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

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
that labour is obtained with greater facility where the
rent question is separately settled. He recommends
the substitution of job-work for day-labour, and a re-
gular money payment, free from deductions, on ac-
count of distinct transactions. We trust that the
planters will recognise the wisdom of adopting these
regulations, which, we feel convinced, are calculated to-
do away with much of the bickering and disputes
which have hitherto prevailed.
The subject of immigration next engages the atten—
tion of the Governor. On this topic his remarks are-
as 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 inclination 4 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 cif Africa.
Whether we shall derive benefit from the plans now on foot

`or the promotion of emigration to the West Indies, must
lepend on the advantages that we can offer, compared with
hose of other colonies and countries, to induce emigrants to
,ettle here.

" With respect to one important point, our beautiful
sland 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-

voted land, we ought to be able to compote 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

acquainted with the state of Jamaica must know that
there is no more fear of a return of slavery in the
island, than there is of its establishment in England—
that the emancipated population of Jamaica are as free,
as independent in their conduct, as well conditioned, as
much in the enjoyment of abundance, and as strongly
sensible of the blessings of liberty, as any that he
knew of in. any country. 'We should say, indeed, that
the free labourers of Jamica were far more comforta-
ble, in every possible respect, than nine tenths of the
labouring and operative classes in Great Britain.
The Governor strongly repudiates the idea that
coercion is resorted to in order to cause the Negroes to
labour. On this subject he offers the following sen-
sible remarks :

`• Every one who reflects must be aware, that in a land
where the demand for labour is pressing, and the supply in-
adequate--where the people have, in most parts, means of
support, which precludes the necessity of continuous labour—
where the desire to live at ease may, to a considerable extent,
be gratified—and where uncultivated and fertile land is abun-
dant and procurable at little cost, positive coercion is, in the
nature of things impossible ; and that the virtual coercion
which, in all countries, is imposed by the necessities of the
labouring man, is likely to be less here than any part of the
United Kingdom. To those advantages may be added, that
all disqualifications and distinctions of•colour have ceased—
that men of all colours have equal rights in the law, and an
equal footing in society ; and that every man's position is
settled by the same circumstances which regulate that point
in other free countries where no difference of colour exists—
that civil and religious liberty is universally enjoyed in as
great a degree as in the mother country, and that we have a
press as free as any in the world. Such is the present con-
dition of this colony, in those respects, and it may be asserted
without fear of denial, that the former slaves of Jamaica are
now as secure in all social rights as free born Britons. Let
it be our study, gentlemen, to confirm, and if possible im-

prove, this happy state."
The Governor next compliments the House of
Assembly, by saying that he was sure " they would
not advocate the continuance of any laws in their pre-
sent state, of which the provisions could be amelio-
rated." He did not see any reason why their laws
should yield in civility or liberality to those of any other
land. The discontinuance of the use of the treadmill
and corporal punishment for adult criminals, was a
proof of the disposition that prevailed to avoid seve-
rity. "If there be laws," he added, "of any country
milder than those of this island, I will venture to say
for you that you will gladly adopt the mildest laws
that have ever been devised." Our readers should
bear in mind that this language is applied by a Whig-
appointed Governor to the so-called " tyrannical and
oppressive" planters of Jamaica. Can such language
be used of our own immaculate, reformed, and liberty.
loving House of Commons ? Let the incarceration of
the sheriffs of Middlesex furnish the answer. The
plain truth is, that Joseph Hume, 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'
I Bill, and the establishment of Courts of Reconciliaton.
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 labouring
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. Those 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
•