§ Mr. Fowell Buxton, in bringing forward his promised Motion on the subject of the Slave Trade, observed, that no person who had not witnessed the atrocities of that abominable traffic could have an adequate conception of the crimes, miseries, and cruelties to which it gave rise. He requested the attention of the House to facts which he should lay before them from Parliamentary documents—facts that indicated the extent to which the Slave Trade was now carried on. He held in his hand a list of importations of slaves into the Brazils. The returns from the British Consuls from the 1st of January, 1829, to the 30th of June, 1830, a period of one year and a half, was as follows; viz.
In three years and a half 150,537 slaves were introduced into Brazil through the single port of Rio de Janeiro. But this did not include the whole number deported from Africa; it only extended to the number introduced alive: we knew nothing of the amount of mortality that occurred among the slaves on their passage. In 1830 the Slave Trade had been legally abolished, notwithstanding which, however, he was sorry to say, it now proceeded with almost as much activity as ever. This he gathered from the report of the Minister of Marine to the Legislative Assembly, which was as follows:—
Slaves Ships. Died on passage Para 779 6 30 Maranham 1,252 13 89 Pernambuco 8,079 26 308 Bahia 22,202 70 768 Rio de Janeiro 81,956 200 6,912 114,288 315 8,107 Rio de Janeiro, June 17, 1833. Well known are the tricks resorted to by speculators, as sordid as they are criminal, to continue the disgraceful traffic in slaves, in spite of all the 1040 legislative provisions and orders issued respecting it, which have been most scandalously eluded. It, therefore, appears necessary to the Government to have recourse to the most efficacious means, which are, to arm a sufficient number of small vessels to form a sort of cordon sanitaire, which may prevent the access to our shores of those swarms of Africans that are continually poured forth from ships employed in so abominable a traffic.Among many causes of the present extent of the Slave Trade, one was an apprehension, which he hoped was well founded, that the European Powers would soon exert themselves to put an end to the abominable traffic; another cause, which he trusted might prove ill founded, was, that it was thought the experiment recently made in the West Indies would fail, and consequently that there would be an increased demand for Brazilian sugar. Another cause of the extent of the Slave Trade was, that the Brazilian mines were worked by slaves, by means of the application of British capital. To show the extent to which the trade was carried, he might state that there sailed from the port of Havannah alone, as slavers, for the coast of Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, and 1826, 96 vessels, and from the 1st of January, 1827, to the 30th of October, 1833, 264 vessels, in a period of six years and a half. When slaves could be obtained through the means of this traffic, it became a matter of calculation whether it might not be for the advantage of the owner to work out his slave in a few years, rather than, by milder treatment, to retain his labour for a longer period. Of the slaves obtained by this mode, a number died before they could be seasoned to their new mode of life. But the greatest stage of mortality to the negroes was in what was called the Middle Passage. Of the extent of that mortality, he could give no general account that could be deemed accurate, because there were no means of obtaining any thing like authentic information upon the subject. But it fortunately happened that in the vessels captured by his Majesty's cruisers, they had the means of knowing exactly what the mortality was, and from these a conclusion might be drawn as to the amount of the mortality in general. He begged to call the attention of the House to the following instances:—Case of the Midas,Havannah, July 17, 1829.The mortality on board this brig has been 1041 dreadful; she sailed in May last with a cargo of 562 slaves from the river Bonny on the coast of Africa, and had only 400 alive at the time of detention; of these, after the surrender, a number through fright, as it is supposed, threw themselves into the sea, so as to reduce the number to 369 at the time of the captors counting them the day after the action. Unfortunately, owing to unfavourable winds and the small force of the Monkey, she was obliged to remain some days at anchor [...] Bahama Bank with her prize, so that, [...] the of her arrival in the Havannah, nine other negroes had thrown themselves overboard, notwithstanding the utmost care on the part of the captor, who had placed sentinels on the outside of the brig: 69 others also had died of the small-pox, and the other diseases which have been, owing to the confinement on board, ravaging this brig almost ever since she left Africa. After her arrival in this port (Havannah), your Lordship (Earl of Aberdeen) will perceive, from the inclosed letter of the mixed Commission to the Captain-General, that 10 more died; thus making the mortality of the negroes on board, after capture, 88, and the number given up by the captors to the Governor, to amount to 281. According to the reports of the medical men, they are still, I grieve to say, in a most dreadful state, already reduced to about 253, and those so ill and emaciated, that it has hitherto been impossible to make out the description of their persons and marks that are inserted in their certificates of emancipation.Case of the Fama da Cadiz, alias Nueva Diana.Havannah, July 31, 1829.On the 22d inst. the long-expected privateer called the Fama da Cadiz came into port, having previously landed 300 slaves at Santa Cruz; it is said that this notorious slave trader and pirate was boarded by one of his Majesty's sloops on the coast of Africa, but liberated on account of having no slaves then actually on board; she afterwards plundered other slave vessels of about 980 slaves, and had scarcely sailed for this island with them, when the small-pox and other contagious diseases broke out, which reduced a crew of 167 to 06, and her slaves to about 300, of whom the greatest part are in so wretched a state, that her owners have been selling them as low as 100 dollars.Case of the Constancia.Havannah, Sept. 30, 1829.On the 21st inst. the Spanish schooner Constancia da Ferrer arrived in this port in ballast, after having landed 70 slaves on the coast. She is said to have left Africa with 438 negroes, who have been reduced by the small-pox to the above small number. The mortality on board the slave vessels this year has been truly shocking.Case of the Ricardo,Havannah, Nov. 30, 1829.On the 25th inst. arrived the brig Ricardo, D. M. Moran, master, which sailed from this 1042 port so long ago as the 2d of October, 1828' having been blockaded by one of his Majesty's schooners in the river Bonny. It appears that after losing a great part of her crew, and a whole cargo of negroes by sickness, she was obliged to sail for this island in ballast.But not to trouble the House with any further details upon that point, he might state at once, that the mortality on board 106 ships, condemned between the 1st of January, 1827, and the 1st of January, 1833, at Sierra Leone, was as follows:—The next point to which he begged to call the attention of the House, was the crowded state of the slave vessels. Upon that point he would only mention a few cases.
Vessels. Slaves. Emancipated. Spanish 34 8,322 7,426 Portuguese 28 3,671 3,287 Netherlands 8 1,573 1,381 Brazilian 36 7,596 6,143 106 21,162 18,237 Emancipated 18,237 2,925 Left at Fernando Po, ill 161 Died between capture and adjudication. 2,764
§ Mr. Humeentirely concurred in the propriety of expressing some strong and decided opinion on the absolute necessity of putting a stop to the Slave Trade: but he thought that the hon. Member would have effected his object better if he had avoided the use of language which might serve to irritate Foreign Powers. Besides, it should be recollected that those Powers were not the only parties who deserved blame; for, in his opinion, the Government of this country was liable to censure for not insisting on the execution of the treaties for the suppression of the Slave Trade. He thought it would be better that a motion embracing so many facts, and extended to so great a length, should be withdrawn; and that a short, decided, and firm resolution—a resolution which the House could not fail to understand and adopt, should be submitted in its stead. It was almost too much to expect the House suddenly, and upon the instant to agree to a motion which extended over not less than nine pages. At all events, he would recommend that it should be printed, and be suffered to stand over for a few days, so that hon. Members might have an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with it before they were called upon to adopt it. Whenever a proper time arrived for a discussion of the subject, he (Mr. Hume) should be prepared to state that the measure of Slave Emancipation adopted two years since by the British Legislature, had succeeded in several of the West-India islands to an extent far exceeding anything that could reasonably have been expected.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerwas understood to say, that the important object of the address before the House had been communicated to the Foreign-office, and he understood that with respect to it, no objection was entertained in that department. With regard to the recital of facts contained in the address, that had been compared with public documents, and found to be correct. Whether it be advisable or not to adopt a shorter 1049 address than the one just moved, appeared to him to be rather a question of form than of substance; but he knew of no subject more befitting the attention of that House and of the Government than that to which the address had reference; and he should be sorry to see the tone which the House ought to adopt in the discussion of such a matter any way lowered. The British Government were not only bound by the obligations of treaties to put a stop to the Slave Trade, but was also bound in justice to the West-Indian proprietors, to see that they were subject to no unfair competition on the part of foreigners. Thus not only humanity, but the interest of the West-Indian colonists, called on the Government to omit no step calculated to put down the Slave Trade. With respect to the objection taken by the hon. member for Middlesex, to the length of the motion, he begged to state that he certainly did recollect that on a former occasion, an Address to the Crown had been opposed on account of its length; but it should be borne in mind that that address consisted not of facts extracted from public documents on the Table of the House (as the present one did), but of the reasoning of the hon. Member who moved it. With respect to the suppression of the Slave Trade, he believed that France was willing to co-operate cordially with this country; and he expected that Spain and Portugal would be found ready to enter into some satisfactory arrangement for the same purpose. To effect this object, no means had been left untried by successive Governments, and he was sure that they could not be fairly accused of neglect of duty. This address would not impede any negotiations pending at present, nor was it inconsistent with an accurate statement of facts. He asked his hon. Friend, the Member for Middlesex, whether he thought that any convenience would arise from withholding the assent of the House from this address to-night, and from reviving the discussion upon it on a future occasion? He put it to the House whether, in the present state of Parliamentary business, his suggestion ought not to be acceded to.
§ Mr. Cobbettcontended that until they could prevail on the Government of the United States to grant the right of search they never could put an end to the traffic in slaves. He objected to the length of the address, Nine pages of address car- 1050 ried to the ears of a King, was a monstrous absurdity.
§ Mr. George F. Youngsaid, that though he entertained a strong opinion in favour of all the statements which the hon. Member for Weymouth had made, and of all the inferences which he had drawn from them, he yet hoped that the House would be cautious in the mode of exercising its interference. On their decision of that night, might, perhaps at some future period, depend the question of peace or war. To be asked summarily to come to a resolution on a long statement of alleged facts, which nobody had heard before that evening, was not what he had been accustomed to in his Parliamentary experience. They were acting in a manner that must inevitably lead them into difficulties, and he hoped that his hon. Friend, the Member for Weymouth, notwithstanding the sanction given to his address by his Majesty's Government, would delay pressing the House to a decision upon it that evening.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerdenied that he had given any sanction on the part of Government to the proposed address. He had not offered any objection to it, as it contained nothing but facts which had been previously stated in papers laid on the Table of that House.
§ Mr. F. Buxtonconcurred with the hon. gentlemen opposite, in thinking the address too long. He knew that the attention of Parliament had not been drawn to the subject, and that it was therefore necessary either to include in the address, or to exclude from it all the premises upon which it was founded. He had, therefore, determined to introduce them into the address, for the purpose of reviving the recollection of them. If he had confined himself to a short address, it must have been to this effect—that the House requested His Majesty to take certain measures, and that the House would support him in those measures to obtain redress. His original object had been altered by obtaining information that certain negotiations were still pending with Foreign Powers, and he felt that he ought not to use towards them in such contingencies, any language that might be deemed uncourteous. He wished it, however, to be understood, that if any thing like past trifling were persisted in, he should call on the House to take measures, to put down the abomination which 1051 existed at present. Having said thus much, he would now add, that he would withdraw his present address, and on a future occasion propose a shorter address in its stead. He could not sit down without stating that he had listened with great pleasure to one part of the speech of his hon. Friend the Member for Middlesex. He had recently seen the authority of his hon. Friend appealed to in a debate in the French Chamber of Deputies, for the purpose of proving that the great experiment attempted by England, with respect to the Abolition of Slavery had entirely failed. He knew that such was not the case; and he was glad to hear his hon. Friend add his testimony to the same fact. There was also another point which he wished to mention: he should be the last person to charge either the present Government or that which preceded it, with any neglect on this subject.
§ Motion withdrawn.