AFRICA AND THE WEST INDIES.

Two other important Parliamentary Reports have been issued within the last fortnight,—that of the Select Committee on the West India Colonies, and that of the Select Committee on the Western Coast of Africa. Together, they form an interesting review of the great question of the present fate of the Negro race, in all its branches,—its regeneration in its native continent ; its perpetual migration westward, hitherto, for two centuries, in bondage, in future, if this country be wise, in freedom ; its condition in the free countries of the West Indies ; and the reflex of West Indian civilization on African barbarism.

The questions immediately submitted to the Committee which first reported were, whether Negro Emancipation has or has not entailed certain evils, in withdrawing large numbers from the labour-market of the West Indies, and bringing the Planters, through the compulsory payment of lavish wages without securing adequate supplies of labour, to the verge of ruin ; and whether those evils can be repaired by free immigration of Negroes from Afriea—officina geniis. The Committee examined witnesses both for and against the Planting interest, from the Colonies of St. Vincent, Trinidad, Barbados British Guiana, Grenada, Antigua, St. Kitt's, and Jamaica. They had no time last session to make a detailed report, and therefore they sum up their conclusions in the subjoined resolutions ; which they introduce thus- " In recommending those resolutions and the evidence to the attention of the Rouse, your Committee feel bound to state, in conclusion, that they cannot regard the present state of the West Indian Colonies, unsatisfactory as it is, with any feeling of despair. They believe that the distress now prevailing in those colonies is very great, and requires immediate attention : they cannot indicate any remedy by which they can be sanguine enough to suppose that such serious distress could be speedily removed ; but they have offered sug- gestions, in the subjoined resolutions, the effects of which they confidently hope may be ultimately though gradually successful. "They believe that if those suggestions are considered and acted upon in a spirit of equal justice to both proprietors and labourers, prosperity may be restored ; and that, under the blessing of Divine Providence, the world may witness the complete success of the great example which this country has af- forded.

"RESOLVED—That it is the opinion of this Committee,

" 1. That the great act of emancipating the slaves in the West Indian Colonies has been productive, as regards the character and condition of the Negro population, of the most favourable and gratifying results. "2. That the improvement in the character of the Negroes in every colony into the state of which this Committee has had time to extend inquiry, is proved by abundant testimony of an increased and increasing desire for religious and general instruction, a growing dispoaition to take upon tbkin.elvss the obligations of marriage and to fulfil the duties of domestic life, iiproved morals, rapid advance in civilization, and increased sense of the value of property and independent station. " 3. That, unhappily, there has occurred, simultaneously with this amend- ment in the condition of the Negroes, a very great diminution in the staple productions of the West Indies, to such an extent as to have caused serious and in some cases ruinous injury to the proprietors of estates in those colonies. "4. That while this distress has been felt to a much less extent in some of the smaller and more populous islands, it has been so great in the larger colonies of Jamaica, British Guiana, and Trinidad, as to have caused many estates, hitherto prosperous and productive, to be cultivated for the hist two or three years at considerable loss, and others to be abandoned. "5. That the principal causes of this diminished production and consequent distress are the great difficulty which has been experienced by the Planters in obtaining steady and continuous labour, and the high rate of remuneration which they give for the broken and indifferent work which they are able to procure. "6. That the diminished supply of labour is caused partly by the fact that some of the former slaves have betaken themselves to other occupations more profitable than field-labour; but the more general cause is, that the labourers are enabled to live in comfort and acquire wealth, without, for the most part, labouring on the estates of the Planters for more than three or four days in a week, and from five to seven hours in a day; so that they have no sufficient stimulus to perform an adequate amount of work. "7. That this state of things arises partly from the high wages which the insufficiency of the supply of labour, and their competition with each other, naturally compel the Planters to pay; but is principally to be attributed to the easy terms upon which the use of land has been obtainable by Negroes. "8. That many of the former slaves have been enabled to purchase land, and the labourers generally are allowed to occupy provision-grounds subject to no rent, or to a very low one : and in these fertile countries, the land they thus hold as owners or occupiers not only yields them an ample supply of food, but in many cases a considerable overphis in money, altogether independent of and in addition to the high money-wages which they receive. "9. That the cheapness of land has thus been the main cause of the difficul- ties which have been experienced; and that this cheapness is the natural result of the excess of fertile land beyond the wants of the existing population. " 10. That in considering the anxious question of what practical remedies are best calculated to check the increasing depreciation of West Indian property-, it therefore appears that much might be effected by judicious arrangements on the part of the Planters themselves, for their own general advantage, and by moderate and prudent changes in the system which they have hitherto adopted. " 11. That one most obvious and desirable mode of endeavouring to compen- sate for this diminished supply of labour is to promote the immigration of a fresh labouring population, to such an extent as to create competition for em- ployment. " 12. That for the better attainment of that object, as well as to secure the full rights and comforts of the immigrants as freemen, it is desirable that suck immigration should be conducted under the authority, inspection, and control of responsible public officers. "13. That it is also a serious question, whether it is not required by a due regard for the just rights and interests of the West Indian proprietors, and, the ultimate welfare of the Negroes themselves, more especially in consideration of the large addition to the labouring population which it is hoped may soon be effected by immigration, that the laws which regulate the relations between em- ployers and labourers in the different Colonies should undergo early and careful revision by their respective Legislatures."

The Committee on Western Africa begin by explaining that their appointment originated in the discovery in 1839, that foreign slave- ships were permitted to trade for goods at the British settlements on the Gold Coast ; and in Dr. Madden's report of the inquiry, which, on that discovery, he was deputed to make. Their Report relates to the several subjects of the British settlements, the state of the slave-trade, and emigration from Africa to the West Indies. With respect to the African settlements, they make several suggestions- " In the first place, we recommend that the Government of the British forts upon the Gold Coast be resumed by the Crown, and that all dependence on the Government of Sierra Leone should cease.

"We recommend, further, the reoccupation of several of the forts, such as Apollonia, Winnebah, and Whydah, abandoned in 1822, when the government was handed over to the Committee of Merchants, and the reconstruction of others, on however small a scale, on other similar points. In some cases,- the climate will be found to be not worse, in others better, than on other parts of the coast of Africa: but this evil may be very much mitigated if not entirely removed by the employment of such Europeans only as are already inured to a Tropical climate, and of British subjects of African descent, who, we believe, may now be found either within one African settlements or our West India Colonies fitted for almost every branch and grade of service,' and we look upon such establishments as of high importance, not for the extension of territory, but of that control over the slave-trade and wholesome moral influence over the neighbouring chiefs, which we have described as having been exercised by the existing forts, and which is much needed at those places to which we parti- cularly alluded, as well as others.

"The judicial authority at present existing in the forts is not altogether in a satisfactory condition: it resides in the Governor and Council, who act as magistrates, and whose instructions limit them to the administration of British law, and that, as far as the natives are concerned, strictly and exclusively within the forts themselves; but practically, and necessarily and usefully, theft directions have been disregarded ; a kind of irregular jurisdiction has grown up, extending itself far beyond the limits of the forts by the voluntary submission of the natives themselves, whether chiefs or traders, to British equity ; and its decisions owing to the moral influence, partly of our acknowledged power and partly of the respect which has been inspired by the fairness with which it has been exercised by Captain Maclean and the magistrates at the other forts, have generally, we might almost say uniformly, been carried into effect without the interposition of force. * • Still, however, it is desirable that this juris- diction should be better defined and understood, and that a judicial officer should be placed at the disposal of the Governor, to assist or supersede, par- tially or entirely, his judicial functions, and those now exercised by the Council and the several Commandants in their magisterial capacity: but we would re- commend, that while he follows in his decisions the general principles, he be not restricted to the technicalities of British law, and that altogether he should be allowed a large discretion."

They recommend treaties with the native chiefs, in order that tk sort of protective authority may be extended- " These obligations should be varied and extended from time to time, and should always at least include (as many of the treaties now in existence on that coast already do) the abolition of the external slave-trade, the prohibition of human sacrifices, and other barbarous customs, such as kidnapping, under the name of panyarring,' and should keep in view the gradual introduction of further improvements, as the people become more fitted to admit them. "In this arrangement we should find the solution of our difficulty in regard

to domestic slavery, and a modification of it under the name of pawns,' which bag prevailed within these settlements, not actually within the forts, but within their influence, and even in the hands of British subjects. To them indeed they have been already prohibited ; but although the system of pawns, which is properly an engagement of service voluntarily entered into for debt, and terminable at any time by the payment of the debt, is one which ' does not seem abstractedly unjust or unreasonable,' yet as liable to much abuse, and much resembling slavery, it should be the object of our policy to get rid of it even among the natives ; and in the places more immediately within the influence of British authority, we believe there will be no difficulty in limiting it at once, both in -extent and duration, and probably, ere long, in abolishing it, by arrangements such as we have above suggested. Some caution, however, must be exercised in this matter, on account of the close intermixture of Dutch and Danish with the British settlements; though perhaps it might be possible to induce them to cooperate with England in such arrangements as might be thought desirable for the improvement of the neighbouring tribes; and great facility and advantage would certainly arise from such coliperation, if it could be secured."

The Committee mention, without expressing any opinion, a plan sug- gested by one of the witnesses, by which an ambulatory court might be established, having Ascension or Fernando Po for its resting-place; the Judge periodically visiting, in a steamer, the various settlements on the Gold Coast. They also recommend the appointment of a Colonial Chap- lain, with meaus for inviting the education of the sons of the native chiefs ; arrangements for procuring the coOperation of the Dutch and Danish settlements in checking a subsidiary to the slave-trade in the shape of licensed canoes ; and an increase of the military force. Two great advantages to compensate for the expense would be, the increase of commerce, especially with the kingdoms of Dahomey and Ashantee, and the diminution of the costly naval establishment on the Leeward station.

The fine river and other resources of Gambia give the settlement advantages far beyond others on the coast. The Committee recom- mend "a little fiscal encouragement to its products and those of its vicinity," the employment of steamers to suppress slave-trading and keep up commercial and official communications, and the entire separa- tion of the Government from that of Sierra Leone. They also propose the rastablishment of the settlement on the Island of Bnlama, ad- mitted to be unhealthy, but not more so than Sierra Leone and other places; and the erection of small blockhouses up the Gambia river, or along the coast, as at Cestos and the Gallinas, on points where British commerce is superseding the slave-trade.

With respect to the machinery of Sierra Leone, the Committee offer no specific recommendation. They say that evidence was given before them respecting the abases which have so long been the subject of complaint ; but they suppress that evidence, expressly because the papers tendered by the Colonial Office in explanation "are not of a nature and cannot contain the evidence satisfactorily to explain or rebut the charges "; and they hint that they had better be the subject of future special inquiry. They object, however, to the location of the Mixed Commission Court in Sierra Leone, and advise negotia- tions with Foreign Powers to remove the Court to Ascension, or one of the Portuguese islands.

They then come to the subject of Emigration. Some calculations, though not very precise, are made respecting the population whence emi- grants might be drawn on the Gold Coast, among the Kroomen, at the Gambia, and at Sierra Leone ; coming to the general conclusion, that if emigration were permitted, the materials for it would probably prove to be considerable.

The next question is, whether it would be a desirable change for these various classes to be in the West Indies rather than in Africa. As data the Committee quote at considerable length from official docu- ments—the despatches of Sir Charles Metcalfe and the reports of Ma- gistrates—respecting the temporal, the moral, and religious advantages to be enjoyed by the Black in the three principal colonies, Jamaica, British Guiana, and Trinidad, ranged under the several heads of those colonies. Then they proceed-

" Now, after looking at such a picture, drawn from the most unsuspected sources, we cannot doubt that, whether for the homeless Negro just rescued from the hold of a slave-ship, or for the ignorant and uncivilized African who comes down to our settlements to pick up a small pittance by the hardest labour and to return with it to his barbarous home, it would be of the higl.est advantage, it would be the greatest blessing to make such an exchange. But how is it with the liberated African of Sierra Leone, who has been enjoying, perhaps for years, the fostering care of the British Government? Now to that Government, beyond his rescue from the slave-ship, and emancipation from future slavery, and a temporary sustenance, and his being placed within the reach of missionary efforts, to which it has not contributed, the liberated

African cannot fairly be said to owe much. • * • •

"We need hardly add more to prove that it would be well for the African, in every point of view, to find himself a free-labourer in the free British West India Colonies; enjoying there, as he would, higher advantages of every kind than have fallen to the lot of the Negro race in any other portion of the globe. "We pass the question, though not absolutely to be lost sight of, that in Sierra Leone, the newly-liberated African is a burden to the British Govern- ment as well as to himself; and that in the West Indies not only would his own condition be improved, but he would become a source of wealth and prosperity to the empire. But we must net omit the advantage to Africa, of the probable return to her soil of many of her own sons, enriched with civil and religious knowledge, and bringing back with them wealth, and the means of wealth and civilization ; that reflux of the West upon the East, in moderate numbers, and managed with caution,' in the words of Sir John Jeremie, to which we must look for the civilization of the East.'

"But your Committee had next to consider whether, in achieving this object, any danger existed of creating a real or plausible suspicion of a real slave- trade under another name. Under proper regulations, they think there is not. A free passage may be offered to the African already settled within the colony, and to the free settler or other native who shall have remained long enough in the colony to give the authorities sufficient time to ascertain the circumstances under which he came, and to assure themselves that they were entirely free from all suspicion of fraud or farce. To such as thus leave their homes, a free passage back at the end of a certain period, say three or four years, might be promised, with full permission to them to return at any time at their own expense. To the homeless African, newly liberated, the option should be given of settling at once in the West Indies if he please, with permission to return hereafter at his own cost, or of removing from Sierra Leone, or of remaining in it on the first adjudication if he undertake for his own maintenance, or can find friends or relations who will undertake it for him."

The Committee state that they have no evidence that British capital

is directly employed in the slave-trade ; but it is admitted that indirectly it is employed to a great extent—sometimes by selling condemned slave- vessels back to slave-dealers, and oftener by selling to slave-dealers lawful goods, which are afterwards bartered for slaves. A considerable space in the Report is devoted to considering whether it would be advisable to at- tempt the suppression of that innocent-seeming traffic in goods, which is carried on very much in vessels distinct from actual slavers, but in concert with them. The Committee conclude that it is not ad- visable; chiefly on these grounds,—it would be very embarrassing to declare against the traffic in matters connected with slavery, since the Commission Courts themselves are involved in such a traffic in the case of condemned vessels and goods; it would further embroil this country with foreign powers, by attacks on vessels whose criminal pursuit it would be difficult or impossible to make out, and who would appear as suffering purely gratuitous injury; and it would be practi- cally impossible to distinguish between that auxiliary to the slave- trade and the really innocent commerce which goes on and increases, under the same appearances, in the same goods, and in the same places, but to the great benefit of Africa. There is no cause for despair, says the Report, as to the suppression of the slave-trade : North of the Line it is virtually extinct, with the exception of a few points near Sierra Leone and the Gambia : but they recommend that none but the swiftest vessels should be employed ; that steamers should be engaged in watch- ing the intricacies of islands and the mouths of rivers ; that the system of paying by head-money, or, perhaps by bounty at all, should be re- considered, and possibly replaced by higher pay and the prospect of promotions- " Encouragement and ample protection." says the Report, in conclusion, " all the same time should be given to lawful trade in every shape ; and the settlements which we hold, or which we may form, upon the coast, should be kept open in- differently to all nations as to ourselves, that they may see and be compact' to acknowledge, that in all we are attempting for Africa we are only endeavour- ing to provide a feast of which all may equally partake; and seeking, as the reward of our exertions, no advantage to ourselves save that which may fairly fall to our lot from a proportionate share of a more abundant table spread out for the common benefit of all."