New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-05-26
:, IlRoR IN BRITISH GUH ma AND
BARB4D0ES.
Fourth Article
POPULATION OF GUlHNA-FlRsT STEPS
TOWARD EMANCIPATION.
IFourth Article

TOWAhD ET<ANtif iIoN.
u,rrtly after the fOnsaal cession of the Guiana
..,,0,es to Great Britain the Slave Registration
-. x,,s russed ~ the British Parhsmcnt. This
at applicable 10 all the British slave colonies, was
;,,epded az check upon the further introduction
AZ African slaves numbers of whcm in spite of the
,eyal 4solition of the African trade, continued to
he elandestinely intSvduced into those colonies
where slave labor Was most profitable. The mum
her thus introduced into the Guiana Ceicnies had
probably been q,Ete sufficient to keep thc slave
incubation MP 10 the amount at which u s'oou
whom the trade was mSse illegal, According 70
fine first reter ration, made in lSl7, the 'ctsl
,s s,avss in 'fne Guigna Colonies was lSi,7i2 J
of whom u 1863 were registered IN Demersra ana
Ensemble and "a, SO in Berblce. vi IRE whoto
,,,,,,her n i7s weys males, and only a. l39 So |
r,alas lrIis greatssxcess of mshs, ams untlns TO
10 .ot WAS the result of the African sSye-trSde,
~ n,heh more males than Semales had been intro
dpced. In Denerara and Essequibo there 'Tere
ont of the whole number, AZ, pa native Africans,
and "a, $3.50 ortsle slaves, that berg the distin-
finishing appeIEtion given to such az were bornn
the colony. OF the slaves Of Demerara and Esse-
qibo there we're, Of five years old aud under,
slA. from We to tea, 4l2; FROM ten TO thirty,
1924; frDsl thirty 10 forts, 1885; frem fory to
6ftv. 7.4I4. and Over fifty, 1891 The details of
the Berbce registration "a to birth and ages have
never appeared in print.
The oInonents OF the abolition of the slave trade
had maintained that as it would be impossible for
fhe plantations without regular supplies from
Africa, to keep up the number of their Slaves the
colonies in consequence of the abolition of that
trade, must necessarily go to ruin. To tbs 1t had
been answered that by proper indulgences to the
women, and proper attention to the care OF the
young children, the slave population might not
only be kept up but might be increased in number.
Immediately subsequent to the abolition of the
slayetrade the planters seem to have turned their
attention to domestic supply and the number of
children under ten years Of age, indicated by the
above return appeared TO favor the idea of thus
/ keeping UP the population But subsequent regis
trations, as we shall see, did not support this an
ticipation
The excess of males above females, the dis
proportonate number of those between thirty and
forty-nearly double what they would have been
in a normal condition of the population and the
very small proportion of those over fifty, made
the effective force of the slave population at the
time of this first registration much beyond that
TO be expected from population equally numer-
Gus but sustained by natural increase.
There is no exact account of the free population
of the Guiana colonies at the date of this first
slave registration; but to judge from enumera-
tons subsequently made, it could hardly have ex-
ceeded some eight thousand, OF whom three thou
I'D NH and +ba ind fraa
solored and free blacks.
The small number of whites who alone, in a
legal point of view, constituted the community,
consisted, in a very large proportion, of men.
Marriage was an institution not much in use, aud
the number of white women and cbildren
sequently small. This white population embraced,
iu the first place, the officials, the Governor,
Judges, and the holders of various Offices con-
cerned in the administration of colonial affairs
Many of these offices were held by patent for life
Some of them, paid by fees, were very lucrative.
At first the old Dutch officers were continued in
their places, but they died out, successors had
been sent from England.
Next came the resident prOprietOrs, who con-
stituted sort of superior class, to enter into
which, if possible, was the great object of amb
these resident prOprietors was, however, muchleSs
than that of the plantations, few persons cared
10 reside in the colony whom necessity did not
compel TO do So The proprietOrship of many of
these resident planters indeed not much
more than nominal the substantial ownership
being in certain British mercantile houses, to
which the plantations were mortgaged and to
which the mOrtgagOrs were obliged to ship the
produce. In many cases plantations were the
property of these houses, carried Oh at their risk
and expense but their policy generally was to |
secure to themselves the certain profits upon the |
transportation and sale of the produce, while they
found somebody else to take the risk of seasons,
cultivation, crops, and prices. Hence they gener-
ally stood ready to sell for moderate sum down,
taking mortgage for the remainder; or, where |
the purchase was made Of an independent proprid-
tor, to advance on mortgage q large part Of the
purchase money, in order to secure to themselves
the shipment and sale of the produce.
II was by means, principally of advances thus
made, that about the time of which we are now /
speaking, the sugar cultivation in the Guiana
colonies underwent a decided extension The /
growing competition frOmth United States render
ing the cultivation of cotton less and less profitable,
the plantations on portion of the sea coast were
applied to the cultivation Of sugar. The second aud
third depths were taken up for that purpose, and
occasionally two, three or four lots united
into one plahtation-a mile in front with five or