Washington telegraph., 1865-09-27

will barely produce the necessaries of
life. 1t is quite right that we should
love the negroes; but | cannot under
stand that we ought to love them better
than ourselves.
But with the most sensible of those
who are now endeayoring to prevent i'm.
migration into Jamaica, the argument
has been, not the protection of the ia
maica negro. but the probability of i'll
usage to the immigrating African. In
the first place, it is impossible not to OBJ
serve the absurdity of acting on peti-
tions from the negroes of Jamaica on
such pretence as this. Does any one
truly imagine that the black men in ia
, maica are so anxious for the welfare OF
their cousins in Africa, that they feel
themselves bound to come forward and
express their anxiety to the English
Houses of Parliament OF course no.
body believes it. Of course it is per-
teetly understood that those petitions are
got up by far other persons, and with by
far other views; and that not one negro
in fifty of those who Sign them under
stands anything whatever about the mat
ter; or has any wish or any solicitude
on such subject. e ir---
Lord Brougham mentions it as mat.
ter of congratulation, that so large pro-
portion of the signatures should be writ
ten by the subscribers themselves
that there should be so few marksmen;
but it is a matter of congratulation tina;
this power in signing their names should
be used for so false a purposel
| And then comes the question as to
these elnigrants themselves. Though it
is not natural to suppose that theif
future fellow -laborers in Jamaica should
be very anxious about them, such anxiety
on the part of others is natural In the
| first place, it is for the government to
! look to them; and then, lest the govern
ment should neglect its duty, it is for
such men as Lord Brougham to look tC
the government. That Lord Brougham
should to the last be anxious for the wei
fare of the African is what all men eX-
pect and all desire; but we would not
wish to contide even to him the power
of absolutely cOnsummating the ruin OF
the jamaica planter. Is it the fact that
laborers immigrating to the West Indies
have been ill-treated whether they be
Portuguese from Madeira, Coolies from
India, Africans from the Western Coast,
OF Chinese? In Jamaica, unfortunately,
their number is as yet but scanty, but
in British Guina they are numerous. L
think may venture to say that no la
borers in any country are so cared for,
so closely protected, so certainly saved
from the usual wants and sorrows Incl
dent to the laboring classes. And this
is equally so in Jamaica, as far as the
system has gone. What would be the
usage of the African introduced by vol
untary contribution may be seen in the
usage of him who has been brought into
the country from captured slave-ships
Their clothing, their food, their house ac-
commodaticn, their hospital treatment,
their amount of work, and obligatory pc
riod of working with one master-all
these matters are under government sur
veillance; and the planter who has the
privilege allotted to him of employing
such labor becomes almost as much sub
ject to government inspection as though
his estate was government property.
1t is said that an oblig tory period of
labor amounts to slavery, even though
the contract shall have been entered into
by the laborer of his own free will. l
will not take on myself to deny this, as
1 might find it difficult to define the
term slavery; but if this be so. English
apprentices are slaves, and so are inden-
trlred clerks; so are hired agricultural
servants in many parts of England and
Wales; and so, certainly, are ali our SOL
diers and sailors.
But in the ordinary acceptation of the
word slavery, that acceptation which
comes home to us all, whether we c;n
define it or no, men subject to such
contracts are not slaves. .