New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-01-30


has been no dimnution IN the growth Of sugar
since emancipation. On this point his lordshp re-
marked:
Now, that emancipation has put the negro On
the same footing as the white In point Of rights and
privileges. il is ut that should for amoment stop
to consider what his behavior has been under the
change, and nothing can be more satisfactory than
ell accounts Of the conduct of the slaves
CHE day of emancipation there was no instance
10 be found in all the Caribbean Sea Of intoxica.
ton or riot from intoxication. There was no riot
It Is true at fhat Time from the fact that the most
strenuous means were taken to prevent it, His
lordship then proceeds:
4 Then il was said, They will not work, The
result has proved the contrary. They are not al
all indisposed to work Give them wages, and
they will work. No doubt they will prefer cult
waiting their own yam gardens if you do not give
them adequate wages but when they have AIDE
quate wages they will work as we'll as can be de
sired not only III cotton and indigo, but at sugar
also. It was said at the time that the supply d
sugar would greatly fall on but We have positive
proof from The most undoubted authority tina,
where they are well treated. and proper wages are
given, the supply of sugar in the district is not d
ninished by emancipation Indeed, it was stated
BY the MARQUIS Of Sligo some years ago. in the
House Of Lords that there was one district in his
government HI having been Governor Of Jamaica
in which two.fold greater produce Of sugar had
been made BY free negroes than by slaves in former
times. That. admit, appears to have been Pc
culiar case. and therefore. do not mention it as
an average: hut as general rule, say that there
has been 40 dininuton id the growth Of sugar. and
III want Whatever Of men to work DIT proper
lsgares.v (Hear, hear.)
10 test the correctness OF this statement, it will
be necessary to make very concise examination
into the condition of the colonies before and after
tho abolition Of slavery and that we may see some
of tile " beneficial consequences = that have re-
sIlted since emancipation. We take the statistics
II te Island Of jamaica as being the largest of the
colonies, and extract from the g Encyclopedias
Britannia" except where other authority is given.
Ii 1907, when The slave trade was abolished by
England there were 32s ,S27 slaves in Jamaica. At
this period the island had reached the highest
pitch III its prosperity Its fields teemed with SUI
rar, coflee, cocoa cotton pimento, ginger and in
digo. The condition Of the island was most flour
jshinc and peace, harmony and contentment con-
tinued to prevail up to the time of the agitation
of abolitionism. The slaves we're rapidly advance
inn in civilization; they had happy homes, and
GOOD masters to provide for them and administer
"a their welfare In 1873 sixteen years before
slavery was abolished, says Martin, in his British
Colonial Library, vol i, t.there was under euItva-
ton. according to Robertson's survey of Jamaica,
Il00 900 acres in sugar, coffee and other pro-
ducts n, it is now estimated that there are not
over do estates in full cultivation In 1898, six
years before abolition, according to the Encyclo-
padia Jamaica employed in her trade 254 $50 TINS
at shipping in 1865 she employed but IS $50 tuns!
The average value of the crops of sugar, rum and
coffee for the last five years previous to the abo
ton of slavery WIS 81 79l ATS tho average of the
Il first five wears Of freedom was Ell 2I3 2S4-thus
showing that the effect Of emancipation was to re-
nce tie annual value Of the three principal staples
Of Jamaica to proportionate loss Of seven to six
teen! For instance. in 1880, four years previous
to the act Of abolitionism. the crop of sugar was
100 .2O5 hogsheads with proportionate yield of
rum and coffee; in 1886, the year after the slaves
were freed the cron fell to only an 0S7 horsheads
sugar, with d like decrease iii rum, coffee, etc,
which il shown by the certified Custom House re-
turns of Kingston. In 1899, the year after the ex
piration of the apprenticeship system and of total
emancipation, the sugar crop was only 40 243 hogs
heads, and in 1856 it fell to 20, 900 hogsheads. In
1877 Jamaica exported G2I ,674 pounds of cotton;
il ls55, only $50 pounds III cotton In British
Gliana the decrease Of produce IS still more start
ling. In 1927 it produced II l66 hogsheads of SUI
gar, % 1852 puncheons of rum, S,063, 1852 pounds of
coffee, and 1904 bales of cotton; which gradu-
ay fell of under emancipation, in IS43, to 35 1888
hogsheads sugar, 1886 puncheons Of rum l,42s, 100
pounds Of coffee, and but "a bales of cotton! Bar
BADGES ii is true, is an exception to this fearful
ruin and diminution, and the cause is easily &C.
counted for. The island is very small, and there
are no waste or wild lands as in Jamaica. For
example: In Jamaica II is estimated that there are
only 56 persons TO A square mile, according 70 ts
population, while in Barbados there are SIG
mouths to feed per square mile. On the abolition
of slavery, therefore, the negroes were obliged to
accept of the terms of the planters, who offered
to pay for their labor at price proportionate to
the cost of supporting them, which indeed hardly
varied their condition from what it was before
emancipation, except In name--the only alterna-
tive left being for them to continue their serytnde
under the new name OF freedom, or choose be-
tween starvation and emigration.
But it is needless to go further into statistics to
prove facts that have already become startling
horrors and outcries Of the eolonists, which Eng
land takes care to have stied, ere they can reach
her shores. fet IT - rnthfuily admitted IN the
Encyclopaedia, that the want OF adequate labor
has prevented Jamaica from competing with those
countries In winch, irom slavery or other causes,
there Is sufficient supply
S The following extract gives faithful picture OF
tne present condltlon 81 the emanclpated slave Of
Jamaica;
hitherto Its history lJamaica' %, since emancl-
patton mas been discouraging to the friends OF lib
cry. Inc negro on wnom the CULTIVATION OF the
Island depends mas graduaiiY retired from labor,
and refrigerated IN the social scale. This does not
arse from any hostile feeling towards the whites,
with Wnom ne usually ilSes on the most amlcable
terms " = the natural result OF removing all re-
stralnt from people low IN eiYlllzau0n, and con-
seqeentiy WIN lew arunelai wants, IN a country
Hhefe land Is superapunaahI. Inc Jamaica negro
Gan eaIn on sugar plah,aton enough In lew
weeks V puy small patch q freenoid land. me
Wood upon y iorms hls eotage inc vegelables,
winch grow almost spontaneously, supply him In
tolerable comfort When his little property does
not require his care he works from time to time for
hire; but as plantation after plantation is abandoned
and the country returns to its primeval forest he
is confined more and more to the society of his own
race; and though not more addicted to crime, is
rapidly receding into savage state. During sa-
very the Dissenting Ministers possessed great nfiu
ence over him; he now prefers the Established
Church. which costs him nothing, but he cares
little for either. Not feeling the want of educa