The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY „EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1861.

of elogneiri debl4mation in this hough from the days of Mr.
Fox and Mr. Pitt to this time. But if the Chinese Coolies
were sent to this island, at least there is this, that in China
you can establish relations in concert with the Chinese
authorities by which emigration shall be entirely controlled.
Instead of a fierce war going on, the labour market of
China, which is always redundant, may be relieved, and
and persons wishing to emigrate may obtain good vrages
instead of living in poverty and starvation. You can regu-
late that part of the undertaking; you-can regulate its
object. I agree with the hon, gentleman that you cannot
regulate the manner in which the owners and the authori-
ties in Cuba will treat them when they get there. (Hear.)
But something of the same kind might happen which the
hon. gentleman mentioned with regard to Bourbon. In the
same way as the natives of India preferred emigrating to
Mauritius instead of to the Isle of Bourbon, so if it were found
that the coolies did not return from Cuba, or t hat report spoke
unfavourably of their treatment, there would be the same
indisposition to emigrate to Cuba. The hon. gentleman readily
allowed, and it was in fact the foundation of his motion, that
he would allow emigration to our own colonies. I k hould
be the last person to differ from him on that subject.
I remember perfectly well, when I was Secretary of State
for the Colonies, seeing the advantages which would
accrue from an emigration from India to the Mauritius. I
did not succeed, however, in that project, because the house
was adverse to any such scheme. It was considered in this
house that slavery would thereby be encouraged in the
Mauritius. (Hear, hear.) That, however, did not prevent
the colonial legislature from proceeding with the plan, which
for many years has been attended with the greatest success.
I am informed that there have been more than 180,000
Indians introduced into the Mauritius from the time of that
first emigration. Numbers of them have returned to India ;
and numbers, I am happy to say, have settled in the Mauri-
tius. (Hear, hear.) And I believe that the enjoyment
which they have had and the good wages which they have
been receiving, have been not merely a source of profit to
the owners of the land, but have been the great means of
raising these people in the scale of social life, and enabling
them to obtain an honest livelihood. Therefore, having
taken that earlypart in promoting the emigration into the
Mauritius, I certainly should be most happy to see a similar
emigration to our West India colonies. But the question
occurs how this is to be done ? I think it must be left to
the Colonial Secretary of State, from time to time, to frame
such plans as will tend to favour that object. This I can
say that her Majesty's Government are fully aware of the
advantages that may be gained by introducing emigra-
tion into the West Indies, and thus increasing the
quantity of free labour. They are of opinion also that,
with the conditions of emigration that may be framed,

the abuses that have prevailed in some instances may
be warded off and guarded against. Therefore the Govern•
went is not in principle at all opposed to the honourable
gentleman. Ido not think that it would bo sufficient to
say, as the third resolution seems to imply, that we have
merely to introduce more free labour into those colonies
where free labour is already established. I think, with
that great and bad example of Cuba before us, those other
measures which we have taken may be made from time to
time more effective, and must not be given up. (Hear.) I
must confess I do not see the practical advantage of the
hon. gentleman's resolutions. The first says that the means
hitherto employed by his country for the suppression of
the African slave trade have failed to accomplish that ob-
ject. Of course, if the hon. gentleman means the total
suppression of the traffic, that is quite true ; in the same
way as it might be said that the police in the metropolis
have not succeeded in putting an end to pocket-picking.
(Hear, hear, and laughter.) But there is no doubt that we
have succeeded in throwing great obstacles in the way of
the slave trade, just as the police have done in the way of
thieving; therefore I should be sorry to agree with that
resolution. The third resolution, which says that we ought
to augment the working population of those countries where
slavery has been abolished, points to a very useful measure ;
but the former part of it, " That the true remedy is not to
be found in countenancing immigration into those countries

where slavery exists," rather seems to include other reme

dies, which have been found very conducive to the suppres-
sion of the traffic. With these opinions, therefore, concur •
ring in the greater part of the hon. gentleman's observa-
tions, and concurring fully and entirely in his object, I beg
to move the previous question.
Mr. BUXTON said he had satisfied himself that the
introduction_ of coolies into the West Indies, if properly
carried out, would be of great advantage both to tho islands
and themselves. In spite of England's exertions, the
Atlantic was at present covered with slave-ships; but it
would be a mistake to suppose.that our exertions had pro-
duced no effect. It was demonstrable that, were the
slave trade put down, an immense traffic would arise on
the African coast, including timber, sugar, coffee, and,
above all, cotton. (Hear, hear.) It would be a blessing to
the inhabitants of that continent ; the wealth of the world
at large would be increased, and an impulse would be given
to the spread of Christianity. (Hear, hear.)
Lord A. CHURCHILL suggested that steps should be
taken for obtaining the co-operation of the King of Da-
horny. It was also desirable that steps should be taken for
punishing the cap'ains and crews of slave ships. This
might be done without exciting the jealousy of foreign
nations. The slave trade was principally kept alive by the
desire of native chiefs for European goods. Hence, if a
legitimate commerce could be established there would be no
inducement to trade in slaves.

Mr. KINNAIRD trusted the noble lord would not op-
pose the resolutions which had been moved by his hon.
friend in a speech which was so temperate and so full of
argument, and which had been well received by the house.
Mr. M'MAHON said there were three articles of slave
produce which were largely consumed in this country—
cotton, tobacco, and sugar. Now if the Government of
this country would tolerate the growth of tobacco at home,
they would be carrying out the views of the hon. gentle-
man the member for New Shoreham (Mr. Cave).
Mr. FORTESCUE said he was anxious to make a few
observations by way of explanation of the course pursued
by the Colonial Department, and he understood the com-
plaint against it to be that the expenses of transporting the
coolies to the West Indies should not be charged on the
planters, but that they should be borne by the revenues of the
colonies. The power of regulating the supply of labour re-
mained with the Secretary of State. He admitted that the
question was one by no means easy of decision, and the
great difficulty was how to apportion those expenses between
the importing planters and the colonial governments, This
question would inevitably be regarded from different points
of view, according to the interests of those who considered
it. It must be remembered that these labourers wore intro-
duced to the colonies for the especial purpose of growing
sugar, and they were allotted to one description of impor-
ters only, for fixed periods, who acquired a natural right
to their labour. There Was not the proportion of women
and children which usually accompanied ordinary emi-
grants from ono part of the world to another, and thus
these people did not contribute to the permanent increase
of the population of the colonies. That was the state of
facts which had led many able men to say that any con-
tribution from the colonial revenues for the expenses of
tl-e introduction of the coolies to the colonies could not be
said to be anything else than a bounty from the public
funds for the production of sugar. (Hear, hear.) Again,
it was equally true that the importation was not conduc-
ted as the planter himself would choose, nor was it allowed
to flow in a natural way. The planters were subjected to
many restrictions laid on for the protection of their poor
people, and were obliged to import a certain number of
women, children, and old people along with the field
hands. Under these circumstances the aid from the
Colonial Office was not a bounty! but a compensation. He
believed that the importation of coolies had been a great
advantage to the West Indies, and had materially bene-
fited the native labourer himself. These were the points
which successive Secretaries of State had had to consider,
and the present secretary had come to the conclusion that
the present rate was not an unfair one, namely, that two-
thirds of the expense should fall either directly or in-
directly on the planter, and the remaining third on
the general revenue of the colony. It should never
be forgotten that the governing class were the em-
ployers of the colony, and therefore it became the
duty of the government at home to represent the im-
migrants. As to the encouragement of slavery or the
slave trade;the Colonial Office had made up its mind. They
had determined to encourage free immigration, and he was
happy to hear that all objections on the parts of the old
friends of the slave had been withdrawn. The Colonial-
office was determined to carry out the system to its utmost
extent. The Mauritius contained 200,000 coolies, who had
declined the permission to go back, and now formed a resi-
dent population in the colony. The production and wealth
of the country had increased, and the system was being
gradually extended to the West Indies, to Natal, and to
Moreton Bay. He could not concur in his hon. friend's sug-
gestion of an intended protectorate on the coast of Africa,
which he feared would be ineffectual beyond the stations
which we possessed at the mouth of the river, where a few
white men possessed an immense moral influence over the
natives. He feared that an extension of our protectorate on
the Gold Coast would not offer a practical means for the
suppression of the slave trade. He believed that the best
resource for the labour market in the tropics would be the
free immigration of Chinese labourers, who were much bet-
ter than the India coolies. He looked forward to the im-
portation of Chinese labour into the West Indies with the
greatest confidence as to its success.

Mr. C. EWING hoard with the greatest pleasure the de-
claration of the Government of its intention to encourage the
importation of freo labour into the "West Indies. He be-
lieved that the production of sugar would be largely bene-
fited, and he begged, on the part of the West India interest,
to thank the Colonial-office for the attention which both
the late and the present colonial ministers had devoted to
the subject.

Lord PALMERSTON—Sir, I am sure the house is very
much indebted to the hon. gentleman who moved the re-
solutions, for having brought under the consideration of
the house a subject of the greatest possible importance and
interest, and however we may differ from him as to the
wording of the resolutions, I think that which has
passed in the course of this discussion must have satisfied
him that there is no difference whatever of opinion be-
tween the hon. member and her Majesty's Government as
to the object to be attained. There were some expressions
used by the hon, gentleman, and re-echoed by the ken