, 1873-08-02

ished with six weeks imprisonment, and
to this even Mr. Harcourt enthusiast as be
is for the rights ofthe working man, found
himself unable strongly to object. Mr..
HarcOurt's speech, however, was princi-
palIy directed against the punishment for
C0nsplTaCy-that is, a combination of men
for the purpose of c%oercing an employer to
adopt a certain course-and this question,
which involves a great deal more than
mere breach of contract, need not be here
discussed. One remark of the Attorney
General may be referred to. There were
many cases, he truly said, where a breach
of civil contract occurred under such cir
cumstances that it deserved to be made o
criminal instead OF a civil offence. This is
the deliberate opinion Of the highest res
ponsible law officer of a Liberal Govern.
ment. And he went on to say that there
were cases of breach Of civil obligation in
which a civil remedy would virtually be
no remedy at all, and that he could not
agree in the proposition that a prosecution
tor breach OF contract to serve was unjust
in principle or oppressive in operation.
The SoIicitor-Genora was even more ex-
pIicit and emphatic than his superior upon
the extent to which imprisonment was in
aictcd for purely civil offences, and the
Home Secretary announced the intention
OF the Government to maintain the law as
1t stood. 1t may be necessary in the CO.
Ionies to bear in mind these official state
ments of the spirit and intention of the
English law.
Emigration from Malta to Jamaica is not
by any means o new idea. In the years
Immediately following emancipation it re.
ceived considerable attention, and a valua-
BILE Paper on the subject was drawn up in
the year 1885 by Mr George Ward, who
was for many years a Government official
and land proprietor in Malta. No apology
is needed for giving the following extracts
from his Paper, as they not only throw
considerable light on the character of the
Maltese, but contains some suggestions
that may be found useful in carrying out
the scheme at the present time :-"Thero
can be no question that the introduction
into Jamaica OF a white population com
posed of British-bOrn subjects, tractable in
their disposition, of temperate habits, in
ured to a warm climate, and accustomed
to hard labOur under q burning sun, would
be Of incalculabIe benefit to that island in
all that relates to its political, agricultural,
and commercial w~el-doing. Here then is
Jamaica, a f~irst-rate colony capable of sup
porting, many times told, it's present po-
pulation, with hundreds Of thousand of
acres of excellent cultivatable land, lying
waste for want of hands to break it
up. On the other hand, we have
the important stronghold of Malta
oppressed with an INDECENT population
(mainIy agriculturaD more numerous than
exists on the same space in any other part
of the world, aud to whom, destitute as
they are of all internal resources, no great
er boon could be conferred than that of
facilitating their emigration especially to
such an island as Jamaica, where their
labours would not only yield them better
wages, food and clothing, but ensure to
them a variety Of comforts to which they
are at present utter strangers. In Jamaica
they would be secure of a competency,
and might readily attain to something con
siderably beyond it. At Malta they earn
but bare precarious subsistence, so that
provision for the future is out of the ques-