FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[6]The population of Jamaica, at the time of emancipation, was 87,000 whites; 311,692 slaves; 55,000 free colored people.[7]During slavery, the military defence of the West Indies annually cost England £2,000,000 ($9,960,000). For the single insurrection of 1832, in Jamaica, it cost the government $800,000: and private property was destroyed, to the amount of $6,000,000.

[6]The population of Jamaica, at the time of emancipation, was 87,000 whites; 311,692 slaves; 55,000 free colored people.

[7]During slavery, the military defence of the West Indies annually cost England £2,000,000 ($9,960,000). For the single insurrection of 1832, in Jamaica, it cost the government $800,000: and private property was destroyed, to the amount of $6,000,000.

"Rightnevercomes wrong."—Old Maxim.

"Rightnevercomes wrong."

—Old Maxim.

Whenever immediate emancipation is urged, the "horrors of St. Domingo" are always brought forward to prove it dangerous. This is one of numerous misstatements originating in prejudice, and afterward taken for granted by those who have not examined the subject. The first troubles between the white and black races in St. Domingo were the result of oppressive and unlawful treatment of the free colored population, who were numerous, and many of them wealthy proprietors. The whites were determined to wrest from them certain rights which the French government had secured to them. The next troubles were occasioned by an attempt torestore slavery, after it had been for some years abolished. It was never thegrantingof rights to the colored people that produced bloodshed or disturbance. All the disasters to the whites came in consequence ofwithholdingthose rights, in the first instance, and afterward from a forcible attempt totake them away, after they had long been peacefully and prosperously enjoyed under the protection of French laws.

In 1793, the National Assembly proclaimed liberty to all slaves under the dominion of France; more than 600,000 in number; and history shows that the measure proved safe.In St. Domingo emancipation was both peaceful and prosperous in its results.Col. Malenfant, a slave-holder resident in the island at the time, published "A Historical and Political Memoir of the Colonies," in which he says: "After this public act of emancipation the negroes remained quiet, both in the south and west. There were estates which hadneither owners nor managers upon them; yet upon those estates, though abandoned, the negroes continued their labors, where there were any of the inferior agents left to guide them; and where there was no white man, in any capacity, to take direction of affairs, they betook themselves to planting provisions. Several of my neighbors, proprietors or managers, were in prison; and the negroes on their plantations were in the habit of coming to me to direct them in their work. If you will take care not to talk to them of the restoration of slavery, but to talk to them of freedom, you may with that word chain them to their labor. In the plain of the Cul de Sac, on the plantation Gouraud, I managed four hundred and fifty laborers for more than eight months after liberty had been granted them. Not one of them refused to work. Yet that plantation was reputed to have been under the worst discipline, and the slaves the most idle of any in the plain. I inspired the same activity into three other plantations, of which I had the management. Ninety-nine out of a hundred blacks are perfectly well aware that labor is the process by which they can obtain means to gratify their wants and their tastes; and therefore they are desirous to work." In describing the latter part of 1796, Col. Malenfant says: "The Colony is flourishing. The whites live peacefully and happily upon their estates, and the negroes continue to work for them." Gen. Lecroix, who published "Memoirs for a History of St. Domingo," speaks of wonderful progress in agriculture in 1797. He says: "The Colony marched, as by enchantment, toward its ancient splendor; cultivation prospered, and every day furnished perceptible proofs of progress."

Such was the effect of Emancipation in St. Domingo!

In 1801, Gen. Vincent, a proprietor of estates in St. Domingo, went to France to lay before the government the plan of a new Constitution for the island. He found Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul, preparing to send out an armament to restore slavery in St. Domingo. General Vincent earnestly remonstrated against the expedition. He assured the Consul that the negroes were orderly and industrious, and that every thing was going on peacefully and prosperously for all parties; that it was unnecessary, andtherefore cruel, to attempt to reverse this happy state of things. But there was a class of old despotic planters who clamored for the restoration of the arbitrary power, which they had most cruelly abused. Unfortunately, Bonaparte considered it good policy to conciliate that class; and he persisted in his purpose. He tried torestore slavery, by military force, and the consequence was that the French were driven out of the island, with great bloodshed.

In Guadaloupe, where liberty was proclaimed at the same time as in St. Domingo, the sudden transition took place with perfect safety. The reports from the Governors, for successive years, bear testimony that the emancipated laborers were universally industrious and submissive to the laws.

Gen. Lafayette, the consistent friend of human freedom, made a practical experiment of emancipation, as early as 1785. In the French Colony of Cayenne, most of the soil belonged to the crown, and he was able to obtain it on easy terms. He expended $30,000 in purchasing land and slaves. He employed an amiable and judicious gentleman to take the management. The first thing the agent did, when he arrived in Cayenne, was to call the slaves together, and in their presence burn all the whips and other instruments of punishment. He informed them that their owner, Gen. Lafayette had bought them for the purpose of enabling them to obtain their freedom. He then stated to them the laws and regulations by which the estate would be governed, and the pecuniary advantages that would be granted, according to degrees of industry. This stimulus operated like a charm. The energy of the laborers redoubled, and they were obedient to the wishes of their manager. He died from the effects of the climate. But when the slaves in all the French Colonies were emancipated in 1793, the laborers on this estate in Cayenne waited upon the new agent, and said if the land still belonged to Gen. Lafayette they wished to resume their labor for him on the old terms, giving as a reason that they were "desirous to promote the interests of one who had treated them like men, and cheered their toil by making it a certain means of freedom."

In 1811 the British authorities emancipated all the slaves in Java. This also proved a complete success; as any onecan ascertain by examining the account given by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was Governor of the island.

At successive periods, between 1816 and 1828, the South American Republics, Buenos Ayres, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Guatemala emancipated all their slaves. In some of those States means were taken for the instruction of young slaves, who were enfranchised on arriving at a certain age. In other States, slaves of all ages were emancipated after a certain date, fixed by law. In no one instance were these changes productive of any injury to life or property.

In 1828 the British government emancipated all the slaves in Cape Colony. 30,000 Hottentot Helots were admitted by law to all the rights and privileges of the white inhabitants. The slave-holders in the Colony remonstrated vehemently against this measure. They declared that the Hottentots were stupid, sensual, brutal, vicious, and totally incapable of taking care of themselves. They predicted awful outrages, as the consequence of emancipating a horde of such degraded wretches. But the event proved quite otherwise. The poor creatures were grateful for their freedom, and tried to behave as well as they knew how. All went on as peaceably as before, as concerned the white inhabitants, and muchmorepeaceably, as concerned the blacks, who had previously suffered shocking barbarities at the hands of their masters. In the sunlight of freedom even the Hottentots have been gradually emerging out of barbarism. Year by year they pay more for British manufactures, because they wear calico and woollen cloth, instead of sheepskin mantles. They have horses and wagons, and flocks of their own, and their small weekly contributions to the Missionary Societies at the Cape amount to many hundreds of dollars.

From the time that Mexico became independent of Spain, in 1821, there was an increasing conviction in the public mind, that the existence of slavery was inconsistent with their professed principles as a Republic. This feeling soon manifested itself in laws. The prices of slaves were fixed by magistrates, and they were required to work, at stipulated wages, till they had paid for themselves. Protective laws were passed, enabling the servants to work for others,if they were not justly and humanely treated by their masters. Transfers of service might also take place to accommodate the masters; but never without consent of the servants. Mr. Ward, the British Minister to Mexico, in his work on that country, speaks very highly of the beneficial effects produced by these regulations. He says they gave a powerful stimulus to industry, and rapidly increased agricultural prosperity. A Mississippi slave-holder, who went to reside in Matamoras, was also so much pleased with the results of this experiment, that he wrote of it with enthusiasm, as an example highly important to the United States. He declared that the value of plantations was soon increased by the introduction of free labor. He says: "No one was made poor by it. It gave property to the servant, and increased the riches of the master." Free labor commended itself so much in this process, that on September 15th, 1829, President Guerrero published the following decree: "Being desirous to signalize the Anniversary of Mexican Independence by an act of national justice and beneficence, we hereby declare slavery forever abolished in this Republic. Consequently, all those individuals who, until this day, have been considered slaves, are free!" No interruption of public peace or prosperity followed this just decree.

In 1831, 3,000 prize negroes received freedom in South Africa; 400 in one day. No difficulty or disorder occurred. All gained homes; and at night scarcely an idler was to be seen.

In 1848, the French government, after careful examination into the state of things in the British West Indies, decreed immediate emancipation to all the slaves in their Colonies. M. Arago, formerly member of the Provisional Government, wrote thus, in 1851: "Much has been said of the ruin which the Act of Emancipation has scattered over our Colonies. But it should be remembered thatthey were in a deplorable condition for a long time previous. The Chamber of Deputies resounded daily with their lamentations.Extreme and utterly inadmissible measures for theirreliefwere continually proposed. The Act of Emancipation cut peacefully one of the most complicated questions our social state afforded. Free labor has taken the place of slave labor without much resistance. So far, it has beenattended with results sufficiently favorable, and these cannot fail to grow better." O. Lafayette, grandson of General Lafayette, member of the Chamber of Deputies, wrote thus, in 1851: "In one day, as by the stroke of a wand, 150,000 human beings were snatched from the degradation, in which they had been held by former legislation, and resumed their rank in the great human family. And this great event occurred without any of those disorders and struggles, which had been threatened, in order to perplex the consciences of the friends of abolition."

In 1841, the Bey of Tunis prohibited the exportation or importation of slaves, and declared all children free that should be born in his dominions after December 8th, 1842. In 1846, he proclaimed that slavery was abolished entirely, "for the honor of God, and to distinguish man from the brute creation." To these measures he was greatly influenced by the British Minister, Sir Thomas Reade.

Not far from the same date, Sweden proclaimed emancipation in the Island of St. Bartholomew, the only place under her dominion where slavery existed.

Christian VIII. of Denmark, and his Queen, Caroline, were so openly in favor of emancipation, that the price of slaves in their dominions became greatly reduced. The kind-hearted Queen obtained a promise from the King that he would celebrate the anniversary of their Silver Wedding by a decree of universal emancipation. Accordingly, on the 28th of July 1847, it was proclaimed that all children born on or after that day should be free; and that all the slaves in the Danish possessions, about 30,000 in number, should receive their freedom in 1859. This was intended to give time to prepare for the change; but it worked badly. It made the negroes restless to hear of freedom without obtaining it; and this feeling was increased by intercourse with the neighboring French islands, where all had been proclaimed unconditionally free. The masters were opposed to emancipation, and not at all disposed to conciliate their laborers. In July, 1848, local insurrections broke out. A good deal of property was destroyed, but few lives lost, except those of slaves who were executed. The panic produced caused a proclamation of immediate emancipation; since which there have been no insurrections, nor any fear of them. Fifty dollars for each slave was awarded to themasters, who have never ceased to grumble against the government and against the negroes. Such a transition, of course, could not take place without temporary evils and inconveniences. The effects of a system so bad as slavery cannot be suddenly outgrown, either by masters or servants. But improvement is more and more perceptible as years pass on. A gentleman writing from St. Thomas to theN. Y. Tribune, September, 1854, says: "The former owners are constantly complaining of the ignorance, faithlessness, and degradation of the negroes, without seeming to have any consciousness of the fact that they themselves have brought them to this very character and condition. Whether their state isat oncebettered is not the decisive question, but whether they are in a condition where there is a chance for improvement. And for my own part, the respectability attained by many persons of color in this town, and the industry and capacity manifested by large numbers, in various employments, as artisans, clerks, bookkeepers, and public officials, give me a hope I never before entertained, of the certain advancement of the African race, wherever they shall become disembarrassed of the shackles of slavery, and of an unjust social prejudice."

A Boston gentleman, who visited Santa Cruz in the spring of 1859, writes thus: "You would be delighted with the effects of emancipation, as we see them all round us, with abundant opportunities to examine them. The pay which the Danish government has settled for voluntary labor sounds very low [five dollars a month]. But the artificial wants of the laborers are so few, and the necessaries of life are so easily supplied in this perpetual summer, that the thrifty and industrious have already succeeded in laying up enough to build comfortable little homes, and bring up their children to trades. The vice which had always been encouraged among them, for their masters' gain, carries its poison among them yet; but they are gradually acquiring a pride of matrimony. A noble young Episcopal minister is laboring unweariedly for their moral and intellectual elevation, almost unaided by the white population, who look coldly upon his labors. The progress made in two years has been surprising indeed."

In 1857, the Dutch abolished slavery in their West IndiaColonies. The government paid a certain sum to the masters, and took the entire control of the slaves, who were to work till they repaid the sum advanced for their freedom. Children under five years were free at once, and moderate prices were fixed by law for all the slave population, graduated according to their ages. As soon as the stipulated price was offered by any slave, he became a freeman. Wages were also fixed by law; and in case any planters refused to submit to the prescribed regulations, rural settlements were formed where the colored people could find employment, under the superintendence of managers appointed by government, aided by colleagues who were elected by the laborers. Of course, the success of this experiment will greatly depend on the good-temper and good judgment of the men who manage it. I have no means of ascertaining the degree of financial prosperity in the Dutch West India Colonies since emancipation began to take effect; but I know thatbefore the abolition of slavery, they were complaining of "ruin" and begging for "relief."The Colony of Surinam,under slavery, made this statement. "Out of nine hundred and seventeen, plantations, six hundred and thirty-six have been totally abandoned. Of the remainder, sixty-five grow nothing but wood and provisions." The small balance of estates not included in this description, were declared to be on the road to destruction. Whether free labor works better results, time will show. But one thing is already certain; the transition was made with perfect safety. In 1859, the Dutch abolished slavery in all their East India possessions; where it had existed under a comparatively mild form. There was one very remarkable and beautiful feature in this transaction. The government offered an assessed compensation to the masters; butmany of them refused to take it, while others took it and gave it to the emancipated slaves, who had worked so many years without wages.

History proves that emancipation hasalwaysbeen safe. It is an undeniable fact, that not one white person has ever been killed, or wounded, or had life or property endangered by any violence attendant upon immediate emancipation, in any of the many cases where the experiment has been tried. On the contrary, it has always produced a feeling of security in the public mind.

I appeal to candid readers whether I have not, in the preceding pages, fairly made out a case in favor of immediate emancipation. I have not advanced opinions, or theories; I have simply stated facts. In view of these facts, is it not unjust and irrational to persist in calling immediate emancipation a "fanatical" idea? Leaving the obvious considerations of justice and humanity entirely out of the question, I ask whether experience has not proved it to be a measure of plain, practical good sense, and sound policy. The trouble in forming a correct estimate on this subject arises mainly from our proneness to forget that negroes aremen, and, consequently, governed by the same laws of human nature, which govern all men. Compulsion always excites resistance; reward always stimulates exertion. Kindness has upon the human soul an influence as renovating as sunshine upon the earth; and no race is so much and so easily influenced by it as the negroes. Jamaica overseers, blinded by the long habit of considering slaves as cattle, said to them, after they became apprentices, "Work faster, you black rascal! or I'll flog you." That excited the apprentice to remind them they had no power to do it. The retort enraged the overseers; and the magistrate was called upon to punish the laborer for his insolence in expressing the feelings of a man. The Antigua planters acted with more enlightened policy. They wisely gave up their power into the hands of the law. If they chanced to see a laborer rather dilatory, they said, "We expect better things offreemen:" and that simple appeal to their manhood, we are told, invariably quickened their motions, while it gratified their feelings.

Free labor has so obviously the advantage, in all respects, over slave labor, that posterity will marvel to find in thehistory of the nineteenth century any record of a system so barbarous, so clumsy, and so wasteful. Let us make a very brief comparison. The slave is bought, sometimes at a very high price; in free labor there is no such investment of capital. The slave does not care how slowly or carelessly he works; it is the freeman's interest to do his work well and quickly. The slave is indifferent how many tools he spoils; the freeman has a motive to be careful. The slave's clothing is indeed very cheap, but it is provided by his master, and it is of no consequence to him how fast it is destroyed; the hired laborer pays more for his garments, but he has a motive for making them last six times as long. The slave contrives to spend as much time as he can in the hospital; the free laborer has no time to spare to be sick. Hopeless poverty and a sense of being unjustly dealt by, impels the slave to steal from his master, and he has no social standing to lose by indulging the impulse; with the freeman pride of character is a powerful inducement to be honest. A salary must be paid to an overseer to compel the slave to work; the freeman is impelled by a desire to increase his property, and add to the comforts of himself and family. We should question the sanity of a man who took the main-spring out of his watch, and hired a boy to turn the hands round. Yet he who takes from laborers the natural and healthy stimulus of wages, and attempts to supply its place by the driver's whip, pursues a course quite as irrational.

When immediate emancipation is proposed, those who think loosely are apt to say, "But would you turn the slaves loose upon society?" There is no sense in such a question. Emancipated slaves are restrained from crime by the same laws that restrain other men; and experience proves that a consciousness of beingprotectedby legislation inspires them withrespectfor the laws.

But of all common questions, it seems to me the most absurd one is, "What would youdowith the slaves, if they were emancipated?" There would be no occasion for doinganything with them. Their labor is needed where they are; and if white people can get along with them, under all the disadvantages and dangers of slavery, what should hinder their getting along under a system that would make themwork better and faster, while it took from them all motive to rebellion?

It is often asked, "What is your plan?" It is a very simple one: but it would prove as curative as the prophet's direction, "Go wash, and be clean." It is merely to stimulate laborers by wages, instead of driving them by the whip. When that plan is once adopted, education and religious teaching, and agricultural improvements will soon follow, as matters of course.

It is not to be supposed that the transition from slavery to freedom would be unattended with inconveniences. All changes in society involve some disadvantages, either to classes or individuals. Even the introduction of a valuable machine disturbs for a while the relations of labor and capital. But it is important to bear in mind thatwhatever difficulties might attend emancipation would be slight and temporary; while the difficulties and dangers involved in the continuance of slavery are permanent, and constantly increasing. Do you ask in what way it is to be accomplished? I answer. That must finally be decided by legislators. It ismybusiness to use all my energies in creating thewillto do it; because I know very well that "Where there is awillthere is away;" and I earnestly entreat all who wish well to their country to aid me in this work.

Mr. Bigelow, of theNew York Evening Post, whose book is often quoted in the preceding pages, testifies to the condition of the British West India Islands as late as 1850. Ten years later, Mr. William G. Sewell, of theNew York Times, visited those Islands, and on his return published a book called, "The Ordeal of Free Labor." It is written in a very candid spirit, and evinces careful observation. He has no disposition to conceal that temporary difficulties attend the transition from one system of labor to another; but he proves conclusively, that slavery brought increasing ruin, and freedom is bringing increasing prosperity. We subjoin a few brief extracts:

Imports."Between 1820 and 1834, British Guiana imported annually to the value of $3,700,000; in 1850, the imports of Guiana were valued at $5,660,000. The annual imports of Trinidad, between 1820 and 1834, averaged in value $1,600,000; in 1859, they were valued at $3,000,000. The annual imports of Barbadoes, during the same period, averaged in value $2,850,000; in 1859, they were valued at $4,660,000. The imports of Antigua, during the same period, averaged $600,000; in 1859, they were valued at $1,280,000. The total exhibit represents the annual import trade, before emancipation, as valued at $8,840,000; and valued at the present time at $14,600,000; or,an excess of imports, under a free system, of the value of five millions, seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars."

Exports."For four years prior to emancipation, British Guiana exported an annual average of 98,000,000 lbs. of sugar; while from 1856 to 1860, its annual average export rose to 100,600,000 lbs. For four years prior to emancipation, Trinidad annually exported an average of 37,000,000 lbs. of sugar; while from 1856 to 1860, its annual average export rose to 62,000,000 lbs. Four years prior to emancipation, Barbadoes annually exported an average of 32,800,000 lbs. of sugar; from 1856 to 1860, its annual average export rose to 78,000,000 lbs. Four years prior to emancipation,Antigua exported an annual average of 19,500,000 lbs. of sugar; from 1856 to 1860, its annual average export rose to 24,400,000 lbs. The total exhibit is 187,300,000 lbs. annually exported before emancipation, and 265,000,000 lbs. annually exported now; or,an excess of exports, with free labor, of seventy-seven millions, seven hundred thousand pounds of sugar."

"In the exports, I have made mention of sugar only; but if all other articles of commerce be included, and a comparison be instituted between the import and export trade of Guiana, Trinidad, Barbadoes, and Antigua, under slavery, and their trade under freedom,the annual balance in favor of freedom will be found to have reached already fifteen millions of dollars, at the very lowest estimate."

"The increase of imports is to be attributed to the improved condition and ampler means of the peasantry developed by the dawn of freedom."

"In Barbadoes, within the last fifteen years, in spite of the extraordinary price of land and the low rate of wages, the small proprietors, holding less than five acres, have increased from 1100 to 3537. A great majority of them were formerly slaves. This fact speaks volumes. It is certainly an evidence of industrious habits, and is a remarkable contradiction to the prevailing idea that the negro will work only under compulsion. That idea was formed and fostered from the habits of the negro as aslave. His habits as afree man, developed under a wholesome stimulus and settled by time, are in striking contrast to his habits as a slave. None are more ready than the planters themselves to admit that the free laborer is a better, more cheerful, and more industrious workman than the slave ever was under a system of compulsion. These are the opinions of men, who were themselves once violently opposed to freedom, and who still strive to keep the laboring classes in complete dependence; and they are opinions so universal that I have sought diligently, but in vain, to hear them contradicted."

"In St. Vincent, the returns for 1857 show that no less than 8209 persons were then living in their own houses, built by themselves since emancipation. Within the last twelve years, from ten to twelve thousand acres have been brought under cultivation by small proprietors, owning from one to five acres, and growing arrow-root, provisions, and minor articles for export. The statistical returns from which I gather these figures further state thatthere are no paupers on the island."

"In Trinidad, there is, unquestionably, a certain amount of idleness and vagabondism among the Creole laborers; but I see no evidence that these vices exist in larger proportion among them,than they would exist among any other class of laborers similarly situated. In leaving the estates, the great majority were actuated by a desire to better their circumstances, and to lead a more independent life. Land was cheap and abundant, and they preferred to have their own property, rather than labor at low wages in a condition of precarious servitude. Added to this, the course of the planters contributed greatly to the very evil which they dreaded, and from which they afterward so severely suffered. Instead of endeavoring by liberal terms to induce the laborers to remain on the estates, they commenced, shortly after emancipation, a system of giving less wages, and exacting more work; and when the laborers retired from estate to field work, they were summarily ejected from the houses and lands they occupied on the estates, and their provision grounds were destroyed. The emancipated laborers had, therefore, no resource left but to separate themselves from the planting interest. Five-sixths of them became proprietors of from one to ten acres, which they now own, and which they grow in provisions for themselves and families. To supply other wants, they give casual labor to the estates; but they are free of the estates, and can work for whom they deem the best paymaster. If any doubts that a very large number, a very astonishing number, of the emancipated laborers have become independent proprietors, let him look at the score of villages built up since abolition, and so thickly scattered throughout the cultivated districts of Trinidad that it would be superfluous in me to point them out."

"Antigua hastened in advance of all other colonies to emancipate her slaves. She refused to believe in the virtues of an apprenticeship, or in the doctrine that her bondmen needed a purgatory to prepare them for freedom. Her rulers were wise in their generation. They foresaw that with the substitution of free labor for slave labor much had to be learned, and much to be unlearned; that the success of the new system could only be determined by time and experience; and that an early start in the race was a point to be gained, not to be neglected. Antigua has never had any cause to regret the independent course she then thought proper to pursue. * * * The improved condition of the peasantry is never doubted or questioned in the island itself, and it is well shown by the nature and extent of the imports during late years, as compared with their nature and extent before emancipation. From 1822 to 1832, the average annual value of goods imported by Antigua was £130,000 sterling; in 1858, the island imported to the value of £266,364 sterling. During ten years preceding emancipation, the average number of vessels that annually entered the different ports of the island was 340, and the tonnage 30,000. In 1858, the number of vessels was 668, and the tonnage 42,534. In 1846, there were in the island 67 villages, containing 3187 houses and 9033 inhabitants. All these villages were founded, and allthese houses built, since emancipation. In 1858, 2000 additional houses had been built, and the number of village residents had risen to 15,644. At the same period, there were only 299 paupers in the island. The planters of Antigua avow, what is unquestionably true, that by the introduction of a cheaper system of labor, the island was saved, in 1834, from impending ruin."

"With regard to Jamaica, I do not mean to say that the estates have anything like a sufficiency of labor. I merely wish to give point-blank denial to a very general impression, that the Jamaica negroes will not work at all. Nine out of ten rely principally upon their own properties for the support of themselves and their families; but they are willing, nevertheless, to work for the estates, or on the roads, when it does not interfere with necessary labor on their own lands. When the choice lies between the roads and the estates, it is not surprising that they should select the employer thatpays best and most regularly. The Jamaica negro gives as much labor, even to the sugar estates, as he consistently can, and it is no fault of his if he cannot give enough. They are a peaceable, law-abiding peasantry, with whom the remembrance of past wrongs has had so little weight that, from the day of emancipation until now, they have never dreamed of a hostile combination, either against their old masters, or the government under which they live; though in the time of slavery, insurrections were numerous and terrible. The condition of the Jamaica peasants in 1860 is a standing rebuke to those who, wittingly or unwittingly, encourage the vulgar lie, that the African cannot possibly be elevated. The dissolute idlers, loafers, and vagabonds, that congregate in Kingston and other towns, are as different from their country brethren, as the rowdy of New York city is different from the honest farmers of the State."

"No Barbadian planter, in 1859, would hesitate to select free labor in preference to slave labor, as in his belief the more economical of the two. Every planter in Jamaica knows from his own books, if they go back far enough, that free labor is cheaper than slave labor. He knows that the cultivation of an acre of cane does not now cost him $40, when in other times it cost him $80. He knows that under slavery, the digging an acre of cane-holes cost from $35 to $45, while under freedom it is from $8 to $15. He knows that under one system 30 per cent. of his laboring force were non effectives, and had to be fed and clothed like the rest; while under freedom no work is paid for that is not actually performed. He knows that a free laborer is not bought, and that the sum he would cost can be otherwise laid out at profitable interest. He knows that it is no longer necessary to make allowance of ten or evenfifteen per cent. for death or depreciation. These are facts readily admitted, and whoever takes the trouble to think will see their force."

"If I were asked to point out the chief obstruction to a satisfactory solution of the West India labor question, I should answer, without hesitation, want of confidence between employer and employed. The planters cling unwittingly to the shreds of the system of coercion in which they were once taught to believe. They do not yet recognize the overwhelming advantages of perfectly free labor; for they have checked its development, by imposing upon it some of the heaviest burdens of feudalism and of serfdom. They do not seem to reflect for a moment that the interest of a proprietor is to elevate, not to degrade, his laborer. They have misjudged the negro throughout, and have put too much faith in his supposed inferiority. After the important step of emancipation was taken, they did little to turn it to the best account."

"I came to the West Indies imbued with the American idea, that African freedom had been a curse to every branch of agricultural and commercial industry. I shall leave these islands overwhelmed with a very opposite conviction. I deny that the negroes lack industry, when by industry they can add to their means, or advance their prosperity. The more I saw, the more I became convinced thatdebt and want of capital, much more than want oflabor, had led to the abandonment of so many estates; and be it always remembered, thatthe burden of debt was incurred before freedom was tested. Freedom, when allowed fair play, has injured none of these colonies. It saved them from a far deeper and more lasting depression than any they have yet known. It was a boon conferred upon all classes of society; upon planter and laborer; upon commerce and agriculture; upon industry and education; upon morality and religion. If a perfect measure of success remains to be achieved, let not freedom be condemned; for the obstacles to overcome were great, and the workers were few and unwilling. If I can stimulate inquiry on a subject so important, and so widely misunderstood as the West India labor question, I shall have achieved all the success at which I have aimed."

A public meeting was held at Willis's Rooms, London, on Wednesday, Feb. 20th, 1861, to receive a report from E. B. Underhill, Esq., and the Rev. J. T. Brown, the deputation of the Baptist Missionary Society, of their recent visit to the West Indies. Charles Buxton, Esq., M. P., took the chair at twelve o'clock.

TheChairmansaid it must be remembered that, in the time of slavery, whatever the island produced was exported; the food of the slaves consisting principally of salt fish and yams, their clothes and lodging being of the most wretched description. At the present time, however, the creoles were rapidly rising in their social and physical condition, and appropriated, to a great extent, the productions of the country for their own use. He would not anticipate the report of the deputation, but would simply add that, in his opinion, notwithstanding every discouragement, emancipation had proved itself, beyond all doubt, to be a good thing for Jamaica, not only by producing glorious moral results, but by enormously enhancing the prosperity of the island.

Mr.Underhillsaid Mr. Brown and himself proceeded towards the close of 1859 to the West Indies. Mr. Brown spent, altogether, about six months in Jamaica, and he (Mr. Underhill) about a year, in that and the other islands of the West Indies; and therefore the statements they were prepared to make were the result of no rapid and cursory view, but of close investigation, followed out to the best of their ability. He would not attempt to make a speech calculated to move their feelings; but, having laid before them some bare facts, he would leave these facts to tell their own tale. He must admit that, at the first show of things, those who maintained that emancipation had failed had something in their favor. There could be no question that, with regard to Jamaica, there had been a very considerable diminution in the exportation of the staple products of the country. The exportation of sugar had, for instance, declined from 1,400,000 cwt. in 1831—three years before the passing of the first Act of Emancipation—to 535,000 cwt. in 1858. The exportation of rum also had declined from 35,000 puncheons in 1833 to 18,000 in 1858. In coffee the reduction was still more manifest, since whereas in 1830 the island exported 22,000,000 lbs., in 1858 it only exported 5,250,000 lbs. He must also admit that upon entering the island of Jamaica, the representations as to its decline struck one as being very truthful. On landing at Kingston, one found a large city, the streets of which were either deep in mud or sand. The whole town appeared sadly neglected, and manylarge warehouses were wholly unoccupied, whilst beggars and drunkards abounded. The feeling of depression was still further increased upon reading the newspapers, or going into the country. Estates, once flourishing, were desolate and uncultivated, and the buildings in every direction were rapidly falling into decay. But there were one or two circumstances which materially altered the first impression which this state of things produced on the mind. In the first place, while Jamaica, to use a favorite expression, had been ruined, the West Indies generally had prospered. It was a curious fact, for instance, that while the exportation of sugar for three years before emancipation had averaged from all the islands 3,600,000 cwts., in 1858 it amounted to 3,500,000 cwts., being only a diminution of 100,000 cwts., or about 2,000 hogsheads. It was obvious, therefore, that there was some other cause for the decay of Jamaica. Then, with regard to coffee, it must be remembered that Ceylon had thrown an immense quantity of that commodity into the English market. For example, in 1839 Ceylon exported 4,500,000 lbs. of coffee, whereas sixteen years afterwards it actually exported 56,000,000 lbs. (Hear, hear.) That would partly account for the decline of the production of that commodity in Jamaica. With regard to Kingston, also, he learnt that instead of being, as it once was, a kind of central market for the Spanish Main, the merchants of the different ports in South America either stopped at St. Thomas's island, or preferred to trade direct with Europe, which would account largely for the appearance of Kingston. It must also be remembered that the trade in Kingston had changed from being principally wholesale to a retail character, so that while, on the one hand, it had suffered by the diminution of the former, it had gained by the increase of the latter. He would proceed to show what was the condition of the general population in Jamaica. There were 380,000 people in the island, and dependant to a great extent on the cultivation of the land. These people were the slaves of former days, but were now the enfranchised peasantry, and it was only right to consider how emancipation had affected their interests. On this point he could at once say that their position had in every respect immensely improved. It had been said that the negroes were an idle lot of people, who squatted upon the land, and were quite content if they got a pumpkin to eat. But this was quite false. The first thing the negroes did was to leave the estates in great numbers. There were now but few estates on which they resided, and in those cases the planters had treated them as free men, and consequently secured their affections and services. A contrary line of treatment was pursued in the majority of instances, and that, together with want of capital wherewith to pay the wages weekly, had the effect of driving them away. The slaves who thus left the estates were compelled to seek other means of subsistence, but they did not "squat upon the land," as had been alleged—that is, settleupon it without paying rent. The circumstance that nearly every inch of land in Jamaica was owned by some one made such a thing impossible.

On the contrary, great numbers of the old slaves had purchased land, and it was an amazing fact that, at this moment, three-fifths of the cultivated land in Jamaica was thebona fideproperty of the blacks. (Applause.) He held in his hand a return of one mission congregation, and there were some interesting facts contained in it which he would take the liberty of quoting. In that congregation there were seventy-three heads of families, of whom sixty-two were once slaves, which should be charitably considered when looking at the progress they have made in the arts of civilization and mental culture. It could not be expected that in twenty-one years all the old feelings and passions and moral taints of slavery would be removed from the land. These seventy-three families possessed among them 342 acres of freehold land, and rented an average of two acres each besides. They possessed amongst them seventy horses or mules—a species of property negroes were very anxious to have. Surely these facts proved that they were not "squatters," in the sense in which that word was used. The report of the Hanover Agricultural Society strongly supported him in the conclusions to which he had arrived in reference to the negro population. That report stated that in six districts of the parish, containing four or five thousand people, there were 802 proprietors, holding about 4,200 acres amongst them, which would be about five and a-half acres to each family. He valued the land possessed by the people at 3l.10s. per acre, which was a much lower estimate than he might fairly put upon it. This would make 1,050,000l.as the price they had paid for the land. But they had not only bought land—they had built houses upon it. The cottages in which they lived during slavery had been destroyed, and he was thankful it was so. The people had built for themselves a better class of houses, at a cost which could not be less than 10l.per house, and he was very glad to say it was very rare to find more than one family in a house. That amounted at least to 600,000l.Their furniture would be very moderately valued at 3l.per house—about half the real value—making an additional 180,000l.; and their carts, horses, mules, pigs, &c., could not be put at less than 50,000l., which was, in fact, much under the mark. The next item was a very interesting one, namely, the value of the sugar-mills, and implements used in the production of sugar. There were 143 sugar-mills in a portion of Hanover alone, and there could not be less than 5,000 in the island of Jamaica. These mills were valued by the Hanover Agricultural Society at 10l.each. Then, as to their clothes, they were as well dressed as the agricultural laborers of England, and every negro had at least one if not two suits. It was not true that the moral and respectable people were gaudily dressed. Uponthe whole, the clothes would be cheaply valued at 1l.per head—making 380,000l.Then, and lastly, there were deposits in the savings' banks to the extent of 49,395l.The sum total of all this property, which had been accumulated since the emancipation, was 2,358,000l.—an estimate which he ventured to say was much below the mark. Of course there were some idle and some ragged people among them, as, indeed, there were in every country on the face of the earth. But, at any rate, it would be very unfair to take Kingston as a fair sample of the island. It only numbered 30,000 people out of a population of 380,000, and it would never do to judge of a people by the minority. The annual value of the exports from Jamaica, taking an average of three years, was 1,057,000l., including sugar, rum, coffee, and the other products of the island, but it must not be supposed that the whole of that was grown by white people. It might be purchased and owned by the whites, but the work had been done by black hands, and directed by black heads. He found that each family cultivated some land for itself—say an acre to each family. An acre would produce from 15l.to 50l.worth per annum; he had estimated it at 20l.The entire produce of this island would be 2,500,000l.per annum. Was that an idle people? His calculations were checked in a very interesting way by those of the Hanover Agricultural Society, to which he had previously alluded. That society estimated the average earnings of each family at 30l.per annum. The number of families was 76,000, so that, according to the society, the annual earnings of the negroes in Jamaica amounted to 2,280,000l., a conclusion nearly similar to his own, though he had arrived at it by a totally different process of calculation. Another interesting feature was the decrease which had taken place in the importation of salt fish. In the days of slavery the yam and salt fish constituted the chief food of the people, but now there was a growing taste for fresh meat, and many planters were turning their property into pens for the breeding and fattening of cattle. One black man, who was formerly a slave, but who now carried on the business of butcher in one of the towns, told him that in Christmas week he had killed nine head of cattle, and the returns of his business amounted to 5,000l.a year, though there were two other butchers in the same town. In one town—the town which owed its existence almost entirely to Mr. Knibb—from five to seven head of cattle were slaughtered every week. All these things showed that the people were advancing in their social condition.

A few facts might not be uninteresting with reference to the religious condition of the people. In the first place they had built 220 chapels, quite independent of the Established Church, of which he could find no record showing their number. In connection with these chapels there were 53,000 communicants, or about one-eighth of the entire population. This itself was a verygratifying and rather unusual state of things. The number of people regularly attending these chapels was 91,000, or about a fourth part of the population, and the Sunday-schools contained about 22,000 children, or about a third of the children who were capable of attending school. Lastly, they raised every year for religious purposes about 22,000l.

Crime was rare in the West Indies—he meant crime which brought men to the courts of law. He found from the published returns, that the number of men in prison during 1854 was 908, whilst the number in prison at one time in 1858 was only 600. That was not a very considerable number for so large a population. The people were very fond of cutlasses, and there was hardly a man who had not got one, but yet one scarcely ever heard of a cutlass being used to the injury of another man. Men had been known to throw away their cutlasses when they have been quarrelling, lest they should be tempted to use them against each other—a circumstance which showed a great amount of self-control, and accounted for the unfrequency of great crimes. There was a rising feeling in favor of marriage, and an increasing respect for the marriage tie amongst the negroes since the abolition of slavery. True, the feeling was not yet so prevalent as could be wished, but the missionaries were doing all they could to encourage it. The question of education was one of vast importance in relation to the negro. The progress made in the island in this respect had been slight, but from a census taken by one of the missionaries at an interval of twenty-five years, he found that whereas just before freedom only three negroes in 5,000 could be found in one particular district that could read and write, at the next census 1,700 were able to do so. That showed that some progress had been made, but for all that the great want of Jamaica was education. The conclusion he had come to was this, that though emancipation might have occasioned some difficulties to the planters, it had been an unmixed blessing to the people. He did not know a single drawback or qualification that need be made to that statement. Should the planters continue in their present course, they also would reap the advantage in the general peace and security of the country, and in their own increased pecuniary gains. Last of all, he believed the tide in Jamaica was now turned, and that ordinary foresight, prudence, and care might make the island even more prosperous in years to come than it had ever been in the past. He recalled his visit to Jamaica with sincere pleasure. He went with deep trembling, but had come away with a gladdened heart, satisfied—as he trusted the meeting was, after having the facts he had laid before it—that Jamaica had not suffered from emancipation, but that its results, both to the people and to their country, would prove to be of the highest, most blessed, and most advantageous kind. (Applause.)

TheRev. J. T. Brownsaid he rose with a very great deal of pleasure to add a few words to those which his friend and colleague had addressed to the meeting. He concurred in the statements of his colleague as to the social results which had flowed from emancipation; and he could, if he had time, adduce many facts in their corroboration; but there were many doubtless in that meeting who felt, with him, that whilst the social welfare of a people was a good thing, yet that their religious welfare was paramount, and that if they could not have brought good tidings in that respect, they must have come home indeed with a heavy heart. One source of difficulty in judging of the state of Jamaica was the fact that false reports of the land were circulated by disappointed planters, by bigots, by clever writers, and by disheartened missionaries. What theTimesnewspaper chose to say upon the subject was, to a great extent, matter of indifference, because every one knew what worth to attach to it; but when he saw a statement so utterly untrue as that contained in the "Encyclopædia Britannica,"—he did not impute wilful falsehood to the writer,—he was grieved indeed. That statement was to the effect that, during slavery, the Dissenting ministers possessed great influence over the negro, but that the latter now preferred the Established Church, because it cost him nothing, though, in point of fact, he cared but little for either. This was altogether a misrepresentation. (Great cheering.) One of the last persons who had contributed to this popular error was that clever writer of fiction, Mr. Trollope, who deserved to be described as a writer of fiction, not only as the author of "Barchester Towers" and "Framley Parsonage," but of the book he had published on the West Indies. ("Hear, hear," and laughter.) Whenever persons in Jamaica wished to represent a violent, prejudiced, and obstinate person,—one who judged as hastily of a religious body as Mr. Trollope judged of the Baptists,—who would rather dance with a Jew than pray with a Baptist, when they wished to speak of a person of violent and prejudiced character, looking only at one side of a question, running and jumping through a country,—one, in fact, who was altogether untrustworthy,—they would say of him that he had been "Trollopeing." (Laughter.) That was the name Mr. Trollope had given to such a character in Jamaica. But facts were facts, and, though Mr. Trollope avowed his dislike for statistics, there were some very stubborn ones which stared him in the face. In the first place, the people were orderly in their conduct—well governed and well behaved; persons and property were perfectly safe on the island, and serious crimes were very rare. The marriage tie was respected, and children respected their parents. These were facts which forcibly contrasted with the awful condition of society before the emancipation. Again, the religious statistics of the country spoke loudly in favor of emancipation. They contributed largely towards theexpenses of religious worship, and many attended punctually the means of grace. The European Dissenting ministers on the island received 150l.per annum, and the native preachers, of whom there were sixteen, from 100l.to 120l.per annum. There were seventy-seven churches connected with the Baptist body in the island; these included 20,000 communicants and 2,000 anxious inquirers; and although there were at times instances of false profession and cases of backsliding, yet the discipline of the churches was good, and their condition altogether in many respects furnished good examples for Christian congregations at home. He could not forbear also paying a high tribute to the deacons and elders, who, taken upon the whole, were a fine body of Christian disciples, and true helpers of the ministry. He was aware that there was a great deal of mental ignorance in the island, but even in that respect its condition had materially improved since the emancipation. He wished many of the persons now listening to him could have listened to the speeches of some of the Christian negroes at some of their meetings in Jamaica, and have marked the strong common sense and great intelligence which tumbled awkwardly out of their mouths; or could have heard their prayers, where beautiful thoughts and clear and holy aspirations struggled through their broken speech—indications of a mental vigor which only needed cultivation, and which even now commanded respect.

TheRev. William Arthurthen moved the following resolution:—

"That this meeting has heard with great pleasure the satisfactory account given by the deputation of the Baptist Missionary Society of the results of emancipation in the West Indies, and Jamaica in particular, and of the progress made by the negro population in civilization, intelligence, and piety, and deem the great Act of Emancipation of 800,000 slaves, an act just and right in itself, as amply vindicated by the success which has attended it."

He felt it to be a real honor to be asked to move this resolution, and he congratulated the Baptist Missionary Society on having sent out so able a deputation to the West Indies. Their report was a most important one, and the more so at this juncture, when the attention of the people of America was anxiously directed to the results of emancipation in the West Indies, and especially in Jamaica. The friends of freedom had reason to be deeply thankful to Mr. Underhill for his careful and comprehensive inquiry into the real state of affairs.

TheRev. Edward Mathews, in seconding the resolution, said that he could testify from his own experience in the State of Ohio that the facts adduced by the deputation would have much influence in America, and help forward the cause of emancipation there.

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