§ Order of the Day for Second Reading read.
§ EARL GREYrose to move that the Bill be now read the second time. One of the objects of the measure which he now intended to bring under the notice of their Lordships was to alter the Act of 1846; and the necessity for making such a change had been very greatly strengthened by the constantly-increasing distress of our sugar-growing colonies. It was not his present purpose, however, to occupy their Lordships' attention by any lengthened discourse; though, if he had been called upon to address them upon this subject at an earlier period of the year, he should, perhaps, have not thought it unfitting to enter into the question of the sugar duties much more in detail than he had now any intention of doing. Looking at the protracted duration of the Session—remembering how few Members of either House still remained in town—considering, also, how much discussion had already taken place on the subject of those duties—he should abstain from saying more upon the present occasion than was absolutely necessary. 569 He felt that it was scarcely requisite for him to go over any very great portion of the ground that had already been travelled in making known the evidence upon which the provisions of the Bill were founded—it had been shown, as he conceived, beyond any doubt, that the policy hitherto pursued with regard to those duties could no longer be safely continued. It had been proved, as he believed in the clearest possible manner, that wages which had been raised to an excessive height by an artificial system of duties had proved deeply injurious both to the planter and the labourer. As far as he had been able to ascertain, the condition of the negro had not been in the least improved by the great increase of payment which he now received. In one of his despatches, dated the 3rd of May, the Governor of British Guiana said—
Estates worked by advances from England were a lottery, in which every one struggled to obtain a prize at the expense of his neighbour. Hence, labourers were seduced from one estate to another; higher wages were the result, which, in the end, have absorbed the resources of the employers. The labourers are enriched; the owner has been left penniless. Had the diminution of wages taken place in 1847 rather than in 1818, many estates now jeopardised would, per-haps, have escaped; for the crops were large enough to have given profit, had expenses of labour not aborbed it. I consider it a great disadvantage to the progress of civilisation that the Creoles, young and old, have hitherto been enabled to earn, by two or three days' labour of six hours or seven hours each per week, more than sufficient maintenance; they are thus induced to irregular habits; they shoot, fish, and lead a wandering life. Planters cannot regulate the work on their estates as farmers do in Europe; they are subject to the caprice of the negro—continuous labour cannot be had—the crops fail, while the liabilities increase—and there are not a few of the nominal possessors of property who are ground to the earth by the debts accumulated annually, from the enormous interest which the habits of West Indian dealings have introduced.From these despatches, as well as from the evidence adduced upon the subject of the sugar duties before the other House, it was clear that high wages had not been conducive to the welfare, but had greatly increased the demoralisation of the negroes, and that that evil state of things had been greatly aggravated by cultivation extended beyond its legitimate limits, and by competition carried on to a mischievous excess; and, what was worse, carried on upon borrowed capital, and at such inordinate charges as were wholly inconsistent with a sound mercantile system, or with legitimate mercantile profits. The effect of 570 the protecting duties had been to stimulate artificial production in a manner that was most injurious to fair and legitimate trade; and for the proof of that, he might refer to the papers which had been laid upon the table of the House. From those it appeared that in the Mauritius during the five years which elapsed from 1820 to 1824 inclusive, the produce had been 22,000,000 of French pounds; that in the subsequent five years it had risen to 42,000,000 lb.; that in 1830 it was 68,000,000 lb.; and in 1832, the year before the emancipation, it rose to 73,000,000 lb.; and since the emancipation of the negroes, it had risen still more rapidly. In 1840–l, it had advanced to 76,000,000 lb.; and last year, 1847, it had reached the great amount of 133,000,000 lb., being an increase of sixfold in twenty-five years. Then there had been a great increase in the rate of wages, in spite of increased immigration; and, after all, the labour market was by no moans well supplied—the employers were bidding against each other, and the necessary consequence of that condition of affairs was most injurious to the great body of the planters. It was impossible that this state of things could go on; and he found in the despatches of Sir W. Gomm, the Governor of the Mauritius, that he had foreseen the calamity. The report of the Committee of Council, dated February 19, 1845, stated, that "the crops of the five years from 1820 to 1824, averaged only 22,000,000 lb.; those of the subsequent five years, only 42,000,000 lb.; in 1830, the crop had risen to 68,000,009 lb.; and, in 1832, to 73,000,000 lb." In a despatch dated August 24, 1846, Sir W. Gomm wrote—" I cannot be blind to the facts that, with the supply of labour in the colony, 80,000,000 lb. were with case gathered in from the crop of 1844–5; that 100,000,000 lb. and upwards have been in like manner shipped of that just completed; and that many look with a full confidence to realising 120,000,000 lb. from that already in progress. Nor can I be without my apprehensions that, should a dark day arise, in succession to these consecutive seasons, the ever-increasing cultivation of the soil, supported, and indeed set on foot exclusively, by foreign aid, must bring extensive embarrassment." He had read these extracts to prove that it had been foreseen at the time by Sir W. Gomm that the great increase which had taken place in the produce was not a healthy 571 increase; that it had been stimulated by the artificial system which had been pursued; and this cause had not only affected the Mauritius, but had affected our colonies in the west, which had been carrying on cultivation with borrowed capital, upon which the charges were of the heaviest kind; for, the trade being a hazardous one, the charge must be enormous. The artificial cultivation of sugar was increased by another circumstance; the merchants at home, who advanced money for the extension of the cultivation in the colonies, were themselves trading far beyond their own capital, and trusted more to credit than to capital. In this manner was the production of sugar artificially increased. Without reading any further statements, be thought he had shown that by this forced and artificial system—by the competition of the planters with each other—was the production unnaturally increased, and the wages of the labourer were raised. But let it not he supposed that he blamed these parties; he did not think them blameable; he thought them imprudent, but their imprudence was as nothing compared with the imprudence of Parliament. The two Houses of Parliament were responsible for having fostered and encouraged this unnatural system, which could have led to no other result. Looking to the future, however, in his opinion, notwithstanding their actual and immediate distress, there was a fair prospect of reasonable profits in our sugar-growing colonies under a better system. He admitted the extreme severity of the existing distress, and he deplored as moch as any man the calamities which had visited so large and respectable a class. Then with respect to the future, he had ventured to predict that, if protection were withdrawn, and the system of cultivation was placed upon a proper footing, wages would inevitably fall; and that prediction had been verified. With regard to the comparative cost of free and slave labour, he had met the other day with a statement in a Mauritius newspaper, the Mauritius Mail, in which the writer said—"We asked one of our most experienced planters, to whose opinion every one who knows him will bend, which he preferred; and he laughed at us for the question. 'I had a choice band of slaves that were attached to me,' he said, 'for I occupied myself about their welfare; all they did is now easily surpassed by a band of the same number of Madras Indians.'" He was completely confirmed by the expe-rience 572 rience of the planters in the Mauritius that free labour in that colony was decidedly cheaper than slave labour in Cuba. There was only one of the colonies in which this was not the case, and it was singular that it was the very colony where the wages were highest. In Guiana the labourers strenuously resisted the reduction of wages, and no wonder; they had been spoiled by the extraordinary high wages they had received owing to the forced and artificial system adopted by the planters. In Barbadoes, Antigua, and other colonies, with less natural advantages, where wages had not been so extravagantly forced up, they had been much reduced, and a more natural and wholesome relation had been established between master and labourer. The report of the stipendiary magistrate of Antigua for the half-year ending December 31, 1847, stated, "The number of young persons employed in field labour has increased during this half-year, and I confidently repeat my conviction that in a few years a numerous native peasantry will arise to cultivate the soil and supersede the necessity of emigration. The reduction of wages has had the effect of bringing more labour into the market." He stated that there was an increased amount of deposits in the savings banks, which was one evidence of increased industry amongst the labourers. Another effect which he had predicted was the diminution of the cost of production, and improvements in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar, which would be caused by competition; and on this point also he was able to prove that he had not been deceived. Sir Henry Light, Governor of Guiana, in a letter dated the 25th of June, 1848, enclosed a document from Dr. Shier, stating that the subsoil draining of canefields in Demerara in comparison with a neighbouring field under common cultivation, had given an increase of produce of 100 per cent in the former as compared with the latter, though under very great disadvantages. "I believe," he said, "that the planters are beginning to open their eyes on the true protection, namely, better cultivation; but very few have the means of standing the outlay necessary for this new mode of cultivation." As to manufacture, Sir H. Light said, in his despatch of February 14, 1848, describing the success of Dr. Shier's improvements, "Nothing can equal the slovenly, unscientific way in which sugar is made on those estates on which the 573 common process is used." Lord Harris, in a private letter, dated the 21st of July, 1848, after describing the importance of improved cultivation, stated, with regard to the manufacturing process, "A report was received by the last packet of prices set on some samples of sugar made on the day, at the same estate, and from canes taken from the same field—value of sugar made by Dr. Mitchell's process, 47s. per cwt.; by old process, 36s. per cwt.: there being no increased expense, and nearly double the quantity of saccharine matter extruded." These statements sufficed to show that there was in our colonies a great capability of improvement. He now proceeded to show that even under the pressure of existing difficulties the sugar cultivation was in a process of improvement. In British Guiana he found that, in the first six months of 1848, the quantity of sugar exported was 21,528 hhds.; and, in 1847, for the corresponding period it was only 19,120 hhds.; showing an increase of 2,408 hhds.; that the export of rum for the first half of the year 1848 was 11,653 puncheons, while for the similar period of 1847 it amounted only to 7,266; showing an increase of 4,387. On the other hand, the exports of molasses in 1848 were 4,167 casks; and in 1847, 6,552 casks; a diminution of 2,385 casks, or more than one-third. Now, when it was considered that the quantity of molasses depended upon the imperfection in the process of the manufacture of sugar, the diminution of the export of the refuse article showed an improvement in the mode of manufacturing the sugar. There was, therefore, an increase during the first six months of the year 1848 over the first six months of 1847 in the export of rum and sugar, the manufactured article, and a decrease in that of molasses, the refuse article. In Trinidad, Lord Harris, in his despatch, dated the 19th of June, 1848, said, "Matters are now as nearly as possible at their worst; artificial assistance will do little or nothing. Those who have energy may still continue to cultivate the soil; by improvements, by advances in scientific cultivation, or by economy, I believe they may still succeed. The number of acres in cultivation will be less, the crop will diminish in quantity, but it will not be the less lucrative; I believe more so, and a natural state of things to producers, which will place matters upon a more wholesome footing." But there were already hopes in this island that improvement had begun. 574 Lord Harris said—"Up to July, 1847, very great facility generally existed in procuring both money and bills, but neither a cheap nor good sugar was the result; on the contrary, it is notorious that now, for the first time, will the character of Trinidad sugar change in the estimation of English buyers, as a very great improvement has taken place." This was the 20th of June, 1848. In Antigua, Governor Higginson wrote (June, 1848), that there were glimmerings of returning confidence; that wages had fallen from 1s. 10d. to 6d. a day; and he said, "The prevailing opinion here undoubtedly is, that unless free-labour produce be protected, the majority of estates must be abandoned; but I incline to believe that the worst has passed. "He trusted that he had proved that the old protective system was essentially an unsound one; and although the return to a better and a healthier state of things might be attended, and unfortunately was attended, with no small pressure and distress—still he believed that that change bore in it the seeds of prosperity, and well-grounded hope for the future. But if this was his opinion, he might be asked on what grounds he justified the Bill, the second reading of which he had now to move? The object of that Bill was to extend to a longer period, and grant to a greater extent, the protection and privileges accorded by the Bill of 1846 to the British sugar-growing colonies; and the grounds on which he thought such a measure justifiable were these:—In the first place there existed amongst the sugar growers a panic, which, if not checked, must lead to the most disastrous results. His own opinion was, that this panic was a groundless one; but the planters had been so long taught to rely on protection, that he could not be surprised at their considering the withdrawal of that protection as equivalent to ruin. Under the influence, then, of this panic, it was probable that the planters would have adopted a course which must inevitably have led to great injury, not only to themselves, but to the empire. They would, if something were not done, in all probability have abandoned their estates, and discontinued a species of cultivation which could not be resumed except at an immense sacrifice of capital. But, besides, it was now confessed on all hands, that the amount of advantage intended by the Act of 1846 to be conferred on the colonists, had not, as yet, been fully or practically realised. These circumstances justified the grant of some relief to the 575 West Indies. The principal provision of the present Bill was this:—there was to be interposed between the duties on white clayed muscovado, another rate applicable to brown clayed, and that was the duty which would be paid by the majority of foreign sugars introduced into this country. The measure, while it conferred considerable advantages upon the British producer, he felt confident, would not have an injurious effect upon the revenue. Among the measures introduced for the benefit of the planter, were the reduction of the differential duty upon rum, and a loan of 500,000l. He could have wished that this sum were larger, but the financial difficulties of this country rendered the grant of a larger sum an impossibility. Had they attempted more, they would have effected less. They were not true friends of the colonies, who represented the Government of this country as slow to sympathise in their difficulties, and as unwilling to assist them. He was convinced, had they returned to the system of protection, that they would also have returned to all those evils which had grown up under that system. They would have raised the price of labour, and they would have raised hopes which could not have been realised. He earnestly hoped that these measures would be accepted in the same spirit as they were brought forward, and that the colonists would not be led astray by the evil advice of those who would teach them to suppose that Her Majesty's Government were not as deeply interested in endeavouring to relieve them and to promote their permanent prosperity as any other party in the kingdom. If he could have been really persuaded that a system of protection would have been for their permanent advantage, notwithstanding the heavy expense which it would have entailed upon the country—notwithstanding that it would have been so much at variance with the opinions which he had maintained over since he entered Parliament—he would have advocated its adoption. It appeared to him that a system of protection would have been even more fatal to the planter than injurious to the interests of this country. The colonists should look for their ultimate and permanent prospects, not to Parliaments or to Governments, but to their own industry and enterprise; if they relied upon themselves, he had no doubt of their ultimate triumph over the difficulties which now surrounded them. In conclusion, he could not help pointing out how seriously their difficulties and dan- 576 gers would be augmented, should they listen to the evil advice proffered to them from some quarters; of having recourse to violence and rash proceedings, in the vain hope of inducing Parliament to alter that policy which, in its deliberate wisdom, it had determined to adopt. Agitation in the colonies upon the question of a return to the system of protection might have a powerful effect in discouraging further influx of capital, and in keeping up the alarm and uneasiness which had already been excited in some places; but they must be blind observers of passing events and of the steady current of public opinion in this country who believed that such proceedings would have the hoped-for effect of inducing the Legislature to alter the policy which, in this respect, it had adopted. To that policy he was convinced the great majority of this country were irrevocably pledged. The noble Earl concluded by moving, that the Bill be read a second time.
§ LORD REDESDALEIf the Government desired to retain the colonies in the bonds of loyalty and affection, they should impress upon their minds that they were legislated for with a deep feeling for their true interests. This was the only course which should be pursued, and in observing this he could not help regretting the concluding observations of the noble Earl, as he thought it was rather heartless to allude to the miseries and sufferings of the colonists in the manner he had done, especially as they sprung from the policy of the present Ministry. He did not like the system adopted for the relief of the West Indies. Instead of advancing them half a million of money, which would never be repaid, it would have been much better to have given them protection by increasing the duty, thereby benefiting the revenue of this country. He blamed the Government for having lost three weeks of the Session by the blunders which pervaded the Bill; and he considered that due courtesy was not shown to the House of Lords in introducing a measure of so much importance at such a late period. It had been too much the custom latterly to do so, and he therefore protested against it. He would not oppose the Bill.
The EARL of GRANVILLEThe Bill had been introduced at a late period, in consequence of the sitting of the Committee appointed to inquire into the subject, and the protracted nature of the debates in the other House of Parliament. When they remembered the general commercial dis- 577 tress which prevailed, they could not wonder that the manufacture of sugar, a commodity of such a variable character, should also suffer.
§ LORD DENMANwished to express the reasons for that satisfaction which he felt that this Bill had been introduced to the Legislature by Her Majesty's Government. The principal was, because it was in direct opposition to the Act which, two years ago, he thought it was most disgraceful to this country to have passed. That Act, said to be based on "the just and eternal principles of free trade," announced as the final settlement of an embarrassing question, had enjoyed an eternity of two years and seven days, and was now repealed by its authors. That Act had proceeded on non-protection by differential duties: this Bill revived and prolonged protection. This Bill was, therefore, the proof that the Act of 1846 had failed—except, indeed, in one effect, predicted by those who opposed it, the increased stimulus and encouragement afforded to the traffic in our fellow-creatures—an effect produced by the increased demand for slaves; by the increased activity of the traders who provided the market; and still more fatally by the opinion it had caused amongst the nations of the world, that England had grown indifferent on the subject of that detestable traffic. He was happy to hear from the noble Lords, that hopes were still entertained that our colonies might recover their prosperity. But he was perfectly confident that could only be by means of the extinction of the slave trade; and whoever would calmly consider the evidence which had been given by the most reluctant witness on that subject, would be convinced that that was the case. He rejoiced that the observations which he had addressed to the House a few evenings back, had attracted some portion of the public attention, for if the mind of the people of England were brought to bear upon the subject, and if inquiries. were pursued by enlightened men who formed the public opinion, who were anxious to obtain the truth, he had not the slightest doubt that the slave trade would be speedily extinguished. And the question was not only of vital importance to the general interests, but it pressed for immediate decision, and an effectual remedy. The supply of slaves could not be less than 200 men a day; and every day that this consummation was delayed, 200 men were exposed to all the 578 iniquities and cruel practices which are inseparable from slavetrading. His observations had been ascribed to a personal interest in this matter, because one who was very dear to him was actively employed in its suppression. That circumstance had not, however, the slightest influence on his opinions, formed and matured as they had been long before the birth of that individual. The professional reputation, too, of that officer, though connected with his proceedings on the coast of Africa, rested on the past, and was wholly independent of the measures to be adopted by Parliament; and he believed he might safely leave his reputation to take care of itself. It had been said of himself, with the same view, that he was a loading Member of the Anti-Slavery Society. It so happened that he never was a member of the Anti-Slavery Society; he never even subscribed to it, he never attended their councils. He should be proud to boast of that association if it had existed, but other duties rendered it impossible. These trifling errors, in respect to himself, were followed up by a very formidable attack (said the noble Lord) made by a newspaper of high reputation and great name, and which is supposed to have lately passed into the care of a noble Earl, a person of great and high talents and attainments, and connected with a still more important personage. The noble Earl was also a Member of the Committee which inquired into the slave trade; and the proceedings of the Committee are in some degree disclosed in the same article. It is in the Morning Chronicle of the 24th. Therefore I feel anxious as to what your Lordships may think of this. I am accused of injustice and illiberality, under the mask of justice and humanity, and even of calumny. Calumny is a strong word; but I do not complain of it, for I perceive the sense in which it it used by the writer. The calumny is, not that I stated anything untruly, but that I made strong observations on the evidence of a party who stated himself to have been a slavetrader. If I had incorrectly charged Dr. Cliffe with being a slave-trader, I should plead guilty to uttering the worst of calumnies; but when he himself confesses, or rather boasts, that he has been a slavetrader, the character affixed to that crime is not affixed by me but by the law. The law of England proclaims him a pirate, a robber, and a felon. So does the law of America, where he was 579 born; so do the public acts of the Brazilian empire, where he is domiciled. But this newspaper, by whomsoever edited or supervised, thinks proper to make the defence of this gentleman. They state that he is a most honourable man; that this honourable man has been a slave-trader, he and his eulogist admit; but he adds, that he; has ceased to be such. On no uncommon principle of deciding on the credibility of evidence, respecting the witness himself, I believe what he confesses; but I do not believe what he states in his own favour. I believe that he continues to be a slavetrader, because his evidence is plainly calculated to promote the gain of slavetraders. I do not believe that he has ceased to be one. He expresses that he is still a slaveowner; and what reason do your Lordships imagine that he offers for giving up his trade? Why, he abstained from motives of humanity, because he was so shocked at the horrors which were committed, that his delicate nerves would no longer allow him to proceed in it. These horrors, however, he takes care to impute, not to his brother slavetraders, or himself, who were the persons practising them, but to our squadron, in the attempt to suppress their iniquity. Is it impossible, if he loft the trade, that our squadron drew him from it? Have I no right to examine the history of a witness who comes to offer voluntary evidence before a Committee, as to his former conduct? Am I not to judge from his own story whether he is entitled to be believed? He declines on two or three occasions to enter into particulars which the Committee ask. He says, if I were to tell you, I should lead an uncomfortable life in the country to which I am going; if I were to let out the information I possess, yon would spend more money in your vain efforts to put down the slave trade. He tells no fact which it is useful to know, and merely repeats the opinion that we cannot suppress his trade. I am asked, in the same article—would you not, as a Judge, hear the evidence of a person who has ceased to be a thief? I would hoar the evidence of any man, whether he had conquered his thievish propensities or not; but if, instead of stating facts, he offered counsel how I should suppress crimes in which he had himself been engaged, and he should advise me to let them be carried on to any extent to which high profits would tempt, I should know whether I was dealing with one who had those profits in his eye. My noble and 580 learned Friend, who is absent (Lord Brougham), is violently attacked in this newspaper for having called this witness the pet and darling witness of the Committee. My noble Friend (Lord Eddisbury) who, when in the House of Commons, was a Member of the Committee, knows that a great many questions put in the report are more instructive than the answers; many of them proposed to Dr. Cliffe, betoken a remarkable degree of favour to his opinions; and nearly all his answers are in a tone which argues confidence in the partiality or credulity of those to whom they were given. Another proof that this gentleman was the pet and darling witness, was stated by Lord Brougham, though not perhaps reported, that after a British officer had declared his opinion, this person was called upon to confirm it by his sanction. The officer's opinion had been unfavourable to the moans employed for suppressing the slave trade; and the quondam slavetrader was asked by an hon. Member of the Committee (Mr. Jackson) to sanction that opinion as common sense and practical wisdom, and opposed to wild theory—that opinion, by the way, being a speculation on what had not taken place, and the wild theory being a description of conduct which had succeeded in crippling the slave trade. Another proof of the favour lavished on this witness, was, that a paper of small print but great length, handed in by him as supplementary to his evidence, was printed twice over in the report of the Committee, which had refused to British officers the opportunity of correcting some mistakes which had arisen in reporting their statements. To my noble and learned Friend, now absent, these observations are due. And it is due to both of us to declare that our observations on this witness' were prompted by no personal feeling to-wards him, but solely by the fear that his evidence might so influence the Committee as to cause unutterable misery to millions of our innocent fellow-creatures. The noble and learned Lord then made some further comments on the evidence given before the Committee. Doubts had been raised whether the slave trade was piracy. If not piracy, it was a still more atrocious and infamous crime; and he thought one simple consideration proved it, for the great evil of piracy was the perpetual danger to life and limb, from personal conflicts. But that danger and those conflicts were the constant company- 581 ions, nay, the daily practices, and the direct object of the slavetrader. It was needless, however, to heap reproaches on the trade; all men in this country write and vie with each other in inveighing against the "accursed traffic—diabolical trade"—familiar designations, as glibly repeated as the courteous epithets applied by Members of cither House of Parliament to each other. All admit that it is a nuisance to be put down; but how? Those just invectives will not put it down. The only other mode, complacently suggested, he understood, by high authority, was to make it, by its excesses, work its own cure. Within what time is this operation expected to succeed? In ten years, or six, or five?—the longest of these limits is less than the most sanguine have ventured to fix. But even for the shortest, Africa is to go on enduring, and Europe tolerating, this most enormous of evils, with increased and accumulated aggravations. And by what moans is success to be attained? The means thus coolly contemplated are insurrections of the slave, and the massacre of the masters! The indulgence of all the worst passions, exasperated by the sense of the most hideous wrongs! Insurrection would most probably be vanquished by the superior powers of civilised men, and oppression become more grievous. If it succeeded, are we sure the slave trade would be extinguished? The insurgent negro, if triumphant, might be tempted to the same career which had conferred wealth and power upon his master, and the slave trade, in savage hands, rage more fierce and bloody than ever before, for all time, and over a boundless region. He would now contend, that if all regard to justice and humanity were to be cast aside—if man was merely a money-making animal—and if the principles of free trade could be consistently invoked for the protection of slavetrading, prudence itself would enjoin us to persevere in our resolution to suppress that traffic. The great practical argument against this course is, that the Brazilian slavetrader may bid us defiance, and secure success to his adventures in our despite. But if he does so, his piratical force will sweep those seas, and soon place all the trade of the world in that quarter at his mercy. With no more respect for the white merchant's bales than for the bodies of the negroes, he has often turned pirate in the more ordinary sense, and has even 582 dared to fire into an English man-of-war; while, on the opposite coast of Africa, he has annoyed those of our countrymen who carry on a legitimate trade with that vast and fertile continent, has burned their factories, and baffled their commercial operations. This branch of the subject has hitherto been little touched, but is full of instruction. The evidence of Mr. Hutton before the Committee is especially deserving of notice. And obviously, the marauding of the slavers off the two coasts may soon require a much more expensive armament than the squadron now engaged in the gradual diminution and final extinction of the traffic. These remarks he submitted to the House on the present occasion, because the Bill, though proper, as far as it went, in providing protection for the colonies, fell lamentably short of the requirements of the case. They could only flourish by destroying the felonious competition which now prevailed over them. How was this trade to be put down? They all called it accursed; they all said it was atrocious. What, then, was it they were to look at? They were to look at the next six or eight years, when there would be a great glut, a great demand for slaves, and subsequently an insurrection of those slaves, and a massacre of all the white proprietors. Who could contemplate that without horror? After all, would it abolish slavery? The slaves consisted of various nations, and were often in a state of absolute hostility to one another. The massacre would not be confined to the whites; it would be the destruction of all. He requested a most attentive perusal of the evidence given before the Committee, particularly the evidence of Mr. Hutton, who showed what the conduct of the slavetrader was. When the slave trade was got rid of, legitimate trade would flourish. It was clear that the slave trade was the thing to be uprooted; and until it was uprooted there would be no prosperity in the colonies.
The DUKE of ARGYLLsaid, that it appeared to him that the arguments in favour of the Bill were somewhat transposed from their natural position. He was no protectionist; he rejoiced most sincerely that these restrictions had been removed; but for that, he feared to think what their position might have been. Another question, however, ought to enter into their consideration; he meant, the element of the slave trade. Throughout the whole 583 course of the speech of the noble Earl, he had scarcely alluded to this. If he wished the system of protection to be continued to the West Indian colonies, it would not have been on the abstract theory that protection was the right system generally, but that we should constantly endeavour to exterminate by every means, direct and indirect, the slave trade. The whole argument had been to prove that this measure would be an advantage to the West Indian colonies. He asked his noble Friend, had it been any foregone opinion that the system of protection abstractedly was bad for our colonies, that had led to the adoption of this system? Had it not been a desire to have our sugar cheaper at as little loss as we could to our own income? That had been the object of our policy; and after we had determined to get our sugar cheaper, we turned round and said, it will do you no harm; we will take our sugar from the slaveholders; we hope you can compete with them. He hoped they might. He could not agree with one sentence of the noble Earl, when with a solemn face he addressed the West Indians, and said, you must labour for yourselves; we can afford no more protection. If they succeeded in maintaining their place in the world as sugar-producing colonies, they owed no thanks to us.
EARL ST. VINCENTcontended that free labour could never compete with slave labour. Believing this principle, he regarded with considerable jealousy any measure which sanctioned the introduction of slave-grown sugar into the markets of this country.
§ Bill read 2a
§ House adjourned.