The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-12 00:00:00

WEST INDIES.

REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Your Committee' have devoted their best attention to
the important subjects of inquiry Welt-were entrusted
to them, and have examined witnesses from the colonies
of St. Vincent'., Trinidad, Barbadoes, British Guiana,
Grenada, Antigua, St. Kitt's, and Jamaica.

The majority of those witnesses-were interested as pro-
prietors or managers of estates in some one or more of the
above colonies : but your Committee have also examined
other persons, who not only doubt the extent of the pre-
sent difficulty and distress in the West Indies, but differ
materially from the West Indian. Proprietors as to the
causes which have led to that distress, and believe that
the great advantages which have -resulted from emanci-
pation, have been unchecked and unalloyed by any con-
sequent evils.
Your Committee regard the evidence which they have
thus collected as being of a most important and inter-
esting character. It closely affectS that grand measure
of emancipation of which the British colonies in the
West Indies have been and arc now the scene ; it bears
immediately upon the future condition and prospects of
those valuable dependencies of the British Crown ; and
it has, therefore, a claim to the deep and deliberate con-
sideration of her Majesty's Government and the House.
Your Committee deeply regret that the advanced
period of the session to which their inquiries have ex-
tended, and the large amount of verbal and documentary
evidence which they have received, preclude the possibi-
lity of their now submitting to the House a detailed Re-
port, framed with that careful regard to every part of
the great subject referred to them, which its importance
requires, and which would be essential to a full explana-
tion of the opinions they entertain.
It is feared, on the other hand, that if the Report of
your Committee were to be postponed till the commence-
ment of the next sesion of Parliament, the evils and in-
conveniences of such a delay would greatly counterba-
lance any benefits which could result from the statement
of their opinions which they might then present.
Your Committee feel reluctantly obliged by these con-
siderations to restrict themselves to. the following t,eries
of resolutions ; which they therfure beg leave to iay
before the House, as expressing briefly but accurately
the- opinions which they have been led by the evidence
to form.

In recommending those resolutions and the evidence to
the attention of the House, your. Committee feel bound
to state, in conclusion, that they cannot regard the pre-
sent state of the West Indian Colonies, unsatisfactory as
it is, with any feeling of despair. They believe that the
distress now prevailing in those colonies is very great,
indicate
any requires immediate attention ; they cannot
any remedy by which they can be sanguine enough to
suppose that such serious distress could be speedily re-
moved : but they have offered suggestions, in the sub-
joined resolutions, the effects of which they confidently
hope may be ultimately, though gradually successful.
They believe that if those suggestions are considered
and acted upon in a spirit of equal justice to both pro-
prietors and labourers, prosperity may be restored ; and
that, under the blessing of Divine Providence, the world
may witness the complete success of the great example
which this country has aftbrded.
" Resolved,—That it is the opinion of this Committee,
" 1. That the great act of emancipating the slaves in
the West Indian Colonies, has been productive, as re-
gards the character and condition of the negro
population, of the most favourable and gratifying results.
" 2. That the improvement in the character of the
negro in every colony into the state of which this Com-
mittee has had time to extend inquiry, is proved by
abundant testimony of an increased and increasing de-
sire for religious and general instruction ; a growing dis-
position to take upon themselves the obligations of mar-
riage, and to fulfil the duties of domestic life ; improved
morals ; rapid advance in civilization; and increased
sense of the value of property and - independent station.
"3. That, unhappily, there has occurred, simul-
taneously with this amendment in the condition of the
negroes, a very great diminution in the staple produc-
tions of the West Indies, to such an extent as to have
caused serious, and, in some cases, ruinous injury to the
proprietors of estates in those colonies.
"4. That while this distress has been felt to a much
less extent in some of the smaller and more populous
islands, it has been so great in the larger colonies of Ja-
maica, British Guiana, and Trinidad, as to have caused
many estates, hitherto prosperous and productive, to be
cultivated for the last two or three years at considerable
loss, and others to be abandoned.

" 5. That the principal causes of this diminished pro-
duction and consequent distress are, the great difficulty
which has been experienced by the planters in obtaining
steady and continuous labour, and the high rate of remu-
neration which they give for the broken and indifferent
work which they are able to pro Cure.
" 6. That the diminished supply of labour is caused
partly by the fact that some of the former slaves have
betaken themselves to other occupations more profitable
than field labour ; but the more general cause is, that
the labourers are enabled to live in comfort and to acquire
wealth without, for the most part, labouring on the
estates of the planters for more than three or four days
in a week, and from five to seven hours in a day : so
that they have no sufficient stimulus to perform an ade-
quate amount of work. _ _

" 7. That this state of things arises partly from the
high wages which the insufficiency of the supply of
labour, and their competition with each other, naturally
compel the planters to pay ; but is principally to be at-
tributed to the easy tErms upon which the use Of land
has been obtainable by negroes.
many of the forme, h.nn cnst.
bled to purchase land, and the labourers generally are
allowed-to occupy provision grounds subject to no rent,
or to a very low one : and in these fertile countries, the
land they thus hold as -owners or occupiers not only
yields them an ample supply of food, but, in many cases,
a considerable overplus in money, altogether independent
of, and in addition to, the high money wages which they
receive.

" 9. That the cheapness of land has thus been the main
cause of the difficulties which have been experienced ;
and that this cheapness is the natural result of the ex-
cess of fertile land beyond the wants of the existing
population.
" 10. That in considering the anxious question of
what practical remedies are best calculated to check the
increasing depreciation of West Indian property, it
therefore appears that much might be effected by judi-
cious arrangements on the part of the planters them
selves, for their own general advantage, and by mode-
derate and prudent changes in the system which they
have hitherto adopted.
" 11. That one obvious and most desirable mode of
endeavouring to compensate for this diminished supply of
labour, is to promote the immigration of a fresh labour-
ing population, to such an extent as to create competition
for employment. - •
".12. That for the better attainment of that object, as
well as to secure the full rights and comforts of the im-
migrants as freemen, it is desirable that such immigra-
tion should be conducted under the authority, inspection,
and control of responsible public officers.
" 13. That it is also a serious question, whether it is
not required by a due regard fir the just rights and in-
terests of the West Indian Proprietors,. and the ultimate
welfare of the negroes themselves, more especially in
consideration of the large addition to the labouring
population, which it is hoped may 'soon be effected by
immigration, that the laws which regulate the relations
between employers and labourers in the different Colo-
nies, should undergo early and careful revision by their
respective Legislatures.
"25th July, 1842."