The weekly Anglo-African., 1859-08-06
WEST INDIAN EMANCIPATION.
70 The Editor Of The Weekly Angio- African:

ald' of this days date, an article relative
to the emancipation Of the colored class, of
the British West India Islands, | send you
this. In it he says the class spoken of
has not been benefited by the act, and
produces proofs las he supposes,) to bear
out his assertion, by comparing the amount
of exports twenty years back, with those
of the present day. He also asks: What
good has it done them"
The benefit they have derived from the
emancipation is the greatest blessing God
could bestow on man, and that is-free-
dom-freedom of thoughts, with the free
dom of expressing them-freedom of ac-
ton, bodily and mentally-and above all,
religious and political freedom. Here are
benefits to them which the writer of that
article cannot deny, if he possesses the
least amount of common sense, and if he
can, with honor to himself, free his mind
of the unworthy prejuices of caste.
We will take the Island of Jamaica, the
largest and the one Of most consequence
to England, geographically and otherwise.
No one who has any knowledge of this beau
tiful country, can attribute its present la
mentabte state to the emancipation. There
are twenty-five parishes in it, and nineteen
Al. Il l I
a casual, or more than that, partial obser-
yer of its different and very numerous
sources of wealth, or anything that tends
to its success, or want of it. To any one
who will confne himself consistently to
the truth, he cannot fail to notice the i'm
proved condition of the race spoken of,
morally and socially; from Point Morant to
Point Negril, he will see the land beauti-
fully cultivated, and clean, healthy Gotta
ges studding it from right to left, built of
such materials as the country affords, their
mountainous position making the carriage
of better impossible for their erection.
These houses and lands are, in seventy
five cases out Of one hundred, the proper
ty of these people; and in many cases are
leased from the hungry proprietors of es-
tates, at fifty per cent. more than their val
ue, and their residing on the property
tends more to its interest than to its in ury.
On the other hand, those who prefer horses,
or stock of any kind, invest their monies
in that line; and it is no uncommon thing
to see in the possession of the colored class,
animals that would not disgrace the carri-
age of the most fastidious.
Many fine, noble animal have | seen
bestrode by member of that much-abused
class, when his Almighty" white brother
had scarcely shoes to tread in, and from
what cause?-laziness; and more frequent
ly from that vice that reduces man to the
level of the ute-drunkenness
Enter any place of worship on the Sab
bath day, glance around it, and where you
will find the sacred edifce crowded to ex-
cess, the colored class pouring out their
sacrifices at the altar of God, you will
look in vain for the white planter may
be asked whether they are actuated by
the " outward and visible sign, or the in
ward and spiritual grace" Iwould answer,
l know not; but could certainly not help
placing the most favorable construction on
it. The ruin of the planters is constantly
being talked of-the colored people won't
work, even if you pay them. How is it
that these unfortunate people are looked
upon as the only class to till the soil |
may be answered that, physically, they
alone can do it. ], for my part, do not
think that labor, where mind and body are
actively employed, can be more injurious
to the white man, than the sedentary life
of drunkenness and debauch, too general
ly indulged in by the Jamaica trader
Why should the poor colored man be ex-
pected to work from sunrise to sunset for
the paltry pittance Of eighteen pence per
day, thirty seven cents, when by work
ing on his own lands he will in day re-
ceive three times that amount as an equiv
alent for his days toll? Would the white
man work without fair days pay?
Would he work at all if he could live
without working2 I should say nay.
The colored class have schools of their
own, and their children also attend others
with the scions of the best white families
They now strive for their offspring to at
tain the education which, as slaves, was
denied them. They attend their different
places of worship, as fancy or membership
leads them, and, as general class, | free
ly assert that they possess more religion
and morality than the whites of this coun-
try. Murder, and cases of infanticide are
almost strangers to them. Burglary and