The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-09-16


terSened between absolu-e SLAYER" absolute
freedom. During this = tiod, the: ters were
required TO give certsiknnn1ber lays work
every week TO- THAR einsioyefs q owners;)
and whilst it was the inisrestI of party to
give as little as possibkSa wss q interest Of
the other to get as nseA AZ pct e for the
days work. These e51aieSrg rests, as
might have been exptsfd, wer constant
source Of litigation al dispute ween the
parties. HaI
The special Justices, s5pointed er the &C.
to sdjudicate between Nem,. wer eng con.
tinually called npon To-; eide as le alleged
sufhciency, or. Otherwise of The done by
The laborer as days rtk, orb practical
ly, they knew nothing; fnd it W, iemed ad-
vissble to furnish them with "a standard,
TO which they could re- Or for O. ice on all
such occasions. Three planters~ 3 accord.
ingly appointed by the Governor ,uncil, to
prepare a sacle of labor embsscit tie several
descriptions of work OF estates, the scale
as framed by them was after ap 81 by the
Governor in Cooucis iublshed geaeral
information, and becas se theme ward the
legal standard of, lAbore Chat in many
respects, greatly exceeded S,e GU, of labor
which the slave had 5fep accus ed to rem.
der. remember two pl hters, of them
yet living, and in the TisA "a, wb limited Is
much to me, in answer 10 .uquir:. ~ shortly
after its publication Ii the M { of cane
hole digging, in particIlar, tie e, 8 was just
fifty per cent. An aEkbodied .e dug one
hundred in day, and Cat was E N but pro-
verbal test, indeed, of-a trst-rsl Geld hand.
The scale, . copy Of VI ich il D. before me,
lays down the nu NIB ar 1t q 1907 fest coil
for the days work. Jest nnentie lis to show
that the scale was cersninly not up in the
| Int - 81 4
The introduction of iaplemens iusbsndry,
and other improveme3 !, in cot ton, have
rendered Q great porti6t, Of the on estates
20 very different from what It w Slavery,
that comparison as to labor il az difficult.
But have gone over scale Ia planter
friend, for the purpossS Of th saper, and
wherever the work il -1il che me, or so
nearly 80 as to render onpari fairly pos
ssible, find, in near every lance, the
tree laborer does morsS work ths hat laid in
the scale. The scales Cor exar gives "a
laborers, to cut canes aud loaf Its in the
field, to make hogsheeds of sue where the
juice is rich" and 80 lat6rers ~ o it is rank
and green" Now, IL Ebosers e. tiers and
loaders) commonly do Agas 1t the mill
and in the boiling. house TO make lays work
of hogsheads OF sugar sthe seal res total
Of 33 laborers, whilst the lumber is only o..
The slave, it mnst be rememb |, working
on coercion, deriving az persona oeft from
his work, worked univ aliagly- !ainst the
grain" 90 to speak--s1 the pr ,les of his
human nature being re solted, az =. lrown ints
opposition to his work. The free ,rer works
for bis own benefit, willingly, aud ccordance
with those principles, and car adily get
through an amount OF FORK, FRO sy to day,
that, persisted in for bhta few we * under ter.
ror of the lash, would he's everte ( | the slave
to death. Oar emsncipF q labor q point of
fact, are actually thrivii upon mount of
work considerably gre .ler thar rat which
Abolitionists not unjuf ~ chsrg az 3mur
derous" exaction from Nshe sic >. / have
met with people who cosat hot ur stand this,
plain as it is. t#s 9Th j
Z. Any estimate of tks actual x of slave
labor muah turn, in geAt part assumed
data, and " greatly OPP 70 die. -. have
seldom converted with "a plant n the sub.
iect, either in this or in Seighbo colonies,
who has not differed VT /. me n ally as to
particulars that should s embrt in the cal
culation, many colhnif it excl ely to the
maintenance of the els ea in io,f clothing,
&c, which, in my view, Constituted ot fourth
of the charge. A
The average wages OF free lab have been
pretty steady in this Island, sine .s5nancpa.
tiop, at twenty and twss sy.four for ordi.
nary work. Oceasionas%3 the la r may get
thirty cents, but this 1 excep al. | am
speaking, of course, of efficient lllt labor.
During the crop (sugsr making. ton) it has
been customary of late 30 pay tn, borers en-
gagged in the reaping and other IS uses on
sort of speculating jebbsng eontE 20 much
per hogshead Of sugar eaade--l b, depend.
ing for the most part on the stat : Z the wind
to turn the mill, may gise 80, r even 40
cents, or more, for the ssy,s ". or next 10
nothing. What may 81 the az g average
through the crop, cs mot pr, ue to say
The lAborers like it as sell q = planters !;
whether the excitement inducs LAY not be
one pleasing feature in Il, IS req Es the for.
mer, may be worthy of inquiry I dislike it
myself, because of its 60 slbling q Iacter, and
because, when we get j, 10 geuer' use more
steady motive powek tn N the d, it might
be very difficult to sitter Ike term Vt this con.
tract, az it now is, at tines, To il uce the Ia
borers, in fair resning s4athsr, give their
attention to other descrif lions OF 5rk required
on the estate during the cop SCI /.
But to return TO the qt stion CT imperative
cost. If~we take, IS w.fassure should, as
elements, into the calcu.s ion o. yards Sia-
very, not only the.cost Of .eding, thing, &C.,
but all the fiscal aud ota W CHI. ! incurred
on account of Slavery. Tor N lining the
institution" and insur 9 see. in the en-.
joyment of the peculiar .props it confer.
red add to this thu in ,est SIX of the
purchasemoney iupeste in ts~ .ves and
then ascertain the prope ion ofS pal work.
era to the ~hole number slav' the pro-
ductive value of their " *, div the cost
Of the wAole among thief ives, hen have
o pretty fair estimate of V Cost ave labor,
to compare with our ftsse lalp: 20 to "a
cents per day. have 40 ma of doubt,
myself, (having made the calcu before to-
day,) that the result would bel favorable
to free labor, as showing it chez by good
deal than that of the slaves. venture to
add, that the planters of th and could
never have borne uo a. theyl under the
equalization of the sugar Dr. = had tina,
measure come upon them with = Incubus OF
Slavery hanging about them hey would
have sunk miaerably under it. all know,
that have any acquaintance at tn colonial
affairs, that for some time bef .s abolition
of Slavery, with protection at height, they
were, in common with the prof ors of other
colonies, on the high road to tui their estates
heavily mortgaged, and, for most part
cultivated, OF, their o.rn sho.ois a q serious
loss, the cultivation being only sisted in to
furnish employment tor their slss whom they
were bound IN law 10 maintain. / remember
labored estimate of our Islaslf agents. Mr.
J. P. Mayors, himself propriS !, put in be
fore committee Of the Rouse L Commons
showing q loss CT Sd lsixpence) 81 sling per cwt
on sugar made In this Island ~ sold in the
English market; so that, As be d, the larger
the crop of sugar, the greater tAs ,es sustaine 4
in making j. Things are 4 different il
these days. It'll
| The Island agent had sort of ii o-mnisteris
function, and appoIalcd by the III ILeeis,a,ure
AT q respectable salary, 10 repttsen colony al IN
colonial Office and bring its sffars IN tyorabje con
sderacn OF the Minister "A commitie .te Iesislatur
| corre w the