SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

CoLowlet. Youry,

Observations on the Present Condition of the Island of Trinidad, and the Actual State of the Experiment of Negro Emancipation. By William Hardin Burnley, Chairman of the Agricultural Immigration Society in that Colony.

POETRY. Langston and CO. Poems. By Anne Beale Losgmaa sad Cb.

BURNLEY'S OBSERVATIONS ON TRINIDAD.

IN consequence of the disorganization of the labourers in Trini- dad, and the diminution of cultivation and produce since Emanci- pation, the more active and intelligent cultivators formed a Com- mittee to inquire into the facts of the existing distress, and the capabilities of the island, as well as to receive the suggestions of individuals. In the course of their migratory sittings—for the Committee were not stationary in one spot—they examined planters and overseers, officials and surveyors both in public and private practice, medical men, emigration-agents, and clergymen of different persuasions. Upon the evidence thus collected, the Com- mittee framed a series of resolutions, embodying a summary of its most striking facts ; both of which documents are published in the volume before us, together with an official correspondence, and a variety of proclamations, &c. bearing upon the subject of Emancipation. To these Mr. BURNLEY, but in the name of the Committee, has prefixed "Observations," sometimes deduced from the evidence, sometimes of the nature of comment upon it, and sometimes the result of his individual knowledge. He also broaches a scheme for fully peopling the island of Trinidad, under- selling the slave-produced sugar of Cuba and Brazil, and cutting up the slave-trade by the roots : the mode of effecting which should be the purchase of slaves at certain stations on the coast of Africa, manumitting them immediately, and carrying such as please to go to Trinidad under Government-regulation. Notes by Mr. BURN- LEY are added in the Appendix, enforcing several points more fully than could be conveniently done in the text of the Observations. It will be seen that the Evidence collected by the Committee forms the basis of this publication ; and, though not of course de- void of the formalities and unessential particulars that characterize personal examinations, it is the most valuable part of the work. It presents a pretty complete picture of the condition and charac- ter of the motley coloured population of Trinidad ; a very good view of the geographical characteristics of the country ; interesting glimpses of Tropical settlements ; and an account of the economical state of the island.

Situated opposite the mouths of the Oronoco, and enjoying a more ready comunication with the whole of South America than any of the other great West Indian islands, and quite as ready an access to Europe or North America, the. position of Trinidad is eminently favourable ; whilst it is the only one of our islands that possesses a virgin and most fertile soil, requiring nothing but a sufficient labouring population to enable it to beat both Cuba and Brazil out of the market. The superficies of the island is about 1,300,000 acres ; of which little more than 200,000 belong to private individuals, and of this only 43,265 are cultivated. The soil consists of lowland, gradually ascending by a succession of un- dulations to the height of about 1,800 feet toward the centre, though a few peaks rise higher. The greater part of this soil is wonder- fully fertile ; well clothed with various timber to the top of the highlands ; and capable, in the opinion of Mr. Baowts, a surveyor, of growing sugar " luxuriantly " even on the hills,—"though no one, with the quantity of fertile land on the level plain below, would think of establishing a sugar-estate above: but cocoa, coffee, cotton, and provisions, might be raised there in abundance." Mr. BURNLEY states in a note, that the "best-informed planters are of opinion that the land will give two and a half tons per acre, without manure, and with only two weedings." He then enters into a variety of calculations to show the actual amount of produce ; which he makes out to be about twenty-five hundredweight, or little more than half of the estimated amount, owing to the slovenly cultivation. But beyond the superficial extent of the country, the outline of the coast, the course of the principal rivers' and a few of the striking features of the island, we really know nothing of the interior, ex- cept that it is profusely wooded, and apparently of boundlesia fertility. Some military surveys have been made across the island; hunters or explorers have wandered through parts of it ; but five- sixths of it are in a state of nature, and quite unknown, though so long in our possession. The description of the country, as is intri- cated in the Evidence, reminds us more of the state of Europe during the darker ages than a colony of Great Britain in the nine- teenth century. The old planter in some respects resembled a feudal chief: he sat down with his people upon the land he had acquired, and formed a society, such as it was, within the plantation, depending very little upon external sources in the island for any thing of any kind. His object was an outlet for his produce; and this led him to a water-frontage in preference even to fertile soil. Thus it appears that in Trinidad the plantations are thinly scattered along the waters, whether arms of the sea or rivers ; but few are situated inland. The soil being a rich black mould, to make a road out of it is impossible; and the island has not possessed either the capital to procure a road-metal or skill and labour to form the road, supposing the planters to have even thought about it. Of the three cart-roads in the island, the longest is nineteen miles, another about fourteen miles, and the third about seven miles: the one which is four- teen miles "runs along an extraordinary natural ridges'' and

appears to have a hard bottom. The others, and any tracks through private estates, are impassable in the rainy season, and even a heavy shower breaks them up for the time. Hence

the preference for the water-frontage, to save the expense:and time of land-conveyance with the risk a delay ; as, if. the • pro- duce were not on board before the commencement of the rainy

season, it must be delayed till next year, with the loss of the sale, and injury to the sugar, which is said to deteriorate rapidly. This is now the position with some of the less favourably-situated estates. Under the old system, they could move their produce with some degree of precision, so as to get it on board by a certain time : now they cannot, the Negroes only working when they please, and pretty much at what they please.

So sudden and total a revolution as Emancipation, in such a country and such a society, was at the best a hazardous experi- ment; which should have been carefully prepared for, first by an attentive inquiry into the condition of the country, next by a series of measures adapted to that condition so as to make no un- necessary change. Instead of this, nothing whatever was done beyond a Queen's proclamation against occupying lands without title ; the details of which were left to a military Governor to effec- tuate, and the clauses and processes of which were promulgated by &Lieutenant-Colonel. Much cry and little wool, as the clown said when shearing the hog, was the Whig order of the day in Trinidad : they wrote some despatches and proclamations ; but did nothing, or worse than nothing. By an arbitrary act of power, they dissolved the elements of an existing society, and they left it chaos. It seems a first and inherent principle of every society, that every man should have a status and a known place of abode, and be an accountable being. The stringent laws of Athens, and the effects of citizenship everywhere in the ancient world on this point, are well known to the scholar ; in Egypt and the East, the system of caste operated to the same effect;. our own laws of settlement, laws against vagrancy, and other enactments to prevent persons without obvious means of living from wandering over the country, are matter of every-day experience ; on the Continent, serfdom, municipalities, and passports, aimed at a similar result. In slave-holding communities the same principle obtained : whilst the law fully recognized the owner's property in the slave, it punished by severe penalties any attempt to get rid of the responsibility of controlling and maintaining him ; the slave-holder who should neglect his slave, so as to allow him to commit "vagrancy," or become chargeable to the public, would be punished by a heavy fine. Yet this simple and obvious provision was neglected by the Whig officials ; who seem only to have resolved upon a measure for claptrap purposes, and then to have left it to chance. They even abrogated some of the enactments provided by the old Spanish Government to maintain order. There was an officer, for example, called a Commandant, whose functions were somewhat analogous to that of an English Sheriff; Lord-Lieutenant, and Magistrate, combined.

" He held a petty court for civil and criminal causes, superintended the re- pair of the roads, made the annual returns of population and cultivation, gene- rally commanded the militia, and in a dignified and effective way represented the Government in the quarter over which he presided. This office was abo- lished at the extinction of slavery, and nothing has since been established to supply its place. A few of the duties have devolved upon a Stipendiary Ma- gistrate, who administers civil and criminal justice in six or seven quarters, now consolidated into one 'rural district,' and commands the police. But the most material part of the executive functions of the Commandant, relating to a su- perintendence of the general conduct and movement of the free labouring po- pulation, remains now altogether unperformed, to the great risk and danger of the community ; more particularly at a period when an additional population otstrangers is coming in, rendering a watchful supervision more necessary than ever. It will be seen by the evidence, that one important duty of the Com- mandant was to overlook and restrain the application of fire as an agricultural operation. There is no law on the subject, the same having been annulled with the office of Commandant. Any stupid or drunken labourer, owning half an acre of land, may involve the whole district in flames; and the risk of it is im- minent every crop-season. Another very material, and probably more neces- sary restraint upon the labouring population, was at the same time removed; the want of which has seriously increased the present tendency to a vaga- bond life, with all its accompanying evils. Every free labourer formerly, when entering the colony, or removing his residence from one quarter to another, presented himself before the Commandant, stating his name, occupation, from whence he came, and intended abode : they now roam wherever they please, from one end of the island to the other, unknown to and unquestioned by any authority."

Nor is this the whole of the staring neglects. The Ministry did not even know their own minds with regard to the operation of their own law. Within three weeks their Governor was obliged to publish these two palpable contradictions- " 1838, 7th July.—The Lieutenant-Governor issued his proclamation, spe- cially addressed to the labouring-classes, in which be states. 'Information has reached me that the field-apprentices on some estates believe that their period of apprenticed labour for their employers is to cease on the 1st August next ; And it has become my duty to undeceive them, and tell-them the truth. The truth then Is, that her Majesty the Queen and her Parliament have deter- mined to continue the law—that the predial apprenticeship shall be observed until 1840. Those apprentices are therefore bound to serve their employers for two years after the lst August next.' '1838, 26th July.—The Lieutenant-Governor issued another proclamation, -in which it istumonnced, 'That all persons who, on theist day of August 1838, shall be in a state of apprenticeship as predial apprenticed labourers within the island and its dependencies, shall, upon and from and after the 1st day of August 1838, become and be to all intents and purposes whatsoever ab- solutely and for ever manumitted and set free.'

"Four days preparation were thus allowed for this mighty change ; and the period fixed for its commencement actually arrived in some of the distant quarters before the-proclamation which effected it. The public mind was in a state of bewilderment, particularly the labouring-class. . The -Governor had told them as a truth, that the.Queen and Parliament had determined they should serve two years longer; nevertheless, in nineteen days they were set

free : who could tell what miracle the next nineteen days would produce—they might own the estates on which they resided ! The feelings which this as- tounding event excited were mixed up in the minds of some of the most indus- trious and intelligent among them with bitter indignation; for numbers, on the strength of the Governor's truth that they must serve until the let August 1840, had, within the short period since elapsed, purchased and paid their em- ployers for their exemption from service, the same being rigidly calculated at tiro years' duration ; and suddenly, every idle careless person around them ob- tained the same boon for nothing. [Mr. BURNLEY Omits to state whether the vendors followed the obviously honest course of returning the purchase- money.]

" The condition of the proprietor and planter was infinitely worse. No time had been allowed to consider of the rates of wages, or the nature of contracts of service by which labour should be performed; and during the jubilee which immediately ensued among the lower class, the fields lay un- filled and the cattle unattended, and many a respectable person performed, for the first time in their lives, the duties of cook, chambermaid, butler, and groom.

Many estates, besides, had been bought, sold, and leased, under the expectation of a command of apprenticed labour for two years longer. The purchasers and

lessees saw only ruin before them, and talked of renouncing their contracts ; so that, in addition to another evils, the colony was threatened with a heavy mass of litigation and legal expenditure. "The state of the Colonial Government it is impossible to describe correctly. Not a single law which the change required had been previously prepared ; for a fortnight the public remained without the legal machinery by which the peace and welfare of a free society are protected; and the ordinances then passed in a hurried way to meet the emergency of the case were necessarily so imperfect that the majority were disallowed : so that nearly twelve months elapsed before the community, so far as it depended on legal protection, was placed in a state of order and safety."

What rendered such gross neglect the more unpardonable was, that Trinidad could not even attempt to help itself. Jamaica and other colonies with a Representative Legislature, could pass laws indicative of their wants and views even if they should afterwards be disallowed at home ; but Trinidad is a Crown colony, incapable of originating any thing, and entirely dependent upon Downing Street. It may be added, that whilst a pretty equal measure of neglect was doled out to all, circumstances rendered almost every colony different as regarded its agricultural labour—that is, its eco- nomical condition. In the small island of-Antigua, the population was so redundant, that when the slaves were enfranchised they only acquired what Dr. JOHNSON calls the "liberty of the poor," the "liberty of working or starving" ; and the colony passed an emancipation-act at once. Barbados, in a somewhat similar con- dition as regards labourers, resorts to an absurd mode of doling out work piecemeal, in order that it may not be done too fast! In Trinidad, all this is different : the population only cultivates about one-thirtieth part of the soil, and that in a most slovenly manner.; or, to sum up the extent of the disparities in a word—in Trinidad wages were sixpence an hour, in Tortola sixpence a day. With the exception of greater morality in sexual connexions, marriages having gradually increased since Emancipation, the act has been most disastrous to the planter, and not beneficial to the Negro himself; unless we are prepared to rate as benefits, vagrancy, irregular habits both in living and labour, drunkenness, gaming, and general dissipation—not all prevailing everywhere or each &lin- blued in every person, but one or more alleged as the general cha- racteristic of the race. Earning by a few hours' labour for two or -three days enough to maintain them for a week, they pass their time in jollity, or gossip, or play, or strolling. Pleasant enough, no doubt, whilst:it lasts ; but will it last ? is the question. This may be, answered in the negative, if the evidence of the witnesses is to be taken. The increased wages—that is, the increased cost of cultivation—has more than swallowed up the addition to the price of sugar the work is worse done ; such as it is, double the number of hands are employed to do it ; the rank nature of the soil and climate will not permit the capitalist, as in other pursuits, to cease production without the destruction of his estate; and the present cultivation is carried on at the expense of capital. This is general : let us refer to the Evidence for particulars'; forming a -striking contrast to the anecdotes of JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY, who, with a caution in which the wisdom of the serpent was paramount, confined himself pretty much to those islands in which population was pressing upon subsistence—avoiding, as we -re- marked at the time, both Demerara and Trinidad. In the follows. ing account of the present state of the labouring-classes and rate of wages, the person who speaks is the manager of an estate, by the owner of which he had been emancipated for good conduct.

MR. FREDERIC MAXWELL, MANAGER.

What wages do you pay at present 7—Sixty cents per day, generally, (2s. 6d. sterling,) to the people working about the mill and boiling-house ; the same to the cart-men, with one cooked meal, two or three glasses of rum, and half IS pound of dried cod-fish.

At what hours do you commence and end work?—The engine-mill is put about at five in the morning ; at eleven or twelve we stop for one hoar, and generally finish at bar-past five. How many days do you work in the week ?—In general, six days.

Do the labourers, then, work steadily six days in the week ?---Oh no I -not more than three or four, generally ; some work on one day, some on another.

How much do you pay for weeding canes P—Fifty cents (2s. 2d. sterling) for a square of sixty feet when the canes are foul, but seventy or eighty feet when in better order, with half apound of fish and one glass of rum.

From your own practical experience, can you say whether two of these tasks can be done in a day by an ordinary well-disposed labourer, without fatiguing himself ?—Two can easily be done from six in the morning by eleven o'clock. I have two women on the estate who do three tasks per day with ease.

Do many of them perform two tasks per day P—Very few ; many do only three or four in the week, and some not more than one.

What is the-cause of their doing so little work, as it appears to be-so easily done 7—They are idle and lazy, prefer living upon their more industrious friends, and the canes of the estate. Do you lose much from the plunder of canes ?—A great deal, without our being able to prevent it : when we detect them we sometimes stop their wages, but this frequently occasions-theni to leave-the estate and work elsewhere; but

we cannot afford to lose the time necessary for carrying them before the Magis- trate.

HOW much can a labourer save per week who works industriously P—He can easily save six or seven dollars per week, if he will work steadily. The two women of whom I spoke save as much.

Can this be done at all seasons of the year ?—By field-work, at any time ; probably easier out of crop than in. What do the women of whom you spoke intend to do with their money ?- I believe they intend to buy a small piece of land ; but the greater number squander what they make in drinking, gambling. and dissipation. Do you consider them to be improving, or getting worse, in these respects 2— Decidedly getting worse, as wages increase. The other day, in consequence of the drunkenness of one of my firemen, I was obliged to make fire for two hours myself.

Would it be possible to persuade any of the labourers to sign an agreement to work six days in succession, steadily, upon an estate 2—I should not dare to attempt it. My only security now for working throughout the week is, that if one man will not work another will; and we have double the number upon the estate necessary to do the work performed.

MR. DARLING, PLANTER.

As you were here during slavery and apprenticeship, please to state whether the expenses of cultivation have much increased since Emancipation? —The expenses of cultivation have nearly doubled ; the cash-wages alone, without allowances, being nearly one-half of the whole expenditure.

At what rate were wages fixed immediately after Emancipation ? — At thirty cents, (15d. sterling,) with some allowances per task.

Wbet do you mean by a task ?—A certain amount of labour which we agreed to take in lieu of a day's work.

Did it constitute infect a good day's work? — Not at all; it was frequently and easily performed in four hours. In hiring labourers by the day for work in the mill and boiling-house, at what hour do they turn out in the morning P—It is very difficult to get the work fairly commenced before seven in the morning, and generally it ends between five and six. Great loss ensues from the present mode of proceeding, particularly in this island, where the dry weather, in which the crop is made, is more limited in time than in the old islands. Would it not be possible to save the crops in our short dry season, by hiring additional hands to work in the mill and boiling-house after half-past five and

six o'clock in the evening for extra wmes?—Quite out of the question. With our present limited population, it is difficult to induce them to work steadily durmg the hours which they themselves have selected.

Too are not, then, always sure of their working during the hours you have mentioned 7—Never; it depends entirely upon the will and pleasure of the labourers. You cannot tell on Saturday night whether your mill can be put about on Monday or not ; and nothing insures its being done on any day, but having more labourers settled on the estate than is necessary to do the work. They do, in, fact, as they please. On the Hermitage estate, a week or two since, we stopped the mill for the purpose of getting the mules wed ; but they all refused to weed, and after attempting it for a week, we were obliged to desist and re- commence grinding canes again.

Why do you not attempt to make fixed contracts with your labourers, be- fore a Magistrate, to work for the crop-season, or even a month or a week ?

They invariably, refuse to enter into any contracts, and can always find em- ployment whenever they please without it. They even frequently throw up their work after it is commenced, from the most capricious motives. I have known a carter, directed to take canes from a particular part of the field, which being cut earliest were liable to become sour, declare that he would not be dic- tated to, and leave his cart in the field. They frequently refuse to work unless allowed to take some favourite animal in preference. On Retrench estate in

South Naparima, which in general is as well supplied with labour as those around it, some feast or holyday, about a month since, attracted the Spanish

peons, who usually cut our canes, and the whole manufactory would have been stopped if other labourers were not procured to supply their places. The manager had the greatest difficulty in inducing the labourers previously en- gaged. to weed, to cut canes in their stead, and then only under the condition that they should be allowed to cut what piece they pleased on the estate; and he waS obliged to consent to their cutting a piece which bad been reserved in the proper routine of the work until a later period, by which our whole plans are materially deranged.

MR. LEE, A PLANTER.

;What proportion of work do the three hundred persons resident upon the estate- perform, as compared with your former gang of slaves P—They do as nearly as possible the ,same proportion of field-work as the,two hundred slaves for- merly did ; for the extent of the task has been diminished, and their work is so slovenly that more weedings are required. But about the works and in taking off the crop the amount of their labour is fully one-third less; as they are never fairly at work before seven o'clock, and invariably break off at sunset; and should any showers of rain fall, the work is completely deranged. In fact, there,is as yet no steady and continuous work such as formerly exieted in the manufacture of sugar. A few among them are disposed to work well; but for want of a sufficient number of steady hands to complete the spells, the whole work is deranged. This very frequently happens, and adds greatly to the ex- pense of making a crop. It is by no means the increased amount of the wages of labour which constitutes our chief expense; it is the losses arising from the irregularity, negligence, and wilful conduct of the labourers in many instances. In what way does the misconduct of the labourers increase your expenses ?— In many ways: frequently three or four labourers will not make their appear- ance in crop-time until ten o'clock, and I am compelled to pay a whole day's wages rather than incur a greater loss by refusing to take them. Some of them often leave their work abruptly after it has been commenced, from some dis- pute among themselves or other trifling cause; and from the frequent stoppage of the work by these and other causes, there is &much greater consumption of fuel in,proportion to the work This year, after crop, eight iron sugar-boilers out of ten were turned out broken, arising solely from carelessness in calling for the application of fire before a sufficient quantity of cane-juice was drawn down into them. There is great loss in the breakage of carts, and particularly in the death.of stock from cruelty and ill-usage : of which I cannot give better evidence than the fact, that four oxen were always sufficient for the daily ser- vice of each cane-cart in time of slavery ; this number has been gradually in- creasing, until I now find seven barely sufficient, although the day's work is much shorter. It is impossible to enumerate the whole of the various ways in which additional expenses are incurred from the carelessness of the Negroes, as it pervades every work they are tout to; and it can never be otherwise, until they are made to feel the effects of it themselves, which at present is not the case.

All this relates to work done for planters : let us now see how they work for themselves, and their moral condition.

MR. F. MAXWELL AGAIN.

DO you find that the raisingof provisions and stnall stink basincreasedsiuce Emancipation ?—It has fallen off much ; they are so scarce now as hardly to be procured. By whom were they.raised before, and why do .they not continue the prac- tice P—They were raised by the slaves and apprentices: but they get now such

high wages that they are careless, and many who might be disposed to do so find that they lose by plunder and depredation. Cannot you protect provision-grounds from plunder ?—You cannot find watchmen to protect them at any price: they do not like to main apart from

the others, and very probably re

ly would steal themselves.

THE REV. J. J. HAMILTON.

The Committee understand, from your former replies, that a large number of labouring immigrants have arrived since Emancipation in these districts ; and you say that they are encouraged to cultivate gardens. Have they, to your knowledge, assisted in any way to reduce the price of small stock and garden- stuffs by their labour ?—No, they have not; on the contrary, I think that poultry and vegetables are now higher in price than ever they were. Is it within your knowledge that labourers have generally a great deal of leisure-time which might be devoted to the raising of these articles ?—Yes, they have; as I generally meet them in my pastoral visit to the estates, return- ing from their daily labour out of crop-season, between eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning, having the remainder of the day to themselves.

If provisions and vegetables are then so scarce, and prices so high, to what circumstance do you ascribe their not furnishing a better supply to the market P—They generally consume themselves the poultry and vegetables they raise ; and their wages are so ample that they find no necessity for any further exertion.

MR. GUISEPPI, STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE.

The Committee observe, that simultaneously with the appointment of the Stipendiary Magistrates, the Commandautships of quarters were annulled : have all the duties and functions, not directly connected with the institutions of slavery, performed by those officers, since devolved upon the Stipendiary Magistrates ?—Their powers were much more extensive than ours; and every thing relating to the roads devolves now upon the Road-Commissioners. •

What is your opinion of the present practice of giving rum to the labourers, judging from the nature of the cases which come before you in the shape of assaults and batteries P—I think it a very bad practice; and the great majority of such cases which come before me result from drunken quarrels. The mis- chief is increasing every day : it is now becoming more prevalent than formerly among the women ; and if the practice is continued for two or three years longer, it will demoralize the whole labouring population ; and I have observed that the vice of gambling is increasing also every day. I thought it my duty to take the advice of the Attorney-General on the subject ; who informed me that I could not interfere with it in private houses, although from the nature of our climate and construction of the houses, with all the doors and windows open, it is quite as public as in the streets. You can hear the dollars clinking and see the parties playing as you pass along; and this occurs more frequently on the Sunday than on any other day. Are you the owner of a sugar-estate, or interested in any agricultural pro- perty P—I own no sugar-estate, and am interested in no other property.

The state of things described will task the energies of the Go- vernment and the colonists to cope with. No doubt, the alterna- tive proposed by the Trinidad Committee, in the event of other measures failing—the importation of a sufficient number of liberated slaves from Africa to fully people the island—would be effective, if it were practicable ; but is it practicable P No evidence of this— no explanation of the process of redemption of slaves in Africa, and subsequent voluntary enrolment for free service beyond seas—ap- pears in the volume before us. Even if the most complete satis- faction to reasonable minds were presented, to the eye of sentiment the so-called free emigration would seem but a new form of slave- trading: it would be actively denounced and feebly vindicated in England ; and the state of opinion would not permit any such measure to be carried. If opinion were more indifferent, the state of parties would furnish an insuperable obstacle. Upon a measure stigmatized as an actual revival of the slave-trade, the force of the Opposition would be united and that of the Government broken up, some of their troops even going over into the enemy's ranks ; whilst all the East Indian influence would be openly or covertly ar- rayed against it, and possibly the West Indian interest of the densely- peopled islands, which might not relish the admission of a Cuban pro- duce at their own duties. Nor, most likely,-could the measure, if ac- cepted, be available for years. It is easy, an writing, to fix a certain quantity of land to be cultivated ; but as fast, probably, as people were poured into the island, capital would follow : a new competition between capitalists for labourers would ensue similar to the pre- sent, and would not cease till the whole island were settled and appropriated, or sugar became a drug in the markets of the world. To destroy the African slave-trade and supersede the sugars of Cuba and Brazil, however well-looking upon paper, will be too generally distrusted as motives, and deemed unattainable in action. After maturely considering the splendid project, in its inherent properties and extrinsic conditions, we think it beat for the interests of the Trinidad planters, that they should resign the speculative course to others, and betake themselves to the strictly practical, confining their exertions to the salvation of their own capital and estates. The task, though difficult, is not perhaps impossible.

The first step should be taken by the Government in the shape of well-considered laws against vagrancy and squatting. To attempt to cripple the free agency of the Negroes, or'to reduce them covertly to the condition of aseripti glebce, would be unjust in itself, and so opposed to public opinion in this country as to be certain of failure. But the mere accident of a coloured skin is no sufficient reason for freeing men from those restraints which have been found necessary in every state of society, especially in an early stage. Bands of Negroes, wandering about a district with- out definite place or purpose in view, differ not one jot, in prin- ciple, from the vagrants and sturdy vagabonds of our own laws. The injury they inflict upon property, through carelessness or wantonness, is probably much greater than arises from any body of tramps, &c. whom rural beadles or other parish-officers in England were wont to deal with; while the risk to the public peace is infi- nitely greater, from bodiesof wild men, addicted to drink and un- accustomed to restraint.

A simple and effectual law against squatting is desirable, as a thing right-its principle; and capable of stopping occasional or tem- porary vagabondizing. ;That by itself it will be greatly operative upon the labour-market is unlikely, whilst only about one-fifth of the land held by individuals is cultivated, because the labourers can readily procure land by purchase. Too many landowners are in want of ready money ; and numbers of the Negroes are capable of paying fair prices for it, since they can give such prices as the following without any purpose of profit in view.

MR. HUGGINS.

Have you not lately turned your attention to the formation of a public vil- lage on one of your estates ?-1 have, in consequence of application from seve- ral individuals to purchase lots of land on the Nassau estate ; and about a fort- night ago put up several lots at public sale to ascertain their value. I have sold sixteen, and shall now proceed to sell the remainder by private sale.

What is the size of these lots, and at what price were they sold ?—Twelve lots fronting on the public road, 50 feet by 100 deep, sold at an average of 116 dollars (24/. 3s. 4d.) each ; and the lots immediately behind them, 70 feet by 100, sold at 110 dollars (22/ 188. 6d.) each. Is that not above 1,000 dollars (208/ 6s. 8d.) per acre P—Yes, it is. Is there, then, such a scarcity of land in South Naparima that it should command so high a price ?—Not at all. I should be glad to sell the spare lands on the Bronte estate, which are only removed five miles higher up, at thirty dollars (6/. 5s.) per acre. But the labourers have abundance of money, and prefer paying this price for the situation. It is close to the shipping-place, from whence they have easy communication by 'water with the seat of govern- rnent, and adjoining four cross-roads leading to the North and South quarters and the town of San Fernando, constituting a considerable thoroughfare, where they will always have abundance of news and company. Some of the pur- chasers were lately resident as labourers on the Jordan Hill estate, immediately adjoining the Bronte lands ; yet they prefer coming down and paying an extra price at the village.

MR. LEE.

Has there not been also a large increase of cottage-settlers in:the district ?- Yes, the whole public road is lined with settlers. What prices do they usually pay for the lots of land they purchase 7—At the rate of about 320 dollars to 640 dollars (133/. 6s. sterling) per acre.

Is it generally sold as high throughout the district P—Only when sold in lots on the public road. A good deal ot land has been sold behind these lots, and at no great distance, at 100 dollars the quarree, or about 6/. 10s. sterling the acre ; and further off the price is still lower. A short time since a tract of 1,000 to 1,200 acres was sold at the rate of 9s. 4d. sterling'the acre, on the banks of Caroni, with water-communication to Port of Spain, from which it is only twelve miles distant, and within two miles of the public road leading to it.

A main source of salvation for the colony is undoubtedly immigration : and from the channels already opened there is some probability of this being sufficient, in conjunction with other mea- sures, if steadily followed up. Mr. Jour:sots, the Assistant Colo- nial Secretary, states that the number of immigrants introduced under the Immigration Ordinances, between January 1839 and June 1841, amounted to 3,879; and the sum paid for their passages to 12,637/. The passage of "2,600 persons, including 1,200 Ger- mans and Maltese," was not paid for under the Ordinance, in con- sequence of disproportions in the sexes, or other deviations from its rules; but by persons who engaged them, or by themselves. " Besides which," continues Mr. JOHNSON, "about 4,000 persons have arrived under the head of passengers, servants, mechanics, &c. during the same period ; of which I believe more than one-third have remained in the colony ; so that the whole number of immi- grants arrived within the last two years and a half may be estimated at about 8,000." Mr. STUART, the Harbour-master, says, that " for the last twelve months, immigration has continued steadily at the rate of 300 per month " ; and he considers it likely to go on. Mr. HastreTosr, who has held office in Sierra Leone, and is well acquainted with the colony, states that "ten thou- sand persons could be immediately removed, and with advan- tage to themselves and to those they would leave behind." " I anticipate," he adds, " from the rise of wages at Sierra Leone, a stream of immigration from the interior ; so that, notwithstanding a continued and regular emigration of labourers from thence to the West Indies, I have every expectation that the population of Sierra Leone would gradually increase."

From the Sierra Leone news in the Colonial Gazette it ap- pears that this opinion of Mr. HAMILTON has scarcely been borne out ; the immigration for the present season not having been so successful as the last. Some part of this is attributed to the exer- tions of the Methodists and traders of the Anti-Slavery settle- ment; part to the exaggerated hopes circulated respecting that disastrous and wicked expedition up the Niger, which the Negroes of Sierra Leone were assured was to found a Black El Dorado in the twinkling of an eye ; part to the arrival of the emigrant-ships at an unfavourable time ; but most of all to an accident. When the first emigration took place, it was stipulated that certain " headmen " should return with the next vessels to Sierra Leone in order to report on the attractiveness of the distant country : but the ship in which the headmen from Jamaica sailed was wrecked, and furnished an opportunity to the Burroas of the settlement to spread all kinds of sinister reports. The wrecked headmen, how- ever, were taken back to Jamaica, and thence again sailed to Sierra Leone; where their presence neutralized to some degree the efforts of the opponents of the West Indians, and it seemed likely that an emigrant-ship would make up her complement, of which she had been despairing.

Some injury, at a critical season, has been inflicted on the great colonies of Jamaica, Demerara, and Trinidad, by this check to im- migration; but we suspect that even immigration and proper laws will little avail the planters of Trinidad, till they come to a mutual understanding to check their competition until wages fall to a point at which they shall be able to produce at a profit. We are aware that to entirely neglect a plantation even for a year or two, in the teeming soil and climate of Trinidad, would be to have it overgrown by a spontaneous forest : but some limitation may take place, if even at a temporary loss ; and it is certainly within the power of the planters not to aim at extending their cultivation, until a more natural state of the labour-market be effected.

But whilst the planters should allow their activity and enterprise to be guided by prudence, it is the bounden duty of the Colonial Office, or rather of the Government of which Sir ROBERT PEEL is the head, to do every thing to preserve the property and civilization of the Western Indies; in despite of the vi.s inertia of Colonial Office forms, the prejudices of influential officials, or the clamours of those rash and reckless fanatics whose ignorant Niger scheme has thrown so many families into mourning. This exertion is due to the English people, with whom sugar has become a second necessary of life ; it is due to the West Indian capitalists, whose property we are bound to protect ; it is due to the nation at large, whose twenty millions have been uselessly squandered if we should be driven to Cuba or Brazil for sugar ; and above all, it is due to sound Emancipation principles, whose extension it is hopeless to expect in slave-holding states if the experiment should fail in the most fertile, most favourably-situated, and from its small extent the most readily managed, of our principal West Indian settle- ments.

It is not, however, sufficient for the Government to do ; it must do promptly, for time presses. A year or two more and the cul- tivation of Demerara, Trinidad, and Jamaica, may be diminished or destroyed ; straitened supply and augmented price may com- pel the admission of slave-grown productions, and a shout of triumph be raised throughout the slave-holding countries. The form of Government assistance is twofold : first, good laws, both to prevent squatting and vagabondizing, and to give effect to fair contracts made out of as well as in the colony,—especially for Tri- nidad, as it can neither originate them, like Jamaica, nor force attention by stopping the supplies, like Demerara with its half- representative institutions, the legacy of its former Dutch masters : second, a fair immigration, under Government control, from any of our settlements in Africa,—making it the maximum for the future, and not the minimum of the past, and that minimum tardily allowed, vexatiously fettered, and covertly opposed.