THE HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMITTEE ON AFRICA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Blackheath, 4th May 1842.
Sin—In a letter of the 24th March, which you did me the favour to insert in the Spectator, I expressed a fear that the Select Committee moved for by Lord STANLEY to inquire into the state of the British possessions on the coast of Africa " would not inquire into the subject of the late Niger Expedition," or into the system at present pursued by her Majesty's Government for the suppression of the slave-trade. I am afraid that my anticipation is about to be realized ; as, though the Committee have been sitting some time, Sir T. F. BUXTON has not been examined, and it is reported is not to he summoned as a witness. Why a gentleman who has taken such a prominent part in every thing connected with Africa and the Negro race—whose celebrated work, The African Skive- Trade and its Remedy, is received as undoubted authority by the public not only in this country but throughout Europe and America—who founded the Society for the Colonization of Africa, and projected the late Niger Expedition—should not have been the first man to whom the Committee ap- plied for information on a subject which so vitally concerns the present state of Africans and their future wellbeing, is, to say the least, very surprising ; and can only be accounted for by the predetermination of the Committee not to open up the subject of the Niger Expedition, which formed such an important part of the " Remedy," or the question of the efficiency of our present system for putting down the Slave-trade, which Sir FOWELL has so ably proved to be cruel, costly, and useless.
Supposing, however, that these two tender subjects should, for various rea- sons, (which are well understood, but are better not named,) be left out, still Sir FOWELL BUXTON is the proper man to open the inquiry as to whether our African settlements are fit and proper places for emigration-depots. No one has paid more attention to the subject of late years. While a Member of the House of Commons, he annually moved for what may be called the only au- thentic African chronicles—the -Slave-trade Papers. Since then, he has em- ployed his leisure in collecting materials for and writing his celebrated work and inventing his "Remedy." No one has more information respecting the coast of Africa ; none can better settle the real question at issue,—which I take to be, not whether the West Indian Planters require labourers, (of that there can be no doubt,) but whether the Negro is to be benefited by his emigration; for I presume none except West Indians will take any trouble about the ques- tion if the removal of the Negro from his native land was only to benefit the Planter.
It appears to me that the question naturally divides itself into three beads. 1. It is incumbent on the parties proposing the free emigration of Negroes to the West Indies to prove, that we cannot protect the Negro in his native country in Isis personal freedom, by any system of slave-trade treaties and preventive squadrons. The best witnesses on this head are Sir FowELL BUXTON, the retired Judges of the Mixed Commission Courts, naval officers, and other public functionaries who have served on the coast.
2. It is incumbent further to prove, that the Negro, when landed in the West Indies, will be in all respects treated as a free man and British sub- ject ; will have liberal employment at regular money-wages; that he will be open to all the elevating influences of civilization and religion ; and that he will enjoy advantages there which he cannot do in any other part of the civilized world. The best witnesses on this point will be JOSEPH GURNEY, JOHN CANDLER, the Anti-Slavery Society Missionaries, Sir C. METCALF, and any other Goverment-officers from the Colonies. Planters being interested parties, had better be excluded.
3. The last, and a very important head, is the conduct of the emigration— the rules and regulations under which Negroes should be allowed to embark in Africa. On this bead, the officers who have served on the coast, and trailers who are in the habit of employing free Negroes there, could give valuable testimony.
think these three heads embrace the whole question of emigration. Those who are most anxious for it, on whatever grounds—whether to benefit them- selves or the Negro—had better be ready to prove the first position ; fur most assuredly, as long as the people of England can be persuaded that Africa is to be civilized by British settlements on the coast or in the interior, or the slave- trade put down by treaties and squadrons, so long will they neglect the true remedy, which emigration is, I firmly believe, destined to become, and run mad after Niger Expeditions and Exeter Hall panaceas. The prosperity of the Negro population in the West Indies will be easily proved, as well as the advantages his African brother would find in sharing it. The difficulties of the embarkation and transport of the Negro emigrants may be much simplified by preventing private individuals or companies interfering in it—leaving it entirely in the hands of Government-officers.
I cannot conclude without entering my humble protest against the plan of Mr. BURNLEY of Trinidad for ransoming Negroes from native chiefs and freeing them in Africa or the West Indies: it would only create an increased demand on the coast for fresh slaves in the interior ; and the ultimate benefit to be derived by the Negro race is no justification of the present and palpable evil that would be emoted. Equally do I protest against the principle laid down by Sir GEORGE STEpnEN, in a letter in the Times, of a compulsory re- turn of the Negro to Africa after the expiration of a term of years. A volun- tary return should always be left in his power without such a condition at- tached to any plan of emigration, no friend of the Negro would advocate immi- gration at all : but a compulsory return is as revolting to one's notions of free- dom as it is to justice and common sense. Sir GEORGE is a bold man to start such a doctrine; but I leave his extraordinary letter to abler hands than those of
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