The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-22 00:00:00

planters of Jamaica. (

)e used of our own immaculate, reformed, and liberty

loving House of Commons ?

,he incarceration of

sheriffs of Middlese.

furnis

h the answer. The

plain truth is, that Jo

eph Hutne, and the rest of the

political economists, are far greater tyrants than any

that can be found in our colonial legislatures. Witness
the difficulty experienced by Lord Ashley and other
philanthropists in their efforts to curtail the hours of

labour of the pining juvenile slaves in our factories.
The heartless opposition which Lord Ashley has met
with from the idolators of Mammon in the House of

Commons, affords a most disreputable contrast to

the alacrity which the Jamaica House of

Assembly

has evinced to provide for the comfort and happiness,

temporal and spiritual, of the labouring population of
that colony. Factory owners in this country, aye, and

self-styled philanthropists in the British Parliament,
have yet much to learn from the maligned, traduced,
and persecuted planters of our West India Colonies.
The former land of slavery has now become an ex-
ample of humanity to England itself.

But to proceed. The Governor next recommends
the revision of several acts and the repeal of others,
most of which have been taken from the English code.
Among these laws were the Pound Law, the Hawker's
and Pedlar's Act, the Act ,to Prevent Cruelty to Ani-
mals, the law relating to Escape from Gaol, the Prisons'
Bill, and the establishment of Courts of Rgconciliaton.
With respect to the latter, he remarks, that he had re-
ceived cordial co-operation from all the parochial au-
thorities, and that the scheme had hitherto appeared
to operate with good effect. It enabled the labourimg
population, by the decision of juries selected entirely
from their own class, and, therefore, peculiarly well
acquainted with their habits and feelings, to settle their
disputes and collisions of interests, without having re-

course to expensive litigation. The same system has
been found to answer remarkably well in Norway and
Barbadoes. These Courts of Reconciliation have a
tendency to elevate the character of the labouring com-
munity, by accustoming them to the discharge of im-
portant duties, as judges in the affairs of their fellow-
creatures, whence it may be hoped that they will become
qualified for the performance of the functions of any
office in the community to which they may raise them-
selves by industry and virtue. The Governor adds
that "the juries evince aptitude and discernment in the
discharge of their duties, and seem duly to appreciate
the motives-and objects of the jurisdiction entrusted to
them." This testimony to the good conduct and su-
perior intelligence of the labourers is highly satisfactory.
Respecting the general conduct of the labouring po-
pulation, the Governor makes the following highly
pleasing remarks :

" I receive gratifying reports of the general conduct of the
emancipated population, shewing—that they continue to be
worthy of the praise graciously bestowed on them in her Ma-
jesty's speech to the imperial parliament. Churches, chapels
and schools, raised with the aid of grants from the mother
country and the island, or from the funds of charities and
societies, and in some cases at the expence of individuals, or
by local subscription to which, in many instances, the labour-
ing class contribute, are in the course of erection, in addition
to many which already exist, and more are continually re-
quired to meet the demand for education and religious in-
struction. Several savings' banks are in operation, of which
the labouring population laudably avail themselves ; and it
may be expected, and is to be desired, that more of these
valuable institutions will be established.
" I am happy to add, that a good understanding between
labourers and employers appears to be gaining ground, and
that the former are represented as becoming convinced that
their own welfare is linked with the prosperity of their land-
lords. When the real union of interests between these par-
ties shall be fully comprehended by both, the happiest results

may be expected."
Sir Charles Metcalfe then deprecates the practice of
regulating the rent of houses and grounds, with re-
ference to labour—that is, of diminishing the demand
for rent, as labour is or is not performed; and states
;hat labour is obtained with greater facility where the
rent question is separately settled. He recommends
,he substitution of job-work for day-labour, and a re-
4ular money payment, free from deductions, on ac-
rount of distinct transactions. We trust that the
-'ranters will recognise the wisdom of adopting these
•c4ulations, which, we feel convinced, are calculated to
lo away with much of the bickering and disputes
vhich have hitherto prevailed.
The subject of immigration next engages the atten-
ion of the Governor. On .this topic his remarks are
s following :

" In consequence of the combined insufficiency, and un-
certainty of labour, owing to the scantiness of our popula-
tion, and to the desire which men naturally entertain when
they possess the means to follow their own inclinations in
pursuit of their livelihood, the minds of all who feel an inter-
est in the general prosperity of the colony are turned with
anxiety towards Immigration, as the only perceptible mode
of alleviating the existing defect. I have availed myself of
the powers granted to me by the immigration act, and, with
a view to give effect to the intentions of the Legislature, have
nominated a commissioner, who has proceeded to America,
and thence to Great Britain, and an Agent-General in the
Island. The appointment of Deputy-Agents at the several
ports I have delayed until they may appear to be required.
The attention of the, government and of the public in the
mother country has been attracted to this important subject,
and there is some prospect of the immigration of liberated
Africans and other free persons from the coast of Africa.
Whether we shall derive benefit from the plans now on foot
for the promotion of emigration to the West Indies, must
depend on the advantages that we can offer, compared with
those of other colonies and countries, to induce emigrants to

settle here.
" With respect to one important point, our beautiful
Island presents in its highlands a delightful and healthy cli-
mate for Europeans and inhabitants of all countries, and in
the lowlands, one salubrious and agreeable to Africans, and

the natives of tropical regions. In other respects, with so
great a demand for labour, and such abundance of unculti-
vated land, we ought to be able to compete with other Co-
lonies. It is manifest that immigration on a large scale is ne-
cessary, not only for the developement of our still latent re-
sources—but even for the successful cultivation of the pre-
sent staples. How far we can obtain that desirable momen-
tum, is doubtful ; and in pursuit of it, whatever may be the
result, we ought not to neglect any means within our reach
of promoting the comfort, content, cheerful industry, and at-
tachment of the peasantry of the Island."
The Governor next alludes to the " signs of enter-
prise and spirit of improvement" which were visible in
the island, and especially to the agricultural societies