The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-01 00:00:00

THE SUN,

ante,
e. • • tee
eerier with the The G ^ on the e.vl' -Pee .' • -- ; f
13.4 ye- tioe. tse totsee te,
zil, eat efully watchieg over the interests et las eV-
etl!tural subjects, had said in his speech from the three,.
tthh:it he.hoPed th, y would adopt measures for srpele ieg
r aericulturists with labour, the want 0. hich
daily i'
been "''reasieg." Now, to what labour coula he have
i%oretatine?clearly to slave the anci,ltdo
e other. It' appeared that in the year 1847 re e
theai Imported into tie Brazils 73,000 slaves, and that
meortation had since that time been constantly in-
eteßettN; and yet it was not sufficient to meet the de-
pp-al'i ler slave labour in that country. The same mot:-
AP°,IMY prevailed in the United States which pre-
betielue 1° England upon that subject; and the question with
o_l, ountries seemed to be, not whether slaveryhshon)l,l
Or ?Quid not exist, but hove it could be turned to t e tee.-
P °stable account. Nothing could be more inconsis-
tent
„ then the whole policy of her Majesty's Government
their that question. He found, that notwithstanding
costly attempts to suppress the shve
eti_ Consented to enter into communications end
was
ee'age presents with the King of Dahomey, who
48tlitort1'1pracYt le:e3e7ged in the capture and the sale of slaves.
r'o°' Strange to say that petty sovereign carried on his t
of
her
}Majesty women;
by means of an army of 8,000
having at one time applied to the representatives
‘,trul. Berkeley) for 2,000 caps for the use of those wo-
rt.; tdemand had been complied with. Now he
felt curious to know what was the nature
saps so supplied, and whether or not they were
thataded for defensive military purposes? He found
tie. another of these barbarian kings decorated his war-
ii,e'shin the cast-off wigs of gentlemen of the bar—(A
0").--and he (Mr. G. Berkeley) should be glad to
ie.* whether the gentlemen sitting on the Tree.-
dr? benches had supplied any portion of those heau-
-00:8"? It would certainly appear as if her Majesty's
la ernment had no very earnest desire of suppress-
g the
Ivith slave trade, while they exchanged presents
b_oerbarians who derived their revenues from thate
the rrible traffic. Our West India colonies did not ar
le,odu..tnpetition of any foreign country which raised f
its
e
by free labour. But that to which they ob
4ek4beed was the admission into our markets of Slay.--
eeeset ,114 PrOduce. He would tell them that if they should
'"se to go on much longer as they went on at pre-
_
eolo
ett
Olir colonial empire would be lost.—(Hear.) The
Itedes in some instances were almost ripe for revolt;
logged4l many of the colonies the people wished they Le •
There to
'here ee any other country rather than to England.
eekeli‘seas the
much injustice in their mode of treating
the old Berbice, for instance, they had maintained
payefol-_Duteh lasr, and had compelled the colonists to
Beverr the maintenance of canals and roads which they
had beused. He was glad to find that some intimation
herds en given of an intention to relieve them from that
relie,at but he said they ought to have been long ego
seed relieved from it. Her Majesty's Government had pur-
teieefauch the same course towards our West Indian
tetisut sts which they had pursued towards the a, _
Protest 4 this; country. They had deprived them 0
sthey
they had ruined their labour market—and
f
.
ter. ad set master against man, and man against mas-
ahe-;(Hear, hear.) Their policy had cast a glooml
the r eve
es it extended; and their law-making had, .e
kerPies of old, stained everything that it touched.
tele) ;:a WILSON said the Hon. Baronet who had
had the discussion and the Hon. Gentleman who
ape,Jast at down had placed the issue of the debate
ties candid grounds. They said that the British colt:-
hey:hero not indisposed to compete with free labour
to be eere, The only thing to which they objected was
litheel,eckneelled to compete with the produce of slave
Illettl4—(llear, hear.) It was just two.years. since the
toe it ps°,ll was before the House. The discussion h
w
iteleiPlace then was preceded by a long and importante
stitgerrY into the position of the British colonies and th
Fee,,,Producing countries of the world; and his Hon..
tioe';', in order to justify himself for bringing the quese
de ..or
rule bad again at this time, ought to have shown that
Nu 0 s, two years of experience he had some
*es:t° show why the policy then adhered to by the
-e"taent had not succeeded, and why these colonies
thtit-t!'", threatened with more danger than they were at
the 14'e• It would be necessary for him shortly to refer
the evidence taken before the Committee in 1848, to.
arit''dictions as to what would be the result of
tho,e'vernment policy, and then to show how
.tfa.r
to t',lo,Predictions had been fulfilled. It was imposs! ..e
'a(irseb this as exclusively a West Indian question.
teeertar, hear.) It was impossible to exclude the large
atie,,groducing countries in the East Indies, exporting.
ereee':Y 75,000 tons and producing four times that
thla.„Te and the Mauritius,' exporting 68,000 tons; and
Pos3e,37ght go still further east, and include those new.
ante °'•
which were rapidly becoming sugar-growing
etlet -°'• He would take a rapid glance at the pro-
-4118 of the four great portions of the British empire.—
!kettst,Ce.}lon, the Mauritius, and the West Indies. With
then s°e to Ceylon they had before them Mr. Anstru-
-8°4'04.,-erY extensive planter, Mr. Christian, and others
tele, "'eu with the island, by whom they were distinctly
to fr'llat it they did not retrace their steps with regard
'ttl is trade and raise the duty on coffee from 2d. to
*l;:t.4, I,e„!,s than three years the island would be a barren
!set 'That had been the result? The importation
10 api,`,,ter the passing of the measure from 20,000,0001bs
Sear t° in the next year, and in the following
skit ,;) 49,000,0001bs , being thus doubled instead of
1% 8,„1 annihilated; and they were now told by Ceyd-
Ittei"erchants that protection had become se dead
ltztarrE,tad entirely unimportant, because, notwith
',a,eteLg competition, they had managed so far to
'4it,,Ze their cultivation and the quantity supplied to
L'elte:at'ket, that now tbe importetion from tho British
nett e-e' exceeded the entire consumption of this country,
:dasetittkrPlus remained for exportation to the continent,
grower had to contend with the markets of the
"Vote This year they were told the quantity would be
th:',l)9olbs, Let it not be supposed that this was owing
titte-.,.utgh prices ranging during the present year, bhe-
Cseet lutist have been the result of the prices of t e
:ithrt:l4g Year, when they were the lowest ever known.
4e elerence to the East Indies, they had before them
4 Co the most able directors and officers of the East
1011'i1Cee2 , PY
ao , and amongst others Mr. Tucker, M.
Colonel Sykes, who stated that unlesslndia
arks sugar it would be impossible for us to find
(lett:
fd
a'r our manufactures there, and the whole evi-
.'ll,l e°4 the subject was most discouraging. Mr...
Porth?r, vet eminentj merchant, told them that if
sk '4 not a protective duty of 10s. per cwt. the in.en-
fege ee3,°°,. of sugar from the East Indies would fall
sm, tbspe .'s" Year from 60,000 to 40,000 tons ; and that
°r four years the importation would cease
1,44 et t
it"ler• They- had also witnesses from Madras
alley'
aPoke in the same strain. Well, two years
~.."°orolsed, and instead of the production falling from
40,000 tons, it was a great consolation to him
te;,ule to say that the imports had steadily increased
;arget,fle present time, and during the last year were
s*ale ran at
the' year. They were also well ,
"r Been" that in present year there would be 75,000
81sti)-°° t°ll9. He next came to the Mauritius. That
ZStett at the time when this evidence was given pre-
hltto a Picture of gloom, perhaps unequalled in the
4sttsY sc)f the British colonies. All the British mer-
e'ltd tete with very few exceptions, had become batiks:us,
"era irTe connected with the trade of the Mauritius
I(ialle.' a state of insolvency. They were told by lir.
4 an eminent merchant, that without a duty of,
etilett,,t ag,ai.nst . foreign sugar,. it would be impossib!e
th cultivation could be maintained; and it was.evi- I
usvid en'tt every cultivator in the island must be ruined. I
i'elep:"e to the same effect was given by Mr. Hunter,
;tp..,,eSt cultivator of estates in the island, by Sir G.
itteiitt,-,,t,' and Mr. Chapman. It was not surprising that
at wh'"etice should have made a powerful impression;
14atliaeaut W" the result ? In the three years pre-
thme)itl,",,"° Period of 1846, when slave-grown sugar was
hmte;", the production was 34,000 tons; but in the
dladee-titieeeeding years, including last year, the average
t,lltty as 50,000 tons; and this year, it was conti-
ahs's 6 -,l,"elPated that the production would be not less
',;,eree°,„",uo tons. Next came the West Indies. The
si;',retie-„:roportation for the three years preceding the
sate
of slave-grown sugar from the West India
trae wne 127,000 tons per annum, while the average
Itta-'4l tif2t three years was 148,000 tons; and the impor-
-o.ooe°,r the present year would probably be from
etSttse-bLeotsl4o,ooo tons. After sitting upon the Cout-
e ed
qua
're which the evidence to which he had re -
heeY s given, and after deriving information from.
arter to which he had access, he was not clis-
(kfi teded thi
question the distress and suffering which. had
!dar htle2lt West Indian and all the sugar colonies.
tßeuled; ) But it was a totally different thing to
etire ''lress, and sa that it was to be cured by pro-
lisgt.frtretttLeal. He believed the distress to have arisen
be R, Withdrawal of protection, but from thed
e4lB.!lthYeB„`.e.m_ ..o.f years gone by, by which property had
Pr the eiTeitFuweitii some instances ' and burdened in others,
which had been thrown on the
ll'lt°44l" gproprietors. They had before them the
IPtitlireriera:ro./jemb!sr. for South. Cheshire, who had just
NI 3, w, ".1 a visit to his own property in the West
la tPeesliuo said that he had been told that he
tarts arlY happy in having one of the best managersi,is
atPathize ":Ql,Ticlies. When he went there, however, ...
Tea awe- he had ever received anything from it
-4th e commonest agricultural implements were
eh retti mone
.Pitte "tistel, and the manure was of.ten. carried
ltte„ to place by handsful. He insisted on
te"ite 4'l this, what was the result ? By the
"l'ie -84 °I the le
a g the e lion. Gentleman he
.had seen the account,
litaylet o,,iesult of one year's experiment, which showed
i 4 t‘! been :_b3.000/. out of 9,oool.—(Hear, hear.) They
an'h,a
},epee; f "'ld that the cry of "cheap sugar"
.w
cP" that the result of their legislation, in a short
'dee °isle be to throw our own lands entirely out of
prices would
Play eand when that was achieved
e taernitted that a very large i
8a tue elev. • b t the chief pore
the - --e-growing countries, ta
increase had taken
qt a ct occurred between 1828 and 1840, whelndtehde.
'f slave labour was practically excluded.
taken
nlae be de
in .slave
that a greater increase had
14Iq
Übean se countries than in our own colonies.
tis4re 2Clad
at. 6, ?ono Rico, in the three years preceding
s
the year 1845, when the criop
hes *as ecled by a hurricane, the entire prothruice.
lb '4 it 450,000 tons while during the last .
11,4 thN amounted toys 00,000 tons. In Brazil, in
ttae., 97,0e,,Y,seetrs Preceding 1846, the average production
tt4e. /tiuu.,tons, and in the three last years 108,
thtaerliee.;°_e British West Indies in the three.yeahres
alhee 410146 the amount was 127,000 tons, and in t
legs' Years 148,000 tons ; in the Mauritius, be-
-144 Indi_34,ooo tons, and after 50,000 tons; in the
ti tva, R4al before 1846, 64,000 tons, after 72,000 tons.
Ysettk,a tritistilig the quantities shipped'. From the whole
?6,. 'there__ Possessions the average quantity for three
le°,s.ooo ton 51836
was 225,900 tons; after that period,
ke"She t'in, or rather more; thus showing an increase
(tictet, Porto Rico of 20 per cent.; in Brazil of 11
est, ,11,3'/I'ml lathe British possessions of 20 per cent.
ittle r.)
ead Ut there was another important consi-
-14 reeeeit
_,0)3 1810 to 1840 the consumption of sugar
le ?ears b,e,,cl almost stationary; at all events, for about
IPI 45 the 1844 there had been no visible increase.
."'s) and 4_ 4st alteration in the sugar duties took
18,16 a change also took place in the law.

What had been the history of the sugar trado during=, the
v, ~es? it lia,l 1-18 vry
pidly, to no less than 300,000, "Oti increase of 50 per cent.
Be lied reason to believe that the introduction ut
slave-grown sugar had not given great encouragement
to that mode of production, because she price at the
llavannah of sugar during the three ears preceding
the change in the law was 23a Id. a cwt., and in the
three succeeding years :323. 4d. They might be told.
perhaps, that the great increase in the consumption of
sugar eince 1846 was owing to their availing thetut,elve,,
of slave-grown sugar all over the world; but Vie f,ct
was, that the production r f Britian free-labour sugar had
increased, while that cf slave-grown sugar had ma-
terially diminished. At the conclusion of the first yt ar
after the cl.alige in the law, the consumption of this
country was 289,0001. tons, which was made up of
227,000 tons of f: ee - labour colonial produce, and 61,000
tons slave-labour sugar. In 1848, the consumption of
free labour sugar increased from 227,000 to 243,000
tons, while slave-labour sugar decreased from 61,000 to
39,000 tons. In 1849, the consumption of the whole
country was 301,000 tons, of which 253,000 were Bri-
tish free-labour, and 48,000 slave-labour sugar. What
was the case this year? The accounts for the 10 months
warranted him in assuming that the consumption would
be 318,000 tons, of which he might take 282,000 as Bri-
tish, and 36,000 the produce of slave labour.—(Hear,
hear.) But sugarewas not the only thing in which
these colonies were interested. Molasses and rum must
also be taken into the account. He would take 31bs. of

molasses to represent llb. of sugar. In this article the
increase of consumption had been horn 207,000 tons in
1844, to 317,000 during the last year. Of rum, the
quantity imported from the British possessions in
the three years preceding 1846 was 3,095,000 gallons,
and in the three last years 5,080,000 gallons. The Bon.

Gentleman who last addressed the House placed the
whole issue upon the possibility of our confining our
competition to free-labour countries, to the exclusion of
.slave-labour. Now, it appeared that in the three years
preceding 1846 the quantity was 354,000 tons, and in
the three years following that period 263,000 tons. At
the present moment the entire quantity of sugar produced
was 1,227,000 tons, of which 530,000 tons were the pro-
duce of slave labour, and 697,000 tons the produce of
free labour. It was unnecessary for him now to repeat
the arguments based on the difficulties which would be
created by the admission of refined sugar. and the de-
mands of Holland and the United States to the privileges
of the most favoured nations. In addition to this they
had the additional difficulty caused by the changes
which had taken place in their legislation since the ad-
mission of slave labour and the repeal of the navigation-
laws. But he maintained that every attempt to return
to protection would be the greatest injury they could
inflict on the colonies. Suppose at the present mo-
ment they had it in their power to give the West
Indies protection, what would the effect be? They
were told that Trinidad was able to grow enough c f
sugar for the whole consumption of this country—that
British Guiana could do the same if it could only ob-
tain a supply of labour—that the production of the
Mauritius was likely to be much more than at present.
Then from the East Indies they had had a most valuable
return of the produce of the last two years, and showing
the extent of land under cultivation. the extent of ground
under palm trees and date trees for the production of
sugar; and the quantities there indicated amazed and
astonished him, much as he knew of the extent of the
resources of their East Indian possessions. In all these
places they were on the eve, with the slightest en-
couragement, of having a surplus production. Notwith-
standing it had been asserted, and he believed truly, that
the West -Indies were in a state of great distress—not-
withstanding all that, they were increasing the amount of
production so rapidly in the West Indies, that long be-
fore the expiration of the Act of 1846—lung before
1854—they would find themselves in the same position
with regard to sugar as they were rat present with re-
gard to coffee, and that protection had worn itself out.
It would merely by a year or two anticipate the ordi-
nary course of events. On behalf ef the British
colonies themselves, was that a desirable result?
They only now required 10 per cent. of additional pre-
deletion iu their own colonies to have enough for their
entire consumption. He had shown that the predictions
that were made before the Committee of 1846 were not
fallacious—he had shown that, instead of becoming more
and more dependent on slave labour, the production o their
own colonies, in place of being lessened, bed been gra-
dually and considerably increased. If the House agreed
to the motion they would have all the slave-hi !ding;
countries looking up—they would be proclaiming the fsil-
ure of their own experiment, and it would be holding out
to them an encouregemeat and an inducement to the
continuance of slave Libman They would be telling the
world that with the largest market and the greatest corn-
, merce of any nation they were unable to support the
principle of free labour—that at that late period it had
become necessary for them to retrace their steps, and
for the sake of their colonies to go back to protec-
tion. On every account, therefore, he felt himself
justified in opposing the motion; and he hoped the
House would be of the same opinion, and reject the
motion.—(Cheers.)
Mr. S ICANLEY said—Sir, I have more than one
reason fit asking the indulgence of the House. I have
never addressed it before—l shall not now address it
long—l have been personally referred to in the course
of the debate, and I have some personal knowledge of the
countries whose condition we are now discussing.—(Hear
and cheers.) And further, I may say that I have not in
my hand one single statistical table—(Hear, hear)—that
I shall quote no figures, and that I shall detain the
House by no calculations—(Hear, hear.) I shall con-
fine myself to a reply to those lion. Gentlemen who
have preceded me in the debate, and to those I shall re-
ply as briefly as it is in my power. Before I enter upon
the details of the question itself, I may be permitted to
express my astonishment, and which, I believe, has been
felt in common with myself by many Hon. Members on
this side of the House, when the Honourable Member
who immediately preceded me in the debate told us
that it was something strange that the consider-
ation of this question, which had teen fully
discussed two years since, should have again
been brought forward, and that an appeal should
be again made to the House to reverse its de-
cision. Why, Sir, the period is not very far remote
when it was the practice of that party professing the
policy of which the Hon. Gentleman is so warm a sup-
porter, year after year and session after session, to ask
the House to reverse its former decisions—(Hear)---
when it was their practice to bring forward motions,
not with a view to their being carried, but with a view
te the effect which they would produce, not in that
House, but rather with a view to the effect which they
would and actually did produce elsewhere.—(Hear,
hear.) S:r, I admit that this does not alter the case so
far us we are concerned ; but I was still more sur-
prised when I heard the Hon. Gentleman, not ten
minutes after that expression of opinion, admit—nay,
assert, that in consequence of certain changes that had
taken place in the policy of the country, an entire
change had taken place in all the features of
the case.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, although I was not in
Parliament when this question was brought forward in
1818, still I have some recollection of the debates that
tool: place on that occasion ; and, if my memory does
net deceive me, I find that the overwhelming majority
by which this change was effected, and against
which we are now told it is hoeeless to struggle, was, in
a House numbering between 400 and 500 Members, a
majority of just 15.—(Hear, and cheers.) Sir, I must
also he permitted to offer one remark upon the reply,
which the Hon. Gentleman made to the argument em-
ployed by the Hon. Baronet who brought forward the
motion. That motion was founded exclusively upon the
existence of great distress in the West Indies; and the
Hon. Gentleman replied by a careful and elaborate cal-
culation, showing that the import of sugar had increased
not in the West but in the East Indies.—(Loud cries of
" Hear.") Something has, I believe, been said about
the protective system by the Hon. Gentleman, but, long
as the debate has continued, lam nevertheless the first
Member on this side of the House who has taken part in
it, and, in reference to certain remarks made by the Hon.
Baronet who brought forward the motion, I wish dis-
tinctly and emphatically to corroborate the statement he
has made, and to say that this is not a protection ques-
Hen, and that I do not intend to deal with it as men.—
(Hear, hear.) Taking that view of the case, I feel that
I urn supported by very high authorities who have
been often appealed to in this House—by Mr. Deacon
Hume, and by many of the most eminent of those who
brought forward or supported the new finauciel move-
ment—by Lord Brougham, and by the Right Reverend
Prelate the Bishop of Oxford, who voted against the
Act of 1846, although they were in favour of the mea-
sure for putting an end to agricultural protection. lam
further supported by a very powerful authority in this
House, the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tam-
worth, for although his vote was given in favour of the
Act of 1846, he at the same time admitted that sugar
was not to be placed in the general cet >gory with other
articles of agricultural produce.—(Hear, hear.) It at-
pears to me, then, that as regards the West Indian
colo-
nies the case is very simple. One of two alternatives
the House must adopt—either it must declare that free
labour can compete with slave labour, or it must at once
and openly confess that emancipation has failed
(Hear, hear)—that it was useless to abolish slavery—
that the 20,000.0001. given as compensation to the plan-
ters, and the 80,000,0001. indirectly raid away, have all
been sacrificed, and are as much rost as if they hod
been thrown int) the sea.—(Hear and cheers.) With
regard to the impossibility of free-labour sugar compet-
ing with the produce of slave labour, it would be difficult
to argue the questinn fully in a brief compass, but I
shall just refer to one authority, which must be admitted
to be one of considerable weight. I take the authority
of Colonel Reid, who at the time this dispatch was
written, May, 1848, was Lieutenant-Governor of the is-
land of Barbadoes :—" On the future prospects of the
planter I shall say but little, since this subject has been
publicly inquired into in England. I shall confine my-
self to recording an opinion I already nave its general
terms on the 26th February, 1848, supported by the in-
formation which I have collected and transmitted, that
the cost of making sugar Irons free labour is greatly be-
yond the cost of making it by slave labour—that sugar
cultivation cannot yet withstand competition on
equal terms with slave labour,. and that fro, -
dom requires to be nursed with protection." Honour-
able Gentlemen will probably consider for a moment
from what part of the world that declaration comes. It
is from Barbadoes—frorn an island in the West Indies,
in which, if the question of free labour could be any
a here fairly tried, it could be tried there. In that island
i the pepulation was far denser than in either England or
! Ireland, and it was estimated to be as dense as in Chine.
• The wages of agricultural labour range from 61. to Bd.
per day, the land is all highly cultivated, there is Ti'4
waste lend, and therefore there is no possibility of
squatting, The negro must he employed us a labourer
or he must starve.—(Hear.) Is not that as fair a trial
of free labour as it is possible to have? and yet the an-
swer to all that is, that there it has faile I.—(flear,
hear.) Cornoared with Jamaica, Trinidad, and British
Guiana, the population of Barbadoes is considerably
more dense; and, on the other hand, speaking of the area