New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-06-09

that island daes the same thing. though vel aware
irum he contradictory mud icrecoocllable state
uents made TO him, as 10 ether natter, that con-
yerss'icn with the inhabitants If Havana, even
those who I'M CHIT be- supposed best informed. affords
ho very solid bsss upon which TO found opinons
The census of 1857 gives to the bland 81 Cab,
apopuntiop of l,IC7 49l. Setting aside this off,
cisl rec.Id Mr.. Dan. is inclined TO uske the pop
nlaion ht least d million and half The following
i. his sts,emeut on the subject Of the slaves:
cit is difficult to come Ia satisfactory conclusion
a. 10 tie iun Der uf slaves in Cubs. The census Of
is51 lus il at 3s5 Geo; bu, neither this
n at II lS3 j. to lie relied upon, this point The
Cubais taxed their slaves. aud the Guvernmeu
fiji il difficult 10 get correct returu-. NJ person Of
intelligence Cuba, however desi'ons 10 put the
lunh,r at Tie inwrs bas stated {" me At bees than
&r,tC0 Many set IL at 700,OD. | am ipcliuej to
tbrk that 6tt eco L. dearest the iruth.'
Tie fact that Intelligent Cubans while denying
the correctness Of the government enume rs'ioes
differed much in their estimates Is of itself
PRETTY strong evidence that however incorrect the
government Genus may be, their own estimates
were 10 better than guess-woGk. Some other
pumerical estimates referred to by Mr Dana, show
bow very little in questions Of this sort, these
that he heard the uuulber of Coolies in the Island
estimated "by intelligent and well-informed Gu
bals" at 2C0,CO0. Others put IT as low as oo,Ooo
Z" Certain il is" adds Mr.. Dana, " that Coolies are
4, be- met with every here in town and country;
snd doubtless il was this frequency with which
they we're met With, that led to these rash est'-
mates as to their numbers. And yet We know
Of Havana u.fo IIpusp
that up to February last, just about the time at
Mr. Danas visit To Cuba, the total import of Coo
lies Into Cuba amounted only to 3O,5iO, 10 That
Without making any allowance for deaths, the
whole number in the island must have fallen
short by one half of the lowest estimate stated
above. Though these returns have been
published from tme to time, instead OF
referring TO them these intelligent Cubans
probably suggested TO Mr. Dams, the reuark
which be makes thst " the pudibcr imported may,
10 rome extent, be- obtsined from the records aud
and flies Of the AdIans, but not 81 as to be re-
" lied upon" Why not What possible motive
is there for any concealment or misrepresentation
The trade is Law ful. There is 10 duty on the i'm
ia ported coolies. Every vessel that arrives is
is more, her srrieal the number Of ber passengers
is regularly reported BY the Havana correspondents
of the New-Y"rk newspapers Certainly this
Custom House return based on an actual enumera-
ton, giving both the number shipped and the num-
Der arriving alive, is worth far more than any
mere guess, based on the frequency with which
Coolies are seen in the streets or ON
the plautatioDs. Suppose auybody were to
undertake. to determine the nuubec Of colored
people in the city by the same process, what
reliance could be placed such conjrctares
But apart from mere contradictory estimates aud
census returns Of which the correctness Is ques-
toned, there is another means Of get ing at the
slave population of Cuba. The animal exports OF
ibe islano may be set down at an average Tor ten
years past OF less than thirty millions OF dollars.
There exports are produced almost entirely by !
slsye labor, while it Is to the production OF Theses
expoItabe articles that the slaye labor is almost
exclusively dev It'd. Now if W. knew what is the |
average product to u .lase of these exp.rtable ar
tcl.s, We might form pretty correct guess as to
the number Of slaves employed in producing them,
and adding to this number reasonable allowance
for slaves employed in domestic service and other.
wise unprodncliy-ly, We might approach pretty |
neorl, the true number of the slave population.
We find in Mr.. Dana's book the basis OF two
estimates ss 10 the amount If sugar aud molasses-
the Two great Objects OF Cuban exportation-pro-
duced per seod of plantaiion negroes. He spent
some days on a sugar plantation, on which there
were ole hundred slaves, out of whom twenty-five
acre children below FIVE years Of age--an uousual
proportion in Cuba--snd never more than half at
al, time capable OF efcieut labor The annual |
value of the sugar aud moasses produced on this |
plantation could not average, he tells us, less than
between $685. Geo and $40, 600. That is to say, |
these hundred negroes, young and old, sick and
well included, averaged production OF from $3.50 |
to SiC0 per bead.
Seine Americans who had visited another plan |
tatioD, gave the produce on that, worked BY three
buudred and twenty slaves aud twenty coolies, at
SIO4, GOO, or a little over $500 head
Let us, however, make all due allowance for
extravaganza in these estmstes-though the last
piye only fourteen per cent profit and the other
from eighteen to twenty per cent op the invest
ment. Let Us suppose that plantation slaves, Ia |
fact, average 10 more that 800 head II ~e |
accept MI Daua's estimate of the market value OF |
the slaves, at 8, 900, taking s together. men,
"a women ond children the young and the old, the
sick aud the well, the good and the bad; recol'
l,ctpg, a.o that the Cuban slave is but n short
lied aoimal, this would seem the lowest amount Of
produe. the gross It will be recolected-not the
bet produce-cOhssteht With carrying on the plan
tstions. At this raie it would take only 3oo,Voo