There is a fallacy which has misled most writers on

the subject of the sugar-trade, and which is so transparent that it is strange it should have been so long listened to. Brazil, India, and other continents, it is gravely said, will drive the Sugar Islands out of the market, because their extent is so much greater. But mere quantity of fertile soil does not determine whether or not it can be profitably cultivated. It is the productiveness of the soil, whatever its quantity, its vicinity to markets, its facilities of water-carriage, that decides whether it is profitable to cultivate it. The limited extent of the West India Islands, instead of being a drawback, gives them an advantage over the whole of Brazil, except the fertile soil close to the shore: it makes them all sea-coast. Small though some of them be, if equally productive acre for acre they will keep their ground in the market against Brazil ; and Guiana and Trinidad have plenty of land yet to be brought into cultivation. Humboldt, in his Personal Narrative, (Vol. VII. p. 179,) states in regard to Cuba—" A great ingenio, producing 32,000 to 40,000 arobas (367,000 to 460,000 kilogrammes) of sugar, is generally 50 caballerios, or 650 hectares, in extent ; of which the half is allotted to the sugar-fabric properly so called, and the other half for alimentary plants and pas- turage." A caballerio being equivalent to 32-2 English acres, the pro- duction is thus estimated at 1,150 lb. per acre.

Turnbull, in his Travels in the West, (pp. 261-265,) gives an esti- mate, made by the Patriotic Society of Havanna, of the expense of establishing a sugar-estate; by which it appears, that 215 acres of new land, in cane-cultivation, are expected to produce 1,300 boxes of sugar, or 2,172 lb. per acre. He afterwards (p. 282) remarks, that " no attempt has yet been made in the worn-out districts of Cuba, as has been done so successfully in the longest-settled British islands, to re- generate the soil by a good system of husbandry and a liberal applica- tion of manure." And further on, in alluding to a large estate he had visited, he observes—" They have not the advantage of water-power, and steam-engines are exceedingly rare in Cuba ; so that the process of grinding is performed by the power of cattle." This was in 1840. We do not find anywhere mention made of the quantity of sugar produced in Brazil in connexion with a particular measurement of land. But we may confidently infer that the soil is not superior, if indeed it be equal, to that of Cuba ; because, while the exports of sugar from Brazil have rather declined, those from Cuba have been nearly doubled in the course of a few years. This view is fully confirmed by the evidence given by the Brazilian merchants, Moore, Saunders, and Cockshott, before the Import-Duties Committee of the House of Com- mons, 1840. (See Questions 1,809, 1,810, 2,005.) Porter, in his Treatise on the Sugar-Cane, (p. 239,) states with re- ference to the island of Java—" An English acre of cane, in land of middling quality, cultivated without manure, produces, in Java, 1,285 lb. of clayed sugar. The best lands will give, on an average, 1,815 lb. per acre." The same author informs us, (p. 242,) that "in Mauritius the average produce of sugar to the acre is said to amount to 2,000 lb. In virgin land of the best quality, it is even stated that above 5,000 lb. per acre are obtained ; but this produce is materially lessened the second year ; and when the land has been cropped for several years in succession, the quantity is frequently reduced to 1,100 lb. or 1,200 lb. per acre." Of production in British India he gives the following account (p. 229)—" In a letter from a Bengal planter, we find a statement of the produce of nine different provinces, averaging 18 cwt. 3 qrs. 22 lb. per acre of Muscovado sugar, the sugar being computed as one-half the quantity of goor : but in this proportion the sugar must be of very inferior quality, as, on consulting other very respectable authorities, we find that three to four parts of goor are uniformly required to make

• Select Committee on West Coast of Africa, Part. I.; Questions 10,758-10,768.

one part of chaste. In a very circumstantial detail of the culture and manufacture of sugar in the Masulipatam circar, we find it stated that the proportion per acre is Cwt. 12.0. 14 of sugar, 9. 3. 10 of inferior juggery, 5. 3. 25 of syrup."

With regard to our West India Colonies, we have reliable informa- tion in the evidence taken by the Committee of the House of Com- mons last session; for the parties then examined were not likely, under the circumstances, to exaggerate their actual production. From this testimony it appears, that, even with the imperfect cultivation which has confessedly prevailed in all the colonies since the period of Emancipation, with the exception of the well-peopled islands of Barbados, Antigua, and St. Kitt's, the following results have been obtained, including rattoons, or canes cut for several years succes- sively—

Jamaica, about 2,000 lb. per acre.

St. Vincent „ 3,000 „ „ Antigua „

3,000

Barbados „ 3,000 „ „ The great returns thus exhibited from land in the old colonies, which are so often ignorantly called exhausted, appear to arise partly from "the good system of husbandry and the liberal application of manure," to which Turnbull alludes, and partly from their having sufficient labour. The superior fertility of Guiana and Trinidad being well known and unquestioned, the Committee seem to have considered it unnecessary to enter into any particular inquiry respecting them ; especially as their production under the negligent and irregular culture induced by the existing scarcity of labour could not have afforded satisfactory in- formation. That these fine possessions are capable, with adequate labour, of competing with any in the world, is perfectly manifest. In connexion with the relative fertility of these countries, it is interesting to inquire what was the cost of production in our colonies, after the introduction of the various improvements in machinery, im- plements, and artificial manures, which, with other economical arrange- ments, have latterly been more generally adopted. Some of the witnesses examined by the Committee of the House of Commons last session furnish this information in detail from the accounts of their actual experience. A few extracts will suffice.

Mr. Campbell, a proprietor of several estates in Demerara, gives tabular statements (p. 154) to show the average cost of producing sugar there during three periods, which are well selected for the pur- pose of comparison—the last three years of slavery, the last three of apprenticeship, and the first three of freedom. In 1831 to 1833, the average cost appears to have been as low as 5s. 4d. to 98. 6d. per cwt, exclusive of any interest on the value of the property ; in 1835 to 1837, it was 5s. 5d. to 8s. 8d.; and in 1839 to 1841, it rose as high as 26s. 9d. to 31s. Id. per cwt. A similar statement appears (p. 184) in the evidence of Mr. Barkly, a proprietor of large estates in Berbice, but it is more complete, inasmuch as he includes interest on the invested capital : the averages of the three periods were 17s., 128., and 54s. 8d. The other colonies present like results, varying chiefly from two causes— the sufficiency or scarcity of labour ; and the price of rum, which, forming a larger or smaller deduction from the cost of the sugar, materially affects the result. The existing differential duties on rum, in favour of British spirits, operate seriously against the production of cheap sugar. Rum, which is an important product of the cane, mint necessarily bear additional charges, such as freight and casks, which would seem to constitute a sufficient advantage. The repeal of these extra duties would have a doubly-beneficial effect—in adding to the supply of food, and in diminishing the cost of sugar.

2. ACTUAL CONDITION THROUGH BRITISH LEGISLATION.

It is customary to say that our West India Colonies enjoy a mono- poly of our market. The converse of the proposition would, in the order of cause and consequence, be nearer the truth—this country en- joys a monopoly of the West Indian market. The restrictions on foreign produce imposed in favour of the produce of the British Colonies in the British market have been afterthoughts—compensations for the disadvantages to which the Colonies have been subjected by being tied down to restrict their commerce to the Mother-country. In framing the Navigation-laws, in regulating the trade of Colonies, from 1651 downwards, the benefit to the Mother-country has been the primary object ; the concessions to the Colonies have always been reluctantly and tardily made. It was the extreme to which this selfish policy was carried that contributed mainly to separate the United States from this country. Not only were restrictions imposed upon the commerce of those colonies, but the manufacture of their native iron was prohibited, Jest it should interfere with the profits of the iron masters of Staf- fordshire.

The West I idies, the staple produce of which cannot be raised in England, could not be so rigorously dealt with ; but they have not escaped altogether. Up to a very recent period, they were prevented from trading with other countries. During the last war, they could have sold a part of their produce on much better terms than they were compelled to take in England. The relaxations which were made in 1825, and those which were introduced last year, still leave many restrictions and differential duties to their disadvantage.

But the experiment of which the West India Colonies have been made the subject in Negro Emancipation, has already shown the claims of these communities to have any such proposition most cautiously and deliberately scrutinized. The late Mr. Deacon Hume was asked, in his examination before the Import Duties Com- mittee of 1840—" Do you consider the produce of our British colonies should be protected in our market if the restrictions and impedi- ments which now exist in the colonies are not removed ?" That intelligent and experienced public servant was a stanch Free- trader, and yet his deliberate oainion regarding this question was expressed in these words—" I cannot conceive that, having thirty years ago abolished the slave-trade, and now abolished slavery itself, any question of free trade can arise between Jamaica and Cuba ; Cuba, with abundance of rich and fresh soil, not only having the ad-

vantage of employing slaves, whatever that may be, but notoriously importing the enormous amount of forty or fifty thousand every year. They have in fact the slave-trade and slavery ; and as the laws of this country have deprived the planter in Jamaica of that means of raising his produce, I conceive that it is a question like several others which are to be taken quite out of the category of free trade."

The extent to which the quantity of produce annually raised in the British Sugar Colonies was reduced, and the cost of production en- hanced by Emancipation, is startling to contemplate. In the article of sugar alone, the exportation fell off from 201,777 tons, the average of the five years immediately preceding 1833, to 141,000 tons in the first year of entire freedom, to 117,000 in the second, to 107,000 in the third. This decrease in production was not confined to sugar ; it extended to all the staple products of these colonies ; and it can be shown that it was occasioned by the consequences of Emancipation alone.

It has been proved by the evidence given to the West India Corn- mittee of the House of Commons, that from 1837 to 1840—In British Guiana much less work was done in every stage of cul- tivation ; that production had fallen off, and some estates had been put out of cultivation. (Q. 2,020-2,025.) In Trinidad, the difficulty of procuring continuous labour was such, that Mr. Burnley assured the Committee, were he proprietor of every estate in the island, he would throw the half out of cultivation, convinced that he could produce more by concentrating the work of the available labourers on the rest. (Q. 664.) In Jamaica, the produce of the large estates was reduced one-half, and the estates of the poorer pro- prietors were entirely deserted by the labourers. (Q. 6,766-6,780.) In Grenada, no estates had been actually thrown out of cultivation, but the crops had been so diminished that the result was much the same. (Q. 2,726.) Even in Antigua, which, next to Barbados, on account of peculiar circumstances suffered least from Emancipation, the expense of cultivation was raised "just above the expense of slave. labour." (Q. 2,837 2,839.) At the same time that the amount of available labour, and conse- quently the quantity of produce, fell off to such an extent, the remune- ration of the labourers, even of the occasional labourer, continued at a rate high beyond the parallel of any country at any time past or pre- sent. Although the average labour of the efficient Negroes in Jamaica did not, in 1841, exceed the average of thirty hours per week, spread over the days they were pleased to work, (Q. 6,761,) yet the rate of remuneration, what with wages and what with provision-grounds, was such that they were able to provide themselves " with comforts and luxuries to an extent not known by any peasantry in the world but by them and the people of Guiana and Trinidad.' (Q. 6,772.) A gentleman in Jamaica sold them in one year 106 horses, for 1,500/. sterling. Mr. Barkly gave the Committee an account of an argument between himself and one of his head men about the rate of wages—" I showed him how he might supply himself with almost everything he could require, clothing and everything of that kind : after listening to me attentively, he seemed to be convinced; but he put in, as a little addition to what he had formerly said, 'Well, master, but what me have left to buy the little Madeira wine that me want ? ' Bottled porter and things of that kind they look on almost as necessaries ; and they consume them to a large extent."

It cannot be said that these are the unsupported representations of the planters—of the old slave-owners, interested parties. Mr. Joseph John Gurney will be received as a witness above suspicion, when he speaks of the luxuries enjoyed by the Negro labourers. From St. Kitt's he writes—" The imports are vastly increased : the duties on them were 6,000/. more in 1838 than in 1837, and in 1839 double those of 1837 within 150/. This surprising increase is owing to the demand on the part of the free labourers for imported goods, especially for articles of dress. Education in useful knowledge and religious instruction are rapidly advancing. There are nine churches on the island under the Establishment, six Methodist chapels, and three Moravian institu- tions." (P. 47.) From Antigua—" We overtook a wedding-party; both bride and bridegroom were common labourers on the estate ; the bridegroom was attired in a blue coat, handsome waistcoat, with a brooch, white pantaloons, and Wellington boots; the bride in a vast pink silk bonnet, lace cap, and white muslin gown with fashionable sleeves." (P. 66.) From Jamaica—" Wonderful was the scene we witnessed that morning in Samuel Oughton's Baptist chapel, when we attended without having communicated to the people any previous notice of our coming. Such a flock we had never before seen ; consisting of nearly three thousand Black people, chiefly emancipated slaves, attired, after their favourite custom, in neat white raiment, and most respectable and orderly in their demeanour and appearance. They pour in from all parts of the country, partly on foot and partly on mules or horses of their own. They now entirely support the mission, and are en- larging the chapel at the expense of 1,000/. sterling." (P. 96.) "'How many dollars should I find in thy purse at home ?' said a Friend in our company to a young man who was guiding us along one of the mountain-passes : Should I find five?' ' Yes, Sir,' replied he, 'and no great matter either.' How very few of our labourers in England would be found with twenty shillings in their purse of spare money ! was our reflection on the occasion." (P. 104.) For this no one can blame the Negroes. Their conduct in all respects in their new state of freedom has been wonderful. No one grudges that they should enjoy what they can earn. But it is clear that this is a state of things that cannot continue. Many estates have been worked at a loss in the West Indies since Emancipation ; many have been thrown out of work ; many more proprietors have been struggling on, if not with positive loss, yet without deriving income from their estates; and all have had their incomes diminished. The truth is, that the Negroes in the West Indies are in the flourishing condition described by Mr. Gurney, because almost the whole of the price paid for sugar goes into their pockets. The people of England will not long endure this. When they hear of the luxurious Negroes, they will say, " We paid twenty millions to make them free ; but we will not always submit to pay for the sugar they make by working thirty hcurs a week, a price which enables them to enjoy the luxuries of

the middle class at home, while our English labourers, by a week's

work of more than twice as many hours, can barely earn a subsistence." Further, the Negro's labour is rendered more effective by his em- ployer's capital ; but his employer is expending his capital without return, or at a loss ; and if this continue, the employer must with- draw his capital, or be ruined, which comes to the same thing. The Negro labourers, thrown upon their own resources, will sink down to the level of their brethren in Hayti ; and the British West India colo- nies must retrograde from their present state of civilization into one of semi-barbarism. But if the Negroes must be incalculably the greatest sufferers by a perseverance in the present arrangements, there are others who would be deeply injured. Even in their recent state of depression, the value of the annual exports from the British West Indies has averaged rather more than six millions, and the value of the imports a very little less than six millions. Subjoined are tables which show the value of the exports and imports of all our Sugar Colonies for the year 1839.

Summary of the Trade between the British West Indies and Mauritius, and all parts of the World in 1839; arranged according to the Colonies.

Value of Imports. Value of Exports.

Antigua Barbados Dominica Grenada Jamaica Montserrat Nevis St. Christopher St Lucia St. Vincent Tobago Tortola ...

Trinidad Bahamas Bermudas Demerara Berbice Mauritius Total

£233.336 723.775 44.275 99,507 2,244.450 9,135 31 737 143,867 77.507 189.246 72,418 6,200 465.824 132,906 124,884 1,029,830 178,684 865,461

£353.709 686,702 87,466 201.132 2,484,735 21,312 52,835 185,626 76,184 299 325 150.557 15,029 358,945 93,844 21,258 1,091,582 256,122 780,042 £6,733,231 £7,216,405

Summary of the Trade of the British West Indies with all parts of the World; arranged according to the Countries.

Value of Imports. Value of Exports.

Great Guernsey Gibraltar Africa British Java British

United

ris,

15 - S". , ,,,I

States Ireland Denmark Germany France Spain Italy Madeira Senegal Mexico Guatimala Columbia Brazil Britain and Jersey ....

(West Coast of) India .

North America States of North America Swedish Danish Dutch French -

Spanish

Itirti N distinguished of Rio de in Plata Total

2.o2.032

£3,797,517 171,867 1.588 2,929 1,341 14,666 15 44.056 1,551 400 3,284 19,047 755.816 663,097 8,837 61,967 18.659 74,161 99.094 18,694 9,644 6,762 88,373 4,437 4,946 £5,424.614 303,669

2,329 1 529 13,805 1.500 330

• 123,728 133.153 919 9,233 11,511 15,635 139.037 288 3,363 5,469 4,469 241,552 230 £5.867.820 £6,436.363

Summary of the Trade of Mauritius with all parts of he World in 1839; arranged according to the Countries

Value of Imports. Value of Exports.

Great Britain £309.771 £601,003 Sweden 2,710

Holland 2,986

France 108.536 3,037 Madeira St. Helena Cape of Good Hope 3,621 91,038

775 36.257

Isle of Bourbon Madagascar 31.705 59,944 9,352 25,163 Seychelles and Rodriquez 569

East Coast of Africa 1.156

Arabia 7,019 114 British India 226,383 12.031 French India 38,892 4,066 Java 776 118 Timor 1,240

Philippine Islands 839

China 10,817 410 British Settlements in Australia 1,034 87.650 British North America 7.773

United States of North America 8.089 66 Fisheries 563

Total £865,461 £780.042

The total amounts scarcely show veth sufficient 'distinctness the im- portance of this branch of our trade-that it creates a demand not only for a great quantity of our manufactures, but for those of the highest class, the value of which greatly or chiefly consists of labour. This will be better understood if we compare our exports to the British

West Indies, in kind and quantity, with the exports to Brazil.

Comparative Value of the Export-Trade to the B, aril and to the British West Indies. 1838. 1839. 1840.

3.393,441 3,936,598 3,574,970 2,606,604 2,650,713 2,625,853

Total Exports of British Manufactures-

To British West Indies To Brazils

Principal Items composing the Exports of 1840.

West Indies. Brazils, X X Apparel and Haberdashery.. ., Arms Bacon and Hams Beef and Pork Beer and Ale. 231.908 13,324 39.494 109,618 81 689 15,021 16,096

959

176 12.53S Books • 14,999 829 Sham and Copper-work 37,520 40,914 Butter and Chem 111,808 72,546 Coals. 52.807 9.718 Cordage 19,007

1.307

Cotton Manufactures 1,162.887 1,451,345 Hosiery .. 61,762 73.364 Yarn and Twist 10.038 328 Earthenware 33,134 90,025 Herfings 5,524 122 Glass. Weight

60.708

17,936 Ditto, Value 2,464 121 Hardware 70.878 58,021 Hata 19,065 8,811 Iron and Steel 122,289 59.320 Lead and Shot 8,792 7,945 Leather Manufactures 12 l ,133 16,482 Saddlery, &c 25,871 3.953 Linens 328.369 231,551 Machinery and Mill-work 44.388 17,997 Paints 24.401 7.196 Plate, &c 23,227 1,528 Salt 2,710 441 Silk Goods 56,230 25,516 Soap and Candles 174,270 67,001 Stationery 34.080 6,388 Refined Sugar 37.492 313 Tin 468 1,287 Tin.% area ' 13,727 3,481 Woollen. Manufactures 64.098 272,892 Ditto, Yarn 15,892 19,238 Ditto, Hosiery 10,857 15.800 All other Articles 349,665 92,641 Shipping emplu! ed. Vessels. Tonnage. Vessels. Tonnage.

British West Indies, Inwards .. 627 .. 181,731 1 Outwards 855 .. 222,620 Brazils, Ditto ... 120 .. 29,212 1 Ditto 208 .. 49,912

The six millions, which is the estimated value of the total imports or exports (either of which may be considered equivalent to the annual production,) of the West India Colonies, taken at 5 per cent, represents a large capital, which, in so far as this country is concerned, must be wantonly and extravagantly de- stroyed by allowing matters to remain as they have been. If the British West Indies be reduced to the state of Hayti, this coun- try's share in the trade with them will be annihilated ; a market. for our manufactures to the value of four millions per annum will be destroyed. Nor is this all : the rental of West India property annu- ally spent or invested in this country exceeded, until of late years, the whole annual rental of Scotland: that must be lost. And the capital that will be destroyed in these colonies belongs to British subjects, entitled by their birthright to the protection of British laws.

So long as slavery existed there could be only two classes of society -the capitalist and the labourer. It was part of the capitalist's charge and business to provide and distribute food and clothing to his labourers : there could be no shopkeeper-no class comprehending shopkeepers, small proprietors, and others, who in this country rank with them in society. As soon as the slave became a labourer receiv- ing wages and spending wages, the necessity of having retail.dealers and the possibility of earning money by retail-dealing came to be felt. A shopkeeper class was formed ; and it could only be supplied by with- drawing a certain proportion of the labouring class from labour. It was an economical necessity-a natural and unavoidable consequence of the altered relations of society-that caused the marked falling-off in the number of labourers which followed Emancipation throughout the colonies. The change was desirable as well as inevitable, for it is the only means of forming a middle class, that indispensable ingredient of civilized society. But middle and upper classes, without a labouring class, are a building without a foundation : unless an additional supply of labourers can be secured to fill up the vacuum in their ranks in the Sugar Colonies, occasioned by the withdrawal of the new shop- keeper class, the whole fabric of society must totter and fall.

All these evils must follow unless means can be devised for restor- ing our Sugar Colonies to a healthy economical condition. And it is clear, from the retrospect now taken, that the only thing wanted for this purpose is a sufficient supply of efficient labour. A relapse into slavery is as impossible as undesirable. The West Indies must be saved by making free-labour at least as productive as slave-labour. To this end, there must be a fair competition, and no monopoly. In the British West Indies there is intelligence enough to supply both free head-workers and hand-workers ; but the competition is wanting. The labouring class have a monopoly of the labour-market.