WEST INDIA RELIEF.

THE present condition of our West India Colonies is a subject which must occupy the early attention of the new Parliament. The systematic neglect, to use the mildest term, with which these unfortunate dependencies have been so long treated has at length brought matters to a crisis in the great island of Jamaica, and, unless something is done, and very promptly done, to arrest its downward progress, the total ruin of its white population appears to be inevitable. The fears that were entertained respecting this unfortunate Colony have indeed been more than realised by the intelligence brought by the last packet. Trade of every description was unprecedently dull, prices still remained un-remunerative, and what is still more significant and alarming the number of emigrants of the better class who were leaving the island was largely on the increase.

The causes which have given to Jamaica a pre-eminence among our suffering Colonies may be summed up in a very few words. The very extent, and variety and abundance of her natural resources have most powerfully contributed to her present depressed condition. The assertion may seem paradoxical, but it is not the less true. The unlimited extent of waste lands in the interior of the island, including vast ranges of inaccessible mountains and forest, affords a home to each of her sable inhabitants who may prefer a life of idleness or crime to one of regular industry in the sugar or coffee districts. No doubt the most energetic steps ought to have been taken for the prevention of this at the period of emancipation. It was an occurrence which might have been confidently anticipated, and which, therefore, ought to have been guarded against by the establishment of an effective police force, and the enactment of stringent laws against squatting. But such obvious and rational modes of meeting this serious evil were too much opposed to the laissez faire doctrines then in vogue at the Colonial office, to find any favour in Downing-street. And when we consider that in addition to this circumstance every impediment was for many years thrown in the way of our Colonists obtaining supplies of labour from other quarters, and, moreover, that within the last twelvemonths the cholera has swept away some thirty thousand of the negro population of Jamaica, we need hardly be surprised at the present depth of her distress, aggravated as that has been by the com

petition of the slave-dealer, to which, in defiance of every sentiment of morality and justice we recklessly exposed her in 1846.

It is known, we presume, to the greater portion of our readers, that there are at present in this country three delegates who have been commissioned by the people of Jamaica to represent to their fellow subjects at home the true condition of the island, and to devise, if possible, some scheme of relief. These delegates consist of three gentlemen, all of whom, we believe, are members of the Jamaica Legislature, and all of whom are moreover thoroughly conversant with the present state of the Colony. We hope and believe that the mission they have undertaken will not be a fruitless one. Their visit to Liverpool, a few weeks ago, has at all events been attended with one satisfactory result. A " Jamaica Association" has been formed in that town, for the purpose of watching over the interests of the Colony, and we heartily wish it all success. As our Colonial possessions are at present wholly unrepresented in Parliament, it is only by means of such bodies that the wants and wishes of our distant possessions can be made known to the home government. The great success which attended the labours of the Mauritius Association in London is a practical proof of their utility. Although consisting of but a small number of persons, that society, by means of the unanimity and perseverance of its members, succeeded in obtaining from the Colonialoffice important measures in respect of labour. It has been the misfortune of our West Indian Colonists that they have rarely, if ever, combined for the accomplishment of any specific object. The true cause of this is to be found in the great diversity of interests existing among the different islands, and its only remedy is to give to each the means of making known in the proper quarter its grievances and their remedies as they may arise. These remarks apply more particularly to Jamaica, as well from its being the most important of our West Indian Colonies, as from the fact that its position and its interests are in many respects peculiar. We would earnestly suggest, therefore, to all those who may still entertain hopes of the restoration of this fine island, that the wise example of Liverpool should be imitated in the metropolis, and that a Jamaica Association of London" should be established forthwith to aid and co-operate with the society lately formed in Liverpool.

The first meeting of the Jamaica Association was held in that town on the 24th of August. It was called for the purpose of receiving the delegates from that island, each of whom attended and addressed the meeting. In the course of a very able speech, Mr. Girod, who is a

well-known member of the Jamaica Legislature, detailed, in the following terms, the progressive decline of the Colony during the last twenty years. He said that, "He found the imports of Jamaica into the United Kingdom, from 1831 to 1834 inclusive, to be 67,176 tons; from 1835 to 1838, the first four years after emancipation, the imports had decreased to 52,000; from 1839 to 1842 there was still a further reduction to 32,366; and from 1843 to 1846, 31,316. Thus it would be seen, and he wished to impress it upon the minds of his hearers and the public generally, that the production of sugar had fallen off just one half, or little more than one half, to what it had been during a period of four years antecedent to emancipation. He would next trace the returns up from 1846, when the Free-trade measure passed. From 1847 to 1850 the importation of sugar maintained its former position, viz., 32,312 tons. They continued to have the same amount of available labour in their control, and they applied it. They did not despond, but struggled on and maintained their production in spite of the ruinous competition they had to submit to. So far as production went, it did not appear that the Free-trade measure of 1846 had any effect on the prosperity of Jamaica, inasmuch as they had kept up their imports, and with that fact they had from time to time been taunted whenever the subject came before Parliament. They were told by Mr. Wilson, Mr. Cobden, and others, through whose influence the Sugar Bill of 1846 was passed, that they had no right to complain, inasmuch as within the four years they had increased rather than diminished the amount of their production. But he would mention one fact which those gentlemen carefully excluded from all discussions on that question, when mooted in the House of Commons, that whereas in the early part of 1847, before the act of the previous year had become practically operative, the Gazette averages of sugar were 37s. 6d. per cwt.; and two months ago they saw them as low down as 19s. 7d. Therefore prosperity was not to be judged of by those returns."

No one can deny that the question of production is here fairly stated. Mr. Girod having thus furnished the meeting with a view of the industrial history of Jamaica during a series of years, next called the attention of his hearers to the progress of Cuba and Brazil throughout the like period, in the following terms:

"Let them now refer to the exports of sugar from Havannah and Matanzas. The exports thence, from 1831 to 1834, were 82,495 tons; from 1835 to 1838, 100,490; from 1839 to 1842, 124,010; from 1843 to 1816, 130,905; and from 1847 to 1850, 186,520, or an increase of

55,000 in four years immediately consequent upon the act of 1846. But the increase did not stop here, for, in the year 1851, the total production of Cuba had risen to the enormous amount of 235,750 tons. Now he came to Brazil, which presented almost similar results. From 1841 to 1844 the exports of sugar from Brazil amounted to 63,300 tons; from 1845 to 1847, 87,130 tons; from 1848 to 1850, the exports had increased to 180,331 tons. Thus, while the production of Jamaica remained stationary, Cuba and Brazil had nearly doubled their exports within the period of Free-trade."

Mr. Girod might have pointed to another consequence of the Act of 1846 in the large and immediate increase of the slave traffic which followed the passing of that disgraceful measure. A return has been very recently presented to Parliament, showing the number of slaves landed in Brazil from the years 1842 to 1851, both inclusive. The following are the returns for the three years immediately preceding the change in the sugar duties, and the three years succeeding that The result is painfully instructive, as our readers will speedily discover:-In 1843, 19,095 slaves landed in Brazil; 1844, 22,849: 1845, 19,453; 1846, 50,324; 1847, 56,172; 1848, 60,000.

event.

No reasonable man can doubt that the rapid and enormous increase of this detestable commerce is to be referred directly to the legislation of 1846. Happily, through the increased efficiency of the squadron, and the efforts of the anti-slavery party in Brazil, the traffic has since been very greatly diminished. No thanks, however, to the true authors and supporters of the Sugar Bill, who strained every nerve to get rid of our cruizers altogether, and to leave the traffic in slaves, like that in other commodities, open to the competition of the world.

Another of the Jamaica delegates who addressed the Liverpool meeting was a Mr. William Smith, formerly of Manchester, but latterly of that island. Many of our readers will recollect that some years ago Mr. Smith proceeded to Jamaica as the representative of an English company, which was established for the purpose of purchasing estates in the colony, and of cultivating them according to the most improved modern methods. He was at that time a resolute Free-trader, and a great ally of Mr. Cobden. But the experience of five or six years in the island which he chose as the scene of this enterprise, has convinced Mr. Smith that the views he formerly entertained are entirely erroneous. He landed in Jamaica, firmly believing that free labour could compete successfully with slave labour; but, after a long trial, aided by abundant support from home, he now comes publicly forward to declare that his former opinions

were erroneous. He not only does this, but the conclusion at which he has now arrived is, strange to say, identical with that of the late Lord George Bentinck upon this important point. Mr. Smith is of opinion that a differential duty of ten shillings per cwt. is necessary to maintain these colonies in cultivation, and he has both the candour and the manliness publicly to declare that such is his deliberate conviction after six years' residence in Jamaica. It requires no small amount of moral courage in the present state of public feeling in England, for any man to make a statement of this description, and it is greatly to the credit of Mr. Smith that, in this instance, he has preferred the interests of truth to those of party. The following extract from his speech will, we trust, fully justify these remarks :—

"He went," he stated, " to Jamaica five or six years ago, in the firm belief that from what he had observed in the quiet and orderly manner in which the act of emancipation had been carried out, and the progress which he believed had been made in civilization, and the recognition of the social duties on the part of the negroes themselves, they would be tempted to acquire property, and that the sugar cultivators would thereby be enabled to secure their labour by the payment of adequate wages, in a manner which would enable them to most completely to compete with the foreign grower of sugar by slave labour. It was well known that he made no secret of this, his opinions. It was also well known that, in the face of great discouragements, he had persevered for many years in the cultivation of sugar upon this principle; and, hoping against hope, it had not been until the sad inroads which they had found to be made upon their labouring population by the attacks of cholera some twelve months since, that he was driven to the almost humiliating conclusion, that the premises upon which he acted were fallacious, and he was obliged to adopt the language of one who, up to a late period, was considered to be one of the champions and apostles of Free-trade, the late Mr. Deacon Hume, that the cultivation of sugar by free labour was one of those instances which must be excepted from the category of Free-trade.' That was the conclusion to which he was reluctantly brought, and, however reluctant he might be to confess it, he should be much more ashamed of himself if, being convinced of the previous fallacy of his opinions, he lacked the moral courage to avow it."

This declaration is of much importance in the present state of the West India question, although we fear Mr. Smith has incurred the deep displeasure of his Manchester friends for giving utterance to such sentiments. Still less will what follows be approved in these quarters: