Savannah-la-Mar, Sept. 8, 1838.
MY DEAR SIR,--You are probably aware that the following question has been submitted by the Governor to the Attorney-General for his opinion:
(copy.)
(No. 844.) King" House, Aug. 27, 1838.
SIR,--I am desired by the Governor to request you will give your opinion for general publication. 1st. Whether in instances of notices to quit their houses and grounds, having been served upon the late apprentices, they are liable to be made to pay rent for the occupation of such house, during the three months allowed by law?
(OPINION.)
They are.
(Signed,)
D O"REILL.
We shall soon see the evil effects of this opinion, it being generally previously understood that the late apprenticed population would not be liable for rent until the three months had expired, after receiving notice to quit.
As a specimen of this being made an instrument of great oppression in the hands of managers of estates, I would state that two notices were yesterday brought to brother Hutchins for his inspection; one was served upon David Clarke, a labourer, on King"s Valley estate, in this parish.
On the back of the notice to quit was written as under;--
"The rent of your house and grounds is twenty-one pounds six shillings and eight pence, per annum, commencing 1st of August, 1838, if legal."
(Signed) J. H. JONES.
Mr. Sturge appends the following West India accounts, which be says are in his possession by which it is evident that the planters are bringing their laborers in debt to them, by a spirit of shameless extortion.
Charles Duncan to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 15. To rent of house and ground, from 1st of August to date, 6s. 8d. per week. 2 3 9-1/2 Cr. By balance, five days, 1s.8d. per day 0 8 4 ------------- 1 15 5-1/2 Charles Brown, to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 13. To rent of house and ground, 6s. 8d. per week, from 1st Aug, to date. 2 1 10 Charge for running a sow and pigs, from 1st Aug. to date, 2s. 6d. per week 0 15 8-1/2 ------------- 2 17 6-1/2
John Alfred Bullock to John Dixon, Dr.
1838. Sept. 15. To rent of house and garden, from 1st of Aug.
to date, 6s. 8d. per week, 2 3 9-1/2 Rent of provision ground, 5s. per week, 1 12 6 Pasturage, two weeks, for an a.s.s, 6s. 3d, per month, 0 3 4 Two hogs, 1s. 8d. per week, 1 1 10-3/4 ------------- 5 1 6-1/4 Cr. By two days" labour, 1s.
8d. per day 0 3 4 ------------- 4 18 2-1/3
LETTER TO MR. STURGE, FROM A SPECIAL JUSTICE.
_Jamaica, Oct. 12th, 1838._
Freedom has brought with it the blessings we antic.i.p.ated; and as we progress in civilization we shall all be happier. I have ever been sanguine as to its beneficial results, and I am not in the least disappointed. I cannot find language sufficiently strong to express the commendation due to the negroes for their steady and good conduct since the 1st of August. Amidst the most trying circ.u.mstance, they have exhibited the greatest forbearance, and placed their whole reliance on the laws for protection. I am satisfied that no other nation of free men could conduct themselves so temperately and well, under similar circ.u.mstances; and in my opinion, they have proved themselves infinitely superior to many of those who so lately exercised almost unlimited control over them. I declare to you, to see such a ma.s.s of persons, whose morals have been little regarded by those who held them in slavery, and without education, rise all at once, and express and conduct themselves so admirably, is wonderful. When seeking redress before the magistrates for wrongs committed by there former owners they have maintained more coolness and temper than their more fortunate brethren, when maters are decided against them. There is a hard struggle on the part of the pro-slavery faction to compel the negro to work for little or nothing, in order that the attorneys and overseers may keep their places as before; and I am informed, by a gentleman whose veracity is not to be doubted, and who is himself an attorney, that he can still keep his overseer and merchant as in former days, draw his own commissions, and send home to his employer a very handsome surplus.
Under such circ.u.mstances, well may the friends of freedom cry shame at the opposition which has for so long a time been thrown in the way of liberty, by these West Indians of practical knowledge. The facts are, that the absent proprietors have been led by the advice they have received from their attorneys; and these have had so many ways of making more than an honest commission, and have so speedily made their fortunes, that as long as they could continue slavery, they have exerted every influence. The overseer was paid, housed, fed, and waited upon, all at the expense of master and slave, beside; keeping a fine stud of horses, and as many brood mares at pasture on the property as would enable him to dispose of seven or eight prime mules annually; and so long as he drove and tormented the poor negro, and made good crops for the attorney"s commissions, and supplied his horses with corn, these _little perquisites_ were never discovered. Now the proprietor will hardly pay for more labor than is absolutely necessary to grow and manufacture the produce of his estate; and these gentlemen must henceforth look to their own resources, for the payment of servants to attend and take care of their own interests and comforts. An overseer"s situation on an estate making 300 hogsheads, was calculated in slavery to be equal to 2000l. a year. Indeed no man in any town could have lived in such luxury for that sum. If the proprietor would only come out, and live prudently, he would save all this by residing on his property, which he could easily manage by employing, for extra wages, his former steady head people. _They_, from long residence, know the best manner of working the land; and, as to the manufacture of sugar, they are the persons who have _all their lives_ been working at it. The most important part of an overseer and book-keeper"s business was to make use of their _eyes_. The negro had to make use of his legs, arms and strength; and, in nine cases out of ten, his brains kept the white people in their situations, by preventing matters from going wrong.
I perfectly coincide with you, as to the propriety of the negro speedily becoming possessed of the elective franchise. In Antigua there is very little more land than is in cultivation for the estates, but here it is widely different; and they are beginning to settle themselves by purchasing small lots very fast. At Sligoville there are nearly fifty new freeholders. The negroes are taught to do this by the perpetual worry of their employers, threatening to oust them on every trifling occasion, and withholding part of their wages on the plea of non-performance of work.--The root of all evil is the a.s.sembly and the Juries. Nothing requires greater alteration; and I shall never rest, until I see the black man stand the same chance at the bar of his country as the white man.--The negroes will not work under their former hard task-masters. They determinedly resist all solicitations to labor with those who treated them ill. They say that the pain is gone, but the mark remains, and I respect them for this proud feeling.
I have come under his displeasure for taking the opinion of Middleton and McDougal, as to the legality of charging the negro hire for his house and grounds, for the three months during which the notices to quit are running.--Had we not taken these opinions, what a fearful state things might we have been brought to in this country! I am quite satisfied that no rent could be recovered until the expiration of the three months, from which time it would commence to run, and the plaintiff would in law be considered in possession of his lands again, which, in slavery, he was compelled to give to his slave for his support and maintenance. He must re-enter before he could demand rent, for it is impossible for him to prove a contract, or imply one. The negro did not willingly come from Africa, and occupy his land; he was torn from his native land, and compelled by his owner, under laws that took his life, not to quit the land; how therefore can he be considered to have made a contract, or consented to one?
FROM THE REV. J. KINGDON
_Manchioneal, Oct. 9, 1838._
In pa.s.sing through Hector"s River great house yard, in my way to my preaching spot, I have the most sensible demonstration of the reality of the political change happily brought about; for that hot-house, in which I have seen one of my own members in irons for having a bad sore leg, and in which I have been grossly insulted for daring to go to see my poor people--that house is _shut up_! Delightful, I a.s.sure you, are my feelings, whenever I go by that place, attached to which, too, was the old-time prison, a perfect charnel-house.
FROM THE REV. S. OUGHTON.
_Lucea, October 2, 1838._
Unused to acts of justice and humanity, the Planters, in a moment of mad excitement pa.s.sed an act to abolish the accursed system of Slavery. The debates on that occasion proved with what an ill grace they performed that scanty act of justice, and all experience since that period proves how bitterly they repent it. It is true, we are not now, as before, distressed by hearing recitals of barbarous corporeal punishments, and we are no longer pained by seeing human beings chained to each other by the neck; but, although cruelty has, to a certain extent, ceased, oppression has become ten thousand times more rampant than ever. Every act which ingenuity or malice can invent, is employed to hara.s.s the poor negroes. Prior to August 1st, the planter studiously avoided every thing like an arrangement with the laborer, and when, on the following Monday, they turned out to work, the paltry pittance of 12-1/2d. (7-1/2d.
sterl.) was all that in the majority of cases was offered for the services of an able-bodied negro, although 2s. 6d. per day (currency), had before been invariably exacted from them, when they were desirous of purchasing the remaining term of their apprenticeship. Of course, the people refused to receive so paltry a remuneration for their labour, and this has laid the foundation for a course of systematic oppression scarcely conceivable. Notices to quit were served indiscriminately on every one, old and young, sick and healthy. Medical attendance was refused, and even a dose of physic from the Estates" hospitals. Cattle were turned into the provision-grounds of the negroes, thus destroying their only means of support; and a.s.saults of the most wanton and brutal description were committed on many of the peasantry. On one estate the proprietor and his brother a.s.saulted a young man in the most unprovoked manner. One presented a pistol to his breast, and threatened to shoot him; while the other levelled a gun at his head for the same purpose.
They were bound over to take their trial at the Quarter Sessions; but what hope is there in such a tribunal as that, composed princ.i.p.ally of men engaged in the same reckless course, and banded together by mutual interests? On another estate (_Content_), the attorney ordered the cattle of a poor man (a member of my Chapel) to be taken up and impounded. It was done, and the man was obliged to pay 6l. to redeem them; when, as soon as he carried them back, they were again taken and impounded. The man has been to my house with his case of oppression, on my return from Kingston. He states that he exhausted his last farthing to redeem the cattle the first time, and was also obliged to borrow of his friends; they have now been impounded five weeks, and unless he can raise the money to redeem them (upwards of 10l.), they will be sold to pay the expenses. Thus is an honest and worthy man, in a few weeks, stripped of every thing which, by years of industry and care, he had acc.u.mulated for the comfort of his old age, or the benefit of his family. Yesterday a negro came and informed me that the owner of a property had told him last year, that he must cultivate more ground, so as to be able to continue possession as a tenant; and now that he has done so, another person, saying that he had purchased the property, came a few days ago, and told him that in three weeks he would drive him from the place. He then ordered a man whom he had with him to climb a bread-fruit tree, and pull the fruit, which he forcibly carried away to give to his hogs. But I must forbear: were I to state half the cases of oppression which have occurred in Hanover since August 1st; I should require a volume instead of a sheet. I think, however, I have said enough to prove the bitter and rancorous spirit which at present animates the planters. Enclosed I send a specimen of another artifice adopted to hara.s.s and distress the negroes. They have adopted the notion (sanctioned by the opinion of the old Planters" Jackall, Batty, and the Attorney General), that the people are liable to pay rent for houses and grounds during the three months" possession to which the Abolition Act ent.i.tled them, and notices have been served on the people, demanding the most extravagant amounts for the miserable sheds which the people inhabited. You will perceive that in once case 21l. 6s. 9d. has been demanded. This conscientious demand was made by John Houghton James, Executor and Attorney for Sir Simon Clark. Another is from a Mr. Bowen, of _Orchard_ Estate; and the third from Mr. Brockett, of _Hopewell_ and _Content_ Estates, the property of Mr. Miles, M.P. for Bristol. Let it be borne in mind that these shameful and exorbitant demands are not made, as in England, on the head of the family only, but on _every member who is able to do the least work_, and even little children have papers demanding 2s. 4d. per week for ground, although unable to do the least thing: one of these I also enclose.
Jamaica, ss. Notice is hereby Given, That the sum of eight shillings and four pence, weekly, will be exacted from you and each of you respectively, for the houses and grounds at Orchard Estate, in the parish of Hanover, from August of the present year, until the expiration of the three months" notice, from its period of service to quit; or to the period of surrendering to me the peaceable possession of the aforesaid house and provision grounds.
J. R. BOWEN.
Dated this 17th day of Sep. 1838.
TO JAMES DARLING and SARAH DARLING, of the parish of HANOVER.
Here then, my dear Sir, you may perceive something of the atrocious proceedings in the island of Jamaica. Pray insert these doc.u.ments in the _Emanc.i.p.ator_. Let the Anti-slavery friends know the state of things, and urge them to redoubled diligence. The House of a.s.sembly will meet on the 30th instant, and then, I fear, dreadful measures will be taken. A letter from Mr. Harker, of the Jamaica Royal Gazette, about a fortnight since, addressed to Mr. Abbott, shows what absolute and cruel statutes they would wish either to act upon, or to make the models of new laws.
Every act must be watched with the most jealous scrutiny. Experience shows that the planters possess an ingenuity truly diabolical, in twisting and distorting the laws to suit their own selfish purpose. Our hope is in British Christians; and we confidently hope every one of them will feel the importance of increased diligence, lest the great, and long prayed-for boon of freedom, should become a curse, instead of a blessing. The papers will inform you of the odium I have drawn on myself in defending the people"s rights. That contained in the great ma.s.s, only provokes a smile. I know that every friend in England will interpret it inversely. I did feel Mr. ----"s letter in the Falmouth Post, but he knows his error, and is sorry for it. I could have answered it, but did not choose to cause a division amongst the few friends of the negro, when they had quite enough to do to withstand the attacks of their enemies.
FROM THE REV. J. M. PHILIPPO.
_Spanish Town, Oct. 13, 1838._
The following is one of the seven of the same tenor now in my possession, which will, in addition to those I forwarded by last mail, inform you of the cause of the late disinclination of the people in some districts to labour--which, with so much effrontery, has been proclaimed through the public Journals here:--
Charles Michael Kelly and Wife, to J.S. Benbow, Dr.
1830: July 14th to Sept. 9th.
1. To the rent of house and ground on Castle Kelly plantation, for eight weeks, at 6s. 8d. per week. 3l. 13 4 2. Richard Kelly and Wife. Same.
3. Elenor Mercer. Same.
4. John Ried and Wife. Same.
5. Mary Ann Christie. Same.
6. Venus Owen (or such like name). Same.
FROM THE REV. J. HUTCHINS.
_Savanna-la-Mar, Sept. 17, 1838._
I now, according to promise in my last, send you a few out of the many cases I am almost hourly troubled with. Some of our would-be great men are, I am sorry to say, hara.s.sing the poor free labourers shamefully; and should it prove, as I think in some cases it must, of serious injury to the absentee proprietors, I shall publish the cases of grievance brought me, together with the names of the estates, owners, attorneys, overseers, &c., and leave all parties to form their own opinion on the subject.
Amelia Martin, to Retrieve Estate, Dr.