The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-20 00:00:00

June 20, ISM

WEST AND EAST INDIA COLONIES.

On Tuesday, pursuant to a requisition, numerously and
'respectably signed by bankers, merchants, and traders of
Liverpool, the Mayor convened a public meeting of the
inhabitants of the borough at the Session's-house, Chapel-
street, for the purpose, as stated in the requisition, of
considering the late measures of the government in con-
nexion with the East and West India Sugar Colonies, and
how far they have been effective in carrrying out the views
`contemplated by the Slavery Abolition Acts; and also to
'consider the expediency of giving our approval and sup-
port to the resolutions recently moved and carried, in
reference thereto, by our member, Sir Thomas Birch, in
'committee of the House of Commons." At twelve
'o'clock the Mayor, T. B. Horsfall, Esq., appeared upon
the platform, and took the chair amid rapturous apd pro-
:;Ned cheering from every part of the spacious building.
.un his right and left we noticed a great number of our
leading merchants and tradesmen.
The TOWN-CLERK commenced the proceedings by
reading the requisition which had been sent to the Mayor.
The MAYOR then rose and said,—Gentlemen, I have
'convened the present meeting on the same principle on
which I have convened several others ; for the purpose of
affording the inhabitants of this town the opportunity of
expressing, in a legitimate and constitutional manner,
their opinions on passing events, whether those events are
circumstances connected with the commerce of this coun-
hor whether they are connected with British philan-
ropy. (Cheers.)
Mr. F. SHAND, in moving the first resolution, contended
that the act passed for the abolition of slavery in 1833
had failed in its anticipated effects. He complained that
the great measure then propounded bad so far signally
failed; and that not because it was not practicable—not
because it ought not to have succeeded—but because there
had been no pains taken, because there had been no efforts
made. by those who had the power, to give it success.
He said it was because, after the act was passed, a change
took place in the councils of the nation, and inconsistent,
unreasonable, and unjust demands were made from the
colonial proprietors. Mr. Shand, after some other ob-
servations, continued I find that in 1833, the year in
which the abolition act was passed, the growth of sugar
amounted to 3,646,205 cwt. ; at which time Lord Stanley
the that so
advant
the much had the quantity produced exceeded
a
1,000,000
consumption, that he really thought it would be an
_e
_age to the West Indies if they made less. They
andd h cwts. annually beyond the consumption,
less. e said they would get higher prices if they made
s. Let me observe, that from 1834 till 1840, a system
of regulated labour, under the name of apprenticeship,
Vas to have been established. I find that the average
returns for the next four years were very little less than
in 1833. They amounted, on the average—and there is
not much difference, the last being rather the most, to
3,488,363 cwt. But in 1838, by, I must say, an extraor-
dinary caprice of legislation—a shameful violation of the
-compact of 1834—the apprenticeship was abruptl7, with-
out any consideration to the planters at all, put an end to.
What was the consequence of this act ? The consequence
was that in the three following years the return fell off
from 2,824,372 cwt., to 2,214,764 cwt., and in 1841 to
2,147,218 cwt. ; making a difference of more than
1,100,000 cwt. annually. Results like these certainly
called forth many complaints. They led also to the most
vigorous efforts on the part of the colonists, who sought
in every part of the world, and made many struggles, to
obtain labourers for their deserted fields. Without stop-
Ping now to count the cost of so doing, I will refer to the
consequent result. In 1842, which VW the last of three
years during which they had exercised the greatest dili-
gence in procuring additional labourers, the production of
sugar, which had fallen to 2,148,000 cwt., rose to 2,531,725
cwt., and went on increasing, with the exception of 1846.
Which was a very dry year, till in 1847 it again reached
3.202,775 cwt. I may add at this point, too, that the
East Indies and Mauritius had not been standing still.
They had come on with giant strides. So that in 1847
the production of British sugar alone equalled, within a
trifle, the whole consumption of Great Britain. I might
discuss at some length many of the modes in which the
Measures of the colonists themselves were thwarted by
the Government. But I have limited myself to this one
fact, and it is the fact on which I ground my complaint,
that the system of free labour has never had fair play,
and that it has given such evidence of success that it
ought not to be abandoned at the present moment. And
Yet abandoned it must he—l say, abandoned it must be,
if the British colonies be left to the operation of the Act
of 1846. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I said before that
I would set aside the cost, yet I cannot but bring it to
bear in favour of my argument. I must now add, that
the outlay of procuring labourers, and paying such very
high wages, and in attempting the improvement, cultiva-
tion, and manufacture of sugar has been so enormous
that, great as you considered the compensation to have
been, and high as you recollect the price of sugar was,
'Yet it has all been expended through these channels, and
We must fall if we are to be brought into competition with
the foreign slave dealer—the man who grows sugar under
the Act of 1846. We did pledge ourselves under the
Emanciyation Act to an honest effort to make free labour

successful. And I say we-have not done so ; that we
have not allowed it fair play ; and I do not think this
nation has done justice to the undertaking which they
then entered upon.
CHARLES LAWRENCE, Esq., briefly seconded the reso-
lution, which, together with all the others carried on this
occasion, as well as the memorial of the House of Com-
mons, and the amendments proposed. seconded and re-
jected, will be found in our advertising columns.
Mr. W. RATHBONE, seconded by Mr. C. HOLLAND,
moved an amendment to the first resolution, which was
put and lost.
Mr. ADAM HODGSON proposed the second resolution,
and in doing so said, we ask that the expectation which
was held out by the minister of the day, and which was
supposed by the West Indians to be guaranteed by all that
Was binding in those arguments of morality—all that was
enduring in those pleas of humanity—all that was sacred
in those considerations of religion—that that expectation
should be fulfilled. Now, what was that expectation ?
That he should be in a measure sustained while passing
through the transition stage of a difficult experiment ;
that be should be supported till the new social system
should be consolidated, and that he should have the honest
and cordial co-operation of the British people while carry-
ing out the new, and, as the West Indian alleged, the ha-
zardous experiment of the untried mode of cultivation you
had forced upon him. This was what was asked, and as
an honest man I ask of you to afford this. I ask it as an
abolitionist. I ask it as an Englishman anxious for fair
play, and that our engagements to the West Indian should
be fulfilled. lam persuaded that the more the question
is understood, the more you will find the country true to
herself, true to the memory of the great men I have men-
tioned, true to their eloquent efforts of twenty, thirty, or
forty years for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery

--you will find liat the country, truetohe;;lf,Toiter
principles, to British feelings, will never acquiesce—never
long and permanently acquiesce in a course of legislation at
variance with her expectations, her consistency, her cha-
racter, and her religion—(much applause.)
The Rev. THOMAS NOLAN, in seconding the resolution
alluded to the question as being one of common humanity
as regards the negro, and one of common justice to the
West India planter. The measure of 1846 has had the
effect of stimulating the slave trade. The importation of
Slaves, as had been proved by Mr. Hodgson, had been
doubled as compared with 1844 and 1845. In addition
to the proof afforded by the previous speaker, Mr. Nolan
quoted the evidence of Dr. Cliffe to the effect, that the

Only Brazilian ship that ever captured-;slaver was corn-
ruttided by an Englishman, and he was dismissed the ser-
vice, and that since the West Indian islands have been
crushed, the sugar plantations of Brazil have risen up to
a large extent. On such evidence, and there was abun-
dance of a similar kind, were they inconsistent as aboli-
tionists in seeking for a modification or a repeal of that
law which had aggravated all the iniquity against which
tney protested. England as a nation was guilty of it : let
it not be charged on the West Indians. It was England's
law : it had the sanction of England : it was supported by
the nation. Let the nation be just. That is the great
ground ; and we take the next, the anomalous position
England places herself in. She is wasting the flower of
her navy in guarding the poisonous estuaries of the African
slave coast, at the very time that by her legislative enact-
ments at home she is holding out a premium that renders
the putting down of slavery impossible. I recollect, Sir,
having heard—and in this company I shall be easily cor-
rected if I am wrong—that so long as the premium or duty
on any an article exceeded such a per centage on its value,
to put down smuggling in that article was impossible.
Now the premium on slave sugar by the act/of 1846 is so
great, it stimulates so much that it will be impossible to
put down that most abhorrent of all systems of smuggling
that traffic in the lives of responsible beings like ourselves,
the creation of the same God. This is the great ground
to which we come • and if we speak feelingly—and why
should we not ?—of one portion of our community, the
West India interest, and it is a mighty one, let us not be
'understood to include the West India proprietors alone.
I look on the negro as his dependan` : and I regard
their interests as inseparable. One ( ulna prosper by
the detriment of the other ; and that philosophy, or
Political economy, or whatever you may please to
call it, must issue in ruin, that attempts to elevate
the labourer, whether white or black, at the expense
or to the prejudice of the man who employs him.
Ere I sit down, I will make one observation that will, I
110Pe, cause a thrill through the heart of every man pre-
sen for I address you as free-born Englishmen who love
Fill hurt, country. I hope the insignificance of the speaker
not detract from the importance of the remark he i
!tanut to make. I speak to Englishmen who have ens3°Yed the shelter and protection of that blessing and mercy
Which God has given to your country. I ask you to recal
'lliad the blessings extended to your own highly favoured
many , and to remember that God has honoured her in
Christian, ways and has extended to her the blessings of a
people, a preached Gospel, and a righteous law.
alrerything you have, and everything you are, depends
I,l°a the fostering blessing of God. Your ships, your
ies, your commerce,—those great pillars upon which
e,igtand's greatness stands, and stands the envy and
`iltiation of the globe,—these are some of her blessings.
She Stands unrivalled in the annals of the civilized world,
At
Wishes us to e
imake use of the means to uphold
lecountries that hnmercy hath given to us. Look
wre Compliment paid to your country during the recent
te e', if I may so call it, of foreign kingdoms. See the
40Pose that you have enjoyed here ! England is freedom's
yeBlll, (" No, no," followed by vehement cries of " Yes,
is f•. and applause.) I said, sir, and I repeat it that she
herfeedorn's home ! and that nothing but a suicidal act of
3•o4uwa can ever bear the arms of England down ! Do
fretoB,eft a proof ? Is there a foreign monarch banished
leo his throne ? Where does he seek for a home but
sier the noble flag and mighty arms of magnificent
~9gland
• Whose was the arm that stretched across the
VBllltYr, deep and that snapped the African's chains ?
she ''ngland loves freedom at home and abroad; and
It,,,,_ol:nes forward now in the representative of one of
of end greatest men—l mean the English merchant,
Kaye Past measures stultified, but to require that