“Hanover, Oct. 23, 1847.”
With such facts and testimony before him, what man in the possession of
his reasonable senses can doubt that our West Indian colonies are, at
this moment upon the verge of ruin? We use the word in the most literal
sense, and we are not very sure that we are justified in retaining the
qualification, for ruin, in its worst shape, has already fallen upon
many. Lord John Russell is said to be a bold and intrepid man, but there
is a weight of responsibility here enough to appal the boldest man that
ever held the office of prime minister of Britain. The question is not
now one of depression of trade. The rashness of former cabinets in
dealing with the property of the colonists, and their unaccountable
hesitation and delay in granting any remedial measures, or an increased
supply of labour, have accomplished _that_ already. The question now is,
SHALL THESE COLONIES BE AT ONCE ABANDONED? We look for an answer, not to
the colonists, but to Lord John Russell himself. He is the party who has
directly consummated their ruin, and from him the country at large are
entitled to demand a full explanation of his policy. Is it his purpose
that these colonies, once styled the brightest jewels of the British
crown, shall be thrown waste and abandoned? If it is, let him say so
boldly. The country will then be enabled to record their opinion of his
judgment, and, notwithstanding all that has taken place of late years,
we will not do the honest-hearted people of Great Britain the injustice,
for one moment, to doubt of the strength and tenor of that opinion. If,
as we hope and trust, he never contemplated these results, when in a
rash moment, and perhaps with no unnatural eye to a little temporary
popularity, he forced on the measure of 1846, let him say so—let him
make the only reparation in his power for former errors; and although
much mischief has already been done, the colonies may yet be saved, and
a sacrifice so terrible averted.
While such is the situation of our own colonies, upon whom we forced
emancipation, let us see what is doing in the slave countries, to whom
we are handing over our custom. The increase in the sugar produce of
Cuba, as we have already seen, is from 50,000 to 200,000 tons, and is
still rapidly increasing. The slave-trade is going on at a multiplied
ratio, and perhaps the friends of the African will be glad to learn a
fact, for the correctness of which we can vouch. Not three weeks ago, a
large mercantile house in Glasgow received orders to send out a supply
of blankets to Cuba, because, as the writer said, the slaves have become
so much more valuable, owing to the enhanced price of their produce, and
the new sugar market now opened, that the owners must take more care of
them. Humanity, it would seem, begins to develop itself when it goes
hand in hand with profit.
And yet, perhaps, we have used the word “humanity” a little too rashly.
Let us hear the testimony of Jacob Omnium, which we extract from his
late able letter to Lord John Russell, as to the manner in which our
cheap sugar is at present manufactured in Cuba:—
“I spent,” says that intelligent witness, “the beginning of this
year in Cuba, with a view of ascertaining the preparations which
were being made in that island to meet the opening of our markets.
To an Englishman coming up from Grenada and Jamaica, the contrast
between the paralysed and decayed aspect of the trade of those
colonies, and the spirit and activity which your measures had
infused into that of the Havannah, was most disheartening.
“The town was illuminated when I landed, in consequence of the news
of high prices from England. Three splendid trains of De Rosne’s
machinery, costing 40,000 dollars each, had just arrived from
France, and were in process of erection; steam-engines and engineers
were coming over daily from America; new estates were forming;
coffee plantations were being broken up; and their feeble gangs of
old people and children, who had hitherto been selected for that
light work, were formed into task-gangs, and hired out by the month
to the new _ingenios_, then in full drive.
“It was crop time: the mills went round night and day. On every
estate (I scarcely hope to be believed when I state the fact) _every
slave was worked under the whip eighteen hours out of the
twenty-four_, and, in the boiling houses, from five to six p.m., and
from eleven o’clock to midnight, when half the people were
concluding their eighteen hours work, the sound of the hellish lash
was incessant; indeed, it was necessary to keep the overtasked
wretches awake.
“The six hours during which they rested they spent locked in a
barracoon,—a strong, foul, close sty, where they wallowed without
distinction of age or sex.
“There was no marrying amongst the slaves on the plantations;
breeding was discouraged; _it was cheaper and less troublesome to
buy than to breed_. On many estates females were entirely excluded;
but an intelligent American planter told me he disapproved of that
system; that the men drooped under it; and that he had found the
most beneficial effects from the judicious admixture of a proportion
of one ‘lively wench’ to five males in a gang of which he had had
charge. Religious instruction and medical aid were not carried out
generally beyond baptism and vaccination.
“Whilst at work the slaves were stimulated by drivers, armed with
swords and whips, and protected by magnificent bloodhounds.”
Gentlemen who clamoured for emancipation, in this way is the sugar which
you are daily consuming made! You would not have it when produced by
slaves in your own colonies, and under the humane protection of your own
overruling laws; you are content to take it now—at the instigation of Mr
Cobden and his confederates, without the slightest scruple or remorse
for having ruined thousands of your countrymen—because you can have it
cheaper through the sweat and the life-blood of the slave! Is this
morality? Is it justice? Is it even—to descend to lower motives—wisdom?
Can you not see before you the time when, after the West Indian colonies
are abandoned, a gigantic monopoly will accrue to the slave-growing
states, and the sugar, for the paltry saving on which article all has
been sacrificed, again become as dear, possibly much dearer than before?
Recollect it is not an article like wheat, or any common species of
food, which can be reared upon every soil. There is but one region of
the earth in which it can be grown, and even there it cannot be grown
profitably, except through a large expenditure of capital, and by means
of an almost limitless command of labour. Cuba and Brazil _have_ both.
Our colonies _had_ both in sufficiency, until, by cutting off the one,
you almost annihilated the other. Go one step further, or rather
continue in the course you have begun a very little longer, and the
capital of the West Indian colonies will be wholly and irretrievably
dissipated. Irretrievably—for, after what has passed, it is in vain to
think that any British subject will again embark his capital in such a
trade, with no better security than that of our fiscal laws, fluctuating
every year under the influence of short-sighted agitation, and regulated
by men whose sole intelligible principle is the continued possession of
power. Once let our colonies be annihilated—their capital of nearly two
hundred millions be swallowed up, principal and interest—their market,
which took from us annually three millions and a half of British
manufactures, closed—and the inevitable result will be a monopoly of
sugar to the slave-growing states, high prices, and in all probability,
which the bullionists ought to consider, a perpetual drain of gold.
We have quoted only a fraction of the evidence of Jacob Omnium with
regard to the present aspect of affairs in Cuba. Much there is of
painful and even sickening detail as to the treatment of the slaves, in
order that an augmented supply may be thrown in upon our now
unscrupulous market, for which we must refer our readers, if they wish
to peruse it, to the pamphlet itself. But lest it should be thought that
such testimony merely applies to the condition of the unhappy slaves at
present in Cuba, we shall go further, and show that the late measure of
the Whig Government has given a tenfold additional impetus to the slave
trade; and that all our efforts to restrain it—efforts which, at the
smallest calculation, cost this country annually a sum of half a
million—are, as they must be under such circumstances, wholly futile and
unavailing.
“In February last,” says the author of the above letter, “the market
value of field negroes had risen from 300 to 500 dollars—a price
which would speedily bring a supply from the coast. The accounts
thence of the number of vessels captured, and of the still greater
number seen and heard of, but not captured by our cruisers, bear
ready witness to the stimulus which you have afforded to that
accursed trade. It is only during the last year that we hear of
_steam-slavers_, carrying nine hundred and fifty slaves, dipping
their flag in derision to our men of war.”
The list of the slave captures between October 1846 and April 1847
amounts to no less than twenty-four vessels, from which between two and
three thousand slaves were taken. This hideous amount of living cargo
was crowded into five vessels, the other nineteen having been captured
empty. This, however, is understood to be a mere fraction of the whole
amount, and that the recent seizures have been much more numerous. One
of our ships, the Ferret, is said to have taken no less than six slave
vessels since she has been upon the coast.
The impulse which the government measure of 1846 has given to the slave
trade in every part of the world is something perfectly enormous; but
its mischievous and inhuman effects will best be understood by a
reference to ascertained facts. Prior to 1846, the traffic in slaves
between the African coast and the Spanish colonies had been gradually
declining, and had in fact almost disappeared. The exclusion of
slave-grown sugars from our home market had nearly forced the Cuban
proprietors into a different system, and arrangements were pending in
that colony for the emancipation of the slaves, just at the time when
Lord John Russell came forward in favour of the chain and the lash. The
consequence was, that in the first instance the Cubans withdrew their
slaves from the coffee cultivation, which was the least profitable, and
set them to work at the sugar-canes. The price of the negro consequently
rose, and the trade is prospering abundantly.
So much for Cuba. Let us now see what is doing in Brazil. The following
article is extracted from the _Jamaica Times_, of 8th. October last.
“Though it may be an act of supererogation to accumulate arguments
in support of the proposition that an equalisation of the sugar
duties must necessarily give an impetus to the slave-trade, it may
not be amiss to point out such instances which may come before us of
an illustrative tendency. In a communication recently addressed by
Dr Lang to the British public, it is stated as an unquestionable
fact, that a great stimulus to the cultivation of sugar in Brazil
had been afforded by the late change in the duties; and consequently
that the slave trade, which had been rapidly declining for some time
past, had revived as briskly as ever, especially at Pernambuco,
which is by far the most conveniently situated port in the empire
for this traffic—being so far to the northward and eastward, and
consequently so favourably situated for taking advantage of the
south-east trade wind, that a vessel from that port may often run
across to the coast, as it is called, that is to Africa, in half the
time she would take either from Bahia or Rio Janeiro. A schooner of
one hundred and twenty tons, the _Gallant Mary of Baltimore_, he
added, had arrived at Pernambuco a day or two before his arrival,
and was then lying in the harbour for sale; and during the short
period of his stay she was purchased for seven hundred and fifty
pounds by a slave merchant in the place, and was to be despatched to
the coast a day or two after he sailed for England.
“This is one instance of the manner in which the increased
consumption of slave-grown sugar is acting as a premium to the slave
trader. We offer a second in the fact recently communicated from
Africa itself, that the slave-trade on the west coast was never more
brisk than it is at present; that thirteen hundred and fifteen
slaves had been landed from slave vessels at Sierra Leone from May
4th to June 28th of this year; that the last slaver taken was a
Brazilian brig, although for deception called the Beulah of
Portland, U.S.—she was sent in by the Waterwitch: this vessel had
five hundred and ten slaves on board.
“Nor is this all; for we have just learned from an authentic source,
that Crab Island (a small tributary island lying to the eastward of
Porto Rico) is now in course of being settled for the first time,
for the cultivation of sugar; and that very recently one of the
proprietors—not content, it would appear, with the customary mode of
obtaining slaves—had succeeded in removing a number from one of the
French islands adjacent,—a proceeding which, as might reasonably be
expected, has caused the question to be raised among the _amis des
noires_, whether it is legal to deport slaves from any French
colony. Putting this point of the case, however, out of view, we
have unquestionable evidence of the increasing importance of slave
cultivation, at the very moment when the free labour colonies are
struggling to maintain their very existence. We only beseech
ministers to look upon these two pictures—on the one hand slavery
triumphant; on the other, freedom struggling in the dust—and then
persist, if they can, in the line of policy which has produced such
results.”
But it is needless to multiply examples. The encouragement has been
given; the increased importation of slaves to the foreign colonies has
taken place; and the planters of Cuba and Brazil are already preparing
for their monopoly. The following figures, set forth in a late official
return, speak volumes:—
1845. 1847.
Machinery exported from England to Cuba, £4807 £17,644
Ditto from do. to Brazil, 17,130 35,123
£21,937 £52,767
And this independently of such machinery as has been bought up and
transported from our colonies!
Such have been the effects of the recent Whig measure; and it is for
Parliament to decide whether we shall incur the national reproach of
continuing any longer in a course so heartless, so unwise, and so
inhuman. An attempt may be made, as in the case of the currency laws, to
shelve the consideration of the sugar duties, through the convenient
medium of a committee. If so, the fate of our colonies may be considered
as finally sealed. This is not a case that admits of delay, nor are
parties actually at issue upon disputed matters of fact. The whole
question resolves itself into this—is free trade to be allowed to run
riot, and are our oldest colonies to be given up to it immediately as a
sacrifice? A very intelligent correspondent writes, with reference to
protective measures:—
“It may be the interest of the ministry to allow this appointment of a
committee, as for months they will shelve the question. These months to
us are of the utmost value, as during the crop, which commences in
January and ends in June in the West Indian colonies, we must decide
whether we are to make any preparations for the future. If no
concessions are to be made, ABANDONMENT _is the only course to save
further loss_. I believe the West Indians want no committee on their
case. The hardships must be admitted. What we require is a fair, but not
a prohibitory duty; such a one only as will put us on a footing to
compete with those parties who enjoy what we are denied—_an abundance of
cheap and regular labour_. This protection must be granted until we have
the labour, and also some means of commanding its regularity.”
In conclusion, we would ask the free-traders themselves, whether the
course which has been pursued towards these colonies is equitable or
defensible, even on their own acknowledged principles? How far do they
intend or propose that these principles should be carried? Is all
traffic, even that in human flesh and blood, to be free? If so, let us
come to a distinct understanding on the point. If the code of morals
maintained by Mr Cobden is of so truly philanthropic and catholic a
nature—if “buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market” is
to be adopted throughout the world as a universal and unexceptionable
rule—then, in the name of common sense, let the free-traders be
consistent to their creed, let emancipation become a dead letter, and
let the slave markets of Africa be thrown open to every customer! Do
these gentlemen intend to maintain that there is any thing of free trade
in the system, which ties our own colonists hand and foot, prevents them
from making use of the capabilities of their soil, dissipates their
capital, and then quietly abolishes all distinctive duty between their
produce and that of countries which have not chosen to adopt the same
system? Is the fleet upon the coast of Africa a symbol of free-trade
principles, or the opposite? Why, what a laughing-stock must that be in
the eyes of the Spaniards! what an egregious proof of the most silly
inconsistency that ever yet was perpetrated by a nation! We will not,
forsooth, permit foreign nations to traffic in slaves, and yet we give
them the monopoly of our market, knowing all the while that upon that
importation alone we are dependent for a cheap supply! We ruin our
colonies, transfer our custom to the foreign slave-driver, and with him,
as has well been said, _cheap sugar means cheap slaves_!
We are glad to see that _The Times_, though differing with us in many
economical points, has lately taken up this view, and spoken out with
its customary ability. We extract from the number published on 17th
January.—
“Is sugar a commodity which we are simply desirous of getting cheap,
without any regard to the country or methods of its production? If
it be not, then is it clear as argument can make it that such
commodity must be altogether removed from the operations of free
trade? If it be, then by what monstrous perversion of equity do we
control the methods of production adopted by our own producers? Why
did we destroy that market in Jamaica which we now seize so eagerly
in Brazil? The abstract principles of free trade are as manifestly
violated by interference with production as by interference with
exportation. If the doctrines of free trade are to find no exception
in any suggestions of humanity or reason, then our Anti-slavery Act,
and our Emancipation Act, and our vote for the African squadron, are
all so many gross contradictions of a principle which we have
formally sanctioned. Let those who think so speak out boldly. They
have undoubtedly a clear case, if they dared but state it. Let
slavery be considered as a practice which humanity condemns, and
which civilisation must eventually abolish, but which cannot be
permitted to enter into the calculations of a great commercial
people. Let the coast squadron be immediately recalled, and the
Bights thrown open to the sugar-growers of all nations to procure
their labourers on the easiest terms. Let them make as much sugar as
they can each for itself, and let the agency by which this article
is produced be as much a matter of indifference as in the case of
any other article, and _then_ may sugar fairly be subjected to the
operations of free trade. If the West Indians then applied for
protection, we might well repulse a petition for so obsolete a
measure; but to take refuge in such abstract theories now is to blow
hot and cold with the same breath—to preach up humanity from one
side of the pulpit and economy from the other, taking care the while
to appropriate to our own pockets the advantages of the latter
doctrine, and to saddle our colonists with the expenses of the
former.”
And what is it that our colonists ask? What is the extravagant proposal
which we are prepared to reject at the cost of the loss of our most
fertile possessions, and of nearly two hundred millions of British
capital? Simply this, that in the meantime such a distinctive duty
should be enforced as will allow them to compete on terms of equality
with the slave-growing states. Let this alone be granted, and they have
no wish to interfere with any other fiscal regulation. And what would be
the amount of differential duty required? Not more, as we apprehend,
than ten shillings the hundred-weight. It has been carefully calculated
that the British planter cannot raise and send his sugar to the home
market at a lower cost than forty shillings. In consequence of Lord John
Russell’s measure, the average price last year has been thirty-eight
shillings, and consequently the planter has been manufacturing, not only
without profit, but at an actual loss. Next year, or rather after next
July, the operation of the reductive scale will increase his loss,
supposing him still to cultivate, from two shillings to three and
sixpence per hundred-weight and so on until 1851, when he will have to
pay _six pounds per ton_ for the privilege of growing sugar, without a
single farthing of return!
Is then the request of these men, who are our own fellow-subjects, and
citizens, in any way unjust or unreasonable? We have chosen to deprive
them of labour, promising them all the while sympathy and protection,
and are we not bound in some measure to redeem the pledge? They require
a differential duty only until such time as they can command a supply of
free and plentiful labour. To this object the attention of government,
and of the true philanthropists of the country, ought to be directed.
There is a noble field laid open for their exertions. The best means of
suppressing altogether the slave-trade, is by promoting, to the
uttermost of our power, a free immigration from Africa to our colonies,
a measure which we are certain would very soon supersede the necessity
of a blockading squadron. For how can we ever expect that such an
armament will prove effectual in checking that wicked traffic, whilst,
at the same time, we are directly encouraging it, by augmenting the
consumpt of its produce in free and scrupulous Britain? Shame, on such
contemptible and deceptive policy! Shame on the men who, with liberalism
on their lips, are all the while engaged in riveting the fetters of the
bondsman! And shame to all of us, if we permit our oldest and most
attached colonies to lapse into decay, and thousands of our
fellow-subjects to be consigned to ruin! for the sake of a theory which,
in this matter at least, has not even the merit of being based upon
consistent or intelligible principle!