House Of Lords, Tuesday, ...
The Times, 1824-03-31T00:00:00

PARLI AIENTA i?) Y INT'ELLIGENA\CE. Several petitions were presented, praying for the gradual abolition of negro slavcrv. The Sarquis of LANSDOWN presented a petition against the silk bill.whiicll,hc stated,was signed bv a number of the most respect- able of the master-s'lk manufacturers and throwsters in Spitalfields. The petitioln pra.yed their lordships to extend the period for the re- inoval of the restrictions fromi 2"l vears to 5 years, in order to enable the petitioners to make the alterationis in their machinciy which the new state of things would require. For his own part he continued of opinion, that the trade would flourish after the change of the law m,orc tihan it had Yet (lone, and titat when the duty was taken off the raw material, the manufacturers of this country would be per- fectl v able tostand the cotipetition with foreigners, and would, in all ;robability, soon obtain a very extended narket. Those, how- ever, who had so lonig carried on the trade under the existing laws, certainly deserved every consideration from the house. On that ground he felt it to be his duty to present the petition, and call their lordships' attention to it.-The petitton was read, and laid on thie table. SLA1'E TRADE PIRACY BILL. Earl BATHURST rose to miove that the commnittee on this bill be dispensed writh, as it was a matter of very zrpat inportance that it shouti speedily pass througli the house. Unless this bill shouldl arrive betore thc Session of the Congress closed,the Executive would not have the opportunity of showing, that the arrangement agreed upon had bcen miiade the suibject of a legislative enactment in this countrv, and consequetntly the treatyon the subject of mutual search might not receive the sanction of Congress until next November. Earl GROSVENOR was as anxioits as the noble Secretary of State could be, that this bill. the existence of which was a circum- stance highly honourable both to this country and to AAmerica, should specdily pass into a law. It was also a gratifying circum- stance to see, ihat not onily most of the inldividuals who hal been eager in the pursuit of the great object of the abolition, but even alhost all of those with whomn the measure originated, had lived to see their efibrts crowned with success. Some of the ardent friends of the abolition, it was true, were no more-but Clarksons and \V'ilbertbrces were still alive to enjoy the triumph. Having ex- pressed his approbation of thebill, thenoble earl proceeded to allude to somec of thetopics which were noticed when the subject ofthepresent bill was first brought before the house. It' he understood the noble Secretary of State riglhtlv, he had on that occasion stated, that with- in the last few years it had beeni a question whether the children of dlaves not registered were not born free, but that a lawl had been passed abouit tour vears ago to settle thie question. He likewise wish- ed to know what was to be done if the instructions sent out by the Government should produce no effect in the islands whichi possessed legislative atsseniblies of their own. WNras the question of manumis- sion to remaini as beibre ? He thosight that with regard to this point his Majesty's GTovernment should miiake, for the colonies over which tbev hail a direct cotitrol, regulations similar to those which had been adopted in Colombia, and which afborded great facilities to manumission. Ile was, however, happy to recollect that the noble lord at the hcad of the Treasury had stated, that if the present in- stnictions shlould prove insufficient, other measures would be resort- ed to. He therefore considered his Majesty's Government and the countrv pledged to the fitial manumission. But when the noble earl's speech should reach the colonies, it Jamaica and other islands should reject his recomniendations, what was to be done ? The noble Secretary of State, it seemed, preferred a bloodless custom-house warf'are to any stronger measures; but it nothitig was done by thesb islands, what was to be the result ? One part of the plan of the Go- verrment was to give a large ecclesiastical establishment to the West Indies. He should be glad to know how the expense of that establishment was to be defrayedl. 'lhe system by which religious instruction was at present communicated to the negroes, put the public to no expense, and he did not think the colonies would be w1lling to tax themselves for the new ecclesiastical establ;shment. Ile hoped that attention would be paid to the encourage ment of free labour. That systemn had been sufficiently tried at Sierra Leone, and he doubteJ not would prove successful in the colonies. Before he sat down. he could not refraiti from expressing his regret at find- ing that there were per,9113 in this country, who maititained that the situation of West india slaYes was better tItan that of the labour- ers of England. Perhaps in some instances the slaves might be better ofh, in point of food; but what .itd that amount to, when the great difference between the situation ofta hlatdY nglish peasaRt,en. joying all the blessings of libertv in a free country, and the slave compelled to labour at the will of his master ? It wvas astonishing that any persons could compare the freedom in the one case, with the slavery in the other. The differesice was as striking as that of l ight and darkness. Earl BATIlIJRST, findling that the noble earl had offered no objection to the present bill but on the contrary had very strongly expressed his approbation oi it, did not think it necessarv to enter into the discusston of all the extraneous poirits-to which he had ad- verte(l. ll ith respect to the issue of slaves, they had always been held to be the property of the masters, and all the acts which had been passed concurred in confirming this proposition. What he had sai d on the occasion alluded to, had reference to the act for the regis- tration of slaves. There was a clause which related to cases of mort- grage, by which it was provided, that if a slave should be born after the mortgage, such child should be considered part of the property. The noble secretary proceeded to give his explanations on this and other points in a tone of voice which couldt not be distinctlyheard be- low the bar. W''e understood him to say, on the subject of manu- mission, that lie perfectly concurred wish his noble friend (Lord Li- verpool) in the propriety of giving farther encouragement to that important object. As to what might be done by certain islanrls to which the noble earl had alluded, after they should re- ceive eopies of the instructions and' order of council sent out to Trinidad, he could not give an answer. All he should say on the subject was, that if any thing more than another was likely to in dispose those islands to give a calm consideration to the subject, it vould be protracted discussions in that house of the kind into whichl the noble earl endeavoured to lead their lordships. The ilfarquis of LANSDOWN, while he thought it was natural that his i,oble friend should wish to obtain information respeciing the state of the slaves anid the future intentions of his Alajesty's Governnmeat, agreed with the noble earl opposite,that it was better to refrain at present from entering into anv' detailed discussions on the subjects which had been agitated. He trusted, however, that the noble SecretaryofStatehad some solid grounid for believing thatthe islands in which the order in council was not to be imrnediatelyenforced,would be induced to take amorereasonable view of thesubject than they had hitherto (hone. Indulging this hopc, he certainly was disposed to let the question rest ac it now stood. But if, unhappily, those islands slhoul(d persist in the course they had hitherto taken, then the dascus. sions which the noble earl deprecated must comne on. In the mean time, it certainly was mueh more desirable that the assemblies which legislate in the VWest India islands should, of their own ac- cord, entertain right views on this important subject ;_that by the example of the other colonies, where the system of amelioration was to be carried iDto effeM, tt5ey Might atlait be induced to adopt thoge measures to which thfllr owrn interests, not more than humanitv, required them to resort- and by which alone the population of the colonies could bei:"proev4, and civilization advanced; and4elieve the King's Government -nsL -that .ouse from the disagreeable task upon which they would ba'te to eriter, uwere they to be called npon to discuss the quesgon of 4tls 46eans of efiforcicg the measures for the well-being ot tne vhole o hiaJe6ty's dothinioni which in; the case -of undue- iristaicn must' arise. For the reasons he had alreadv stated, lli&li?ot ivish '.'togo further ilto this subject. Neitlher dia he trs to offer any opposition to the bill, which happily for the country and.for th*world, was now or theirlordshipsI ablel a bill.the object of whib_le ha) long taken every opportunitv to urge and recommend, wshenever his opinion could have any weighit as a measure indispen5abl. necessary for the total abolition of the glave trade, -The neqasure, however; couad not be efficient without the concurrence of other powers; A bill, makig the slave trade 'iracy, hadpreviously p4ssedtrhc(3ongressof the United States; and itwas satisfactory- to see a free peoppe.thus taking the lead by acts of their own suggestion, in measures of 'justice and humanity. He under- stood that the treatyconcluded between the United-States and this cour,try was as yet conditonal. He knew not why it had not been laid on the table; perhaps it was kept back in consequence of its being as yet regarded as nmerely conditional. He knew not whether what he wvas stating was right. (Barl Bathursc said across the table that the treaty was not ratified.) Then it is not yet ratified by the American Government. That accounts for its not being laid on the table; but his reason for now addressing their lordships, or rather the noble Secretary of State, was his wish to be inforned whether the treaty contained a provision binding the two countries to press the adoption of the same stipulations by all Christian and commer- cial nations. The principal Governments of Europe having already adopted the principle that the slave-trade is contrary to humanity, it will be an everlasting disgrace to those who permit any pracdces cal- culated to counteract the object of this bill. Ilappy as he should al- ways be at seeing this country and the United States of America embarked in any common cause, he still more rejoiced at seein them united in one, the principle of wlhich was liuosanity, and which was so important to the welfare of both countries, and io consistent writh what was to be expected from their common origin and commnon religion. Taking it for grante: that the treaty contamed a provision of the kind to wltich he hahl alluded, he trusted anid hoped that no time would be lost by the two contracting powers in re. coiuiniending, by tkeir exampIle, and enforcing by their demands on other states, the execution of the treatv; and should any be hardy enough to oppose its execution, that they would, if necessarv, be declared hostes hunoni generis, and stamped with that chlaracter of disgrace which such a conduct would deserve. Having said this much, he felt it to be an act of duty to a most worthy individual, to mention that the establishment of the principle of piracY, as applied to the slave trade, was first made bv a British o'hecer employed in thle Arabian Gulf. Sir llim. Keir( Grant conclu;ded a treaty with the Arab Princes on the shores of that sea, one condition of which was, tl3at carrying away persotns from the coast of Attica should be considered a crinme against the law of nations in general, and against this country in particular. He did not know whether this condition had been strictly adhered to by the Arab Polvers, but the introduction of the principle zedouneled not the less to the honour of the gentleman irith whom it origitated. Ilc hoped that the sanmc contlition would be introduced into all future treatics, and so strictly enforced as to -effect the extinction of the barbarous atrocities comnmitted on tne coast of Africa. ilc had no wish to oppose the course by which the noble Secretary of State proposed to expedite the bill. anti could not but applaud the zeal he had manifested in bringing forward this Important measurte, The Earl of HARROWBY stated, that tbe Constitution of the United States required that the treaty should have the sanction of Congress before it could be ratifiedc: for that reason it was proper to despatch the present bill as speedily as possible, one of the sameliind having already passed the Congres l. Our bill and treaty were, how- ever, measures independent of each other; andl so were the Aine. rican bill and trenty. It followed, therefore. thiat, whether the treaty should be ratified or not, the s lave-trade would still be piracy by thie laws of both countries. In reply to the question of the no- ble marquis, he had to state, that there was in the treaty a stipula- tion, by which the United States and Great Britain pledged them- selves to invite other powers to accede to the same measure. The coimmuittee beings dispensed with, the bill was then read a third time and passed.-Adjourned. IHOUSE OF LORDS, TL'USDAY, MARCH 30.