These facts come down upon the question of the safety of an _immediate_ emanc.i.p.ation with an _a fortiori_, a _much more then_. For it is admitted on all hands that the apprenticeship had "alienated the affections of the people;" they were in a state less favorable to a quiet sequel, than they were before the first of August, 1834, yet the danger was not thought of. The _safety_ was an argument _in favor_ of emanc.i.p.ation, not _against_ it. The raw head and b.l.o.o.d.y bones had vanished. The following is a fair exhibition of the feeling of the most influential planters, in regard to the _safety_ of the step.
From the Barbadian, May 9, 1838.
AT A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IN THE NEW COURT HOUSE, APRIL 24TH, 1838.
The Lord Bishop rose and spoke as follows:
"_Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council_,
"I was informed yesterday that, during my absence from this island, the members recorded their opinion as to the expediency of absolutely abolishing the apprenticeship in August, 1838. I am most anxious to record my entire concurrence in this resolution, but I wish it to be understood that I do not consider the measure as called for by any hardships, under which the laborers in this island are suffering--nor from the want of any essential comfort--nor from the deprivation of any thing, which a laborer can fairly claim from his master; still I do express my concurrence in the resolution of the board, and I do so on these grounds: that I am satisfied the measure can be safely carried in this island, and if safely, then I feel justly; for I consider the very important interests which are involved in the measure. I must confess, too, that I am unwilling the Barbados should be behind any other island, especially in a measure which may be carried both safely and justly, and where its example may be of such beneficial consequence. I am just returned from visiting the Northern Islands of the Diocese. I have gone over every part of Tortola, and though it is far more fertile than the Off Islands, yet even these are sufficiently productive for the laborer to raise the lesser and necessary provision of life,--and yet with these islands in their very face, the Legislature of Tortola has pa.s.sed the act of abolition. Some of the proprietors were opposed to it, but they have now given up their opposition; and I heard, whilst in Antigua, not only that the act had pa.s.sed, but that on the day of its pa.s.sing, or the following day, some of the leading proprietors rode through the island, and were met by the people with expressions of the utmost grat.i.tude, regarding the act as a boon granted to them by their masters. At Nevis the act has pa.s.sed. At St. Christopher"s the council are in favor of its pa.s.sing, and with Nevis emanc.i.p.ated in its vicinity, there is little doubt but the Act must pa.s.s. At Montserrat also it has pa.s.sed. At Antigua, which I visited last year, I found that every thing was proceeding quietly and regularly. I found too, the planters in high spirits, and some estates, which had been given up, restored; and the small patches and tenements of the free people, commencing last year, now in a very satisfactory state of cultivation. It is possible, indeed, that these last mentioned, unless the population is proportionably increased, may affect the cultivation of the larger estates, but there they are, and flourishing, as I have described, whilst I was in the island. A contiguous, though abandoned estate was purchased by Sir Henry Martin for about 9,500 _l._ currency, being 3,000 _l._ more than he had offered a few years previously. To compare Barbados with any other island, either as to population, wealth, or state of agriculture, is unnecessary. I have seen nothing like the commercial activity which I saw in the streets yesterday, except at St. Thomas; and I feel, therefore, on all these grounds, that the act may be pa.s.sed safely and justly. At the same time I am not unmindful or insensible to the state of public opinion in the mother country, nor to the many new and hara.s.sing annoyances to which the proprietors may be exposed during a protracted continuance of the apprenticeship. I request that my full concurrence in the resolution of the council, may be accorded on the minutes of this day"s proceedings.""
Such is the testimony of a witness in no wise warped by prejudice in favor of the anti-slavery party.
The debates which took place in the legislatures of both Barbados and Jamaica, are full of similar testimony, uttered by men every way qualified to bear witness, and under influences which relieve their testimony from every taint of suspicion.
In the legislature of Jamaica, on the question of a Committee to bring in a Bill, Mr. GOOD remarked, "He could say that the negroes from their general good conduct were deserving of the boon. Then why not give in with a good heart? why exhibit any bad feelings about the matter? There were many honorable gentlemen who had benefitted by the pressure from without, who owed their rank in society and their seats in that house to the industry of the negroes. Why should they now show a bad heart in the matter?--Nine tenths of the proprietors of this island had determined upon giving up the apprenticeship. Hundreds of thousands were to be benefited--were to take their stations as men of society, and he hoped the boon would not be r.e.t.a.r.ded by a handful of men who owed their all to slavery."
Mr. Dallas said,--"_The abolition of the remaining term of apprenticeship must take place; let them then join hand and heart in doing it well, and with such grace as we now could. Let it have the appearance of a boon from ourselves, and not in downright submission to the coercive measures adopted by the British Parliament_."
After a committee had been appointed to prepare and bring in a Bill for the abolition of the apprenticeship, a member rose and proposed that the 28th of June should be its termination. We give his speech as reported in the Jamaica papers, to show how fanatical even a slaveholder may become.
"On the members resuming their seats, Mr. HART proposed that it be an instruction to the committee appointed to bring in the bill or abolishing the remainder of the apprenticeship, to insert a clause in it, that the operation of that bill should commence on the 28th of June, that being the day appointed for the coronation of the Queen. _He felt proud in telling the house that he was the representative of the black population. He was sent there by the blacks and his other friends_. The white Christians had their representatives, the people of color had their representatives, and _he hoped shortly to see the day when the blacks would send in their own representatives_. He wanted the thing done at once, Sir, said the honorable member waxing warm. It was nonsense to delay it. It could be done in three lines as he said before, dele 1840 and put in 1838. That was all that they had to do. If it were possible, let the thing be done in two words. He went there to do his duty to his const.i.tuents, and he was determined to do so. His black friends looked up to him to protect them--and he would press his motion that all the apprentices in the island should be _crowned_ on the 28th of June. (Thundering roars of laughter.) He was as independent as any honorable member, and would deliver his sentiment, without caring who were and who were not pleased. He was possessed of property in apprentices--_he had an estate with nearly two hundred negroes, that he was determined to crown on the 28th of June_. (Increased roars of laughter in the house, and at the bar.) He would not be laughed down.
His properties were not enc.u.mbered. He would not owe anything on them after they were paid for, and that he could do. (Loud laughter.) He was determined to have his opinion. As he had said before, the 28th day of June being fixed for the coronation of all the negroes in the island, that is the day they ought to be released from the apprenticeship.
(Thundering and deafening roars of laughter). (Here the honorable member was told that the Queen was to be crowned on that day.) Ah, well, he had made a mistake, but he would tell the house the truth, _he had made up his mind to give his apprentices freedom on that day, but he did not wish to do it without his neighbors doing the same, lest they should say he was setting a bad example_. He would press his motion to a division.
It had been seconded by his honorable friend on his right.--(Aside, "Good, didn"t you promise to second it?") The honorable member then read his motion, and handed it up to the clerk."
The "mistake" of this liberal descendant of Israel, which excited so much merriment was, after all, not a very unfortunate one, _if_ the "crown" of manhood is more important than that of monarchy. The members objected to so near an approach to _immediatism_, not, however, be it remarked, on account of the unfitness of the apprentices, (slaves) but their own convenience. Among those who replied to Mr. Hart, was Mr.
Osborn, of unmingled African blood, born a slave, and who, we are informed, was a successful compet.i.tor for the seat he now occupies against the very man who formerly claimed him as property. Mr. Osborn and his partner Mr. Jordon were editors of the Jamaica Watchman, and had contended manfully for liberty when it was a dangerous word. Mr. Osborn said:--"He was astonished at the galloping liberality which seemed to have seized some honorable members, now there was nothing to contend for. Their liberality seemed to have outrun all prudence. Where were they and their liberality when it was almost death to breach the question of slavery? What had become of their philanthropy? But no, it was not convenient then. The stream was too strong for them to resist.
Now, however, when the question was finally settled, when nothing remained for them to do, it was the time that some honorable gentlemen began to clamor their liberality, and began a race who should be the first, or who should have the honor of first terminating the apprenticeship. He hoped the motion would be withdrawn, and the discussion put an end to."
What had become of the visions of blood and slaughter? Could there be more impressive testimony to the safety of Emanc.i.p.ation in all, even the worst cases?
We might add to this testimony that of the universal newspaper press of the British West India colonies. We have room, however, to select only from a few of the well known opponents of freedom.
"We seriously call upon our representatives to consider well all the bearings of the question, and if they cannot resist effectually these encroachments of the Imperial Government, adopt the remaining alternative of saving themselves from an infliction, by giving up at once and entirely, the bone of contention between us. Thus only shall we disarm, if anything in reason or in nature can, our enemies of their slanderous weapons of offence, and secure in as far as possible, a speedy and safe return of peace and prosperity to the "distracted"
colony.--Without this sacrifice on our parts, we see no shelter from our sufferings--no amelioration of present wrongs--no hope for the future; but on the contrary, a systematic and remorseless train laid for the ultimate ruin of every proprietor in the country. With this sacrifice which can only be to any extent to a few and which the wisdom of our legislature may possibly find out some means or other of compensation, we have the hope that the sunshine of Jamaica"s prosperity shall not receive any farther diminution; but shall rather dawn again with renewed vigor; when all shall be alike free under the protection of the same law, and the same law-givers; and all shall be alike amenable to the powers that punish without favor and without affection."--_Jamaica Standard_.
"There is great reason to expect that many Jamaica proprietors will antic.i.p.ate the period established by the Slavery Abolition Act for the termination of the apprenticeship. They will, as an act of grace, and with a view to their future arrangements with their negroes, terminate the apprenticeship either of all at once, or by giving immediate freedom to the most deserving; try the effect of this gift, and of the example afforded to the apprentices when they see those who have been discharged from the apprenticeship working on the estates for wages. If such a course is adopted, it will afford an additional motive for inducing the Legislature to consider whether the good feeling of the laboring population, and their future connection with their former employers, may not be promoted by permitting them to owe to the grace of their own Legislature the termination of the apprenticeship as soon as the requisite legislation for the new state of things has been adopted."--_Jamaica Despatch_.
Of such sort as this is the testimony from all the Colonies, most abundantly published in the Emanc.i.p.ator and other abolition papers, to the point of the _safety_ of entire Emanc.i.p.ation. At the time when the step was taken, it was universally concluded that so far from being dangerous it promised the greatest safety. It would not only put an end to the danger apprehended from the foreign interference of the abolitionists, but it would _conciliate the negroes_! And we are not able to find any one who professes to be disappointed with the result thus far. The only evil now complained of, is the new freemen do not in some instances choose _to work_ on the _terms_ offered by the planters.
They have shed no man"s blood. They have committed no depredation. They peaceably obey the laws. All this, up to the latest date, is universally admitted. Neither does any one _now_ presume to prophesy anything different for the future.
INDUSTRY.
On the one topic of the industry of the Emanc.i.p.ated people, the West Indian papers give the most conflicting accounts. Some represent them as laboring with alacrity, diligence and effect wherever anything like an adequate compensation is offered. It is a.s.serted by some, and not denied by any authorities that we have seen, that the emanc.i.p.ated are industriously at work on those estates where the masters voluntarily relinquished the apprenticeship before the first of August and met their freed people in good faith. But most of the papers, especially in Jamaica, complain grievously that the freed people will work on no reasonable terms. We give a fair specimen from one of the Jamaica papers, on which our political editors choose most to rely for their information:--
"In referring to the state of the country this week, we have still the same tale to tell of little work, and that little indifferently done, but exorbitantly charged for; and wherever resisted, a general "strike"
is the consequence. Now this, whatever more favourable complexion the interested and sinister motives of others may attempt to throw around it, is the real state of matters upon nine-tenths of the properties situated in St. James"s, Westmoreland, and Hanover. In Trelawny they _appear_ to be doing a little better; but that only arises, we are confident from the longer purses, and patience of endurance under exorbitant wages, exhibited by the generality of the managers of that parish. Let them wait till they find they can no longer continue making sugar at its present expensive rate, and they will then find whether Trelawny is substantially in a better condition than either of the other parties."--_Standard, quoted in the Morning Journal of Nov. 2_.
This is the "tale" indeed, of a great part of the West India papers, sung to the same hum drum tune ever since the first of August; and so faithfully echoed by our own pro slavery press that many of our estimable fellow citizens have given it up that the great "experiment"
has turned out unfavorably, and that the colored population of the West Indies are rapidly _sinking_ from the condition of _slaves_ to that of idle freemen. Were we all in a position perfectly disinterested and above the peculiar influence of slavery, we might perhaps consider these complaints as asking for, rather than against, the character of the Emanc.i.p.ated and the cause of freedom, inasmuch as they prove the former slaves to have both the discretion and the spirit which should characterise freemen. But to the peculiar optics which abound in these United States it may be necessary to show the entire picture.
To prove in the first place the general falsehood of the complaints themselves it is only necessary to advert to recent official doc.u.ments.
For our present purpose it will be sufficient to refer to Jamaica. The legislature was convened on the 30th of October and addressed by the Governor Sir Lionel Smith in a speech of which the following extract pertains to our subject:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of a.s.sembly,_
The most important event in the annals of colonial history has taken place since last I had the pleasure of meeting the legislature of this Island; and I am happy in being able to declare that the conduct of the laboring population, who were then the objects of your liberal and enlightened policy, _ent.i.tles them to the highest praise, and amply proves how_ WELL THEY HAVE DESERVED _the boon of freedom._
It was not to be expected that the total extinction of the apprenticeship law would be followed by an instantaneous return to active labor, but feeling as I do the deepest interest in the successful result of the great measurement now in progress, I sincerely congratulate you and the country at large, on the improvement which is daily taking place on the resumption of industrious habits, and I TRUST THERE IS EVERY PROSPECT OF AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY."
Such is the testimony of a Governor who is no stranger in the West Indies and who was put in the place of Lord Sligo as more acceptable to the planters. But what said the House of a.s.sembly in reply?--a House made up chiefly of attornies who had more interest than any other men in the continuance of the old system and who, as will presently be shown, were not unwilling to have the "experiment" fail? They speak as follows:--
_"May it Please your Excellency,_
We, her Majesty"s dutiful and loyal subjects, the a.s.sembly of Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your speech at the opening of the session.
The House join your Excellency in bearing testimony TO THE PEACEABLE MANNER in which the laboring population have conducted themselves in a state of FREEDOM.
It certainly was not to be expected that so great a change in the condition of the people would be followed by an immediate return to active labor. The House, however, are willing to believe that some degree of improvement is taking place, and they sincerely join in the HOPE expressed by your Excellency, that the agricultural interests of the Island may ultimately prosper, by a resumption of industrious habits on the part of the peasantry in their new condition."
This settles the question. Those who will not be convinced by such doc.u.ments as these that the ma.s.s of the Emanc.i.p.ated in Jamaica are ready _to do their part_ in the system of free labor, would not be convinced if one rose from the deed to prove it.
We are now prepared to investigate the causes of the complaints, and inquire why in numerous cases the negros have refused to work. Let us first go back to the debates Jamaica Legislature on the pa.s.sage of the Emanc.i.p.ation bill in June, and see whether we can discover the _temper_ in which it was pa.s.sed, and the prospect of good faith in its execution.
We can hardly doubt that some members, and some especially from whose speeches on that occasion we have already quoted, designed really to confer the "boon of freedom." But others spoke very differently. To understand their language we must commence with the Governor"s speech at the opening of the session:--
_"Gentlemen of the Council,
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the a.s.sembly,_
I have called you together, at an unusual season, to take it to your consideration the state of the Island under the Laws of Apprenticeship, for the labouring population.
I need not refer you to the agitation on this subject throughout the British Empire, or to the discussions upon it in Parliament, _where the honourable efforts of the ministry_ were barely found sufficient to preserve the original duration of the Laws, as an obligation of the National faith.
I shall lay before you some despatches on this subject."
_"Gentlemen,_
_General agitation and Parliamentary interference have not, I am afraid, yet terminated._
_A corresponding excitement has been long going on among the apprentices themselves,_ but still they have rested in sober and quiet hopes, relying on your generosity, that you will extend to them that boon which has been granted to their cla.s.s in other Colonies."
_"Gentlemen of the Council,