Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1867-08-15
Judge Thurman and Jamaica.

Judge Thurman, IN MS wall o
terror at Waverly over the terrihl'
state of despotism in our country
and the untold woe to result from
the abolition of slavery, draws ,
highly colored picture of the evil
we are bringing upon our heads by
liberating the negro and giving hin
the rights of an American citizen
He cites as an example the present
condition of the Island of Jamaica
which was caused, he claims, by tht
liberation of the negroes In justice
to the colored people of the Wes
Indies, and the people of this coun
try, who are trying the experiment
Of universal freedom here, the othel
side of the story should be heard
and the blame for the state of affairs
that has existed for years in Jamaics
be placed where it belongs. An able
article in a late English Review
quoting copiously from the best wri.
ters on the subject, gives full state
ment of the present condition o1
Jamaica with the causes that have
lead to it.
1t shows that the temporary pros
perity in the early history of the
Island was produced, in spite of the
planters, by the aid of the slave trade,
and the heavy protective duties on
sugar, the staple product, but that,
with the abolition of the heavy tariff,
and the termination of the slave
trade, the planters, by their barba-
rous system of agriculture, which was
failure without an unlimited supply
of slave labor, soon became impov-
erished, and were far On the way to
rum, before the freedom of the
slaves.
In the words of the article, "there
can be no doubt that at the time of
the abolition of slavery the slave
owners were sinking rapidly and
surely into lrretrievable ruin, and
that slavery must have soon perished
by its inherent vices, weakness, and
decay"
When freedom was declared, with
an improved system of agriculture,
and an acceptance in true faith of the
new order of things, the decline in
the wealth and prosperity of the
Island might have been checked.
But the planters continued in their
old ways, and began system of IN
justice toward the negroes, that soon
stripped their estates Of laborers.
They forced them to work at the
lowest wages, and even then neglect
ed to pay them, being often months
in arrears to them for wages. The
planters brought ruin on their own
heads, and then laid the blame to the
negro's incapaclty, and refusal to
work, In a state of freedom.
The decline of the Island, was
really an effect Of slavery and was
continued under the state of affairs,
in the words Of the writer. ''by the
planters ignorance of agriculture,
their excessive idleness, and their
gross dishonesty in their dealings
with the laberers.
William Smith, long a resident Of
Jamaica, writing in regard to the
negre's desire to work, and the treat
ment received in the matter Of wages,
says. 'sthe best evidence I can ad-
duce of there being no general dis
inclination on the part of the negroes
to work, is the fact, that we met with
more than one instance, where they
had not received their wages for
many months, but were depending
on the honor of their employers to
pay them, and from some parishes
where the planters were the most
reduced, the negroes had migrated
to others, thirty to forty miles dis
tant, in search of work"
The negroes, under this state of
facts, with a proper forethought to
their own interests, left their old
masters estates, and sought work in
the mines and elsewhere, in order to
obtain support and acquire prop
erty. So we'll have they succeeded
in their attempts to take care of
themselves, that out of 100000
blacks in the Island, 10000 are now
freehold owners of land, with the
comforts and even luxuries of life.
Mr.. Bigelow, from whom Judge
Thurman quotes, says, "of course it
requires no little self denial and en-
ergy for negro upon the wages now
paid in Jamaica, to lay up enough to
purchase one of these farms. But
if he does get one, he never parts
with it, except for larger or better
one. The planters call them lazy
for indulging this feeling of inde-
pendance; but I could not see any
thing in the aversion of the negroes
here to labor that was not sanctioned
by the example of their masters, and
by instincts and propensltles COM
mon to humanity.
If space allowed we might give
extract after extract, showing that
L l.