The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1860-04-18
From the Jamaica Advertiser, Jan. 16.
The Result of Free and Slave La
bOr In the British West Indies.

DOr IN the Hr1tuSn w est indies. 3
.oas 7fnsigt sla- -1La!cfma bus ,yUTn
The public of Jamaica owe a debt of
gratitude to the Jamaica Colonist-
whoever that individual may be-whoi
has recently addressed the London
Morning Herald upon this important
subject. He has we'll remarked that
the cry Of ruin has not proceeded from
the planters of this island without deep
cause; for that with oil the energy,
skill, and economy in their mode of
management, they have one by one seen
their own hard earnings, or the here
ditary property of their ancestors melt
away under the unequal competition of
slavery, while they have been denied
the only means by which they might
have hoped for success. This is an old
story, but it can never, be stale while
the cause Of complaint, continues; and
as it is only by q e reiteration Of facts
that we can hope to convince the Brit
ish public of the grave error they have
been seduceda into committing, and the
serious injury they have inflicted, it is
the sacred duty Of every one who has
either pen or press at his command to
contribute as he can toward effecting
the desired end ea7ahei 12ff y 5a-s5
Despite the many facts and figures
which have repeatedly been adduced
during the last twenty years, in proof
of the melancholy fact that without a
due proportion Of labor to the land in
any country, and more especially in one
50 lavishly endowed with natural ad-
yantages as Jamaica, its resources can
neither be properly developed nor its
cultivation be sustained; and in equal
Defiance. on the other hand, Of the
proofs Of increasing productiveness Of
those countries, whether slave or free,
where this equilibrium is at all main
tanned, lit still continues to be con-
tended by . party whose antecedents
give them Importance, either that Free
labor cultivation has not diminished, as
we have represented, or elsewhere
admitted-that this has arisen from
circumstances wholly irrespective Of
the reasons assigned by US. To those
who are inclined to argue in this man
ner, the following facts are respectfully
offered: :, .-a-..T E.e,.....s..a.I
In Cuba, possessing slave-trade, the
production Of sugar in 1927, was only
100, 900 tons; in 1885, it had risen to
| $50, 900; and in 1852 it ha,!reached the
enormous amount of 100000 tons.
In the United States, also slave-cul-
tivated, the production of sugar, during
the same period, rose from $4,000 to
346, 900 hhds. .:s.-as1. 80 -. !,
In Brazil, also slave country, the
great staple Of that country, coffee, in
creased from 8 millions lbs, to $40 mil.
lions. .,ss.i.7,, ~
In Java, where q modified slavery
exists, the production Of both; sugar and
coffee has remained nearl, stationary
On the other hand Jamaica, which in
1905, during slavery, produced 10000
hhds. of sugar, and in 1914, "a mil,
lion lbs. of coffee; in 1856, after nearly
10 years Of freedom, with dispersed
and wholly inadequate population, ex.
ported only %, 900 hhds,, and 3 mil
lion lbs. of coffee .,af faa Oh ~
While Hayti, which under the man.
agement of the French, and with slave
labor, annually produced above 800 mil.
lion lbs. of sugar, and some 80 million
lbs. of. coffee; now, under a free sys-
tenn, does notsproduce sufficient sugar
for its own consumption, and de,
pends almost entirely on its cultivation
of coffee, which is also less than hall
what it was 60 years ago! .asm Hs.as
In Barbados, however, the free sys
tenn has worked well--and why? simply
because it is densely populated-con
tanning ten times as many inhabitant
as Jamaica, in proportion to its size
In this model colony, according ly, W.
find that the production now is jus
double what it was during slavery; while
in Mauritius, Trinidad, and Demerars
thanks to the command of Immi
grant labour to supply the deficiency
created by emancipation, the products
have also very considerably increased
although nothing certainly to compare
with the gigantic strides made by Gu
ba, the Southern States of America
and Brazil; or to compensate for the
loss sustained in Hayti, Jamaica, ant
other free islands of the West.