The Sun.
London, England, 1827-12-03 00:00:00

general be much more productive thun one where a
contrary system was adopted.
By Mr. W. HowroN—What length of time do
you think it would take before the colony(Demerara)
would be in that state, with respect to free labour,
as to make it the interest of the owners of slaves to

desire manumission ? •
Major Moody—L-It is inipoSsible for me to fix any
period. I have no means of forming an.

opinion.
Mr. W. HORTON—DO you think it would require
100 years ? •
Major Moody —I really ;cannot give a precise,
answer, but al; far as my ()pinion at,-the present mo-,
merit goes, I should not say less than 100 years.
Mr. W. HowroN—Taking all circumstances into•
consideration, you would not say less than 100 years..
Major Moody—Certainly not. The witness then'
went on to Say that he had seen cases •sntneient to
warrant him in the conclusion that free negroes were'
not so well inclined to labour, or so profitable on a

sugar estate, as slaves. Sir R. Woodford had give&
him (winless) a document, showing the compara-.'
tive produce of slave and free labour. From this it
appeared, that in 1824 1,069 free negroes were em-
ployed in the cultivation of their own land, and pro•,
(laced 222,290 pounds of cocoa, while in the same,
time, 1,600 slaves produced 2,200,000 pounds.-
'Taking the average value of this produce, the la-.
hour of the slave was worth 341. 4s. Bd., while' that
of the free negro did not exceed 5/. 3.,..10d:
In answer to questions from Lord, Bexley, wit-
ness said that'the free negroes also raised provisions
in the same year. He could not tell what proPor-
don of the 1069 were employed in the production
of the cocoa.

Mr. Hummer, in support of the,prayd of the me-
morial, then addressed their Lordships on the evi-
dence which had been adduced. The Learned Gentle-.

man then
prineipl proceeded
e nftheß erbticocontend e
nuie a
order, which
wrliaicirs
lit:;tahe was in
generali teffect.
nothing less than a violent abstraction of the pro-
perty of one set of men, at a value which others
might please to call compensation., If, he contended;
the order for compulsory manumission was carried-
into effect, justice to the owners of property in the
colony demanded that compensation should be made
for the whole lose of the property thus injured, or.
that means should be painted out by which that loss,
could be supplied. It could not be supplied by the
immediate purchase of another slave in the room of
him manumitted, for the sale of a single slave was
a matter of rare occurrence. They were generally'
sold in families. Another effect of this order would
be, that of putting the interest of the master in direct.
opposition to the . personal comfort and convenience
of the slave. At present the slaves in Demerara were
for the most part on," task work," which left a large
portion of time as over hours at their own dispOsal,
to be employed for their own profit. When the
masters found that the property thus acquired by
the slave was to be employed in purchasing his ma-
numission, even against his consent,he would change,
his system, and by making him work the full twelve
hours in the day, deprive him of the means of effect-
ing his (the master's) ruin. The Learned Gentle-
man next proceeded. to contend, that the supporters
iioentsoclnv7t:(e.ai9crlhlwintaahtrsoe sah.teteqnutieoantioonf
of the order were bound to show (if any thing of
the kind existed) what was the remedy for the in.:
jury which the owners of colonial property would
sustain by it. It was said that free labour would
supply the place of slave labour. That the tnemo-
rialists for whom he appeared begged to deny. The
negro would not work unless stimulated to it by
strong motives ;.without snch motives he would not
give more of his labour than was sufficient to supply
him with the bare necessaries of subsistence.—
The negroes of some of the Eastern: States of North
America were emancipated 50 years ago, and yet, so
far were they from having improved their condition
in that time, that a large portion of them were en"-
coumged and assisted not long back to migrate to
Hayti, where they were received as " apprentices,"
and as such were obliged to submit to compulsory
field labour. In 1821 slavery was abolished in
Colombia; and in 1825 it was found necessary to
introduce a law for the relief of agriculture in that
country. The Learned Gentleman here read several
extracts from the evidence, and from the report of
the Commissioners sent to Sierra Leone, for the pur-
pose of showing that no dependence could be placed
on the labour of free negroes for any permanent
effect. The case of Hayti ought to make a strong
It 0
uwl would u Ipdr 0
pb
ne
sdeaos
ikwnte
ode lieuretol
ifneootfitem etoi tilliloenanaelisrn)srtoe°snsr,ielaynal
conditionn d
impression on their Lordships. From the answers
of Mr. M'Kenzie, our Consul at Hayti, to questions.
sent out to him from the Foreign Office, it appeared,
what thee-
that since the' abolition of slavery in that colony, the
owradse
r. another
ie innwog
rhofoseteutenlhaa;:dletletoaiissii:l:lll y°teuamgdrnttyouohdtiety tiosotislreder ? This
sugar-plantations were nearly annihilated. Amongst
other proofs of this, it was stated, that the export of
0 hogss9eoo,ouotoof
th
at,
heir Lordships, that his
shuegnadrs;froamndSint.lDasotmyienar
it w
. could do, was to point
which the execution of the
They stood there to defend legally acquired.
clients did not appear there to proposefihtaifloyrpislraetlei
ips to what had been.. already done
oodnttTi
nhl
ruoei hdaegtmteierrty.rothehlLe weresyeAoovobediencenegroesurtel
Lordships
lr,dsyht
to the other regulations sent out.
Mr. Sergeant IiOSANQUET was now aboutl the
to
address the Council in support of the order, when
Mr. W. HORTON observed, that the Learned.
Gentleman (Mr. Hibbert) had quoted several au-
thorities against the practicability of managing an
estate with free labour. These were diametrically-.
opposed to other opinions from respectable indi Yi-
duals 'on the same subject.:—(Ffere the Right Hon.
Gentleman read some extracts from a work published,
by a member of the Anti-Slavery Society, in which'
n
were strongly insisted upon-)---Now, if such state-
the advantages of free labour above slave-labour
1 ments could be proved, it would be right that evi-
dence on the subject should be brought before their
Lordships.
shiMpsr.wSeicergae,avialiteßhonsawNoQuuldETnnslayidc,altihsatticitilixtn
their Lord
as were named in his instructions.
existed
subject,
he suchs t a lyeidd e
thus
i
iis publicly, Mr. W. HowroN did not mean to point out any
particular course to the Learned Counsel, but as
opportu-
nities would be given to' those who 'held those
opinions to come forward and state the grounds on
which they had formed them.
tiffehnicicelsy, of
that h opinion uon
ion
Mr. Sergeant BosANQUET now observed, that
' his, Learned Friend had produced and commented
on certain documents which had not before been l'e-
feried to, and that as they Were now, for the first
time, adduced, he was not prepared to reply to
them; and therefore hoped their Lordships would
Igive himhimahttle time to look over them.o
After some few observations as t there
th this
the most. con-
venient time, their Lordships adjourned the further
horing of the cause till Monday.