The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-25 00:00:00

necessary and permanent source of that distress which almost
every page of the West Indies recorded, was to be found in the
institution of slavery. Yet it was to the abolition of this very
institution that the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir G. Clerk)
traced this distress.—( Hear, hear.) He hoped that the Right
Hon. Baronet would consult the Noble Lord to-morrow on the
subject, in order to ascertain whether or not he had changed
his views.—( Hear, hear.) Lord Belmore, Governor-General
of Jamaica, in a parting address to the House of Assembly, said
the distress which existed resulted from that policy by which
slavery was established, and the island would never develop
the abundance of its resources till slavery was abolished. The
Right Hon. Gentleman at the Head of the Government had
said in his (Mr. Villier's) hearing that the experiment of the
abolition of slavery had answered in a more striking manner than
any great experiment ever made. They knew that some islands
had flourished since the abolition of slavery—that is to say, they
had not said that they did not.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.)
In Barbadoes it was notorious that the people wished for
low wages ; that they were well off ; and that the island
was flourishing. His Honourable Friend had shown
that the proprietors were suffering from their own neglect ;
and now that they feared the abolition of protection, they
began to tax their wits to see whether they had not wasted
their energies and the resources of the country, by resisting
improvement and neglecting vigilance in the management of
their estates. The Governor-General reproached them with
neglecting improvement in past times ; and they were all now
considering what could be done to remove that reproach. If
he were not mistaken, the Hon. Member for Cumberland
had entrusted to a member of his family the superintendence
of his own estate, whom he had never thought of
sending out until lately. He believed he would confirm the
statement that every species of fraud was practised by the dis-
honest agents of absurd proprietors.
Mr. JAM ES soil he did not know that.—( Hear, hear. )
Mr. VILLIERS—WouId his Hon. Friend the Member for
Cumberland say he had discovered that his relative might as
well have stopped here ?
Mr. JAMES—No, no.

Mr. VILLIERS had asked three gentlemen connected with
the West Indies whether it was the fact that they had been
cheated in that island. They all said that it was, and gave in-
stances to prove it.—( Hear, hear.) Why, it was no uncom-
mon thing for the agents to represent to the absent proprietors
that their estates were in such a critical position that unlessthey
sent out money to enable them to cultivate them, it would be
better that they should be abandoned ; and there had been in-
stances in which, after representations of this kind, the estates
had been sold, and the agents, or their relatives, had become
the purchasers. He had been told by a gentleman last year
that there was every species of waste, and that there was no spot
in the globe where sugar was cultivated in so barbarous a manner;
and that he had such a confidence in the island being im-
provable, that instead of abandoning his own West India estate
ho had sent out the brother of the head of a great mercantile
firm in the City to superintend and cultivate it. Now, he
asked them to consent to his Hon. Friend's proposition, in
order to effect a permanent and satisfactory settlement of this
question. They heard in that House an abundance of profes-
sions of solicitude for the poor ; a vast deal was said as to
the dreadful condition in which they were placed.—( Hear,
hear.) They saw a number of charities advertised
in the newspapers for relieving the extreme necessities
of particular classes. Now here 'was a distinct practical pro-
position, by adopting which they might diminish the cost of
the article of sugar to the consumers, and extend great advan-
tages to the industrious classes by the extension of trade. They
had now an opportunity of doing a great practical charity.—
( Hear, hear.) He believed the next week a large portion of
the aristocracy were going to dance in the cause of the
needlewomen.—( Laughter. ) There was to be a grand
ball for the relief of that class of society.—( Hear, hear. )
Now what was the extra cost paid by such persons, as well as
others, on account of this sugar monopoly ? Why every week
this metropolis alone paid 40,0001. more for sugar than they
otherwise would do ; for the whole country the extra amount
was not less than 50,0001. By adopting the proposition be-
fore the House, they would, besides diminishing the price of
sugar, increase trade and commerce, and thus benefit the poor,
for whose welfare they professed to be anxious. He did think,
then, that they were justified in bringing this matter before
the House, and that the country would expect on that oc-
casion to get something more than that conventional
indifference which was generally exhibited when a
motion which was really important to the pub-
lic interests, was brought under their consideration. They
had heard from the Right Hon. Gentleman ( Sir R. Peel) that
the army was three times larger than it need be, were it not
required fur the protection of the colonies. Well, then, it
appeared that these colonies did not pay for their own govern-
ment. Every one must be aware what a cruel service was that
of the West Indies. Why, the Secretary at War bad actually
refused, on one occasion, to make a return of the mortality of
the regiments employed there, alleging that the details, if
published, would so horrify and shock the English community
that it would be dangerous to the public service. It might be
that these islands were of such importance as to justify the out-
lay on their account ; but let it be understood that it
was for the purpose of protecting these islands that the
people were called upon to make a sacrifice of 32,000,000/.,
besides a million more for the army. He would ask whether
that presented the colonial dependencies of this country in a
very favourable light ; and whether, when such was the case,
it was not necessary t 3 give some very powerful reason why
the people should be mulcted, he might almost say cheated, in
order that money might be poured into the pockets of the
colonial proprietors ?—( Cheers. )
Mr. W. MILES said it was an admitted fact that the West
India colonies had for several years been suffering great distress.
A fair remuneration was all the West India proprietors asked
for, and all they expected to have. The Hon. Member for
Manchester seemed to think that it was very easy to make a
fortune out of an estate in the West Indies. That was not the
fact, which the Hon. Member might discover if he would take
an estate there. He (Mr. Miles) regretted that the Right
Hon. Baronet did not intend to propose the continuance of the
duties for a longer period than to July 1846, and he trusted the
Right Hon. Gentleman would re-consider this point. With
respect to the motion before the House, he would say, that
seeing the large expense to which this country was put in sup-
porting a force for the suppression of the slave trade, he thought
it would be most unwise and impolitic to admit slave-grown
sugar at an equal amount of duty as that produced by our own
colonies, or that manufactured by free labour in a foreign coun-
try. He had always supported the principle of protection, and
he thought the West Indies ought to be treated as an integral
part of the empire, and protection ought to be given to them ;
and if protection were given to them, he did not see how it
could well be less than that proposed by her Majesty's Govern-
ment. If the experiment of Coollie labour succeeded, the
West India proprietors would not only have a reduction in the
price of labour, but also have a sufficient supply.
If this were so, then he did not see why
the West Indies should not be able to send as great a supply of
sugar, and at as cheap a rate, as any foreign country employing
slave labour, for he believed that a free labourer would accom-
plish more than a slave, even though that slave were kept under
the lash of the slave-driver. All the West India proprietors
required was a fair day's work for a fair day's wages. He
trusted that hor Majesty's Government would not depart from
that line of policy upon which they had hitherto acted.
Lord HO WICK next addressed the House. He said he
hoped that the House and the country would observe that the
Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down—a great West India
proprietor—and the Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke before
him, being a member of the Government, had both explicitly
and distinctly admitted the fact which had been alleged on that
(the Opposition) side of the House, that the existing system
of protective duties must be regarded as a tax on the people of
been distinctly
(Cries of " No, no.")
distinctly admitted.—(Cries of
thisr.c his countryren a rktaob the
oh e
factex t
he na
dt
bf 3
No, no.") Hon. Gentlemen said no, but he appealed to
those who had heard the speeches to confirm what he had
said. The Right Hon. Gentleman the Vice. President of the
Board of Trade commenced his speech with an argument
which had become so hacknied on the Treasury Bench
that it was hardly worth while to reply to it, viz.
that this was merely aw abstract resolution. No
matter what were the terms of the resolution. He thought
no man who had listened to the debate could mistake the real
intention of the motion before the House. The object of it, as
hereduce, and to reduce at once, the duty
on
rate as the duty on colonial sugar.
understood,foreign sugarwast o the t o
same
He confessed that he would have preferred the question being
submitted in a Committee of Ways and Means. But after all,
the terms in which the question was brought before them was
of little consequence. He, for one, distinctly supported this
motion as a motion for equalising the rates of duty on foreign
and colonial sugar. It had been urged on his side of the
House, and not one argument had been brought against it,
that the effect of the proposed measure of her Majesty's Go-
vernment was to raise the price of all colonial sugar 10s. at
least beyond that which it would pay when sold to the con•
sumer. If that were not the object, he was at a loss to under-
stand on what ground they proposed a differential duty. From
what he could gather from the speeches of Hon. Gentlemen op-
posite, it was admitted that sugar could be produced in foreign
countries lOs. cheaper thaw it could be produced in the
British colonies ; and, therefore, they in.posed a duty of 10s.
on every cwt. of foreign sugar ; so that on the 230,000 tons of
colonial sugar, 101. per ton was imposed on the price
to the consumer. And when he heard Gentlemen call
that a system of protection to British industry, he was at a
loss to understand it. He had been informed, a few days ago,
and he believed already some change had taken place in the
;market in consequence of the announcement of the measures
of her Majesty's Government. He had been told, a few days
ago, that Brazilian sugar was sold at 18s. 6d., while colonial
sugar, of a precisely similar quality, cost 265. Now._ it was
quite obvious that 26 tens of foreign sugar at 18s. 6d a
cwt., and 18i tons at 263. a cwt., each coat
thete amount,sapmroednceofßritish labour of the value
of viz., 4811. That was to
precisely
e
say,rl l):
that
would the produce
exchange for sugar in bond for 26 tons of Bra-
zilian sugar, and only 18i tons of colonial sugar. Now it
must be recollected that these two sugars were precisely of the
same quality; and if the duty were the same, the price to the
consumer would be the same. The British manufacturer,
therefore, if fiscal regulations did not stand in the way, might
in exchange for his goods to the amount of 4811., get, not 18i
tons, but 26 tons of sugar. And yet this simple matter of ex-
change the manufacturer was not allowed to enter into. Fiscal
regulations stepped in the way of. British labour, and com-
pelled
obtain 2h6imtont
o tas. ke only
he
( 18b tons of sugar when he might
Howick) would ask Hon. Gen-
tlemen who had discussed the Factory Bill, and had advocated
the right of property amen had in his own labour, whether they
were consistent in supporting the proposition of the Govern-
ment ? Why did they not allow the labourer to get as much in
return for his labour? The evils of the present system were felt
by all classes of the labouring population. The Right Hon.
Baronet had told them last year that the Brazilians were so
unreasonable as not to admit our goods on favourable terms, un-
less we took their goods in return. He had told them that if
we would consent to admit their sugar on the same terms as
colonial sugar, they would offer no obstacles to the admission
of our manufactures. It was, therefore, clear that the abo-
lition of the distinction in the duties on sugar, would extend
our commerce, and stimulate the industry of our manufacturers.
If the Right Hon. Gentleman got rid of the monopoly of sugar,
he would do more for British agriculture, and other branches of
British industry, than if he drew tighter the protection it al-
ready possessed. Such would be the advantages of simplifying
the measure; and this advantage need not be purchased by any
sacrifice of revenue. By consenting to accept those advan-
tages, they would guard the revenue from that heavy loss which
the Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to incur.—( Hear, hear. )
The Right Hon. Gentleman calculated the direct loss to the
revenue by the measure he submitte
H. d to the House at no less
a sum than 1,300,0001. He (Lard ) believed the Right
Hon. Baronet greatly under-estimated the loss. He believed
the Right Hon. Gentleman's estimate of the probable receipts
for the ensuing year would not be verified ; but assuming it to
be correct, if they admitted foreign sugar at the same
rate as colonial sugar, this heavy loss would be covered,
least in
if not immediately, at a short time.
They would thus at the same time confer great
benefit on the consumer, and not cause any loss to the
revenue by the change.--(Hear, hear.) But he knew they
were told that this measure would be unjust to their colonies.
Now he would be glad to be informed in what respect it would
be unjust. They had already paid no inconsiderable amount
on account of the colonies. They paid the whole expense of
the civil and military cost of the colonies in the first instance,
and in the 'next they made a large grant for the purpose of
education and for the magistracy, and the bishops were paid
out of the Consolidated Fund.—( Hear, hear.) Now when
they paid so much for their colonies already, why should they
be called on to pay a further sum in the way of protection ?
When it was said that justice to the colonies required this protec-
tion, he should like that those who talked thus would ge a little
further, and explain for what particular class justice required
t that this burden should be imposed on the people