New-York daily tribune., 1865-11-27
rux DIsrURBANCKs IN JAMAICA

apo. have afforded q oongenial theme to cer-
tain section of tho press In this country, and no
effort has been spared to make the impression
upon the public mind that the affair was nothing
short Of widespread jacqusr'e, having Tor us
object the determination Of the white and brown
inhabitants of that island. A cursory perusal
of our Jamaica files by the last Kingston mail
led us, however, to quite different CONCLUSION;
and now that We have, by careful collation. OF
the accounts given in the different newspapers,
acquainted ourselves with all the facts OF the
case We are convinced that the outbreak was
nothing more than riot, which might nave
been suppressed without resort to martial
law. and the wholesale shooting and hanging by
which the lives Of thousands of the black pe0-
ple were sacrificed in tho short space oi three
weeks. Not only is there not a little oil EVIL
dence Of any kind published in the newspapers
in support of the statement that the outbreak III
st. Thomas was part Of o widcy-ramlheo pot
for the destruction Of the whites and browns
but the accounts of the so-called rebellion iur'
nished by the Jamaica journals-although all /"
parts-are of tho most self.cOntradictory charac-
ter A brief resume Of the main facts Will
enable our readers to Judge as to the correctness
of our conclusions
Il appears that, under apprehension Of some
disturbance among the blacks in St. Thomas,
owing to the resistance shown by many oil them
| IN the execution of warrant issued for the cap
ture of twenty seven individuals concerned III
the rescue of negro frou the hands OF the po-
lice the Chief Magistrate Of the parish called
out the vounteets-s small body OF men formed
| for the purpose of assisting the authorizes IN
the suppression Of local disturbances On the
day of tho riot tho volunteers were drawn up III
front Of the Court House, under arms, and. upon
the approach Of the mob, and before any eH-
cesses had been committed by the people. be-
yond the finging of few stones at the soldiers,
fired upon tho people, killing no fewer than SIX
negroes and woundng several. This was done
AT the command of the Chief Magistrate,
who was among the number Of those who
afterwart fell victims to the fury oil the
vopulsce Upon seeing their friends fall,
and the volunteers preparing TO load again, the
blacks attacked the Court-Iiouse, and then COM
menced the work Of slaughter. The magistrate
who gave tho order 20 fire upon the people, and
his particular friends, were singled out by the
mob. and these-and these alone, except foui
volunteers who fell in the attack-were killed.
Altogether, twelve lives, including the yolun'
teers. were taken BY tho blacks. Subsequently,
the same evening, one planter, awhile man,
was attacked in his house, and died the next
morning from tho wounds he received. Fol
these thirteen lives over two thousand black
have been put to death, and hundreds Of other
! whipped. receiving from fifty TO one hundred
lashes with "a cat " on the bare back while
whole townships inhabited by the negroes have
been reduced to ashes.
| Il may be- said that afrrI tne bioo'ly air~ir a,
Morant Bay the negroes committed excesses.
But what were those eIcesses' Beyond the
killing of the planter already referred To, not O
single life was taken by them. Not woman oI
a child was touched. Indeed, when, in the
alarm Of the moment. one white lady, with hei
children, was flying from her residence, "some
fifty Of the Hordly people" (blacks), soys the
correspondent of Kingston newspaper, with
dithfui. humane and honest hearts, mot them at
the foot of the hill" and took them under their
protection; and, in another case, o number o.
negroes "carried Mrs. Harrison, the wi.c
Of planter" on their shoulders and in their
arms from the plantation on which she resided
to the village of Bath" where she thought she
would be in greater safety than on the estate.
her husband being absent from home at the
time. The excesses committed by the
blacks consisted in the plundering o.
houses, whose occupants had fled in
alarm, leaving them to be pillaged by the roguef
and yagabonds who, in such circumstances o.
excitement and trouble as then existed in III,
parish, are always found ready to plunder. Mo-
can it be said that owing to the promptitud,
with which the military were moved to th,
scene of the disturbances, and martial law pro
claimed, the blacks bad no time TO carry ou
their intentions, for 1t appears that it was fully
"a hours after the Morant Bay slaughter before
the soldiers reached that place, and during thi
time had the blacks been SO disposed, they ha'
ample opportunity of perpetrating the inds
criminate massacre which it is alleged entere,
into their original plans; for, the police and tn
volunteers having been scattered, there was n,
force left in the parish to oppose any resistance
whatever to them. 1t strikes u.s. too, as some
what remarkable that not a single bod