it were likely to kad to a revival
of the slave trade. (Hear.) When he brought
'the question the other night -.before the House of
Lords he was told by the head of the Colonial Depart-
' ment that the planters themselves were taxed in
order to obtain the-supply of coolies and others, and
no doubt the application of such a test, that of taxa-
tion, was a strong one to apply to men's motives and
feelings, and it might be supposed that a great want
must exist before such taxation would be readily
assented to ; but his. answer was that though the
planters submitted to be taxed .the tax was not
confined to themselves. (Hear.) The poor negro
was taxed as well as the planter, the liberated Afri-
can or the noble as well as the proprietor, and the
one paid as much in proportion - as the other ; but
the planter -paid the tax in order to obtain a further
supply of labour, while the negro had to pay the
tax which operated against himself by increasing
the competition of labotir. (Hear.) The question
demanded investigation, and he would strongly re-
commend the meeting to confine itself to the de-
mand for inquiry, not one-sided inquiry, but one
which should present the opinions of all classes of
persons acquainted with the subject. (Hear.) He
had thus given very shortly his notion of the:state .
of the case, and he would not detain them longer
in a state of the weather which caused fatigue to
those who listened, es well as to those • who spoke,
and he would only further say he hoped theywould
give a fair and patient hearing to all who might
speak, whatever might be the opinions they enter-
tained. He might mention, however, that lie had
received a letter from the Bishop of Oxford, who
regretted that he was unable to attend, as he had
been required to start at an early hour of the day
for the country in the discharge of his spiritual
duties. He could not name the name of Wilber-
force—(loud and continued .cheering)—without
having recalled to his mind the triumph with which
it stood associated, and when he uttered it feelings
of veneration and of affecCon sirove inhis'bosom
for the mastery. (Loud cheers.)
Several letters were ,received from gentle-
men who had been unable to attend:and among
them one from Sir John Baring, whose shattered
health prevented his being present.
Mr. CHARLES BUXTON, M.P., moved—" That this
meeting, having heard the statements which have
_
been made on the subject of the present system of
obtaining Indians and Chinese as labourers, and
their employment in British colonies, considers it
desirable that a memorial should be presented to
his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, her Majesty's
Secretary of State for the Colonies, praying him to
promote the appointment of a committee of the
House of Lords to inquire into the -whole subject."
He was of opinion that it.was of the -utmost im-
portance that the inquiry should take place; and
he believed that the. most effective mode of con-
ducting it would be by a committee of the House
of Lords. . The inquiry was likely to giVe great
satisfaction, and would lead to a better state of
immi-
grationfeeling theas. o
fltLestefflenedteiati Islands.bymost Coquoelsitei
that the whole question
means, and :searching nssaa brl
tort'
Mr.a ncdn intelligibleisri o t A might hia put on a satis ae-
. Igation was nec. f
which was supported seconded- the resolution,
by Mr. G. THOMPSON, and
agreed to.
Mr
. ofC Newcastle
IwVht
which
hn
itt-ewadasa
proposed memorialt too the Duke
pre-
sent to the noble duke on an early day, which was
adopted.
The meeting then separated.
NbsaristlEyisT.e6t.,