New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-11-14

sooner Deg than hold the plough OF ply the hoe.
OF course orc never sees Il wli;e laboce- on sheir
estates, and the colored people have 10 competi-
ticn for wages except with pe,sons Of their own
complexion. It IS unnecessary 10 add, that such
an estimate OF abor among the whites has a most
pcruiCious efectupon the blacks The With The
average sequence of negro logic, infer TINT II gen
ilenen never work, they have only TO abstain
from work to be gentlemen. Again, they revolt
from service which they think deyra1es them
and arc dsinclincd tolabor for 0hers more than IS
absolutely necessary for their own maintenance.
They render their services without any aacrity,
and without any desire or efor. to haze It reward
the employer.
It is owing TO tins unworthy pride on the part
OF the white people, and the eaeggatng effect Of
their example upon the blacks, that the former as
a mass, are almost entirely unproductye, and the
latter far less productive than they should be or
would be, if within the influence of healthier
public opinion. Between the two, there is no in
tellect invested In the indUsty OF the island. The
planter does not attend personally to the culture
OF his estates, and, OF course, does not avail him
self oil his superior capacity to select and devise
modes of cconomizipg labor, and in multiplying
the productive power OF his land. The operatives
have no interest to diminish the amount of labor
required, for that, they fancy, would bring down
wages, which now low as hardly to be
worth collecting after they earned; but if they
had they are mostly too ignorant to make the at
tempt successfully. The whites are generally too
proud or too lazy to supervise and teach the black,
and il they were not, they also are too ignorant
to do 1t, for they rarely give more thought 10 the
mechanics OF their estates, or possess more skill
in managing them, than the more intelligent OF the
negroes employed by them. The consequence IS,
that while the cost of labor has been advancing,
there has been no advance whatever in the me.
chanica and implemental economies of the island.
The second cause which he sets forth is
TIE NONRESIDEHCE OF TIE LANDHOLDERS.
Nine tenths Of the land under cultivation before
the Emancipation Act was owned BY absentccs,
and that proportion has not been diminished ma
terially, except by the abandonment of properties,
as it is callcd-that is, the ceasing to cultivate
them, selling of their movable Improvements
and furniture, and slrrcndering them to weeds
ang under. brush This disposition has been made,
as ! have before stated, Of some 100000 acres.
But the proportion of absentees has been made
up since, by the purchase Of deprecated estates
upon the foreclosure oil mortgages given to secure
absent money LENDERS Of whose operations | shall
speak presently. There are, therefore, very few
extensive proprictors Of land among the resident
population of the island
The blighting influence OF absenteelsm, and its
tendency to drive from a country its wealth its
intelligence, its ingenuity and Its patrIotlsm have
been made familiar to the world by the unhappy
experience of Ireland. nce& not speak Of them
the system in its operation here, which are not
quite so obvious Most of Me land is held by
English proprietors, whose residence has usually
been distant from it, at Least months sail.
This involves the necessity of employing resi-
dent attorney, to take a proprietary supervision
OF the estate, whose duty ii is to employ an over
10 conduct its tilage, and who IS expected to
advise the proprietor OF everything connected
with its management and to transmit the pro-
dc of bn Nk-ip
transmit.
The overseer occupies the mansion, usually
handsome house, where he is personally attended
by from three to five, and not unlrequcntiy Twice
that number OF servants, and as many horses, with
the aid of which he keeps an eye 20 the culture
and harvesting Of crops the employment OF oPer-
atives and the devising OF excuses Tor the short
returns which are sure to follow the indifference,
lazness and dishonesty which IN nine cases out
Of ten characterize his management
But this hierarchy of agencies Is not yet com
pete Each overseer has from one to three book
keepers, as they are called, the number depend
ing npon the size and productiyeness OF the estate.
| do not know of an estate with less than two,
and presume they usually exceed than iall short
of that number 1t is their duty, primarily, to
keep the accounts and incidentally, TO act as
checks upon the overseer; and it is the duty oil
the attorney to act as a check upon Doth' inso
different agents have to be pad conn SAW
Tor cdCn estate INV toH'
over SO coo year This sum has 10 oe oanol'
not To nav the interest nthe land or the in
n,ente not IN nav for the luborers 20 cum"
not 20 bring its produce to marf>e1' Dus :.
not exclusively, for services H"de necessary Wy
the absence OF the proprietor from eho i'"iu'
His estate has to make proht oil nearly SJooo
,v,rr me investment before he can receive far
PC If il fails to net that amount, IL is insol-
nt and if the proprietor have no other resources,
he must mortgage or sell at once. To escape the
necessity of choosing between such dsheartcning
he is compelled to draw rything
from the estate and return nothing. He turns all
IFS pro(uCc into money, ana ships it home as fast
as POSSIBLE, not leaving it one unnecessary day to
circulate in improvements, IN labor saving ma
chnery, in manurln8, or IN any other way, for the
benefit Of the estate, but all goes Off to keep
down foreign interest account to pay off mort
cages or TO be expended upon his support else
where.
OF course the estate gradually depreciates in
productlveness and valae under such q process OF
depletion, and the alternatives which the planter
seeks TO AVOID, he has only postponed he is final
~ compelled either TO borrow or sell.
The third cause is
THE INCUMBERED CONDITION OF THE LAND.
There is scarcely an estate upon the island
which is not moreaged, or which has not been
sold under mortgage sale. should distrust the
accuracy OF my information, il had not received
IL lioIh tie most authentic and reliable sources.
was assured ny the Attorney General of the ISL
and, an Irish barrstcr of high standing, and the
highest authority upon matter OF this sort, that
an unencumbered estate of any size or value,
was hardly to be found here. | verified his state
ments IN numerous ways, and by inquiries adj
dressed to those most likely to be informed npon
such subject, and found no difference OF opinion
about it. "A gentleman who had been for MAN.
years resident upon the island, admitted to me,
after some reflection that he could not cali to
mlnd an excePt;on-a single large estate that was
unencunibered
What makes the evil the greater is, that, in
most instances, the mortgages are lor much larger
amounts than the mortgagcd property is worth.
The reason is, that most Of the mortgages were
given before the abolition OF slavery and the sub
sequent depreciation OF property to which have
referred, and when West Indian estates were a
popular security in Mincing lane and Downug.st
say the mortgages were given before, because it
has not Seen nosslhln since thnn 70 hcrr,,,- 1891,